The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
[Starships] Sid Meier Loves Star Trek - March 12th Release
Durinia
Evolved from Space PotatoesRegistered User regular
Evolved from Space PotatoesRegistered User regular
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FsHpNiz-4MAvailable for pre-order on Steam
Build and command a fleet of starships and travel between planets as you explore, build, negotiate, and fight to preserve your vision for humanity.
- PC, Mac, and iPad
- Turn-based strategy
- Set as a postscript to Civ: BE (and there is some interoperation teased)
- Focus on starship design
- Crew, ship customization, etc.
Some articles, which include screenshots and concept art:
http://www.polygon.com/2015/1/19/7852541/sid-meiers-starships-trailer-firaxis-pc-mac-ipad-civilization-beyond-earth
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/firaxis-reveals-new-interstellar-strategy-game-sid/1100-6424728/
If you want to see the game in action, Sid has done a number of livestreams and a PAX South panel where he has played a few turns live. You can find videos on the Firaxis YouTube site.
Benny's opinion?
For business reasons, I must preserve the outward sign of sanity.
--Mark Twain
--Mark Twain
Durinia on
+1
Posts
--Mark Twain
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Is that what Beyond Earth is? Serious question haven't played it but loved Alpha Centauri.
There is a lot of UI and mechanics re-use, at least where they didn't make bigger changes (i.e. techweb vs. tech tree - which is pretty minor TBH).
--Mark Twain
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
From what I can tell of like two sentences I've read and a screenshot, you aren't playing a civilization. You're just playing a starship captain in the service of some civilization.
Right. My impression of it would be Sid Meier's Pirates! in Space.
Anyone remember the old BBS MUD called "Planets: The Exploration of Space"? It was a Seth Able text based space adventure game...
Is this going to be anything like that, but with graphics? I loved the Seth Able game. Flying from planet to planet, buying goods, and then taking those goods to other planets and trying to exploit their needs. Upgrading my ship. Running from space pirates. It was pretty excellent.
Yes, I would definitely say it looks more like Pirates! than Civ.
--Mark Twain
Law and Order ≠ Justice
I wanna be hype, but Pirates was kinda ho hum. I will be slightly hype because SPACESHIPS! but reserve the rest of my hype for when we get more info.
I'm blaming you for putting this image in my head, so it's now your fault if it isn't true.
Pirates! was ho hum? YOUR FACE is ho hum.
Who's Sid Meier?
--Mark Twain
Aww, man. Dave'll be there. Grill him a bit about Beyond Earth for me, will you?
I'm not sure I could do it without saying "Congrats on making the shortest Civ game, while having it also be the only one that I've not played through more than twice."
--Mark Twain
It's not really pirates, but more like an unholy alliance of Civ and XCOM, with a leaning towards the latter.
If that doesn't get you excited, not sure what will.
--Mark Twain
I literally just squealed.
Mother of god...
It's a good thing I'm wearing coveralls right now because regular pants could not contain my erection.
Hope it lives up to it
I'd almost prefer less Civ-like. Space 4xes have been awfully disappointing to me over the last few years, particularly strategic, empire-level combat. I'd be totally happy if this was like Starfleet Command, but more polished. (As much as I wanted to enjoy Starfleet Command, it was just... too much stuff to deal with, what with the real-time, unpausable port of a complex tactical board game, and then all the other issues....)
Yeah, I haven't been able to get into a space 4x in a loooong time. Tbh the only one to really get me addicted was the original Master of Orion. Other ones just feel kinda bloated.
Its Civ+Xcom meets Star Trek, and leaning heavy on the Xcom unit progression.
Now I'm like:
well played, Sid, well played.
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
So here's a little more detail:
Strategic Layer:
You can choose your leader and starting affinity (remember, this is post-BE) that give you various different bonuses. However, for the rest of the game, you're not really playing a Civ leader, but the commander of the fleet of starships fielded by your federation of planets (Sid slipped and called it an "Empire" once...). This fleet will fly from system to system completing quests/missions at each new planet with resulting rewards like new techs, bonuses to building certain types of ship components, and increased influence. By working with a planet long enough (doing quests, taking shore leave there, etc.), you will get enough influence to have it join your federation, which provides you with more resources, special buildings/bonuses, etc. These resources can be used to build/upgrade your ships, research techs (which improve your ships), or do a little planetary development (I think - he didn't demo the last one, but it's been mentioned before). However the focus on all of these is on making your SHIPS better, not random civ advances, etc.
As you move your ships around, your crew becomes more fatigued. Eventually you will want to send them on "shore leave" to rest up, but that ends your turn in the strategic layer, so it's an interesting tradeoff on how hard you're willing to risk being ineffective versus safely. One thing they didn't talk about at all was Victory conditions. Not sure how you win, but there was a UI box at game start that implied there were several possible victory conditions.
Tactical Layer:
Imagine this - take XCOM's tactical fights and replace the people with spaceships. Now, replace the map with a hex-based "space map" that has things like "cover" (asteroids, planets, etc. - some of which MOVE from turn to turn!) and other obstacles. All the ships in your fleet start the same, but you can modify/outfit your ships across a bunch of different subsystems (sensors, lasers, plasma cannons, torpedoes, armor, shields, drones, cloaking, engines...) to create ships with a specific role (scout has high speed and upgraded sensors. "Tank" ship has high armor/shields. Lasers are long range and plasma short range, so you can elect for a sniper-type laser setup or a cannon-based brawler setup, for instance.)
(I was not able to confirm if you can name your ships, but it would be a crime if the answer was no. )
The end result is a "Civ Light" with a focus on quests on top of a turn-based tactical XCOM-like battle...
...With Spaceships
--Mark Twain
My body is not ready and I'm about to keel over from hype.
From what I could tell, the empire management was minimal - it's pretty light on the "Civ", other than the fact that you get fun territory control imagery and produce resources. Also, in most 4X you can build several fleets and explore multiple directions, but in Starships there appears to be one single fleet that you fly around with. All the resources and techs are focused exclusively on your fleet and not on economic development - that's all accomplished by quests/interactions with your fleet.
Sid was very clear that the game was about the starships and the various game mechanics you're working with are all never more than one step away from directly affecting your fleet.
--Mark Twain