One of the things that older games (think Moo2, Civ, etc.) did really well is add as much immersion to the game as was possible in that day and age. This was done through some fairly simple but clever mechanics, but it greatly enhanced the longevity of the game and the appeal to players by using visual stimuli to appeal to players, and keep them interested/coming back for more.



For me, these little details greatly enhanced my attachment to those games. It's the little details that matter. (Note, these are long-term wishes which could be considered 'final polish' rather than urgent-must-haves.)



(Screenshots from Moo2 added for clarity and nostalgia - anyone who played the game or similar games will have a good idea of what I mean with the points below.)

• During diplomacy, rather than an abstract screen with a slider that shows approval, show the ambassador of the faction you're speaking to in an animated fashion. His/her/its expression/mood as well as the music would change significantly based on the reaction to your current proposal and/or relationship.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• New scientific discoveries could be presented in a little mini-cutscene and/or visual, rather than just a quick string of text. In Moo2, it was fairly generic, but it essentially was a scientist of your race presenting the new discovery to you - whilst playing a specific music. It only took a few seconds, but the way the discovery was presented ensured you knew the effect it had, and what it unlocked. This is far nicer than the tiny abstract pop-up we get in most games these days.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Colonising could be shown by a colony ship of your race descending on the planet type in question, and a colonist of your race planting a flag on the planet with your faction icon & colour. It's a tiny touch, but it beats the "congratulations on your great step of colonising this difficult planet type" pop-up.
  
  
• Some of the events need either a visual/picture or a mini-cutscene. Remember an Antaran attack in Moo2, anyone?
  
  
  
  
  
  
• It would be great if your first ship of a specific hull type was shown flying off the space dock. Think Total War: Shogun 2 when you build any unit for the very first time.
  
  

totally agree

maybe not for each scientific discovery...

but for diplomacy, first buit of a ship class, for the first colonisation of each planet type, and for some events... Who don't want to see aldebranch fanatics bomb your fleets ???

we already have a little message for the forst contact with alien race, for colonisation and so on... adding something like this could be really great and immersive

snikch wrote:
totally agree

maybe not for each scientific discovery...

but for diplomacy, first buit of a ship class, for the first colonisation of each planet type, and for some events... Who don't want to see aldebranch fanatics bomb your fleets ???

we already have a little message for the forst contact with alien race, for colonisation and so on... adding something like this could be really great and immersive

*sign*



Gread ideas!

EvilTactician wrote:


For me, these little details greatly enhanced my attachment to those games. It's the little details that matter. (Note, these are long-term wishes which could be considered 'final polish' rather than urgent-must-haves.)

quoted for truth. Little things can make all the difference.

During diplomacy, rather than an abstract screen with a slider that shows approval, show the ambassador of the faction you're speaking to in an animated fashion. His/her/its expression/mood as well as the music would change significantly based on the reaction to your current proposal and/or relationship.



Would be nice, does not sound to complicated.

New scientific discoveries could be presented in a little mini-cutscene and/or visual, rather than just a quick string of text. In Moo2, it was fairly generic, but it essentially was a scientist of your race presenting the new discovery to you - whilst playing a specific music. It only took a few seconds, but the way the discovery was presented ensured you knew the effect it had, and what it unlocked. This is far nicer than the tiny abstract pop-up we get in most games these days.



I would limit it to certain discoveries... way to many techs right now and not all deserve a cutscene. Wormhole tech, Warp Tech, a few of the military/diplomacy/science techs. not too much, just a dozen or so (and i really can take animated concept art or something). Some of these could be replaced by not the invention, but rather by the first thing you build with that tech (like the first battleship, first self-replicating City, etc).

Colonising could be shown by a colony ship of your race descending on the planet type in question, and a colonist of your race planting a flag on the planet with your faction icon & colour. It's a tiny touch, but it beats the "congratulations on your great step of colonising this difficult planet type" pop-up.



Would limit that to a "new" colonization aka when you first build a colony on a planet you just unlocked. Not every Planet, thats just wayyyy to often, especially on larger maps.

Some of the events need either a visual/picture or a mini-cutscene. Remember an Antaran attack in Moo2, anyone?



Granted, the events need an overhaul. Showing a concept art/short animation with the event message would be a nice touch.

It would be great if your first ship of a specific hull type was shown flying off the space dock. Think Total War: Shogun 2 when you build any unit for the very first time.



I kinda covered that with tech above.





So, all in all, i'm with you. Immersion FTW! Especially for Single-Player a important thing.

Agreed. In multi-player some of this could be turned off to speed things along, but in single player it really helps the "just one more turn" feeling.



To clarify for scientific discoveries - pretty much the same animation could be used for generic techs. It's more about the way it's presented to you/explained rather than anything else. The idea of having something a bit more memorable/awesome for specific key technologies is great though, great suggestion.

I like the smooth, quick flow of the game. However if there were options to turn these things off then I wouldn't mind doing so. I am a little surprised at how lacking in immersion that ES has, but considering the startup nature of Amplitude, and the reasonable price point, I can understand why there's not a lot of unnecessary (for gameplay) additions.

These things could be considered final polish, so some of them might already have been considered by the development team. Hopefully they will take notice as the immersion factor is, at least to me, what keeps people interested and playing long-term. It's always a shame when a game is very good but feels somewhat cold and empty.