Great Game: and initial imrpessions
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Stardock Forums
Stardock Forums
Great game! Glad to see someone is out there developing a space empire game--and actually shipping it! I hope you will take the following coments in the spirit in which they are offered (not meant to offend or upset, but honest observations offered to improve a game a license to which I now own).
The economics and government models do not seem correct. Even modest expenditures outstrip even a 60 or 70% tax rate. Under these circumstances, a civilization does not expand into the stars--it collapses (e.g., the Roman Empire, the former Soviet Union) Freedom, and low tax rate, means a growing population and blossoming economy. High tax rate and totalitarian government should mean negative population and economic growth, unless there are mandatory breeding and work programs, and genocidal policies towards one's own population. I am not sure these factors (economic output, poopulation growth, type of economy and type of government) are working together properly to impact the game and interact with one another.
Also, it is not very clear what, if any impact, the various researched technologies have on the game. And early in the game, the space debris is too plentiful and leaves the advancement of a race up to complete chance, which is illogical. Why space debris at all? Or why not just a little space debris? Finding the best colony planets is ample incentive for players to explore the map. I like the idea of certain planets having native species, and other bonuses, but there is too much space stuff impacting the game, and it makes it less of an empire management, and more of a 'click-fest' for space junk and anomolies.
The government types seem overwhelmingly skewed to populist. That seems where I end up, regardless of whatever else I do. It does not seem to reflect the efficiencies and possibilities of a fascist government (witness the productive capacity and popularity of nazi germany) or the productive capacity and ability of a capitalistic/democratic government/economic system to produce extremely happy citizens.
The simplistic value-judgment-driven random events (e.g., your population comes down with a plague. you can let them all die and gain 50 million credits from the ooze of their blistered skin, or spend 500 million to save them)--what does this add to the game? I think it detracts. The way a person spends domestically, his economy and government choice will determine what kind of empire he is running.
There are some incredibly simplistic explanations of game mechanics in the game (as your population grows, so with your citizen's disatisfaction, because there will be more people using the same resources). This sort of 'explanation' does not help anyone play the game or figure it out, and I certainly hope it is not a basic premise used in determining the evolution of the empire. The history of human civilization is the history of greater population density, and greater technology resulting in a better use of resorces, and the discovery of new ones, leading to a better quality of life for EVERYONE, even though there are finite amounts of any resource. It is not a simple mathematical formula (more population=more disatisfaction), as stated in the in-game screen.
The game should be about good planning and making the most of opportunities (and some luck), not about how much good space junk I can find, and whether my value judgments about poltics, aconomics, and morality match the developer's.
Also, there are a monster amount of typos throughout the game.
Again, I know some of these comments seem a bit harsh, and I do wish to congratulate you on a fantasic beginning to what may be a great finsihed game. Just some suggestions.
Where can I send specific bug and typo reports?
The economics and government models do not seem correct. Even modest expenditures outstrip even a 60 or 70% tax rate. Under these circumstances, a civilization does not expand into the stars--it collapses (e.g., the Roman Empire, the former Soviet Union) Freedom, and low tax rate, means a growing population and blossoming economy. High tax rate and totalitarian government should mean negative population and economic growth, unless there are mandatory breeding and work programs, and genocidal policies towards one's own population. I am not sure these factors (economic output, poopulation growth, type of economy and type of government) are working together properly to impact the game and interact with one another.
Also, it is not very clear what, if any impact, the various researched technologies have on the game. And early in the game, the space debris is too plentiful and leaves the advancement of a race up to complete chance, which is illogical. Why space debris at all? Or why not just a little space debris? Finding the best colony planets is ample incentive for players to explore the map. I like the idea of certain planets having native species, and other bonuses, but there is too much space stuff impacting the game, and it makes it less of an empire management, and more of a 'click-fest' for space junk and anomolies.
The government types seem overwhelmingly skewed to populist. That seems where I end up, regardless of whatever else I do. It does not seem to reflect the efficiencies and possibilities of a fascist government (witness the productive capacity and popularity of nazi germany) or the productive capacity and ability of a capitalistic/democratic government/economic system to produce extremely happy citizens.
The simplistic value-judgment-driven random events (e.g., your population comes down with a plague. you can let them all die and gain 50 million credits from the ooze of their blistered skin, or spend 500 million to save them)--what does this add to the game? I think it detracts. The way a person spends domestically, his economy and government choice will determine what kind of empire he is running.
There are some incredibly simplistic explanations of game mechanics in the game (as your population grows, so with your citizen's disatisfaction, because there will be more people using the same resources). This sort of 'explanation' does not help anyone play the game or figure it out, and I certainly hope it is not a basic premise used in determining the evolution of the empire. The history of human civilization is the history of greater population density, and greater technology resulting in a better use of resorces, and the discovery of new ones, leading to a better quality of life for EVERYONE, even though there are finite amounts of any resource. It is not a simple mathematical formula (more population=more disatisfaction), as stated in the in-game screen.
The game should be about good planning and making the most of opportunities (and some luck), not about how much good space junk I can find, and whether my value judgments about poltics, aconomics, and morality match the developer's.
Also, there are a monster amount of typos throughout the game.
Again, I know some of these comments seem a bit harsh, and I do wish to congratulate you on a fantasic beginning to what may be a great finsihed game. Just some suggestions.
Where can I send specific bug and typo reports?
