Exactly what it says on the tin,

What does the GB community think of it? Is it worth the money? etc. etc. etc.

I ask because no matter how many videos I watch of people playing the game (and how good the game looks and seems to play) I can't get a good sense of things like the balance of factions or what the end game scenarios look like, if the combat system get tedious after a while and whether the tech-tree allows for varied playstyles instead of just:

1. Create Fleet.
2. Attack.
3. Repeat.

(This is how all the people in the videos I've seen have played thus far)

Could anyone shed some revealing rays of light on Endless Space?

And for those not in the know: It's on Steam.

I think the game looks super cool btw, I don't think the trailer does it justice.

Ive been thinking of picking it up myself after reading about it on RPS They seemed to LOVE it.

@SerHulse said:

I ask because no matter how many videos I watch of people playing the game (and how good the game looks and seems to play) I can't get a good sense of things like the balance of factions or what the end game scenarios look like, if the combat system get tedious after a while and whether the tech-tree allows for varied playstyles instead of just:

Well, the game is in Alpha so balance of factions is bound to be fucked at the moment. 3 of the 8 factions still aren't in the game because they aren't balanced at all.

HOWEVER, so far this game has been pretty awesome. There are like 6 or 7 different win conditions, many non-military, so you can totally play the game without just constantly making fleets. The tech-tree is enormous, and is divided into 4 distinct branches, Diplomacy, Expansion, Military and (Economy? I forget the 4th, I haven't played in a few weeks). The game seems really complex and all the factions are well varied to have tendencies to certain playstyles. If you don't want to deal with the combat you can totally auto-resolve everything, controlling manually can be both good and bad, it's random in a rock-paper-scissors kind of way. However it looks nice enough and once you have a good selection of cards can be quite varied.

As for end game stuff, I've lost every game I've played on Normal because it's way too much to take in, so I can't speak for it. What I can speak for of this game though has been great, despite the bugs. I'm gunna go back to it when it reaches beta officially and Multiplayer seems more stable. The UI is so gorgeous though.

@Chavtheworld: Yeah the GUI is very sexy. I have 1 question however, if you can answer it:

How complex does the ship creation part get and does having a well balanced fleet of different types of ships help in combat?

@SerHulse: So, as you go down the military tree you basically unlock more options for ship upgrades. There's 3 main types of weapon, each one being most effective during a certain range in the combat phase. Basically I just put an equal number of each module onto my ships. Likewise, there are 3 armour types each designed to deflect one weapon type. I'd say its very similar to the ship customisation in EVE, if you know it. Also, you unlock varying hull types which can hold more modules and have better defence etc etc. I guess you have two options, either have each ship focused on a different weapon type or each ship have all 3, but less of them.

You also get to a point where you might want to make specialised "Invasion" ships or fleets, as the effectiveness of air to ground weapons for taking planets is increased with a different module. It's pretty tricky to get the hang of, as I said there is a lot of different mechanisms in this game all going at once, and finding the time to do the right research to get better ship modules versus researching stuff to keep your population happy and improving production, whilst also building enough and improving your building capability and balancing all these things is an art.

Just remember every time you finish research on a military tech, immediately update your ship designs to the new spec. Falling behind the AI is certain death, you'll see your fleet of 5 ships destroyed by like 2.

if the combat system get tedious after a while

@Jimbo: I've been playing for a few hours now and I can definitely see how the combat could get tedious, but in the current version, my biggest issue with the combat is not being able to specifically attack priority targets, and not having more control over things like fleet formations (I have a purely missile based Cruiser design that I would like to make hang back from the rest of the fleet to fire missile salvoes, without it having to move into melee range all the time)

Though the game is still in development, I hope the combat gets some attention, 'cause right now it's still interesting.

@Chavtheworld: So, so far I've found that having an Admiral in control of a fleet is a major advantage, and I've also got a fleet dedicated to invasion, with a back up fleet for taking out any enemy fleets that enter the system. Ship creation can be pretty cool if they keep running with it when the full game comes out.

P.S. All 8 races are available to play now, they seem to have done a major update since last you played, don't know how much is different mind.

@SerHulse: Ah sweet! I knew I hadn't played in a while but I didn't know they were all in now too.