Story-wise it's a reboot

Haven't we already seen all the Sophon and Craver ships?

We know what they all look like, right?

http://wiki.endless-space.com/factions/sophons

http://wiki.endless-space.com/factions/cravers

Ridiculi wrote:

I honestly just assumed it was a Lumeris ship based off of the screen shots we've seen of their ships...

It doesn't look like any of the Lumeris ships revealed so far in artwork. Their design is more akin to flying US carriers and battleships.

It's either a Sophon ship or something new.

I honestly just assumed it was a Lumeris ship based off of the screen shots we've seen of their ships...

Yeah, that confused me as well.

The-Cat-o-Nine-Tales wrote:

BlackBird1696 wrote:

Ridiculi wrote:

Based off the initial trailer, I kind of thought that narrator might be the Harmony. So I kind of hope they might appear as a Stellaris-like end game challenge

Now that would be cool.  On that note however, earlier I made a thread hosting the pictures of the game from a French website. One of the pictures was this:

Anyone else notice how the fleet profile is of a boxy looking sship we haven't ever seen before? It definately doesn't belong to any of the three currently revealed factions, so whose is it??

+EDIT+ So I just went back and looked over the fleet profiles for the other three factions again. And after taking an even closer look at the above picture, I realized something. It looks like one of the larger battleship/dreadnaught type Harmony ships from Endless Space 0_0

Sorry to say, but with the narrow prow and the bulging mid and aft sections, I think that's probably a Sophon Hecto, their Transport class.

I can see that yea, but I'm going off of the fact that in ES1 fleet icons were always modeled after a single ship class belonging to that faction. And in the IGN gameplay the Sophon's icon was their dreadnought.

BlackBird1696 wrote:

Ridiculi wrote:

Based off the initial trailer, I kind of thought that narrator might be the Harmony. So I kind of hope they might appear as a Stellaris-like end game challenge

Now that would be cool.  On that note however, earlier I made a thread hosting the pictures of the game from a French website. One of the pictures was this:

Anyone else notice how the fleet profile is of a boxy looking sship we haven't ever seen before? It definately doesn't belong to any of the three currently revealed factions, so whose is it??

+EDIT+ So I just went back and looked over the fleet profiles for the other three factions again. And after taking an even closer look at the above picture, I realized something. It looks like one of the larger battleship/dreadnaught type Harmony ships from Endless Space 0_0

Sorry to say, but with the narrow prow and the bulging mid and aft sections, I think that's probably a Sophon Hecto, their Transport class.

So that means factions like the Automatons were retconned out of existence in the new lore? 

Please say it ain't so...

UndeadPuppy wrote:

Technically there was no cannon ending to ES1, so there wouldn't be anything to reboot.

So yeah, I would really appreciate it if the devs would clear things up a bit because at this point it feels like the established lore has quite a few wholes in it.

They did already: 

https://www.games2gether.com/games2gether/forum/65-general/thread/18792-endless-space-2-lore?page=1#post-last

Slowhands wrote:
ES2 is more of a reboot than a continuum.
ES1 did not have a particular plot line (like Endless Legend has with the dying planet of Auriga), so there is no real "before" and "after" to compare it to. The galaxy - and the universe - are vast places, and there are many species and nations both familiar and unfamilar out there....
For the rest, you'll have to wait for the trailers!

There you have it. They just wanted to start fresh, get the lore on par with EL & DotE , create NEW factions, so only most iconic races would reappear. 

Ridiculi wrote:

I honestly just assumed it was a Lumeris ship based off of the screen shots we've seen of their ships...

It isn't a Lumeris ship as it doesn't match the fleet icon shown in the Gamescom gameplay we were shown. Here are Lumeris ships for reference:

UndeadPuppy wrote:

Well, I haven't been disappointed so far unless the United Empire and their ships get added in *throws holy water at them*.

The only thing that kind of bothers me is that a lot of the older factions are probably not going to be in the game, or at best will become Minor Factions.

Here's hoping we get some more contests/DLCs/Expansions after the game launches, because so far none of my favourite factions are in the game (Amoeba, Sowers, Automatons, Harmony), which lore-wise doesn't make sense as some of the older factions had quite a large presence on the galactic stage.

So as I said before, I hope that most of them  get to be Minor Factions/DLCs or at least get mentioned in the game.

I don't even know if the Automatons are still cannon to the universe anymore.

I second this. My favorite faction were the Sowers and they were built by the Endless. Can't imagine they won't be in ES2. They would also fit as an industrial faction.

What I don't understand, is ES2 a reboot or a continuation of ES1? I guess it's more of a reboot, otherwise it wouldn't make sense to set the Hisshos as a minor faction.

Based off the initial trailer, I kind of thought that narrator might be the Harmony. So I kind of hope they might appear as a Stellaris-like end game challenge

UndeadPuppy wrote:

Well, I haven't been disappointed so far unless the United Empire and their ships get added in *throws holy water at them*.

The only thing that kind of bothers me is that a lot of the older factions are probably not going to be in the game, or at best will become Minor Factions.

Here's hoping we get some more contests/DLCs/Expansions after the game launches, because so far none of my favourite factions are in the game (Amoeba, Sowers, Automatons, Harmony), which lore-wise doesn't make sense as some of the older factions had quite a large presence on the galactic stage.

So as I said before, I hope that most of them  get to be Minor Factions/DLCs or at least get mentioned in the game.

I don't even know if the Automatons are still cannon to the universe anymore.

HArmony will probably be a minor faction ala endless legend.

Well, I haven't been disappointed so far unless the United Empire and their ships get added in *throws holy water at them*.

The only thing that kind of bothers me is that a lot of the older factions are probably not going to be in the game, or at best will become Minor Factions.

Here's hoping we get some more contests/DLCs/Expansions after the game launches, because so far none of my favourite factions are in the game (Amoeba, Sowers, Automatons, Harmony), which lore-wise doesn't make sense as some of the older factions had quite a large presence on the galactic stage.

So as I said before, I hope that most of them  get to be Minor Factions/DLCs or at least get mentioned in the game.

I don't even know if the Automatons are still cannon to the universe anymore.

Igncom1 wrote:

UndeadPuppy wrote:

Ridiculi wrote:

I have to assume the 4th faction is going to be human (if there's not more than one.)

Although, considering how human heavy Endless Space 1 and Endless Legend was, it would be hilarious if humans only showed up as a minor faction

No chance of that I'm afraid.

Humans are what we call a "mandatory" faction in every kind of game out there.

If they absolutely have to add a human action to the game then I hope it's the Pilgrims as a Pacifistic/Religious faction.

Heck, I'd take anything over the United Empire and their god awful ugly ships.

You take that back! Space box best box! Space cathedral best cathedral!

Lol

But yeah, I have never ever liked the Galactic Civ 2 or MOO style humans. To star trek for my liking. Too optimistic.

I much prefer a massively cynical outlook on humanity, making them at best the SHIELD OF CIVILISATION! And at worst, Stalin's gulags.

Not a fan of the vualters either.... Pilgrims are at least unique in being xeno influenced, Sophon tech with Human Fanaticism.

Obviously, he does not understand the glory of box ship and box tenk. Is stronk technology.

And the Pilgrim ships wouldn't have looked anywhere as good if the UE ships weren't ugly utilitarian bricks harshly contrasting with the flowing Sophon lines.

Regarding the fourth faction: I'm sure that no matter what, some of you will be pleased, some of you will be disappointed, so there is no right choice for them.

UndeadPuppy wrote:

Ridiculi wrote:

I have to assume the 4th faction is going to be human (if there's not more than one.)

Although, considering how human heavy Endless Space 1 and Endless Legend was, it would be hilarious if humans only showed up as a minor faction

No chance of that I'm afraid.

Humans are what we call a "mandatory" faction in every kind of game out there.

If they absolutely have to add a human action to the game then I hope it's the Pilgrims as a Pacifistic/Religious faction.

Heck, I'd take anything over the United Empire and their god awful ugly ships.

You take that back! Space box best box! Space cathedral best cathedral!

Lol

But yeah, I have never ever liked the Galactic Civ 2 or MOO style humans. To star trek for my liking. Too optimistic.

I much prefer a massively cynical outlook on humanity, making them at best the SHIELD OF CIVILISATION! And at worst, Stalin's gulags.

Not a fan of the vualters either.... Pilgrims are at least unique in being xeno influenced, Sophon tech with Human Fanaticism.

The-Cat-o-Nine-Tales wrote:

I'm not sure if the ship in that final image is even large enough to be classed as a corvette.

And Blackbird1696 is right: The Caraque had a very different display model than the combined military fleet. And that is all I will say on the identity of that mystery ship.

Actually based on their design in the picture I'd have to say that, if those really are UE ships, then they would be transports or freighters.