What do you guys think ?

Endless Legend.



I didn't like Pandora. It has some good ideas, like the people not apperaing just from food, but from this Little babies wich represents dthe reproduction rate, and the food only sustaining them. But from Civ 5 Im getting tired from the stack of the doom strategy an the micromanagement of units.



EL doeesn't allows stack-doom with army mechanics. I like the regions sistema, the tech tree, the idea of the quests, and graphics are far superior tan in pandora.



It's only imo... you asked.

They are different beast in a way too. Pandora is as much about managing a hostile alien threat as it is the rest of the 4X staples. To me, both games give you different experiences. I feel it is hard to compare them both even though they are both of the 4X genre. Endless Legend seems to be more Fantasy Empire Building. Pandora is more about Survival 4X, imo of course.

I think EL has the more interesting mechanics, and definately better races. However, I think Pandora has a tighter more streamlined gameplay, that gives you that "one more turn" feeling better than EL.

Thank you all. I will then give Pandora a try. Is there any help/tutorial etc. to help me start ?

This is wholly subjective to be honest. Both games are nothing alike. Compare Pandora to Alpha Centauri because that's how the game tries to pay homage to and here I have to say that whilst Pandora feels fast, sleek and 'streamlined' it also feels quite sterile, bland and without much depth. Also good luck finding a Pandora manual/help, it's one of the most criticized aspect since the game doesn't really have a lively and thriving community. It's also from a different publisher so there's that.

Darkeus wrote:
They are different beast in a way too. Pandora is as much about managing a hostile alien threat as it is the rest of the 4X staples.

Did you know that in Endless Legend, the planet is apparently dying? I mean, that does also sound like a pretty big threat, but it's strange that there are very few gameplay elements which makes you aware of that, like Pandora apparently manages...

eobet wrote:
Did you know that in Endless Legend, the planet is apparently dying? I mean, that does also sound like a pretty big threat, but it's strange that there are very few gameplay elements which makes you aware of that, like Pandora apparently manages...

You mean except for a deadly ice age that is drawing closer and closer? Yeah I don't see any elements that make you aware of your finite life left on the planet or anything...

eobet wrote:
Did you know that in Endless Legend, the planet is apparently dying? I mean, that does also sound like a pretty big threat, but it's strange that there are very few gameplay elements which makes you aware of that, like Pandora apparently manages...

Apples and oranges really.



In EL the planet dies but its wildlife - if you could call the non-pacified minor factions as such - does not pose a threat to you.



In Pandora the planet itself is stable but its wildlife poses a limited threat to you.



If the common denominator is threat then both are similar, but the threats are not of the same nature or kind, otherwise you could compare Call of Duty with EL because you as a player have to deal with some sort of threat at one point.

You really shouldn't post questions like this in the general EL forum, this is off-topic. That out of the way:



I'm a big and very active fan of Pandora, even like to imagine I have helped shape the game through my feedback which has resulted in several balance changes through patches and even though I recently delivered an impaling criticism of the new expansion.



Pandora has:



- Exceptionally good user interface. Smooth, clean, consistent, clear. Perfection.

- Several innovative mechanics. Random tech tree, population migration and more.

- Just all-round solid mechanics. It's well balanced, for the most part. Excellent rock-scissor-paper combat between your tanks, snipers, strike aircraft and combat mechs, although the AI isn't good enough to put up a challenge at all so you'll roll right over it. It's still good fun defending against the local wildlife, though, and there's an alien invasion waiting as well for an additional challenge.

- It's based off Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC), and it does a reasonably good copying of a number of things. This is a big plus unto itself.



Pandora's problems are:



- Weak AI.

- Unstable diplomacy.

- A little soulless. There's a lot of number-crunching, which is actually much like Amplitude's games. However, this is at the same time not a negative but a plus because with the game and interface being so clean, min-maxing city development becomes enjoyable (my subjective opinion, obviously). Managing cities in EL or ES can feel like a chore to me; much less so with Pandora. You're still playing a spreadsheet, but this one is just so... shiny. If Civ IV was too nerdy for you you will not like this either.

- Severe lack of map generation scripts, there's just three basics. That's a pretty general trend for the game: Not a lot of content, but what content there is is really good.



I highly recommend the game on the conditions that you realize it's a game from a very small team. It doesn't blow away giants like Civilization. I don't recommend the new expansion - though they might improve it with patches (this is likely), their espionage system is an utter failure and the game is actually better without it, and the expansion is close to meaningless without the espionage. Compared to Endless Legend the game world isn't as rich and detailed but it is much cleaner, better balanced without random bugs getting in your way. It's a gem.

eobet wrote:
Did you know that in Endless Legend, the planet is apparently dying? I mean, that does also sound like a pretty big threat, but it's strange that there are very few gameplay elements which makes you aware of that, like Pandora apparently manages...

Winters come more frequently, last longer, and have more penalties as the game progresses. Given that this has a major impact on the mid- and late-game, I'd say that's a pretty big gameplay element.

I gave Pandora a try... And I was thinking.. I killed all hives... all enemies are weak or dead already... what now ?

And then strange video came.. I was suspicious... but when I saw few power 30 aliens near all my cities I knew it's over was fun.