maybe difran years for difrant factions?

That might not work so well for the factions unaware of (or indifferent to) the endless though. The Cravers, for example, are stated to be largely indifferent to the fact that they are related to the endless, and the United Empire have only a limited understanding of the Endless. However, I'm sure it would work well for a faction that worships or otherwise has a great interest in the endless.

Nightraid wrote:
That might not work so well for the factions unaware of (or indifferent to) the endless though.

I can't think of other major event of galactic scale that would be more suitable. "After Dust" sounds right, I mistook it for "Anno Domini" initially but that was cause I didn't pay enough attention

VieuxChat's suggestions "AWE" and "AS" could work but they presume the existence of a somewhat more thorough information on when these wars have taken place and when they have ended (and as Nightraid said many of the races might not possess such). That's why IMO a simple AE (After the Endless) seems more logical to be used, as it doesn't even have to be historically accurate, it could be simply a date the new races (or most of them) negotiated through diplomacy, thus making it official for everybody. An artificial date that marks the end of the Endless, "artificial" cause the end of a galactic civilization doesn't happen in a day. This initial date could be agreed upon by the new races and then used by them to synchronize their own calendars.

Well, many races like to think of themselves as the pinnacle of nature/civilization whatever, regardless of their actual importance. Even if they would be cursory aware of the Endless it's unlikely many races would be able to grasp how much more advanced the Endless were until they made a serious effort to understand them. Most races at the beginning of settling colonies in other systems would probably take the fact that they're not around anymore as proof that they were not as great as they thought, at least until they began to understand the real potential of dust.

That is true but for the lack of other event of significant importance to all the races and for the sake of creating a time-measuring system, that could be used by all, it is needed. If we have to theorize further, what would "an year" in the Endless Space universe mean? It certainly won't be the orbital period of a particular home planet of a particular race moving around its star. That would mean that the "year" of one new race to be used over the "years" of other new races, that there is a dominating race. On the contrary it is more logical to have a common system that each race will have to tune up to. That would correspond to the new races' relatively equal technological, military, etc. power. Until you have conquered them all you can't impose your UE year over them

Just to throw the idea into the lion pit:

For the cravers AB = After Betrayal or something alike, since the endless bombed them back to the stone age.

We should also remember that devs don't want to change history and that in gameplay terms we need a universal term. So even if all the objections are good (after all even now on earth there exists several ways of counting timae that pass), we need something simpe enough to track turns. It seems we all agree with the fact that "AD" is too earth-centric. "AWE" was just an example of an acronym that is also a word. And that way to track time should be the least common denominator between the races. The endless are that commmon denominator, even if the new races aren't aware of that. I think sometimes you have to put gameplay before realism (or coherence).

Or AST = After Space Travel.

Or instead of "After something" why not "Since ..." : SC = Since Consciousness. SDD = Since Dust Dawn.

VieuxChat wrote:
We should also remember that devs don't want to change history and that in gameplay terms we need a universal term.[...]

As far as I understand, we need one special term for each race. There doesn't seem to be a need for one universal term:

Slowhands wrote:
[...]I'm open to changing the terminology as long as we don't change the history! Besides, each faction would have its own calendar so we can open-minded with the options.

There is also no reason why there should be some kind of common calendar. Changing name, offset and even tick length of the turncounter shouldn't pose too much of a problem, on the programming side.

Each race will have a different defining point in their history that will likely be chosen as their point of reference for the calendar, on the cultural side.

Even the passage of time and therefore the units of time are relative to perception and life length. Of course here the turn length will be the penultimum, but all of this just culminates in the realization, that there is no logical argument for a common calendar setup.

For me each faction can have its own calender, it adds flavor and immersion to the game.

As for a common time unit... well in gamer's terms it is called ... a turn.

BoG



Beginning of Game

maceman wrote:
BoG



Beginning of Game

I think we need a clarification on whether there is going to be a common system in addition to the calendars of the 8 factions, or not. With that clear we can focus on choosing that common system's abbreviation. Since we know nothing about the other factions' history I'm sure the devs can better than us choose their calendars basing them on the lore.



anyways in case there is going to be a common system here are the suggestions so far summed up from last 3 pages and the current one (AD) for easier reviewing:



AD (After Dust)

3003 (just an year like in Startrek)

DoD (Discovery of Dust)

AWE (After Wars of the Endless)

AS (After the Splintering)

AE (After the Endless)

AB (After Betrayal) - more suitable for the Cravers' calendar

AST (After Space Travel)

SC (Since Consciousness)

SDD (Since Dust Dawn)

BoG (Beginning of Game)

GSD (Galactic Standard Date)

Slowhands wrote:
Heh heh I was waiting for your comment, znork



I'm open to changing the terminology as long as we don't change the history! Besides, each faction would have its own calendar so we can open-minded with the options.

It seems history for the available factions begins after the Splintering of the Dust Wars. So I propose AWE : After Wars of the Endless. Or just After the Splintering (AS)

i do like bog to be honest. a bit of fun at the game's own expense can be quite a charming thing. Nobody likes a game to take itself too seriously after all :P.

MT4K wrote:
i do like bog to be honest. a bit of fun at the game's own expense can be quite a charming thing. Nobody likes a game to take itself too seriously after all :P.

I disagree with you. Here we have a game with an amazing background. It would be sad to ruin all of this with a misplaced joke. Because I like serious games =)

I suppose you're right. In that case hmm. If they are going for a standard date system for all the races then would it not be started from the time the agreement was made itself? so it would be something like " GSD = galactic standard date. or something like that. Not that interesting i know, but probably realistic. or even "ADA = after date-system agreement.

Would it be possible to get this stickied? We could use this thread for future online interviews instead of creating a new thread for each new interview out there.

Here is my suggestion. Its also based on a base 13 numerical system starting at 42...

SDATSAIWCBTMHATCOATHWIAEWB(EC) - Standard date and time system as it was created by the most holy Alderbranch - the creator of all that was, is and ever will be (even cheese).



To answer nightraids question: Id rather say it should be added in the FAQ under the question: What interviews have Amplitude given?

Hello all.



Read the interview and I've been blown away, mostly by two passages:

Second: The battles. I have seen many space battles in strategy, but most of the time I found them confusing and not visually attractive. When I see a space battle in a game, I want to relive a scene from Star Wars or of Battlestar Galactica… and that is what we want to achieve. Beautiful and immersive battles, where you take most of your decisions before it starts and enjoy the show after!

...

So when the battle starts, in some ways a lot has already been decided. Yet the battle is computed in real time, and we are giving the players the possibility to alter the course of the battle, through strong tactical decisions.

Perhaps it is my imagination running wild but this description reads exactly what my ideas of battles in a grand strategy game should look like. Feel of an admiral instead of playing as as many captains as you have ships.

Yes, I'm so eager to discover what this camera AI is capable of.

The more I read, the more interested I am in playing the game. There really isn't an element to this game that I'm not excited to experience!

Ataeus wrote:
The more I read, the more interested I am in playing the game. There really isn't an element to this game that I'm not excited to experience!

Glad to hear!

Very interesting interview, keep on this way and this will be one of the best 4X ever realised.



A related question : Did you plan to contact CPC (Canard PC, one of the best French video game magazine) to make a preview ? I'm sure they'll be glad to meet you and it will offer you a better visibility in France.

Very good Interview SpaceTroll!



& thanks for the link Raptor!

Nice one ST!

The game is still on track for a summer release...

Oh boy!

For most factions, research will be the best way to get new modules to equip your ships.

That got me intrigued, can you reveal what would the other ways of getting new modules be?

Great interview, reinforces all the positive thoughts I have. Can't wait to see the tech trees and ship designs!

Raptor wrote:
Oh boy!





That got me intrigued, can you reveal what would the other ways of getting new modules be?

damn I am already out of control ... there is no other way to get modules...

It is just that cravers can harvest technology from destroyed enemy ships. This is what I had in mind there, sorry for the confusion.

The way it works is that after each battle a portion of enemy ships, if the cravers win, is transformed into science points that are added to you current research. Any overflow is added to the next technology you will research.



I did not realize my interview was that long... and now I know that at least one person survived reading it all

SpaceTroll wrote:
damn I am already out of control ... there is no other way to get modules...

It is just that cravers can harvest technology from destroyed enemy ships. This is what I had in mind there, sorry for the confusion.

The way it works is that after each battle a portion of enemy ships, if the cravers win, is transformed into science points that are added to you current research. Any overflow is added to the next technology you will research.

So you must play aggressively with the cravers in order to boost your research. That's interesting and fits the race lore.

SpaceTroll wrote:


I did not realize my interview was that long... and now I know that at least one person survived reading it all

The hell are you talking about!? I'd read it even if it was 10 pages long.



It'd be nice though if we start seeing such interviews on other sites as well, ign, gamespot, gameinformer... ES will no doubt attract many people! I wish you guys several million copies worth of sales!

Raptor wrote:
So you must play aggressively with the cravers in order to boost your research. That's interesting and fits the race lore.







The hell are you talking about!? I'd read it even if it was 10 pages long.



I'd be nice though if we start seeing such interviews on other sites as well, ign, gamespot, gameinformer... ES will no doubt attract many people! I wish you guys several million copies worth of sales!

hehe thank you raptor, atm with skamaks away, I can focus on the game again!! so there should not be many interviews on other sites for the time being... muhaha freedom!!

Cool I like the David Lynch's Dune aesthetic about the UE ships and uniforms.I am very excited about this game.



A believable universe,faction traits,faction techs,macro scale building,ect all sounds great.

SpaceTroll wrote:
damn I am already out of control ... there is no other way to get modules...

It is just that cravers can harvest technology from destroyed enemy ships. This is what I had in mind there, sorry for the confusion.

The way it works is that after each battle a portion of enemy ships, if the cravers win, is transformed into science points that are added to you current research. Any overflow is added to the next technology you will research.



I did not realize my interview was that long... and now I know that at least one person survived reading it all

So does this mean the Cravers will be slower to develop new technologies the normal way, or is that just a bonus? I remember how in Armada2526 some races had positive or negatives modifiers affecting their ability to research new technologies.



And one other thing, you mentioned that we will have to stick with the predefined races for custom race visuals. Does that only include ship design or does that include heroes as well? If so, i sure hope there'll be a race with organic (or organic-looking) ships.

Very nice interview! Thank you.

Definitely check it out! I haven't even read it yet but thought I should post it right after I saw it:

http://www.spacesector.com/blog/2012/03/interview-with-amplitude-studios-on-endless-space/



It has some new screenshots in there!

Awesome interview guys! And don't worry about the length, I could spend hours reading about this game and it's design process; but I realize time is maybe better spend on actually getting the game done than talking/writing about it Now just a couple of things I noticed, which sparked my curiosity:



[LIST=1]

Why not have a fictional "stardate" ala Star Trek instead of a boring old A.D. human one?

Why not have the players score/relationship/color on the galactic screen ala Civilization IV), to better keep track of them?

Why not have icons on the battle screen, showing the attacker/defender fleets and the species who owns them; plus any relevant traits they have?

What is the MP of a ship?

[/LIST]



Some might sound like suggestions, but I am sure you either came up with them before and for some(I am sure) good reason you discarded; or are going to be implemented later on the development process. Frankly I am more interested on the why not, than in when they are going to be in the game; but since we are here, I might as well ask anyway

So does this mean the Cravers will be slower to develop new technologies the normal way, or is that just a bonus? I remember how in Armada2526 some races had positive or negatives modifiers affecting their ability to research new technologies.

Each faction has a set of characteristics -- there are a ton of them -- some that are positive, and some that are negative. There will also be the possibility of creating and customizing your own faction using all the same characteristics.

Why not have a fictional "stardate" ala Star Trek instead of a boring old A.D. human one?

That is, of course, "After Dust", not "anno Domini"...

Did you plan to contact CPC (Canard PC, one of the best French video game magazine) to make a preview ?

All I can say is stay tuned, you won't be disappointed

Slowhands wrote:
Each faction has a set of characteristics -- there are a ton of them -- some that are positive, and some that are negative. There will also be the possibility of creating and customizing your own faction using all the same characteristics.

There something about faction customization that I wanted to ask about, in multiplayer if my opponent customizes his faction how would I know what I'm facing? I mean I would know the strengths and weaknesses of each faction and I can, based on these, more or less plan my strategy. But if he's playing a customized faction it could have its basic characteristics completely rerolled. Are we going to be debriefed on these at the beginning of each round or it would be possible to find them out later on, or we won't have any means of learning how our adversary has modified his faction?

SpaceTroll wrote:
atm with skamaks away, I can focus on the game again!! so there should not be many interviews on other sites for the time being... muhaha freedom!!

Well space troll you that beeing lead producer youre job is to be every where at the same time. You should try to book som intervjus in scandinavian web pages becuse this kinde of game is huge in that market. Just rember the resposnse from the gamer.no article.



So now go back to being a pr (girls how sels them self)

Slowhands wrote:




That is, of course, "After Dust", not "anno Domini"...

Just so you know slowhands i was thinking about having a talk to you about that. Lets do somthing diffrant then ad is just eartly. I would for dod discover of dust.or somthing like that.

Leave the battleaxe home!



But bring the Aquavit!



I think the A.D. thingie is a little joke and totally voluntary, could be wrong tho.

znork wrote:
Just so you know slowhands i was thinking about having a talk to you about that. Lets do somthing diffrant then ad is just eartly. I would for dod discover of dust.or somthing like that.

well it a thing to put to a vote what should the it be called?

znork wrote:
Just so you know slowhands i was thinking about having a talk to you about that. Lets do somthing diffrant then ad is just eartly. I would for dod discover of dust.or somthing like that.

Heh heh I was waiting for your comment, znork



I'm open to changing the terminology as long as we don't change the history! Besides, each faction would have its own calendar so we can open-minded with the options.

Slowhands wrote:
Besides, each faction would have its own calendar...

that's cool, you guys are setting new standards with the detailed lore in this game!