Hi folks. I only very recently heard about Endless Space, but I'm a 4x veteran and love the genre. I've played just about everything since the original MOO.



Since Amplitude seems to be receptive to feedback, I'm going to give my initial impressions of the game here. I'll break things down into a few categories and list my personal pros and cons.



Presentation



Endless Space looks decent enough for a new studio with a relatively unknown project. I'm neither impressed nor put off by the graphics. I think the client seems to run well enough, and I didn't have any problems installing or running the game. I dislike the tutorial system presented because most people (myself included) seem to prefer voiced over and interactive tutorials. I like a tutorial that physically shows me things via blinking lights or buttons so that I don't have to figure it all out while playing. I did like that the tutorial was a learn-as-you-go type tutorial though, only giving me new information whenever I accessed new items.



Pros:

Decent graphics

Stable client

Learn-as-you-go tutorial



Cons:

Tutorial is very verbose, not interactive enough





User Interface



The UI of Endless Space works well enough for me, but I'm sure needs some love. Unlike a lot of 4x gamers, the UI is actually not terribly important to me. I just need the basic ability to navigate and have useful functions available. One thing I am very pleased with though is the use of mouseover on nearly everything in the UI. Very helpful.



Pros:

Mouseover ALL the things!

Tech tree search function is nice



Cons:

Interface is rather dull, but I can live with this





Gameplay



I understand Endless Space is an alpha project. I get that. I leave room for improvement when I give my criticism. Unfortunately, my biggest issues lie in this category. Like a lot of players I have started and restarted many games. Unlike a lot of players, I don't have a lot of patience for this method if I am relatively certain that experienced difficulties have to do mostly with the game and not myself (they do). Thus far, I have a lot of problems with the general feel of the game. I have experienced little interaction between myself and my opponents, and when I do I get a lot of extremes. My opponents either hate me for me being, or they don't hate me for reasons I can't understand. Yes, I'm aware I can look at WHY they hate me, but how can a player effectively play focusing on economy/trade when the simple fact of having a smaller military doesn't just make you an enticing target for your enemy (this I'm used to in 4x), but makes them REALLY hate you. If the enemy wants to try to take advantage of my small military, I get that, but should it really strain my relations to HATE all by itself?



Let's change gears to a moment to combat. First, what I really hope is a bug: after ending a turn I often get the combat readiness window and about half the time an unable to select Auto/Manual and am forced into watching the timer tick down and by default making combat auto. This was quite annoying, and many times resulted in a combat loss that I might have otherwise won. Given that I often don't focus on military and have few, but powerful units, to protect myself, it is obnoxious that my carefully-planned narrow victories get forced into automatic battle.



Pros:

I am actually having trouble coming up with a good pro in this category that doesn't involve "I'm glad it's a space game"

That doesn't mean there isn't anything good to say! (fanboys, I'm looking at you!)



Cons:

Combat is rather dull

Combat-related bugs (I hope!)

AI opponents are either confusing, or behave erratically.





Quality of Life



What the heck does this mean, you say? These are all those little things that don't otherwise fit above. Here I will mostly make recommendations. First, the "feel" of the game. Space is big. Space is dark. Space is inherently lonely. Yet, somehow the galaxy/game world feels dead and rather unexciting. I recall seeing another thread mention something similar. Small ways to create the appearance of action or activity. Have ambient sounds of planets when you focus on them (the sound of waves on an ocean planet, the sound of wind on an arid planet). Show ship activity among the systems and planets. Have some of the celestial bodies move or shimmer. The screen needs to feel a bit more alive. Next, the music...I know a lot of players like it. I think it's so-so, and in a game like this one sound can really make the game better. Consider hiring Bear McCreary for your music.



Pros:

Again, mouseover functions and search functions do make life easier



Cons:

I want to FEEL like I'm controlling a space empire

Oh, and space actually isn't all that dead or quiet. This isn't a funeral!





Final Thoughts



Let us again get out of the way the obvious: this game is still in alpha. I don't begrudge Amplitude their opportunity to make a great game. It is well within their reach, and Endless Space is a great start so far. That said, there is room for improvement and offering critical feedback is appreciated heavily. So, I offer my opinion as above. I know a lot of you are great fans of Endless Space. This is great news for everybody! Stay active, keep offering feedback.



Endless Space is something a lot of people want, but at the moment I will revisit again down the road. Good luck to Amplitude.