Star Ruler

[Chick]

Possibly the worst named game in the history of games.

That said, it looks pretty good. the only downside is the developers have said they are having to "rush it out a little rough around the edges" as they are broke. they are pretty active on their, and other forums where the game's discussed (A dev arrived in a SHC thread on the game for instance) and promising a lot, hopefully they will deliver it. Allegedly there will be a '0-day patch' out soon to deal with some issues. Fingers crossed they deliver as i think they deserve to.

It's released tomorrow anyway, and probably worth bunging the (indy) developers the 13 quid a direct download will cost you. I am going to anyway as it looks like a fun distraction as i never got into GalCiv (Though i hear 2 is more accessible, so i may try that too).

http://starruler.blind-mind.com

You can, allegedly build Solar system sized ships if you research properly / play long enough, have thousands of planets if you want to get carried away, move planets, detonate stars..... but seriously though, that name.....

 

[Artanix]

i'll have to keep an eye on it, I've been trying desperately to find a sci-fi game along the lines of Pax Imperia that isn't an MMO, (Pax Imperia was basically Masters of Orion, but real time). I loved homeworld too, but anyway.

Has there been anything like this since? apart from Gratitious Space Battles (since that was just a space game manager tbh lol).

SC2 has my attention for now anyway

 

[Chick]

Not as far as i can tell. People are still playing, and modding Sins of a Solar Empire, adn a prequel too that, Sword of the Stars or something is supposed to be good too, but this looks like the big one.

Games companies HATE releasing Space 4x games.

 

[Chick]

This game rules.
but seriously what?

 

[Artanix]

i want, but SC2 is more important still

 

[Chick]

Luckily, it's possible to pause the game and queue / scroll / design ships etc.

There doesn't seem to be a manual though, and the tutorials are crap. Good Old Indy games... oh foudn a trick. if you dump the contents of the research trees to a text file, you can then read off what can be built at which levels fo research.

Wtf

OTOH there is massive potential here, and I'm starting to get to grips with it after only a few hours. It's got an Eve-Like learning curve... you seen the comedy graph?

 

[Artanix]

I miss games with Eve learning walls, you get a sense of achievement when you're done. Its like Dwarf Fortress.. that game is complicated!

 

[Chick]

Yarp. never tried Dwarf Fortress. All the "help/care/lolwtf" threads I know about it are over 300 pages long and fuck that tbh.
This is Dwarf Fortress in space. With Death Stars

 

[Artanix]

ok im' gonna get it then next week sometime

 

[Chick]

patch 1.0.0.2 is out btw.
They've balanced tech research at the start, as it was pretty OTT to begin with (Getting all basic tech unlocked previously took about 5 minutes, and you can now blow up stars and planets.

Though i screwed up last night and my planetkiller ran out of fuel before it hit target system, then carried on due to inertia and went straight out of the galaxy.

GG

 

[Zeus]

so its worth getting then?

should i wait for more patches, or is it ok to play now?

also, is there much single player to it, or is it MP mainly?

 

[Chick]

It's definitely playable, and a nice distraction. it's also got the sort of hidden depths i suspec will take ages to fully come out, as long as it's maintained, modded and supported, which is seems to be.

My biggest gripe, and the largest problem i've found so far is the Fleet / Selection UI which needs a complete overhaul. You really just have to grab a bunch of stuff, and throw it at an enemy position, and hope. They are working on the UI I hear, but until then you just have to zoom in / out a lot and get on with it

Documentation is pretty much non-existent, though with the tutorial, forums, some intelligence and a few forum threads, it's not too bad to work things out.

I've only played a few hours in "training universes" against the computer, and stomped it pretty easily once I figured things out, but not tried anything larger yet, so i can't really talk too much about the AI yet. I believe it's rather hit and miss. you either demolish it, or get blobbed by dreads after 20 minutes.

then again, it is only 13 quid from Impulse, and the Lead dev hangs out in a few forms helping people out, so it's a no-brainer for me.

There is a longer thread HERE with some gameplay tips startign around page9 which'll get you started.