L30, you have a genius among your ranks.

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Kruelgor
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L30, you have a genius among your ranks.

Post by Kruelgor »

Whoever the mastermind is behind Horizon game design is a genius. You've got a gem here.

I just purchased and am downloading the beta game from Steam at this very moment. I'm very meticulous and spend a lot of time researching before I purchase a game. At age 39, I've been playing computer games like a maniac for 35 years so when I give you feedback on a computer game you can take it as gospel. I look forward to participating in the beta.

My first impression from watching videos of Horizon is that this game is going to be an absolute hit. It'll get a GameSpot.com user review rating of 8.0 or higher (which is rare).

My favorite space empire game of all time was Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain, and Horizon reminds me a bit of it, but Horizon looks better and grander.

I look forward to having fun with this potential masterpiece.

- Kruelgor, Military Alliance of Great Online Gamers (MAGOG)

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C.C
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Re: L30, you have a genius among your ranks.

Post by C.C »

Just out of curiosity, what would be a 10/10?


For me I've never seen my 10/10. I think the closest that has ever come is sword of the stars when I first played it. That would have been a 9.5 (though now it'd probably be a 8.5 due to wear and tear). It felt really great playing with all those ships.. cloaking, shields, minelayers, fighters and such and I felt like it was homeworld with turn based strategy.... I replayed it recently and the graphics feel a little dated and I really sucked at it but I still like playing it. The interface was really smooth and I always felt like I knew what I was doing. That being said the computer always wrecked my sh*t lol, mostly because I'd gufaw at some point. The pacing was nice too.

I really enjoyed empire of the fading suns, that was my favorite "setting". It had me immersed in the mythos of it. How each invention was described as "diabolical and against the mother church". The game itself could have used some work, though I enjoyed the point system for resources and I also enjoyed the idea of the church coming down and wrecking me for researching something or the aliens from across the stars going in and munching on the rest of the galaxy. That being said it was a unfinished game. I still loved it though. It could have done with the new turn based strategy where you control your units however.

If you could somehow combine the massiveness, intensity, and background of the universe of empire of the fading suns, the turn based real time strategy, pacing, and over-all smoothness of sword of the stars 2 and combine that with something that was a decent ground combat simulator (maybe something from mech commander or perhaps even something as simple as what they had for master of orion 3) that would be my 10/10. I need atmosphere, pacing, smothness, ship design, thematic movies, a idea on where I stand in the universe... yeah its pretty impossible.

Currently this game rates a 8 for me as well but it will probably go to a 9 if the bugs and kinks get hammered out and additional content (playing other races in mission mode) is added.

GreenKing
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Re: L30, you have a genius among your ranks.

Post by GreenKing »

Kruelgor wrote:My favorite space empire game of all time was Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain, and Horizon reminds me a bit of it, but Horizon looks better and grander.
I had a lot of fun with Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain as well (although it didn't get wonderful reviews at the time). I really liked the way they did research and Horizon has some similarities.

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Kruelgor
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Re: L30, you have a genius among your ranks.

Post by Kruelgor »

C.C wrote:Just out of curiosity, what would be a 10/10?
There's never been a 10/10 and probably never will be and that's primarily because these game design companies place the wrong type of person in charge as lead designer. It is a mistake to put a nerdy computer programmer as the lead designer, those types of people should be the builders but not the designer. The lead designer should always always be an experienced pro gamer. For me personally, the highest rated games I've ever played were Total Annihilation and Battlefield 1942. I'd give them each 9.5. They are currently working on a game inspired by TA that I'm looking forward to called Planetary Annihilation.

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Kruelgor
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Re: L30, you have a genius among your ranks.

Post by Kruelgor »

After actually playing the game of Horizon, I have to give some brutal feedback.

My list would probably be longer, but this is based on an hour of game play.

1. I don't like the UI. It's too clunky and not user friendly. The zoom feature could dramatically be improved to make things easier.

2. Shift+Enter to end turn is not good. Make it something simpler like Spacebar or just Enter.

3. The map doesn't feel galactic. The little colored square icons that represent solar systems are not good. It needs to look and feel more spacey. Get rid of the squares.


I have to be brutally honest. My first impression of Horizon is now a let down, and I have little desire to play any further. Sorry. I would highly recommend you play 3 straight days worth of Pax Imperia eminent domain for some design ideas and improve your UI accordingly, and you will have improved your game tenfold.

- Your UI needs a major overhaul. Make it more user-friendly.
- Make it feel more galactic and spacey.


In it's current state, I predict the game will get an average gamespot score between 6.8 and 7.5 from the user player base.

ZZGashi
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Re: L30, you have a genius among your ranks.

Post by ZZGashi »

Kruelgor wrote:
C.C wrote:Just out of curiosity, what would be a 10/10?
They are currently working on a game inspired by TA that I'm looking forward to called Planetary Annihilation.
I backed that on Kickstater and have been playing Alpha and now Beta, and it is really shaping up. I remember playing TA as the first computer game I ever played, it is what got me into strategy games and gaming in general.