Endless Space 2

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:51 am

RPS says it's on the way.

I liked the first one, although I understand some people didn't. One thing for sure - Amplititude will come up with some interesting factions that all play differently. No way are they going to take a step backwards from Endless Legend.

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:55 am

I played the first one a few times. I didn't hate it. But mostly I didn't find the AI aggressive enough. Once I got my feet under me, it was smooth sailing. I also had an initial approach that the AI couldn't seem to counter. So that made the start fairly easy.

Presumably this will only be improvements. Hopefully to the AI. I'll keep an eye on it for sure.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:10 pm

I loved the empire building portions of the game and the interface, and I liked the *idea* of the battles, but in practice I found their rock, paper, scissors approach to fall a little flat, although it was better after the expansion. I'd probably be on board with a new one depending on what they change.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:29 pm

The first was deeply flawed in my opinion, but there were some fantastic ideas. This one could be great.

Stuie · Post by **Stuie** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:35 pm

I'm a little disappointed... after a space game, a rogue-like, and a fantasy game, I was hoping they'd do yet another genre and surprise us with something cool. Of course I'll give Endless Space 2 a go because I like what Amplitude does, just wish it was something new and different.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:44 pm

I see it more as they learned a bunch of stuff since the first one and think they can do better. As long as they don't get in a cycle of just releasing the same 2 to 3 games over and over I'm ok with it.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 4:00 pm

Archinerd wrote:I see it more as they learned a bunch of stuff since the first one and think they can do better.

Pretty much my take.

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:21 am

Yeah, I really liked the first one. I would love a turn based ship battles instead of the 'card' mechanic(Rock Paper Scissors that was mentioned earlier).

But I enjoyed the game play.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:49 am

RMC wrote:Yeah, I really liked the first one. I would love a turn based ship battles instead of the 'card' mechanic(Rock Paper Scissors that was mentioned earlier).

But I enjoyed the game play.

Given they used a modified mix of the hands off ES combat and turn-based combat in Endless Legend, I suspect we will get something in between (which would be good). That being said, I usually auto-resolve EL's combat because it is just hands off enough to be a bit boring (but not as boring as ELs).

Despite that, I love both games.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:23 pm

Played a lot of hours in the first one, so I must have liked it. I'll certainly be looking closely at the second one when it comes out.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 2:28 pm

This one snuck up on me, but it released on Steam as Early access today.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 3:04 pm

Before you guys open up that Steam wallet, consider this:

HOW'S THE EARLY ACCESS VERSION ON THIS ASPECT?

Population

While you can still move your population between colonized planets within a system, in the Early Access, there is no feature to move populations across systems yet.

Research

For the Early Access version, there will be no faction-specific technology except technologies obtained by completing steps of your Faction Quest.
As it is now, players can research technologies in any order without needing to research prior technologies.

Diplomacy

For the Early Access, most of the feature of coordination between empires through diplomacy, such as Alliances, treaties etc... aren't present in the game.

Trade

In the Early Access version, there will be no Marketplace.
In the Early Access version, the trade system doesn't require players to build "commercial ships" and send them to establish the trade routes hard points, but this is subject to change.

Narrative Experience

For the Early Access, the After Action Report is quite limited.
For the Early Access, narrative experience cannot be shared through G2G via game story albums yet

That's in addition to the already announced fact that half of the tech tree and half of the playable races aren't in.

I'm holding off until there's more meat on the bones. 4 months from now, when the game is 80% done instead of 30%, it will still be EA and still be at EA pricing.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Fri Oct 07, 2016 1:49 pm

I had some money sitting in my Steam wallet, and I was sure I'd ultimately get this, so I went ahead and picked it up.

Missing pieces aside it looks like a winner. I still haven't had a good chance to test out the new combat system and see if I like it better, but, as with the original game, the campaign itself looks and plays great with a lot of new mechanics pushing things along. Among other additions there are multiple government factions you have to keep in line, hidden anomalies on planets that have to be investigated, long range space probes that make exploration much easier, minor races, support for mixed populations on planets, etc.

In general I see a lot of features from Endless Legend being updated and incorporated into the gameplay and lots of polish over ES1.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:24 pm

This went on sale a little while ago at 75% off. I certainly wasn't planning on buying it in EA but at that price I figured why not and bought it. As it turns out it was a SEGA pricing glitch which Steam has now corrected. In any case, now that I have it, I guess I'll take it for a spin at some point and see if I like it or not.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 3:28 pm

Endless Space Collection (Endless Space 1) for $1

Endless Space Collections includes Endless Space and Endless Space - Disharmony

SPECIAL PROMOTION! Offer ends April 17

NickAragua · Post by **NickAragua** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 8:05 pm

Well, I think I have a dollar in my steam wallet from selling all those stupid trading cards.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Thu Apr 13, 2017 8:05 pm

NickAragua wrote:Well, I think I have a dollar in my steam wallet from selling all those stupid trading cards.

That's what I did!

KDH · Post by **KDH** » Sat May 06, 2017 5:45 pm

.

.. Endless Space 2 - EXPLORE

As Endless Space 2 is due to release May 19, Amplitude Studios is taking everyone deeper into the Endless universe through a series of four new videos - each aimed at showcasing the individual “X”s in the 4X grand strategy genre (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) core to Endless Space 2. In the first video, released today, Amplitude showcases what it means to eXplore in the Endless Universe as players journey to the stars, meet new alien races, investigate strange ruins and odd signals, and much more.

... youtuber video: .. Endless Space 2 - Riftborn Prime Warships (may 5) <--- (41m)

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu May 18, 2017 1:16 pm

In a surprise move, Amplitude released 1.0 a day early. Downloading now.

Butterknife · Post by **Butterknife** » Thu May 18, 2017 9:26 pm

tgb wrote:In a surprise move, Amplitude released 1.0 a day early. Downloading now.

It surprised me - I was going to purchase the game tonight while it was still $10 cheaper, but now that they released early I won't be picking it up. One lost sale is no big deal, right? I do plan on getting it at some point, though. My three purchase periods for a game are when it gets released if there is a discount, once the bundled version with all DLC reaches the original game's price, and when a the game gets into a bundle. I suppose that means I'm looking for the GOTY version now.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu May 18, 2017 9:45 pm

Butterknife wrote: It surprised me - I was going to purchase the game tonight while it was still $10 cheaper, but now that they released early I won't be picking it up.

CDKeys.com has it for $27.99.

Butterknife · Post by **Butterknife** » Thu May 18, 2017 10:18 pm

tgb wrote:
Butterknife wrote: It surprised me - I was going to purchase the game tonight while it was still $10 cheaper, but now that they released early I won't be picking it up.
CDKeys.com has it for $27.99.

Curse you evil tempter! Thanks!

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu May 18, 2017 11:09 pm

Glad to be of service.

Moat_Man · Post by **Moat_Man** » Fri May 19, 2017 1:38 am

Come on peoples. It's been out for 12 hours now. First impressions?

On the fence with this one. What does it do better than GalCivIII:Crusade/Stellaris:Utopia, my current two favs.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Fri May 19, 2017 1:44 am

I have played about 15-20 minutes and I can already say that ES2 does world/universe building better than Gal Civ 2: Crusade. Like Endless Legend, you have quests, stories, and racially specific playstyles (the tree people, for example, entangle systems with vines instead of sending colony ships). There are also neat curiosities that you find on "away missions" with your scouts. Everything oozes world building and story - which is what made Endless Legend so much better than the mundane fantasy 4X.

So far it is too early to say how good the game is, and make a comparison. My early impressions are strong.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Fri May 19, 2017 6:38 am

IN addition to the great assymetrical factions, the political system is much deeper than GalCiv III. Every faction has sub-factions (industrial, religious, scientific etc), all of which are strengthened or weakened by your actions in game. Every 20 turns there's an election, with the most powerful sub-faction winning. The two most powerful factions determine the laws you can pass.

There's a lot that's borrowed from Paradox (Vicky II and Stellaris) involving migratory POPs that I don't quite grok yet. I did learn from the tutorial that by spending certain luxury resources you can attract different minorities to your systems.

Tampa_Gamer · Post by **Tampa_Gamer** » Fri May 19, 2017 3:57 pm

Moat_Man wrote:Come on peoples. It's been out for 12 hours now. First impressions?

+1, for me - I liked the Endless Space I user interface, but the rest of the game was rather meh. IN particular, I am interested in feedback on the ground combat model for Endless Space 2. I am still playing Distant Worlds, simply because (IMHO) that is the best current integration/adaptation of ground combat forces into a traditional 4x space strategy game. Of course, I still have Star General on one of my hard drives, so I am a bit old school on this point.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Fri May 19, 2017 5:49 pm

There is no real user controlled combat in Endless Space 2. It's the weakest part of the game by far. If you like space combat, this is not the game for you. The rest of the game seems pretty cool though. I need to play it more.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Fri May 19, 2017 6:23 pm

One of the guys at Q2T did a pretty good three-part overview, for those still on the fence.

Zenn7 · Post by **Zenn7** » Fri May 19, 2017 6:49 pm

What are the differences between this and ES1?

How is it better in the opinion of those who are playing (acknowledging you've had limited time to explore the game so far)?

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Sat May 20, 2017 3:21 am

Zenn7 wrote:What are the differences between this and ES1?

Aside from the obvious improvements to:graphics and performance:

1) More significant differences between playable factions
2) Mini quests and faction-specific quest chains
3) Faction specific techs (although I don't really remember if that was in 1 or not)
4) More random events
5) Much deeper political systems with elections, a Senate, and laws that affect game play
6) Better AI

As others have pointed out, this is more like Endless Legends in space. EL is still one of the best 4X out there, imo, so I'm happy about that. YMMV, of course.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Sat May 20, 2017 12:44 pm

I'm encountering a couple of bugs today - fleets on the map that aren't listed on the military screen, and ships that blow up in the combat video that miraculously reappear (with a health of 1) post-combat.

Freyland · Post by **Freyland** » Sat May 20, 2017 1:35 pm

"Just a flesh wound!"

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Sat May 20, 2017 8:30 pm

Turns out the two "bugs" were actually WAD, but I didn't understand that.

Moat_Man · Post by **Moat_Man** » Sun May 21, 2017 12:59 pm

Explorminate has a lengthy review out. Mostly positive but they were hoping for more of a leap forward.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Sun May 21, 2017 8:24 pm

I've got 30 or so turns into my initial game and have explored most of my starting constellation. So far I like it quite a lot. It feels very much like Endless Legends as far as gameplay quests, game mechanics, and systems go. The early exploration reminds me a bit of Stellaris. Not a bad thing at all. The graphics and presentation are slick and I haven't encountered any bugs so far. No combat yet. I have pirates turned off.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Wed May 24, 2017 9:14 am

Having played this a lot for several days now, I'm liking it even more. More than I did Endless Legend in fact. The more I play, the more I like it, which is a good sign. I haven't run into any bugs or glitches and the worst thing I can say about the game so far is that it doesn't have some kind of Civilopedia to keep track of all the stuff in the game. Certainly worth a buy if you like deep strategic games in this genre (in my opinion). Plus, I think Amplitude will make it even better going forward as they did with Endless Legend.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Wed May 24, 2017 2:19 pm

ColdSteel wrote:Having played this a lot for several days now, I'm liking it even more. More than I did Endless Legend in fact. The more I play, the more I like it, which is a good sign. I haven't run into any bugs or glitches and the worst thing I can say about the game so far is that it doesn't have some kind of Civilopedia to keep track of all the stuff in the game. Certainly worth a buy if you like deep strategic games in this genre (in my opinion). Plus, I think Amplitude will make it even better going forward as they did with Endless Legend.

There are, apparently, some bugs in the colonization system for when the law allowing colonization of all planet types with a penalty is active (namely, no matter what you still get the 50% penalty if you colonize a fertile planet). But a patch went through today, so this may have been fixed.

dbemont · Post by **dbemont** » Thu May 25, 2017 7:46 am

ColdSteel wrote:Having played this a lot for several days now, I'm liking it even more.... The more I play, the more I like it, which is a good sign. I haven't run into any bugs or glitches and the worst thing I can say about the game so far is that it doesn't have some kind of Civilopedia to keep track of all the stuff in the game.

I haven't gotten as far, but I agree. I basically like the game content now (unlike earlier in development). I definitely look forward to sitting down to sessions with it.

Minor nag, and probably just me: I find their attempts at atmosphere to be somewhat turnoffs. I don't like each time you look at a system for the first time, the painfully slow closeup for each planet. I don't like the ship movement interface, which emphasizes going into orbit rather than clarity -- and, at least to this point, sometimes just won't work for me, particularly when not using star lanes. And the music? Hey, there is no music in space -- I know I am being a curmudgeon here, but they are recreating space movies, not space travel with that... but I'm probably the only one here who doesn't care much for space movies, so that makes my tastes different.

Much bigger problem: The lack of clear documentation really, really harms this type of game. This is a narrative game, each species has its plot arc, and once you know the plot arc, the game will be less enjoyable, or at least that is how Endless Legend struck me. However, if you have to re-start innumerable times just to get a play-through properly using the game systems and UI, you end up burning a lot of the game enjoyment just learning how to play. Of course, those who can happily re-play narrative RPGs won't feel this is much of a problem, but I do.

Still, I get a sense of lots and lots of areas of interest in the game. Exploration is really fun. The politics are meaningful. The distinction among species very sharp. Tech choices matter.

But this tendency of good games to go out with only vague, outdated documentation is really taking a lot of the fun out of it for me. I guess there is a core of gamers who find figuring out the UI half the fun, but you can count me out on that. About as attractive as buying a board game and having to spend hours unpacking the box.

ColdSteel · Post by **ColdSteel** » Thu May 25, 2017 8:53 am

dbemont wrote:I don't like each time you look at a system for the first time, the painfully slow closeup for each planet.

I just immediately hit the esc key which cancels the animations. I'm sure they knew that would get old pretty quick for some folks. As for documentation, yeah. There's a user manual .pdf but it's outdated.

I'm currently in a war with the Vodyani. I just hate those smug asshats. Whey they plopped one of their arks right next to my starting system and colonized there, enough was enough. They keep throwing a crazy number of ships at me so they probably have better production. They also have battleships, the same as me so that's not good. I've been taking the fight to their homeworld cluster and it's getting interesting now. I wish there was intelligence gathering in the game. I feel like I'm fighting blind.