So, I just got into Endless space. Here are some of my first impressions. I'll focus mostly on the criticisms, which doesn't mean I don't like the game. Maybe these are some of the things you can improve for the sequel.



- Great atmosphere /art direction

- Having fun overall.



- UI/text is not scalable, which means I need to play at a lower resolution. Even at 1080p, everything is still very small.



- UI is very busy and does not highlight important information. This might seem minor, but communicating important information to the player is actually very important. For example, the info on how many turns it will take your planet to grow one population is not very visible. Overall, there's an information overload.



The biggest problem that I found with communicating information is about the Approval system. When systems are on strike, you don't get a popup. It took me about 5 hours just to notice that there was an approval system and a taxation slider. And I forget about it all the time! I just found out in my current game that 70% of my systems were on strike. I have no idea how long this has been going on. And I'm still not sure what effect this has, but it's probably major. This to me is a huge failure. Important info like this should be right front and center.



There's no visual indication on the galaxy map that there's a strike. Ideally, like in CIV, you should see little flames and smoke coming from the planet to give you a clue that something is going on.



- The approval system is central to balancing expansion. Apparently your population hates it when you expand. However, this is not intuitive, since it makes no sense. Also, this is, again, not that obvious.



- While writing this, i just found out that there were colonies and outposts. This is super important information, but again it's hidden as super tiny text below the system name.



It also took me a very long time to find that there was an AI governor feature. This feature should be accessible from the system screen.



- Micromanagement is overwhelming. Especially when your empire gets big, you have to micromanage a huge amount of stuff. Then maybe I expand too much. I have maybe 20 systems on a small map. I did overexpand though which is why I'm suffering from a strike. Still, I can't imagine playing on a larger map. Also, the number of planets and of unique bonuses and penalties make the game overwhelming. As a newbie at least, at some point I just stop caring and reading all the different labels. I just go with what seems good.



-Also, I feel like the luxury resources system is too complex. In CIV, luxuries will mostly give you happiness. It's a simple system that intuitive. The ES luxury system is complex, but does this really add to the game? Does this really lead to some interesting strategic decisions by the player? I'm not sure.



- Research tree. The research tree branching out into 4 directions makes choosing a tech more complex for the player than a linear research tree. This kind of tech tree is common in 4X games, but I prefer the more linear CIV tree which is a lot more manageable.



- Ship creation UI. I feel like this is a strong point for the game since it's simple and intuitive.



- Lots of tiny details could be improved in the UI, like telling you how many turns left until you arrive at your destination. Also, I'd like to get a notification when my ships arrive.



- Not a lot of information conveyed visually. This is a very common problem in all the space 4X game I've played, but I feel like all of the important information should be conveyed visually by looking at the map.



Right now, first, all the stars look pretty much the same. And they're tiny. It would be great to have maybe some colorful dust rings around the stars to make them very visually distinct. This would also fill up some of the blank space between the systems. This is all important visual space that's wasted.



Also, I think that you should have the planets displayed on the main 3D map. Even if not realistic, this would be convenient, cool looking and give easy access to each planet.



Also, you should make the "building being constructed" icon or text much bigger. Right now it's just this very tiny blip.



And you could also display the production as numbers and other important information on the main map screen. You have all this empty space around your systems that you could use to display information. I think it's a big mistake to restrict what you see on the main map so much.



For the same reason, I think that you should make the ships at least twice as big. You have the space to do it. The enemy ships are so small I barely notice they're there.



- The combat system. I'm not sure about the cards. So far, I just pick stuff at random and have no idea what I'm doing. But maybe it gets better when you know the game better.



- Oh and about the taxation system. I'm not a huge fan of sliders, especially when they don't add strategic depth. I feel like the approval system is a minigame: there's an optimal point at which you should place the slider and each turn, you have to find it.



In CIV 4, by contrast, the slider is a strategic choice. Do you want spy points, gold for production or trade, or more tech? It's fun because it adds depth to the game. The ES taxation slider feels to me like it could be automated and nothing would be lost.



Anyway, maybe this feels like a rant, but really I just want to point out stuff that in my opinion could make the game better.



Edit: Also, the symbols for resources could be better chosen. Why is the symbol for Titanium an oil rig?



It would also be nice to have a way to quickly see what modules you will be able to construct with a given resource.



And I would remove the abundance effects from resources. I just discovered this, because I wasn't really paying attention to that before. It seems to me like just another thing that adds complexity to the game but will not really lead to more interesting gameplay.



I would also be inclined to cut the number of different resources.



Found out that ships have levels. That one is very well hidden.



Another minor thing. Names of buildings are not always very well chosen. For example, Public-Private Partnerships are actually Research Labs. I would just call them research labs or something close to that. It might not be as clever, but it's a lot more intuitive.



Interplanetary Transport Network: Basically a factory, but it sounds like it would increase trade. (Duty Free Spaceports which do increase trade use a very similar icon!)



Wasteless Supply Chain: Nor the name, nor the icon are very evocative of food.



Heavy Isotope Refineries: Not that bad, but the icon (a jerrycan) looks more like a resources than a building.



Magnetic Field Generators: Sounds like a defensive technology.

Neosquirrel wrote:


- While writing this, i just found out that there were colonies and "avant-poste" (sorry not sure what it is in English). This is super important information, but again it's hidden as super tiny text below the system name.

A lot of your points are due to the designers and many players being 4X veterans and having certain expectations of this kind of game. E.g. it makes sense to all of us, but possibly not to anyone newer to the genre, so your points are still valid.

For this specific one though, I am in full agreement. The "outpost" system is totally unclear, as are its mechanics related to war/zone of control, etc. There is no real explanation or clue in-game to any new player, without looking this up specifically or running into issues such as an AI race invading you without having to declare war, you won't even learn the mechanic is there.

Neosquirrel wrote:


- Micromanagement is overwhelming. Especially when your empire gets big, you have to micromanage a huge amount of stuff. Then maybe I expand too much. I have maybe 20 systems on a small map. I did overexpand though which is why I'm suffering from a strike. Still, I can't imagine playing on a larger map. Also, the number of planets and of unique bonuses and penalties make the game overwhelming. As a newbie at least, at some point I just stop caring and reading all the different labels. I just go with what seems good.

I have the exact opposite experience, I find the game fairly fast paced and hands-off compared to other 4X games. If you want to experience true micro-management, I suggest you try Space Empires IV or something along those lines. Even Galactic Civilizations has more micro than ES. It's actually very streamlined - dumbing it down or making it more macro would alienate an enormous chunk of the player base.

Neosquirrel wrote:


Anyway, maybe this feels like a rant, but really I just want to point out stuff that in my opinion could make the game better.

Personally, I think constructive feedback can only serve to make better design decisions in the future.

One minor thing I would add myself is that when your planet is producing an infinite conversion such as science or dust, and you queue a new building or ship, that new item is queued AFTER the infinite one and will thus never build without manually dragging it above the infinite item. Why on earth it doesn't get added ABOVE it by default, I don't know - but it would save me a ton of clicks/drag&drops and spare my poor mouse hand a bit

Btw, can I ask you a quick question. Is food production shared between a system or is it per planet? And what does -2 Dust on Improvement mean? At first, I thought that it might lower the building cost of future improvements, but now I think that it costs you 2 dust per turn. Also, do you know what -100% population growth on star system mean for arid and tundra colonization? I can't believe that colonizing one planet will stop all growth on that system forever.



Thanks

Neosquirrel wrote:
Btw, can I ask you a quick question.

Of course, happy to help

Neosquirrel wrote:
Is food production shared between a system or is it per planet?

Food is shared between an entire system. Planets within that system simply add their values to the system once they are colonised. Each planet has different outputs per 1 unit of population, so moving population between planets (before they are all full) will thus change the production output of the system as a whole.

Neosquirrel wrote:
And what does -2 Dust on Improvement mean? At first, I thought that it might lower the building cost of future improvements, but now I think that it costs you 2 dust per turn.

This indeed means that is has an upkeep cost of 2 per turn. I agree that this is incredibly unclear, I will change this in Imperium Aeterna for clarity. (Thank you for pointing it out and thus giving me that idea!)

Neosquirrel wrote:
Also, do you know what -100% population growth on star system mean for arid and tundra colonization? I can't believe that colonizing one planet will stop all growth on that system forever.

Correct, colonization and constructing colonization ships temporarily stops opulation: growth in that system. Growth resumes after the colonization is done, or the ship has been constructed. Note that this only applies to ships with colonization capability, not to any other ships.

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with most of the issues that you cite. It sounds like you're not zooming in because there is a lot of info available when you're at medium zoom. Also, you should be checking the system screen at least briefly most turns. Planets on strike are easy to notice. Also, the general happiness of your empire is easily noticeable from the main screen. Look for a happy, neutral, or sad face in the upper left-hand corner. The (4-sided) tech tree interface is outstanding once you get used to it and learn where key advances are.



In short, all the information you need is easily accessible once you get comfortable in the game. My impression, too, is that you're criticizing the game for both having too much and too little information. Maybe not, but that's how it came across.



I'll let you in on a little secret, though. When I first played the game, I thought it was just okay. It was a friend who got me to look at the game again. I have found this to be a rare game that the more I played it, the more I liked it. I finally plateaued, so that's no longer true--but that's after over a thousand hours of play. (I still play the game and enjoy it; I just don't play it as often as I used to.)



If you like the game well enough to keep playing it, I'd be interested to see if you eventually find out for yourself that some of your criticisms were indeed unfounded! Also, I'd read the manual. It would alert you to features you may be missing and get you comfortable with the game much, much faster.

Neosquirrel wrote:


- UI/text is not scalable, which means I need to play at a lower resolution. Even at 1080p, everything is still very small.

In other Amplitude games there is an option to scale the UI. Maybe they can add it to Endless Space at some point?

This is extremely unlikely to happen at this stage of the game's life, I'm afraid.



Maybe if there's a remake 15 years from now... but then it'll come with a statue of the mothership and a nice collector's edition. Oh wait no, I'm talking about Homeworld.

coyote303 wrote:
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with most of the issues that you cite. It sounds like you're not zooming in because there is a lot of info available when you're at medium zoom. Also, you should be checking the system screen at least briefly most turns. Planets on strike are easy to notice. Also, the general happiness of your empire is easily noticeable from the main screen. Look for a happy, neutral, or sad face in the upper left-hand corner. The (4-sided) tech tree interface is outstanding once you get used to it and learn where key advances are.



In short, all the information you need is easily accessible once you get comfortable in the game. My impression, too, is that you're criticizing the game for both having too much and too little information. Maybe not, but that's how it came across.



I'll let you in on a little secret, though. When I first played the game, I thought it was just okay. It was a friend who got me to look at the game again. I have found this to be a rare game that the more I played it, the more I liked it. I finally plateaued, so that's no longer true--but that's after over a thousand hours of play. (I still play the game and enjoy it; I just don't play it as often as I used to.)



If you like the game well enough to keep playing it, I'd be interested to see if you eventually find out for yourself that some of your criticisms were indeed unfounded! Also, I'd read the manual. It would alert you to features you may be missing and get you comfortable with the game much, much faster.

Actually, my goal was to document my experience as a new player to show what was confusing about the game and could be improved in a future UI redesign (for ES 2.0). So, I don't think that we disagree insofar as you say that the game didn't appeal to you at first. I think that's because the complexity can be overwhelming at first.



Also, it's because the UI doesn't always present important information, or doesn't make it visible enough to new players. Just to give you an example, last night, I found out that you don't get a popup when you lose a system to an invasion. So I probably didn't catch it on the turn when it happened. That's just a bug to me IMO.



Also, I had problems with some quirks in the ship pathing. At some point my ships would refuse to go to a certain star system (that I lost ton an invasion and had wiped out). So they started going straight through space (the result of a technology I guess). But then at some point they decided to go through that system again (it had been taken over by the AI at that point). I couldn't find a way to order my ships to travel straight through space again (which was convenient).



But this is still the best space 4X game I've played since MOO 2.



Edit: And I'll check out the manual. This is not something that most games have these days so I hadn't thought about it.



And I'm not saying that the game gives too much information. My point is about how that information is presented. I was also questioning whether the game had too much unnecessary complexity in certain areas. Now that I've started to learn more about the game, such as the benefits of different resources, it's not so bad.