dbemont wrote:I tried the game a few build back and thought is was promising, but one thing troubled me. The stock game and the building game seemed subtle and detailed, but the black market stuff seemed to overwhelm the game... easy offense, little defense. It was kind of like playing chess with a special rule that you could throw rocks at the playing board.
For those playing now, does the (offensive uses of the) black market seem balanced?
I think it is too strong as well, but I understand the need for it. It let's the players who are behind catch up with the one in front, otherwise the whole thing is just a boat race.
I'm enjoying it. It definitely keeps pulling me back for more.
Black Lives Matter
"To wield Grond, the mighty hammer of the Federal Government, is to be intoxicated with power beyond what you and I can reckon (though I figure we can ball park it pretty good with computers and maths). Need to tunnel through a mountain? Grond. Kill a mighty ogre? Grond. Hangnail? Grond. Spider? Grond (actually, that's a legit use, moreso than the rest)." - Peacedog
Lorini wrote:I think they should rename it to Asshole:The Game
Heh. I'm sure there will be a contingent that will play with the black market off. It's definitely an option in game setup.
Black Lives Matter
"To wield Grond, the mighty hammer of the Federal Government, is to be intoxicated with power beyond what you and I can reckon (though I figure we can ball park it pretty good with computers and maths). Need to tunnel through a mountain? Grond. Kill a mighty ogre? Grond. Hangnail? Grond. Spider? Grond (actually, that's a legit use, moreso than the rest)." - Peacedog
Lorini wrote:I think they should rename it to Asshole:The Game
Heh. I'm sure there will be a contingent that will play with the black market off. It's definitely an option in game setup.
The only way I'd play without the Black Market is if they would allow timed games. I think the game could still be interesting without it, but not the way it's set up now.
Lorini wrote:I think they should rename it to Asshole:The Game
Heh. I'm sure there will be a contingent that will play with the black market off. It's definitely an option in game setup.
The only way I'd play without the Black Market is if they would allow timed games. I think the game could still be interesting without it, but not the way it's set up now.
The rocketship (offword trade?) module pretty much is the game ender.
Black Lives Matter
"To wield Grond, the mighty hammer of the Federal Government, is to be intoxicated with power beyond what you and I can reckon (though I figure we can ball park it pretty good with computers and maths). Need to tunnel through a mountain? Grond. Kill a mighty ogre? Grond. Hangnail? Grond. Spider? Grond (actually, that's a legit use, moreso than the rest)." - Peacedog
I've started using the black market more, and while I'm not a huge fan of it in games, I have been able to manage it better.
You don't have to use it immediately. You can buy the "card" and then save it for later. It's a good plan to buy a cheap one (or land) when it comes up, and then later when you're waiting for money or resources, use that time to play the card. Mutiny is really good in that regard.
Black Lives Matter
"To wield Grond, the mighty hammer of the Federal Government, is to be intoxicated with power beyond what you and I can reckon (though I figure we can ball park it pretty good with computers and maths). Need to tunnel through a mountain? Grond. Kill a mighty ogre? Grond. Hangnail? Grond. Spider? Grond (actually, that's a legit use, moreso than the rest)." - Peacedog
jztemple2 wrote:Soren Johnson? OK, I'm interested; just not enough to plop down money right now.
Positive reviews on Steam so far from the early accessers, AND Soren Freaking Johnson....but as someone else mentioned, I am just too slow and old and farty for RTS games anymore. SJ makes ANYthing that even closely resembles a TBS game, and I am there with bells on. And I will most certainly buy this when it releases, but ohhhhhh man I would love to see him do something in the turn based realm again. OTOH, how in the hell are you going to top Civ IV?! I guess in some ways, he had to go to a different genre for that reason alone. He already created a masterpiece (hell THE genre masterpiece IMO) with a TBS 4x4.
Like Michelangelo after sculpting 'David', did he do another sculpture right after that? No he did not - that would have been madness! He moved on to another medium, paint, and created the Sistine Chapel. Anyone know of any sculptures that Michelangelo did AFTER creating David? Of course not, because they pale in comparison to his masterpiece. And I rest my case.
[quote="Carpet_pissr"
Positive reviews on Steam so far from the early accessers, AND Soren Freaking Johnson....but as someone else mentioned, I am just too slow and old and farty for RTS games anymore.[/quote]
I'm older and fartier than you are, and have no problem with the real time aspect, although I thought I would. You not only have 5 speeds from which to choose, you can pause and issue orders whenever you want. In fact, Soren has said he plans to institute an auto-pause when key events fire (auctions, for example).
Even at that, the "normal" speed is manageable for me, which was a bit of a shock.
I spent 90% of the money I made on women, booze, and drugs. The other 10% I just pissed away.
Carpet_pissr wrote:
Positive reviews on Steam so far from the early accessers, AND Soren Freaking Johnson....but as someone else mentioned, I am just too slow and old and farty for RTS games anymore.
I'm older and fartier than you are, and have no problem with the real time aspect, although I thought I would. You not only have 5 speeds from which to choose, you can pause and issue orders whenever you want. In fact, Soren has said he plans to institute an auto-pause when key events fire (auctions, for example).
Even at that, the "normal" speed is manageable for me, which was a bit of a shock.
It does auto pause on auctions, not on black market open.
Black Lives Matter
"To wield Grond, the mighty hammer of the Federal Government, is to be intoxicated with power beyond what you and I can reckon (though I figure we can ball park it pretty good with computers and maths). Need to tunnel through a mountain? Grond. Kill a mighty ogre? Grond. Hangnail? Grond. Spider? Grond (actually, that's a legit use, moreso than the rest)." - Peacedog
Carpet_pissr wrote:
Positive reviews on Steam so far from the early accessers, AND Soren Freaking Johnson....but as someone else mentioned, I am just too slow and old and farty for RTS games anymore.
I'm older and fartier than you are, and have no problem with the real time aspect, although I thought I would. You not only have 5 speeds from which to choose, you can pause and issue orders whenever you want. In fact, Soren has said he plans to institute an auto-pause when key events fire (auctions, for example).
Even at that, the "normal" speed is manageable for me, which was a bit of a shock.
It does auto pause on auctions, not on black market open.
That must be in one of the latest patches, because not too long ago he was talking about adding it.
I spent 90% of the money I made on women, booze, and drugs. The other 10% I just pissed away.
Ive not read this thread and had not heard of the game before right now. I just watched that video and my thought is it is a updated modern day MULE.
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I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake. http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
It was a couple months ago. I was checking it out when they announced that multiplayer would be coming soon. By the looks, that is now in the game so I do need to give it another play soon.
FYI, the game is 50% off this weekend. It prompted me to try out the game again.
It seems really good. I love all the little animations on the buildings, they makes me think of Anno. I went through the tutorials again since it has been a while and felt pretty confident about what I was doing. Instead of trying the normal campaign mode I decided to try out the multiplayer lobbies. I was surprised that I could get into a multiplayer match almost instantly.
Unfortunately for me, the people playing multiplayer know what they are doing. My business was bought out about 10 minutes in. Jokes on them! My crappy corporation is going to bankrupt them!
GreenGoo wrote:Nox, what's your opinion on this? Having played at least 1 other economic sim with you, I'm curious as to your opinion on this game.
It's really good, although a lot of pressure while playing and I wouldn't even think of playing MP with random people . Here is their youtube channel. I never did the campaign so I thought I'd jump into it this weekend. There's a steam sale on right now as well.
Hmm, their channel hasn't been updated lately. Here's a more recent video but I haven't watched it myself.
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I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake. http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
GreenGoo wrote:Nox, what's your opinion on this? Having played at least 1 other economic sim with you, I'm curious as to your opinion on this game.
It's good. It's very tactical capitalism. I enjoy it, though I haven't gotten into it for a while.
Black Lives Matter
"To wield Grond, the mighty hammer of the Federal Government, is to be intoxicated with power beyond what you and I can reckon (though I figure we can ball park it pretty good with computers and maths). Need to tunnel through a mountain? Grond. Kill a mighty ogre? Grond. Hangnail? Grond. Spider? Grond (actually, that's a legit use, moreso than the rest)." - Peacedog
Got the game today after checking in here. Just into the tutorials and this game feels right already. Let me get used to it, then I will check in Steam and approach random OO'ers.
82 on Metacritic currently, which seems really low if you look at the individual 'scores' by the top review pubs, and especially their first comments. Weird.
Was very happy to read this on RPS (bolding mine): "There’s a progression system threaded through the randomised scenarios and it’s forced me to reconsider the entire game, having only experienced it in multiplayer for so long during Early Access. When I came to write this review, I asked myself if I’d buy the game just for the singleplayer mode. I would. The multiplayer brings out the best of the systems, creating its own weird momentum through panicked mistakes and elegant deceptions, but the singleplayer takes all of those same systems and creates a slower, more thoughtful experience out of them."
Oh yeah, it's absolutely worth it. I played a couple of campaign levels and it's good stuff. The missions you pick give you various minor meta-game bonuses, plus you can use metagame cash to upgrade and specialize your CEO. And, of course, there are unlockable CEOs.
Chaz, El Guapo and another friend played a couple of rounds of this last night. First round, I won, second round went to Chaz. The first round, food went up to the 200/unit range pretty quickly and stayed there or higher (thanks, in no small part, to my use of hackers to generate food "shortages"), fueling my ability to buy Chaz out after he bought out everyone else. I tried the same thing next round, but electronics went up way higher (to about 500/unit or so) and Chaz was able to capitalize on it before I figured out to do that as well.
Also, pro tip: don't let your debt get out of control, because that kills your share value. A major source of debt is power consumption, so, while I tend to frown on setting up supply chains for non-continuous needs (iron -> steel, aluminum, glass - the stuff you use mostly to construct buildings), I tend to go for at least a slight power surplus so I can auto-repay my debt without having to worry about it. The only supply chains you need to set up are the ones that go directly towards things you're planning on selling.
Pro tip #2: It seems like you can't relinquish land claims, unlike in single player. You can always get more via auction/bribe/HQ upgrade, of course, but it's a pretty limited resource still. So think real hard about putting down a claim on a random mineral patch halfway across the map. It also makes underground nukes hurt a lot more in MP (thus increasing your incentive to put up goon squads).
Thoughts on patents:
Perpetual Motion: Thumbs up at all times. Buildings consuming 50% less power is always good.
Teleportation: Expensive, but again, thumbs up at all times. Not only do your resources get where they need to go faster, but you're also immune to pirates.
Carbon Scrubbing: Great if you're going to use carbon for something, useless otherwise.
Slant drilling: Not sure how this works. Can you horn in on someone else's mining this way?
Cold Fusion: Using water to power buildings is ok, I guess, if you have a super surplus of water and no power. Seems pretty situational.
Backup Power: Pretty useful to have a little extra power so you have time to build extra generators before your debt starts piling up.
Financial Instruments: If your opponents have enough debt that this makes a difference, you're probably winning anyway.
The first game (as the scavengers) I had a decent location, and pretty quickly set up a supply chain to build chemicals, which were fairly lucrative, which worked out well enough that I got bought out last (at least).
The second game I was the robots. I set up right near a geothermal tile figuring that would be a good source of power, but didn't appreciate how much steel I would need to build on that tile, and how much steel I would need in general, and the location otherwise was pretty shitty, so...that one didn't go so well.
El Guapo wrote:The second game I was the robots. I set up right near a geothermal tile figuring that would be a good source of power, but didn't appreciate how much steel I would need to build on that tile, and how much steel I would need in general, and the location otherwise was pretty shitty, so...that one didn't go so well.
Yeah, as it turns out, it doesn't matter where you put your power buildings. They can be halfway across the map and you'll still get power. I'm pretty sure there's a patent that lets your power producing buildings generate 2x power if they're connected to your HQ, but that's hardly a reason to skip out on available, reliable geothermal (until somebody nukes it).
I'm wishy-washy about geothermal. It's nice because it produces 2 per second from the minute it's down. But since geothermal tiles are usually by themselves, you can't really cluster buildings to get the adjacency benefits. I think it's more of a nice to have than something I really want to go halfway across the map for. Even less so if you can't build anything else on a geothermal tile, which I'm not sure of.
One thing that I've been neglecting to do is to buy stockpiles of resources when the market is low on them. Doing that would probably have some interesting effects, and add some options on setting up factory buildings without necessarily needing to have the full supply chain established. Basically, I need to break myself out of the "must have complete supply chain" thinking every other building game has hammered into me.
I can't imagine, even at my most inebriated, hearing a bouncer offering me an hour with a stripper for only $1,400 and thinking That sounds like a reasonable idea.-Two Sheds
