Gentlemen, It doesnt look that bad...

[t_ras]

After reading a lot of stuff and seeing about 4 hours of videos I think the game is not bad at all. It is cetainly not SMAC2, but it is pretty close and it looks interesting to try.

It is a little disapointing that it is not (as a reviewer claimed) a revolition of CIV5, but rather a small evolution.

Was it SMAC2 I would expect it to be much more sophisticated with new features, which it doesnt seem to have.

On the other hand, it seems to be sort of "SMAC with a twist". Considering the afinities mechanism and the more like "vague" victory and quests. Which make it interesting for trying. Unfortunately there is no "trial version" before you decide to buy.

There were though a couple of anoying things I saw. The fact that you can not overlap military units (which doesn't make any sense for me).

Also, the CIVish "wonders" and other buildings outside your actual city. You will need to protect those, which could be a PITA.

I think I'm going to preorder it... ho, my wife is going to be mad at me.....

[Geo]

  considered you martial enough to become her spouse?

Personally, I'm pretty happy with the 1UPT mechanic, so that's no showstopper for me. As on the victory improvements, it's vbasically a static variation of CiV's science victory, so no qualms there either.

[BlaneckW]

I agree that I judged the idea of affinities too harshly, though I very much doubt the execution.  I have a hard time believing that a divided tech tree will offer sense or sophistication.  I still wish there were political factions, ideologies and governments, which go unmentioned.

[Buster's Uncle]

Again, the lighting SMACX caught in a bottle, IMAO, was the personality it projected.  The leaders were not much more than broad caricatures, but that lent the game infinitely more of a handle to capture one's interest than Civ.  I just don't get the same feel from what I know so far about BE.

[BlaneckW]

The game has no politics.

[Fal]

Right, my understanding is that they're intentionally not putting much story into the game, with the idea that players will create their own story.  Sounds nice on paper, but in practice I don't play Civ/SMAX to create stories.  I play to build empires, so having a larger story around the game adds a lot to my enjoyment.  SMAX was masterful at this, and to throw away that aspect is a shame in my mind.

Overall I am still really looking forward to it though.  The affinity system has an opportunity to offer real choices and different paths in separate games.  That's not to say that everything will be perfectly balanced at release - in fact, I find it pretty unlikely that it will be - but the foundation will be in place, and hopefully they can keep improving as time goes on.

[Geo]

Well, SMAC basically had one story told to the player through the interludes.
The quests in BE seem to give the player the opportunity to direct his own story on a new world.

[BlaneckW]

The quests in BE seem to give the player the opportunity to direct his own story on a new world.

It's there to simplify game play.  You don't have to think about establishment of colonies and trade, the quest system thinks of it for you.

[t_ras]

The quests in BE seem to give the player the opportunity to direct his own story on a new world.

It's there to simplify game play.  You don't have to think about establishment of colonies and trade, the quest system thinks of it for you.

I think both claims seem to be true. We'll have to wait and see which of them is more true.
But it looks as if you don't actually "choose" the afinity, but it is chosen for you acording to your answers to questions, so if you can either answer what you really think for each specific question and see where it gets you or deliveretly answer the questions to lead ou to a specific affinity. The first option could be an amusing play ground

[Geo]

I think both claims seem to be true. We'll have to wait and see which of them is more true.
But it looks as if you don't actually "choose" the afinity, but it is chosen for you acording to your answers to questions, so if you can either answer what you really think for each specific question and see where it gets you or deliveretly answer the questions to lead ou to a specific affinity. The first option could be an amusing play ground

I think the game 'thinking' for you is too strongly put. I'd say it sometimes hints or a player.
AFAIK, the affinity points granted by completing (some?) quests is far less then those acquired by researching certain leaf technologies.

[BlaneckW]

Greenhouses being purity aligned would be a poor application of the affinities idea.  Any colony would have greenhouses, especially to begin with.  But on a youtube video they seem to be a mid-level technology.

[Dale]

Whilst I will retain comments about how the game play and balance till after I've played it, I have to admit that I am interested enough to have pre-ordered.  Though not off Steam.  I'm interested enough to pay $47 AUD, not $95 AUD. 

[t_ras]

I just order. I hope it is not a waste of money...

[BlaneckW]

I just order. I hope it is not a waste of money...

I said that about Age of Wonders 3.  The game is fine, but I'm still waiting for them to introduce a real hard mode.