Shadow Empire - planetary conquest from Advanced Tactics/Decisive Campaigns dev

[Mortmal]

You are going to wait forever then, the game if completely functional already, will never be finished, he plan to add naval and air warfare as well.

 

[Mortmal]

Edija , its true he really plan to implement those.

 

[Edija]

Edija , its true he really plan to implement those.

I know, I'm just wondering about the game "will never be finished" part, since the game is pretty playable right now and I don't see that functionality going down but rather up - so what is the actual problem?

 

[Mortmal]

Edija , its true he really plan to implement those.

I know, I'm just wondering about the game "will never be finished" part, since the game is pretty playable right now and I don't see that functionality going down but rather up - so what is the actual problem?

Actual problem is dev not being satisfied yet .

 

[dehimos]

Actual problem is dev not being satisfied yet .

A true artist is never satisfied.

 

[Hoggypare]

The changes I was thinking about are balancing and bugfixes. I feel like it is pretty reasonable to wait with a multiplayer commitment for those, especially considering how rapidly he is adressing them. Not to mention this game, being niche, and with its complexity had (and probably still has) some issues that were hard to track and find before the release. Some like inability to remove roads and the glitch making it unable to replace munitions were pretty major. They are adressed now, but I do not know if these are all, and I can't see how waiting for this stable version or next one are 'waiting forever'.

 

[Beowulf]

The changes I was thinking about are balancing and bugfixes. I feel like it is pretty reasonable to wait with a multiplayer commitment for those, especially considering how rapidly he is adressing them. Not to mention this game, being niche, and with its complexity had (and probably still has) some issues that were hard to track and find before the release. Some like inability to remove roads and the glitch making it unable to replace munitions were pretty major. They are adressed now, but I do not know if these are all, and I can't see how waiting for this stable version or next one are 'waiting forever'.

Tech prerequisites not fully listed, model types showing wrong dependencies and so on. It is in a very solid state considering how deep the game is, but needs some polishing and bugfixing indeed.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

how are you playing this if it's "out later this earth-like year"?

 

[Xamenos]

how are you playing this if it's "out later this earth-like year"?

It's out on the Matrix store, coming later on Steam.

 

[Beowulf]

how are you playing this if it's "out later this earth-like year"?

You have to go to the same guy who fixes you with Alpha access for That Which Sleeps.

 

[Hoggypare]

how are you playing this if it's "out later this earth-like year"?

You have to go to the same guy who fixes you with Alpha access for That Which Sleeps.

That said, the application process for Shadow Empires is much more lenient

 

[Galdred]

how are you playing this if it's "out later this earth-like year"?

You have to go to the same guy who fixes you with Alpha access for That Which Sleeps.

That said, the application process for Shadow Empires is much more lenient

And it doesn't have a NDA that prevents you from posting screenshots.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

holy fucking fuck 38 euros. it's shrapnel games all over again.

 

[Van-d-all]

The changes I was thinking about are balancing and bugfixes. I feel like it is pretty reasonable to wait with a multiplayer commitment for those, especially considering how rapidly he is adressing them. Not to mention this game, being niche, and with its complexity had (and probably still has) some issues that were hard to track and find before the release. Some like inability to remove roads and the glitch making it unable to replace munitions were pretty major. They are adressed now, but I do not know if these are all, and I can't see how waiting for this stable version or next one are 'waiting forever'.

Tech prerequisites not fully listed, model types showing wrong dependencies and so on. It is in a very solid state considering how deep the game is, but needs some polishing and bugfixing indeed.

Given what's happening on matrix forum, the game is so complex, that people thought that some of the bugs were deliberate features. Others require some major spreadsheeting to even notice that calculation of this or that doesn't add up, especially when most people just press end turn and hope for the best.

 

[Galdred]

holy fucking fuck 38 euros. it's shrapnel games all over again.

Indeed, but at least, there was a launch wargamer.com 20% coupon, and you can use your anniversary coupon when it comes up.
Also, they don't have a DRM that requires you to call support everytime you want to boot it up on your laptop.
The price is still steep indeed, but it is somewhat similar to the pricing of Dominions 5 iirc.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

oh wow, a launch coupon for a game with such an extensive coverage i read its name for the first and only time among pirated releases, a project so niche and so ambitious i can't and won't reasonably expect the same support the trese brothers give.
and dom5 is another unplayable 20 years old mess, comparing anything to it is not flattering at all.

 

[Van-d-all]

game with such an extensive coverage i read its name for the first and only time among pirated releases

You pay for the game or the hype?

won't reasonably expect the same support the trese brothers give.

So far dude's been releasing patches every day. Including weekend.

 

[Burning Bridges]

I already played Decisive Campaigns like 12 years ago, and it looked almost exactly like this. This shit isn't going anywhere. He just replaced his repetitive green tile with a brown one.

 

[Galdred]

I already played Decisive Campaigns like 12 years ago, and it looked almost exactly like this. This shit isn't going anywhere. He just replaced his repetitive green tile with a brown one.

It feels much closer to Advanced Tactics, though. With more economy/diplomacy/politics, and less flexibility (because AT:G was easy to mod into whatever you wanted).

 

[JohnTheRevelator]

I don't know about multiplayer. Think how long it takes to finish one game of Dominions and you have llama server and it's a we-go system where everyone takes their turn at the same time. Here you'd need to pass that turn file from player to player. It possibly could take even few days to do one turn. Now do that times 75-150. I just don't think this game is all that well suited for multiplayer. I could see it working only with 2 dedicated players that can bounce that turn file multiple times in one day. If you add more people it will get bogged down really quickly. Think how often someone needs a time extension or simply doesn't do their turn in Dominions. There while it's not great you can deal with it, here it would literally stop game dead.

 

[Beowulf]

I don't know about multiplayer. Think how long it takes to finish one game of Dominions and you have llama server and it's a we-go system where everyone takes their turn at the same time. Here you'd need to pass that turn file from player to player. It possibly could take even few days to do one turn. Now do that times 75-150. I just don't think this game is all that well suited for multiplayer. I could see it working only with 2 dedicated players that can bounce that turn file multiple times in one day. If you add more people it will get bogged down really quickly. Think how often someone needs a time extension or simply doesn't do their turn in Dominions. There while it's not great you can deal with it, here it would literally stop game dead.

That is a valid concern. One of my PBEM's is running for almost 1,5 years now, but it seems we picked up the turn cycle.
But Shadow Empire is very customizable. You can start on a small moon with armies already present and high technology level. Sure, it won't give you the same feeling of exploring alien planet and developing your city state as a longer game, but it will be fast. It's just a matter of adjusting settings for your game. Perhaps planetoid start with 1 army per zone and two zones each would be a good and fast beginner game?

 

[Mortmal]

So now we spent a bit of time on it what does seems the best strategy for this game? It's a lot easier in my opinion to go full autocracy , fist and enforcement , then rush light tank design and later mixed formation infantry+tanks+artillery. The tech isn't king in this game,going to full mind doesn't work for me . I noticed you get ton of militia but with 40% combat bonus fist gives they are just as good than regulars and ultra cheap, its a massive avantage that bonus compare to a 50%+ research . Better to have numerous inferior troops you can encircle with, very fast and early, even if its the shittiest infantry possible encircle= death. I have yet to really need to produce end units like monitor tanks, nukes or walker.The units i produced at the begining now have ton of xp and tearing apart anything.

 

[oscar]

At turn 78 and I'm in a great end-game final war. We both control a similar amount of territory and population (only one or two irrelevant minors in some desolate isolated regions are left). My enemy has power armoured infantry who seem able to cut swathes through my padded envirosuit guys but I have more (and superior) tanks as well as a strong rail system. AI is really keeping me on my toes and has given me some real ass whoopings (my only real victories have been some minor encirclements). I'm going to try and pull a Stalingrad on him and cut his space marine hordes to ribbons on the ruins until I finish my infantry armour research.

 

[JohnTheRevelator]

So now we spent a bit of time on it what does seems the best strategy for this game? It's a lot easier in my opinion to go full autocracy , fist and enforcement , then rush light tank design and later mixed formation infantry+tanks+artillery. The tech isn't king in this game,going to full mind doesn't work for me . I noticed you get ton of militia but with 40% combat bonus fist gives they are just as good than regulars and ultra cheap, its a massive avantage that bonus compare to a 50%+ research . Better to have numerous inferior troops you can encircle with, very fast and early, even if its the shittiest infantry possible encircle= death. I have yet to really need to produce end units like monitor tanks, nukes or walker.The units i produced at the begining now have ton of xp and tearing apart anything.

I like Meritocracy, Government, Mind. Though I first aim to get 1 level of Commerce for private economy bonus and private investment stratagem. Helps you a lot to get light industry ASAP and if you are lucky enough to have eager industrialist card or two to upgrade it... with free market you can be getting over 200 IP for free PLUS tax money PLUS even more investment into private economy very early into the game. Later on with your own industry and various production buildings public economy bonuses become much more powerful. BP production bonus is also great.

Meritocracy offers nice all around bonuses to pretty much everything though again early on you may want to invest into something else since first level just gives you diplomacy rolls bonus and Recruit Talent which while fantastic you will need Interior Council before you can even use it so very early game it just isn't that great.

Mind while I agree doesn't actually feel in any significant way stronger than other options I still prefer it. Research bonus is self explanatory, cultural adjustment bonus is great too though. Let's you integrate conquered cities faster and recruit their population into your armies that much sooner. I also like artillery and mechanized forces and you get stratagems for them here.

I mean just look at that. Why would you ever want to use unarmed truck instead?

Spoiler

As for quantity vs. quality argument. Depends on situation/terrain IMO. I've had issues on some fronts where logistics were stretched as much as they could be and while in theory I could send more units there in practice it would do no good and just create even bigger issue with supply (there are also over-stacking penalties). Tech can help you not just to increase fighting power of your units but also decrease their logistic footprint.

Here is my medium tank from my current game. Pay attention to fuel consumption.

Spoiler

Here is brand new version of it.

Spoiler

See the difference? Now I can operate twice as many of them out of same number of logistics points. That is HUGE. All it took is few turns of BP investment into Fuel Efficiency tech by Applied Science council (BTW get it fairly early, there are some really strong bonuses you can get there at relatively small investment, I initially made mistake of getting it late because I sort of assumed it's more of a late game repeatable tech stuff like in other games, you know just a research point sink after you finish tech tree for some small bonuses here and there, nope bonuses are actually significant and getting them to 25-50 points is very cheap actually, it does slow down a lot if you try to max them out though).

 

[oscar]

When (if ever) is the right time to build a second SHQ?