How much better (if at all) is the Enhanced edition?

[Hardcore_gamer]

Being someone who thought the original release wasn't really playable, I can now see that the Enhanced edition has been released.

For those who have had the chance to play it for some time, is there any big difference? Would somebody who disliked the version of the game that was out before the Enhanced edition be able to like the Enhanced edition?

Thoughts?

 

[unmerged(201662)]

There is no way to answer your question, since it is opinion based and directly related to the individual tastes and only that individual will be able to answer that for themselves. Having seen you throughout the launch and how you presented yourself and the issues you had with SoTS2 early, in my opinion you will not like it regardless, but it's just my opinion and opinions vary. My advice is determine it for yourself and see, it's not that hard.

Now, please refer to the rules listed in my sig line and do not post trollish posts, you know the drill.

 

[unmerged(15561)]

Not sure if you played the original game. I happened to come across it when they released the ultimate edition then, so I missed the first few DLCs expansions.

I guess that if its comparable to the original and that expansion, then its probably going to be a better game. I havent tried it yet as Im working. But if it includes the ALL clear release + something extra would that be good enough?

 

[Ordo Impavidus]

Being someone who thought the original release wasn't really playable, I can now see that the Enhanced edition has been released.

For those who have had the chance to play it for some time, is there any big difference? Would somebody who disliked the version of the game that was out before the Enhanced edition be able to like the Enhanced edition?

Thoughts?

This is undoubtedly on everyone's mind because of the huge let down of the fans at yesteryear.

It would be beneficial to get player feed back on the new Enhanced Edition so perhaps someone here in charge of this forum would sticky this entry for such purposes?

 

[Stateofmind99]

Maybe I am missing something? Is not enhanced edition free for those who have SOTS II already? It certainly appeared on my steam account?

If its free then surely its worth a little of your time to find out if its better. Tbh like the OP I was massively turned off by the release day launch of SOTS - I haven't played it since about 5 weeks after release.

However it makes perfect sense for me to launch the game and actually play enhanced edition - since so much is personal opinions. It's not like I have to pay for it - therefore the opinions of others doesn't really matter.

 

[unmerged(169164)]

I came here to enquire on the evolution of this game. Tense ambiance.

Opinions are not forcefully based on facts. But they can be.

Unsettling to read about an enhanced edition that it has to be about opinions, as if it has to be disconnected from a factual assessment of possible enhancement.

 

[unmerged(201662)]

That's the point Chien, however if you wish to find out for yourself (can't get anymore factual then that can ya), follow Sateofmind99's advice. Otherwise it's all opinion, isn't it?

However these are the facts (and it's evolution):

Game was worked on the entire year since launch tirelessly and with success.
Last month the "all clear" was given.
Yesterday the expansion was released for SotS2 free of charge for all current owners, and all future purchases will include EE without a price increase. SoTS2: Lords of Winter will henceforth be known as SotS2: Enhanced Edition.
SotS2: Enhanced Edition includes the original Lords of Winter and the expansion End of Flesh.
Those are the facts.

 

[unmerged(15561)]

I came here to enquire on the evolution of this game. Tense ambiance.

Opinions are not forcefully based on facts. But they can be.

Unsettling to read about an enhanced edition that it has to be about opinions, as if it has to be disconnected from a factual assessment of possible enhancement.

Well the game certainly has come a long way. Ill be having a go at Christmas... no free time at the moment. Its a shame they havent released a demo now that the game is more than stable. Its certainly playable. Does it have a challenge... well some people would say yes, some no. I guess it depends on what one sees as a challenge!

Personally I cant wait... what has always appealed to me about this game is the rich tapestry of the galactic backstory it has over something like GC2 for instance. That was a great game, but limited in appeal for me! Which is a shame. No such problem for me with SotS. Now I can expect that if not yet, going forwards and after a few more DLCs, this sequel will go beyond the scope of SotS prime.

 

[unmerged(169164)]

That's the point Chien, however if you wish to find out for yourself (can't get anymore factual then that can ya), follow Sateofmind99's advice. Otherwise it's all opinion, isn't it?

However these are the facts (and it's evolution):

Game was worked on the entire year since launch tirelessly and with success.
Last month the "all clear" was given.
Yesterday the expansion was released for SotS2 free of charge for all current owners, and all future purchases will include EE without a price increase. SoTS2: Lords of Winter will henceforth be known as SotS2: Enhanced Edition.
SotS2: Enhanced Edition includes the original Lords of Winter and the expansion End of Flesh.
Those are the facts.

It is about opinions. It does not change that opinions can be assessments based on facts.

While it might be free for people who bought the game (so a lot of them being pre ordering customers), it is not for the others. And while it is not customers' matter to initiate new sales, it feels a bit cultish to tell people that the quality of the game and a possible enhancement of it is just a matter of opinion or more exactly here, as people who used it meant it, a matter of tastes.

Stuff has been done, you might like it or you might like it not.

Even when people have a free access to the enhanced version, they might wish to get some feed back about how game features are improved or not, which people who spent a lot of time in the game, should be able to report about. Does not read like it is that way, as players make it read as it is only a matter of tastes.

So, in the end, it could mean that the game has no quality at all as anyone is free to taste no quality articles.

Impeccable taste is one thing. Having poor taste is another.

All the previous being opinions and opinions based on facts.

 

[S0ny B1ack]

My impressions after the first few hours of gameplay (with the new Loa):
The good:
-turn times an interface transitions seem to have improved (mind though that i didn0t have to much trouble with them earlier either...)
-the loa are quite interestin to play. THey are completely different than the old races in almost every aspect (you NEED to read the EOF manual or you won't know what is going on with them)
-the loa are the biggest expansionists (after 50 turns i have 20+ colonies)
-the ability of the loa to change any fleet into any other ship composition is huge bonus (e.g.:my survey fleet returned, lets position a gate with them and after that use it to colonise the newly surveyed system)
-new traits for admirals (some of them bring rather interesting advantages, now especailly for combat fleets there are many interesting choises)
-you now have the option to issue orders the 'old way' (you select a fleet and its order and than its target, but you can still do select target/select mission/select fleet - mind though that not all missions can be ordered that way, but most can (i'm still using the SOTS 2 way because i got used to it, but i tried of the new feature works and it worked ))

The bad:
-there is a minor interface bug with the loas, where ther 'gate capacity' is labled as psy power
-their new drive system could need a bit more of explanation, especially the inteface to build the gates (but after a few trials what that slider does i figured it out)
-a bug with placing stations as the loa (my workaround was to reposition the construction fleet to the system before giving build order - so i can live with it before it will be fixed)

Other stuff i haven't yet played (much) with, but it sounds awesome:
-new tech treee and new techs in the existing trees for all races (since i played Loa i haven't yet tried the new tree)
-new sections for existing cruisers, dreads; 2 new leviathan types (one which allows you to move any defensive assets)
-new modules
-new weapons
-new mission to evacuate population
-new randoms and GM (i didn't yet get any of those new ones)

 

[Ordo Impavidus]

My observations thus far:

This is pretty much the same game as of v1.123976.4 with some performance tweaks (would be nice to see the patch notes), wrapped with another DLC but under a different title. This is quite simply a new sales pitch and nothing more.

The game continues with the problems of the previous version. However, with the continued patching, it has continued to be improved since Winter's unethical launch.

It is understandable why the parties involved would not want an official feedback thread for this "Enhanced Edition" since it would honestly be more of the same from before (complaints, dislikes, et cetera) because in essence, nothing has really changed.

 

[namuseta]

My observations thus far:

This is pretty much the same game as of v1.123976.4 with some performance tweaks (would be nice to see the patch notes), wrapped with another DLC but under a different title. This is quite simply a new sales pitch and nothing more.

The game continues with the problems of the previous version. However, with the continued patching, it has continued to be improved since Winter's unethical launch.

It is understandable why the parties involved would not want an official feedback thread for this "Enhanced Edition" since it would honestly be more of the same from before (complaints, dislikes, et cetera) because in essence, nothing has really changed.

Alot have changet thats the point of the new release aka "enchanted edition"

while it still have the same game play than before its alot smoother. and free dlc with a new race is always nice.

 

[fiallach]

As somebody who was very disapointed in the first launch, and pretty upset, I can give you my thoughts.

I waited for the "all clear" to start playing, and had the time to play a bit before the "end of flesh" was released.

I was very pleased with what i found.

This game is awesome if you play it in MP,but AI is dumb. I had 1 or 2 CTD, but when i relaunched he game from the autosave, it never repeated itself. so, quite good on that.

Be warned: Learning curve is very very stiff, and nothing in the game will help you. That's a major issue, it took me many hours to figure out how trade worked, and how to see "trade mode" on the map, even with an internet search. i guess tooltips will come after bugfixing, and that's for the best.


Loading times are ok,even on my gaming laptop, it's not lightspeed, but it's very much playable.That being said from the standpoint of a man who played pride of nations

If you think about getting it, i'd say this game is worth it's price, and can finally start getting better, after spending the last year getting ok.

 

[Hardcore_gamer]

This game is awesome if you play it in MP,but AI is dumb.

If this is still the case then I don't know if the game is worth playing in spite of the new improvements. Simply put, a bad AI that can't play its own game is a game breaker in a 4x game. I don't care for the multiplayer.

I will still hope that there is more feedback though.

 

[unmerged(201662)]

The AI is not so bad, if you feel it's not challenging enough, set the team to have all AI on one side and you the other. Though realize that no AI will match what a player can do, so don't expect it to be as good as even a poor human player.

 

[Werewindlefr]

The AI is not so bad, if you feel it's not challenging enough, set the team to have all AI on one side and you the other. Though realize that no AI will match what a player can do, so don't expect it to be as good as even a poor human player.

Will that make it use point defense, or stop using light drone carriers/shuttle carriers when inappropriate? Will the AI stop using Franken-ships when in teams? Will AI teams make the AIs stop attacking the same system mindlessly and use their fleets poorly? Or defend their systems semi-efficiently, intercepting me in force instead of having stray platforms and single ships coming at my 5 dreads one after the other?

The "AI" improvements that so many people talk about on this forum are the emperor's new clothes. Honesty says that the AI is not interesting to play against, and having 5 of them in a team against you will just make the 50-100 first turns harder, then make the rest of the game just as easy as before, but extremely tedious.
There was a forum topic on the official Kerberos SotS 2 forums a week ago that listed so many AI shortcomings that it showed that the AI improvements of the all-clear update were limited at best. Because someone writes in a patch note "The AI is super awesome now, I swear" doesn't make it true. The evening after that update, I built my usual prester Zuul riders and destroyed the AIs fleet, wave after wave, without it EVER reacting (and a basic counter is simple to implement: it's called "Make the AI use PD")
That said, there's very good reasons why the AI is so poor. The game is hugely complex and has lots of refinements. Even simple strategies or tactics require planning on several level. So yeah, making a half-decent AI that can take advantage of the income and production bonuses it gets on harder settings is much more difficult than it is in Total War of Civilization games. But because there's a good reason why things are the way they are shouldn't make us ignore the real state of things. SotS 2 is a terrific game, but only against other human players.

So how much better is enhanced edition? Well, in a couple weeks, it'll be absolutely fantastic, provided you play against other humans. It's a well designed expansion, with a fantastic new faction. Kerberos knows how to put depth in their games, and this expansion is no exception to this rule. Many 4X fail at providing really distinguishable factions, and SotS2's expansion delivers just that: a new faction that plays completely differently, with interesting mechanics. However, I would recommend beginners to stay away from it until they master the game with a couple other factions; the Loa are very hard to handle.

Why in a couple weeks? Because there's a couple bugs that make the Loa frustrating to play. None of these should take a long time to fix, but they do break the game. For instance, Loa cannot position their fleets on the battle manager (they 'can', but the battle managers forgets it as combat starts). This makes system defense a little problematic.

It's up to you. If you wish to engage in multiplayers, get it now, train a bit against the AI, and in a couple weeks you'll be ready to fight other people. If not, I cannot recommend this game until at least a few months of AI updates, maybe a year.

 

[ETF]

If this is still the case then I don't know if the game is worth playing in spite of the new improvements. Simply put, a bad AI that can't play its own game is a game breaker in a 4x game. I don't care for the multiplayer.

I will still hope that there is more feedback though.

I guess it is all relative. But really in 20 + years of computer wargaming/strategy....what AI is any good besides maybe an intermediate player at best. AI's will never in my life time be of much challenge. MP play is amazing. Once you try it with good Honorable players you will never go back

 

[Marconius]

I guess it is all relative. But really in 20 + years of computer wargaming/strategy....what AI is any good besides maybe an intermediate player at best. AI's will never in my life time be of much challenge. MP play is amazing. Once you try it with good Honorable players you will never go back

You realize chess AIs can consistently beat the best chess players in the world now, right? You might be surprised how far AIs could go in your lifetime.

 

[rosseau]

I am pretty dumb, so if the game has a steep learning curve, I will probably feel "challenged" by the AI.

I assume it's Endless Space on steriods. With ES, you don't need to read the manual.

At $20 for the whole package, it is tempting, even for those who don't do MP.

Is the game moddable at all?

 

[Khisanth Magus]

I rather enjoyed the game prior to the End of Flesh patch. Sadly a lot of the new stuff is extremely buggy. The Loa mostly worked, and were quite fun and interesting, until the first bug-fix patch made them unplayable by tripling their ship cost. As long as you avoid the stuff added in the "Expansion" you should be fine and it can be an enjoyable game, although it can be extremely luck based how well a game can go. You can start out with multiple easy to settle worlds in your starting systems, or each of your starting systems can have a single planet and there are no decent systems for lightyears in any direction.