The Veteran claim:
I'm probably like many that play this type of game, a long time gamer on multiple platforms over the past 3 decades. My first console as a nipper was the Atari 2600 and the original Mario Bros. (no Super back then) - the neverending game that was literally neverending! C64s, Spectrum & Atari and so on. Coming from an RPG tabletop and D&D background it was easy to make the transition to the 1st 4X turn based strategy in 1991 - Civilization. Then Civ 2, Rise and Rule of ancient EMpires, Alpha Centauri, MoO, MoO2, Botf, GalCiv, Civ 3 and MoO3 and onwards. Still playing them today, Civ 5, XCom and MoO 3 today, multiple games, some half decade long!
I'm not sure if I'm a typical veteran though, or at least I'm yet to meet one that thinks as do about certain classics, because although I Loved MoO 20 years ago, and MoO2 after it, I always found myself returning to MoO3, which many people hated.
Don't get me wrong, MoO3 had flaws, but so did the originals, and I had also grown up on a steady diet of science fiction in literature, comics and film/TV through the Star Wars years through to the Babylon 5 & Deep Space 9 years etc. I was familiar with jump gate technology, and steep learning curves, I enjoyed the ship or racial customisation restrictions, I liked that aliens were hostile largely, but if you were lucky and treated the right race well according to the characteristics (as well as the story) you could play the game without being an intergalactic imperialist. You could recreate the space battles you'd watched on TV role-playing battles like the 'Battle of Coriana VI' in Babylon 5. I know I'm not the only one that does that, as the modding community shows, and the fact that many of the races is Horizon reflect some popular amalgamations of popular show archetypes - Klingons, Centauri, Vorlons, Shadows, Minbari, Ferengi, Jawa, Borg/Flood? I digress. But the point is. Like MurphyMurphy, I have also been seeking a replacement for the MoO series, which for me was too simplistic, and patched MoO3 which I still play, but which can sometimes become tedious to play (I ALWAYS play huge galaxies, max races etc) Micromanagement is important, but the ability to exercise some control so they don't blow your budget was also key - MoO3 gave more complexity with the introduction of an intelligent viceroy and having other factors like technological improvements having positive effects on productivity etc, as opposed to one structure requiring construction in order to have any production whatsoever. There have been many, Endless SPace had snazzy graphics, but was boring and simplistic, and the galaxies were too small, the tech tree too narrow.
I became aware of Horizon a long time ago, and installed it before I had the ability to even run it, as my PC was in a bad state of repair (a bit like those extinct civilization world you encounter in this game
). I don't know why, I liked the premise, I liked that it was Turn based, not RTS. I hate RTS's, have done since Age of Empires 3. Total War is the only exception because it is also 4X TB. I LOVED that it was a Space 4Xer. I'd given useless entries like 'Star something or other' and 'Endless Space' was more like Mindless Space, so I found myself returning to good old MoO3 and hitting the Load game button.Until recently, got my PC sorted, loaded up Horizon and checked it out a few weeks ago. I've not been able to put it down since, doing the obligatory night shifts to complete one more turn before bed....... at sunrise. That old 'One More Turn' buzz. A few 100 world MoO3 turns are NOT FUN to play, as much as you do want to get through the micro. I had a quick bash on the easiest setting just to see how quickly it was to get through to a relative size and determine this aspect (which would sell it or not for me), and found myself not getting bored, flying through turns and getting through the interface intuitively, and enjoying all the mechanics and techs. At this point I decided to reroll a new game and try the classic story mode, and instantly recognised the Kor'tahz as what I believe are the Shadows from Babylon 5? Ok not bad. Then the Kuntari came along with their warrior ways, and something about a Hammer. Waitaminute, that's like in Star Trek TNG, when Picard finds Kahless and helps the Klingons reunify by finding the Bat'leth of Kahless. Ok I'm getting tickled now by the subtle similarity (because it tells me the people who made this game are also fans and participants/proponents of the genre and the medium - and they get the things I do from these stories and games etc). By the time I meet the Kamzak and Gargals in their Cruisers I can't help but think of Minbari Angel ships and Xindi aquatic boat-ships from B5/Trek and lots and lots of sci-fi literature and media over the decades.
When I play, sometimes I change the names, and it's great you have a facility that allows you to change names of systems, planets, as well as TFs.
My visual experience:
For these types of games, like MurphyMurphy, I'm not looking for snazzy visuals. MoO3 has some of the crappest visuals in the genre yet I still go back to it. I'm sure others could say the same about their favourites. So visually, I can sacrifice not looking like the Hubble's latest visuals. But actually, they are better than most including our beloved classics. I like the background galaxies/universe and mix of stars. I like the planetary visuals in the tactical screen, and for planets large enough, you can see the satellites orbiting (perhaps more than a couple moon sized satellites or even smaller satellites like Mars' Phobos & Deimos would be a nice touch, even asteroid belts - since Asteroid Mining can be discovered in the tech tree). What I would say on the visuals is query why a ship fitted with planetary survey equipment installed, especially if refined, and refined scanners level too, cannot scan planets, without engaging the sector, is this possible to include, as that doesn't make sense imho?).
I don't expect the launcher to be complicated. I expect it to be simple, and allow me to gain access to gameplay as quickly as possible. I LOVE Civ V. Don't love the load up time for a large, advanced end-game. Horizon does it before I can finish sipping my coffee! MASSIVE CREDIT to you guys for making this game easy to get into. I especially like that it is small, and like the game itself, is easily minimised.
Cut scenes don't bother me. I like them too. It's the best chance you get to actually look at the ships of aliens close up. WHen I started playing, it helped me know who I was encountering. I also like the little IPX video report showing the worlds - although this may need better graphics as it implies some of the races like teh Kuntari live on harsh metallic worlds when they like Terran planets - and outside the large cities, the planets lack any detail whatsoever. But this is a very very minor issue, and no way spoils the game for me. Colours are less of an issue, as I think in the normal mode we can change this I think, (I am not sure). Besides there aren't many civs and I plan to turn every planet Earth Alliance Green anyway, who cares the Barsigs like pink for their colour scheme?
Mechanics and gameplay:
I can't contradict '20 year veteran'. They are solid, and the gameplay has me playing consistently, getting my free time over and above long established and newer recent purchases on both PC and console. For me, I like to switch between games to stave off boredom. THIS game makes me KEEP playing. A major plus.
I like the simultaneous research and the ability to focus. It reflects real world research (as much as it's sci-fi). I like that advances/breakthroughs in one area can sometimes cause new techs to be uncovered in related fields, opening new military, civic, or scientific options/trees for gameplay. Terraforming!! Stargates!! Yay!!!!
Logistics:
I play with this setting which I think is a nice touch, and restricts your ability to spam ships (but the AI builds ships it cannot possibly support with no starbases (maybe this has been changed with the December patch as the logistics pts have been increased). I did find it very frustrating but a nice touch, to limit and customise ship models, taking into consideration capacity to maintain them. Didn't like those negative penalties, but it forces you to think of amixed economy strategy to be able to afford it. That's a nice touch too. Especially now the values have increased, before that, you just couldn't build a fleet fast enough to respond to treacherous shifts in diplomacy within your means.
Is there a way we can see at a glance though how ship construction orders can be factored into the logistics total top of the screen, when you have lots of worlds it's hard keeping track of where you're building that 3 or 4 CP cruiser, if you;re trying not to run into a deficit unwittingly. Can the logistics total reflect from the moment of the building order to include the future ship order's Command Points? Or in the tooltip when you hover over logistics - at present the only way if I am correct is to manually remember or write down where your high CP ships are being built.
U.I:
I don't know if me having a different experience is down to human preference, or the fact that your team has been working hard with many recent updates which have noticeably improved many things as I've been discovering them, it's almost like as soon as I discover and irritating aspect of the game, as I get more experienced at it, within a few days, max half a week, you've introduced an update or patch to eliminate it, and added something else (that new Logistics update was almost telepathic or clair-sentient!) which improves my game experience. Again, Massive respect and thanks to all involved at being so responsive to improvement and so prompt, not to mention effective. I've only experienced 2 crashes, ever, and the issue was resolved the next day.
Multiplayer or SIngleplayer?
Han Solo for me please. I have done the MP thing, but I find they don't allow me to play at leisure at my own pace, without needing to conform to other rules or etiquettes. I appreciate if people want to. But I've never played MP for these types of games and enjoyed it.
Summarial Thoughts:
I disagree with MurphyMurphy. This isn't MoO1. This is HORIZON. I WANT to go back and play MOO3. (MOO1 or 2 whatever your flavour). Except, I don't need to. Horizon allows me to play all 3 MoO's, with a little bit extra learning from 20 years of pretenders. I WANT to play Horizon. I have the launcher up now and this long ass treatise is eating into my Kuntari extermination time.
I am not just gushingly offering blind praise, I believe you have more than the nuggets of a classic. I believe you have a worthy successor in your own right, and one that is constantly improving and updating as you go. I wholeheartedly thank you and congratulate you all for what is clearly a long labour of love. I do hope this game gets the success it deserves. I'm certainly shouting about it on the social media forums for sci-fi shows like B5 & Star Trek Voyager et al.
My love for this game is up there with many of my stalwart classics on my favourites list, next to XCOM Apocalypse, Empire Total War, Civ V BNW, Football Manager and the UFO series. I think that's a good pedigree to stand alongside, even if that's just one old vet's opinion.
As we'd say in Britain...... "Nice one mates! You've played a blinder and pulled out a cracker of a game!"
I hope my post isn't too long and overbearing. I just wanted to let you guys know that you've made a fan out of me! Keep up the interstellar work!
Griffinblaze.
