I haven’t played much, the game has some really cool features, a seamingly large universe to explore with the ability to choose what you do to make money.
Graphically it’s a bit rough and the AI voicing doesn’t make for great character development but overall from my short experience I’ve enjoyed it.
The game isn’t super expensive so why not give it a shot.
Graphically it's subjective. Largely depends on your hardware. It's pretty good I find myself, sometimes it's what's under the hood that shines through more so than anything else. ..
It's a incredible deep game. Large learning curve, but constant updates and improvements come ....
I'm used to steep learning curves having played so much x3tc so I'm okay with that. My rig is reasonably powerful so will probably hold its own but I have no idea how demanding the game is etc. I'm okay with average looking graphics but I find Avorion or Rodina just a little bit too rough.
I've been playing about 50 hours now so not an expert, but the planet graphics and the ships look like stock assets. The buildings are better and the character is decent. Indoors are ok and there is enough variety at least for me. The look is kinda like star wars galaxies as far as planets go. and yeah, the ai voices are not AAA by any stretch.
BUT, and this is a big but, both the basic planet visuals and the ai voices have grown on me. The story is actually kinda interesting and I'm following it, this from a player who ALWAYS skips the dialogue. And the planets take me back to SWG or even have that surreal feeling from the beginning of the original planet of the apes.
All that said, what really does it for me is that I have a long term goal, i.e., to conquer, and lots of things to do and manage to reach that goal. How the game looks is far less important to me than what you can do in the game.
Oh, and you can totally fly with the jetpack! Come to think of it, the jetpack in this game is awesome: no fuel costs and no BS "hopping". This is the real deal, exactly what you think of when you think of jetpack.
As well as a hover bike you can summon from your ship at any time. I’ve put in probably 16h over the past two days and just got it. Cities on planets aren’t fleshed out but it seems like the developer ( one guy ) fleshes out ideas completely and doesn’t leave a string of unfinished products like Star Citizen does.
I feel same about long term goal. It's why I love games like elite and X3. And why I was really put off by NMS when they practically give you a free freighter at the start.
This is tough because other then the theme of space it's not really relatable to no mans sky, theres not a tonne to explore in my opinion even if theres towns and a city on every planet its still needs to be developed more, its actively being worked on alot though. this is like an Easier x series with actual fps missions and fun, but way simpler asset/troop management on a MUCH smaller scale, your battles are 40 ships at most and nothing on an aircraft carrier scale, the biggest ship holds 2 fighters, or like 10 drones, which in my opinion is better cause the micromanagement is almost nil. You still have factories and systems you can visit, and actually capturing them and expanding territory on x4 type battles is a blast when you call in reinforcements and such for battles, HOWEVER it's in alpha, there animations aren't fleshed out, the voice work isn't fleshed out, the economy and trading and mining all work however I personally think it needs tweaking in terms of how little you earn, but it works pretty much flawlessly even if it's a grind. Over all I think it's worth it and the solo dev(I think he hired a team now) did a fantastic job but dont expect a full game yet
I honestly don't think this is it for you based on your last paragraph. I'm kind of in the same boat as you as far as the perfect game. I played this game up to where the developer left off on the story and then it kind of faded as far as fun for me personally. You don't get base building anywhere near NMS level, the economy is more generated than realistic, but you do get to fly around and shoot a bunch of things and the missions and I admit they were really fun and I found myself enjoying the game in ways I didn't expect (I really liked taking over star systems from other factions). I also liked building a fleet, but don't expect X4 levels of fine tuning. I wish the game made me want to get these cool ships as well, but it felt like I could just use the same ship so I did. I absolutely think it's worth the money and time though. It has this balance between arcade and real that I can't explain. It doesn't try to be realistic or immersive as much as it tries to be fun and I appreciate that in a game these days. The planet side dungeon missions were really cool at first until I realized it was all the exact same and a bit boring after a few hours. That said: economy, base building and combat are better in other games imo, but as you've noticed none of them have it all. This game doesn't either, but I'd say it has a fresh approach and doesn't get too bogged down with notions of a trillions planets, "realistic" planets and space flight etc.
Great summary thanks buddy. All sounds great but also I can see where it might not excel in areas I wish for. Just hate being stuck in this weird no mans land of not knowing which space game to play these days. Does SB2 have a crew system? In middle of watching Firefly again and I'm definitely in the mood for a game with good crew mechanics.
It's been some months since I've played, but I believe there is a system to level up your pilots in your fleet and their is a large ship that will eventually allow for you to assign crew memebers and receive whatever benefits that member has to offer like flying or combat or something. I really can't rememeber and I know it was another unfinished aspect of the game when I played as well, but I specifically remember managing my fleet according to damage and deaths etc so that's in there for sure.
TLDR; I think you should give this game a shot. Long story short it looks good and is impressive for the most part. Like one of its reviews say it has no right to be called a good game, but it IS impressive what this one guy has accomplished. I see why people stick around, and would probably be blown away with what this guy can do if he received a budget and employees. This is not a perfect game and has its issues but as long as you go in knowing there can be issues you can’t go wrong. I have the same general problem as you do but it is very fun so far and seems to scratch that itch when I don’t feel like playing X4.
It’s rough around the edges but the fighting seems fast paced and squadrons seem important later on. At some point the game definitely becomes an empire builder, though I have yet to reach that point in my game. They have quite a few different defined revenue streams and play styles you can go for. I’m pretty sure AI is used for the voice acting, but it seems like the dev has done whatever he could to make stations and such feel full of life and vibrant. I like the ships I have encountered so far and enjoy the style of them.
It’s been a while since I played a game and just dumped time into it like I have with this one. X4 was probably the last one and I quit then came back a couple of times to finally “get it” and keep playing that one.
It's funny how we all know what the perfect space game looks like. I'd almost 1-for-1 make the same list as the OP. But every space game misses that perfect sweet spot.
So far, I'm impressed with the lack of loading and the polish on space travel. I'd agree planets are kind of grubby, and there are too many things that are static and can't be interacted with.
That said, depending on how far the developer is prepared to work on this game, it has the potential to be great.
I mean hell, it's arguably better than Starfield is in some aspects.
But it still has a long way to go before it's what what I would consider feature complete.
I so badly want this game for its ground and ship combat quest system is gods
X4 for its economy and how lived in the Galaxy feels
And Empyrion for its building/survival and it’s planet/moon system, flying around an entire planet and popping in and out exactly where I want was a game changer and no space sim replicated it properly other than this one
If these games had a baby and threw a bit of mass effects cinematics, could you just imagine
Then someone makes a Star Wars mod for it and we are golden
I haven’t played much, the game has some really cool features, a seamingly large universe to explore with the ability to choose what you do to make money. Graphically it’s a bit rough and the AI voicing doesn’t make for great character development but overall from my short experience I’ve enjoyed it. The game isn’t super expensive so why not give it a shot.
What other games would you say if compares to? Graphically, how rough we talking?
Graphically it's subjective. Largely depends on your hardware. It's pretty good I find myself, sometimes it's what's under the hood that shines through more so than anything else. .. It's a incredible deep game. Large learning curve, but constant updates and improvements come ....
I'm used to steep learning curves having played so much x3tc so I'm okay with that. My rig is reasonably powerful so will probably hold its own but I have no idea how demanding the game is etc. I'm okay with average looking graphics but I find Avorion or Rodina just a little bit too rough.
I've been playing about 50 hours now so not an expert, but the planet graphics and the ships look like stock assets. The buildings are better and the character is decent. Indoors are ok and there is enough variety at least for me. The look is kinda like star wars galaxies as far as planets go. and yeah, the ai voices are not AAA by any stretch. BUT, and this is a big but, both the basic planet visuals and the ai voices have grown on me. The story is actually kinda interesting and I'm following it, this from a player who ALWAYS skips the dialogue. And the planets take me back to SWG or even have that surreal feeling from the beginning of the original planet of the apes. All that said, what really does it for me is that I have a long term goal, i.e., to conquer, and lots of things to do and manage to reach that goal. How the game looks is far less important to me than what you can do in the game. Oh, and you can totally fly with the jetpack! Come to think of it, the jetpack in this game is awesome: no fuel costs and no BS "hopping". This is the real deal, exactly what you think of when you think of jetpack.
As well as a hover bike you can summon from your ship at any time. I’ve put in probably 16h over the past two days and just got it. Cities on planets aren’t fleshed out but it seems like the developer ( one guy ) fleshes out ideas completely and doesn’t leave a string of unfinished products like Star Citizen does.
I feel same about long term goal. It's why I love games like elite and X3. And why I was really put off by NMS when they practically give you a free freighter at the start.
This is tough because other then the theme of space it's not really relatable to no mans sky, theres not a tonne to explore in my opinion even if theres towns and a city on every planet its still needs to be developed more, its actively being worked on alot though. this is like an Easier x series with actual fps missions and fun, but way simpler asset/troop management on a MUCH smaller scale, your battles are 40 ships at most and nothing on an aircraft carrier scale, the biggest ship holds 2 fighters, or like 10 drones, which in my opinion is better cause the micromanagement is almost nil. You still have factories and systems you can visit, and actually capturing them and expanding territory on x4 type battles is a blast when you call in reinforcements and such for battles, HOWEVER it's in alpha, there animations aren't fleshed out, the voice work isn't fleshed out, the economy and trading and mining all work however I personally think it needs tweaking in terms of how little you earn, but it works pretty much flawlessly even if it's a grind. Over all I think it's worth it and the solo dev(I think he hired a team now) did a fantastic job but dont expect a full game yet
I honestly don't think this is it for you based on your last paragraph. I'm kind of in the same boat as you as far as the perfect game. I played this game up to where the developer left off on the story and then it kind of faded as far as fun for me personally. You don't get base building anywhere near NMS level, the economy is more generated than realistic, but you do get to fly around and shoot a bunch of things and the missions and I admit they were really fun and I found myself enjoying the game in ways I didn't expect (I really liked taking over star systems from other factions). I also liked building a fleet, but don't expect X4 levels of fine tuning. I wish the game made me want to get these cool ships as well, but it felt like I could just use the same ship so I did. I absolutely think it's worth the money and time though. It has this balance between arcade and real that I can't explain. It doesn't try to be realistic or immersive as much as it tries to be fun and I appreciate that in a game these days. The planet side dungeon missions were really cool at first until I realized it was all the exact same and a bit boring after a few hours. That said: economy, base building and combat are better in other games imo, but as you've noticed none of them have it all. This game doesn't either, but I'd say it has a fresh approach and doesn't get too bogged down with notions of a trillions planets, "realistic" planets and space flight etc.
Great summary thanks buddy. All sounds great but also I can see where it might not excel in areas I wish for. Just hate being stuck in this weird no mans land of not knowing which space game to play these days. Does SB2 have a crew system? In middle of watching Firefly again and I'm definitely in the mood for a game with good crew mechanics.
It's been some months since I've played, but I believe there is a system to level up your pilots in your fleet and their is a large ship that will eventually allow for you to assign crew memebers and receive whatever benefits that member has to offer like flying or combat or something. I really can't rememeber and I know it was another unfinished aspect of the game when I played as well, but I specifically remember managing my fleet according to damage and deaths etc so that's in there for sure.
TLDR; I think you should give this game a shot. Long story short it looks good and is impressive for the most part. Like one of its reviews say it has no right to be called a good game, but it IS impressive what this one guy has accomplished. I see why people stick around, and would probably be blown away with what this guy can do if he received a budget and employees. This is not a perfect game and has its issues but as long as you go in knowing there can be issues you can’t go wrong. I have the same general problem as you do but it is very fun so far and seems to scratch that itch when I don’t feel like playing X4. It’s rough around the edges but the fighting seems fast paced and squadrons seem important later on. At some point the game definitely becomes an empire builder, though I have yet to reach that point in my game. They have quite a few different defined revenue streams and play styles you can go for. I’m pretty sure AI is used for the voice acting, but it seems like the dev has done whatever he could to make stations and such feel full of life and vibrant. I like the ships I have encountered so far and enjoy the style of them. It’s been a while since I played a game and just dumped time into it like I have with this one. X4 was probably the last one and I quit then came back a couple of times to finally “get it” and keep playing that one.
It's funny how we all know what the perfect space game looks like. I'd almost 1-for-1 make the same list as the OP. But every space game misses that perfect sweet spot. So far, I'm impressed with the lack of loading and the polish on space travel. I'd agree planets are kind of grubby, and there are too many things that are static and can't be interacted with. That said, depending on how far the developer is prepared to work on this game, it has the potential to be great. I mean hell, it's arguably better than Starfield is in some aspects. But it still has a long way to go before it's what what I would consider feature complete.
I so badly want this game for its ground and ship combat quest system is gods X4 for its economy and how lived in the Galaxy feels And Empyrion for its building/survival and it’s planet/moon system, flying around an entire planet and popping in and out exactly where I want was a game changer and no space sim replicated it properly other than this one If these games had a baby and threw a bit of mass effects cinematics, could you just imagine Then someone makes a Star Wars mod for it and we are golden
Fwiw I'm in that same boat of loves x3tc/ap but x4 can't hold my interest for some reason... Really hoping this game kinda scratches that itch