I'm playing this instead of Diablo 3

[Steve Dallas]

Well, for now, anyways.

It's called Endless Space, and it's available on Steam.

I got an itching for a good space expansion game (known as 4X). A few google searches later, I was reading reviews on this...and overall it was positive.

So I picked it up on Friday, and though it has some issues...it's the best thing I've seen since MOO2. In some ways it's better...because of the interface.

That's the cool thing about this game. The interface is modernized with right clicks and is very easy to get to what you need to do.

The only weakness I see in this game is the ship combat, and that there are no battle stations or orbital/ground defenses.

Here's a review

[Silverlsinva]

Wow looks really complicated and hard.

[Mindz]

Are there any graphics aside from ships blowing up, or is it all menus? The concept is great, but that review didn't do anything for me. =/

[Steve Dallas]

It's a 4X turn based expansion game. It's not about graphics. It's about building an empire.

Think Masters of Orion 2, still one of the best PC games to have ever been put out. Think Civilization V, another awesome game.

This game is close to MOO2 in concept, though there are definately some things I can nitpick about.

These types of games don't need good graphics. It's all about maintaining your empire and "just one more turn".

[Steve Dallas]

Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

This game has food, production, "dust" (basically technology that's generated) and happiness.

First time I played, I expanded way too fast, and didn't fill out my systems, so I ran into a huge penalty on all my planets to my happiness, and had not developed my tehcnology to have any improvements to culture/happiness.

My production ground to a halt and all my planets went on strike.

So....this game is a balancing act. Expand fast, but make sure you keep the money/happiness production up, or you might dig yourself into a hole.

Yes, you have to THINK to play this game. As I believe all games should do in some form

[Mindz]

I meant graphics as in a user interface. the review just shows it in a very menu based look and it didn't look like you're immersed at all. That's the reason I was asking.

The chess/balancing game caters to my interest, but I don't want to be looking at menus 100% of the time.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by Mindz

I meant graphics as in a user interface. the review just shows it in a very menu based look and it didn't look like you're immersed at all. That's the reason I was asking.

The chess/balancing game caters to my interest, but I don't want to be looking at menus 100% of the time.

Well, really there are several areas...

Planetary screen, where you can see the system, or zoom to a planet. You can zoom in & out of the galaxy as well to see the wormholes and links between planets. No tables there, just when you zoom in to fleet & planet data. Other screens like the tech tree aren't really tables.

Seriously, if you liked Moo2, you'd probably like this game...even with it's few flaws.

For me, a flaw would be that if you research the tech tree entirely, there is no advancement past that. In Moo2, you could still research "future tech", which would add a bonus and add to miniaturization of componenets in ships.

[SleepWarz]

Its a very good chill game. Civ in space!

Played the beta and enjoyed it. But I cant get away from DayZ right now.

[Brokinarrow]

I've been playing that too. Freaking computer cheats on that game man. But it's so addictive that I'm still playing it

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by Brokinarrow

I've been playing that too. Freaking computer cheats on that game man. But it's so addictive that I'm still playing it

I -might- be able to beat it on Newbie!!

Yeah, the AI could be better balanced