Mechs = good
Microtransactions = bad

But I'm willing to take a wait and see approach with this. Always nice to get something new in the genre.

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QuoteI guess I'm more concerned that they might get tempted some day. It's a pretty fine line.

Yeah, I hear ya. I'll definitely call them out when/if that ever happens. Sometimes I think that the DLC should be slightly cheaper, maybe $5 less. Which is why I usually skip the cosmetic DLC until it's discounted. But then again, things are worth what people will pay for and apparently each expansion has done better than the last.

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Quoting: Segata SanshiroDo you not worry with the massive amount of DLC that the HoI and Victoria will be a little barebones when they're out? I mean the old HoI for instance allowed you to play into the cold war, and that's gone now, presumably to be added later as DLC. I preferred the old system of two or three big DLC and then the little optional extras like unit skins for people who want them.

Actually, the Cold War was added in the second HoI 2 expansion. And it wasn't around for either 1 or 3. I wouldn't be too worried about HoI4 being bare bones given what they've shown with the various press releases, let's plays and their weekly multiplayer games.

I prefer the new system of DLC because I can just skip what I don't want and still have the latest game version and free patch content. I haven't felt that any of their sequels have been dumbed down, generally. I felt that CK2, EU IV and Vicky 2 had a good amount of content at launch. Some of their experiments like Sengoku and March of Eagles on the other hand...

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Quoting: amelcherSorry about the controller and openal issue.

Currently trying out some controller fixes, but we tested a bunch prior to release and they all checked out (given drivers are properly setup). I'm using SDL2 Game Controller api (just like steam) so anything that works in Big Picture mode via Steam should work with the game.

The game uses Gamemaker so sorry about the 32bit openal thing, the engine build is unfortunately out of my hands. Glad to hear you are playing and it is working out otherwise!

Weird, I haven't really run into issues with SDL2 games before. Usually it's plug and play so to speak. Hopefully you'll manage to sort it out. I wasn't home for my initial impressions so I didn't get to try out my whole array of wired and bluetooth gamepads to see what worked.

As for the openal thing - yeah that should be prominent somewhere, maybe a little popup if it doesn't find the lib on the system. I'm all for native libs otherwise.

Good job on the port generally! I haven't encountered any issues while actually playing and it's been a smooth ride. I had no idea you were involved with bringing MN9 to Linux too (saw on your site) and I'm glad it's being handled by rather competent porters :)

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Great job guys! It was fun listening to you lot and I think that you covered the topics well.

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@Swiftpaw
PDS has never made a TBS. They're all pausable real time games. You can see as much in the videos. It almost certainly won't have the same amount of emphasis on fleets/combat that Sins of a Solar Empire but there's plenty of superficial similarities.

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Quoting: rustybroomhandle

Quoting: emphyeg the riculous skylines eiffel tower et al dlc

wat?

Cities: Skylines has had two paid expansions thus far, both of them adding quite a lot of new content and mechanics.

I think he means the digital deluxe edition that, among other things like an art book and the soundtrack, has five world monuments such as the brandenburg gate and the statue of liberty. It's stupid cosmetic stuff that costs a few bucks more. I didn't get it because I don't care about landmarks but I guess some people feel that that should have been part of the base game because reasons.

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@Stupdendous Man
Yeah, I definitely agree about the bugs. It's unacceptable! I was also there when RoI came along. I also complained. But, to be fair, since then they've taken on more QAs and their releases have been more polished. I've been a fan long enough to remember stuff like the disastrous HoI3 launch and, trust me, they are definitely getting better. They still need to do better but with the last expansion/patch in EU4 I played at launch with no issues that I could think of. The last CK2 patch had a few things they fixed in an open beta patch almost immediately.

And, yeah, sales do happen really regularly. Steam has 5 sales since October, not to mention on their official webshop and other sites like gamesrepublic.

I disagree that the patches force you to buy the DLC as most mechanics aren't necessarily a game changer. The only exception I can think of being vital was retinues in CK2 but since launch they made levies more relevant, auto reinforce etc which makes that argument sort of moot. Stuff like development in EU4 was also mathematically proven in the forums to be less cost effective than outright conquest, so it's there for roleplaying and giving players other strategies. I know someone who has been playing EU4 with no expansions for the last year with no complaints. But yeah, I think we're going to disagree on this and it's not worth getting into an argument here.

Like I said, it's fair enough that you vote with your wallet. I feel that I get my money's worth in general but I can see how some people find it excessive. I wouldn't hold my breath on a definitive bundle - it's been 4 years of CK2 and they're still putting out more paid content and I couldn't be happier ^_^

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@Stupendous Man
It's fair enough not to buy stuff you don't want nor need but you have to realize that games cost money to develop. The upside of the current Paradox Development Studios (not to be confused with Paradox Interactive, the publisher) strategy is that they have been supporting their titles for years because of the DLC. It's been 4 years since CK2 launched and nearly 3 since EU4. They can keep fixing bugs, adding new features and the like because it's commercially feasible to do so.

The DLC model itself is also better than the old system of expansions where you needed to have all the preceding expansions whenever they released new content. You get to pick and choose what you care about now and I think that's a positive thing. Don't care about the Steppes in CK2? You can skip that expansion and instead get the one making republics playable or whatever. Stuff like EU3/HoI2 was a nightmare to deal with because you had to buy everything before it to have the latest patches/MP functionality. With the current system DLC is active for everyone in a multiplayer game so long as just the host has it turned on.

The fact that they regularly have 75% off sales for their games is also nice, which means that I give the small cosmetic DLC that I didn't really care about a second look and sometimes pick it up. So yeah, ultimately it's your money and you get to vote with your wallet but given that their sales seem to be getting better with time, most people feel like I do. I'll probably be picking this up on launch and, if it means many hundreds of hours of gaming like with their other titles (I have 500+ on both CK2 and EU4) and years of support and free content, I'm all for a new expansion every 6-12 months.

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Quoting: GuestBought Battle of Empires : 1914-1918 - Deluxe Edition, runs like a charm! I don't know if this is a Unity port, doesn't feel like it thought..

It's running the GEM 2 engine, which is the same engine Men of War ran on. Hence similarity in physics, graphics and even gameplay to an extent.

I bought the deluxe edition on a whim yesterday and it's okay gameplay-wise and the 3 or so missions I did were fun. There's different ways that they can play out and you can be mildly creative in completing them. That said, there's also a lot that's hard to like. The voice acting is rather poor and you can tell that the dialog was written by someone who isn't a native English speaker. The graphics are unimpressive (but not entirely ugly in motion) and the music dull. I don't really have time to do a full review for GOL anytime soon but if you ever played Men of War and liked it, you'll feel right at home. Plus playing with WW1 weapons appeals to my history nerd side.

I've played about two hours by now and will probably get another hour or so in today. I'm not sure if it's worth the full asking price but at its current 50% off I'm not really regretting it.

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