Worth the buy?

[Valkyrie]

So, i've been eyeing the game for a while by now and wondered if the people that have already purchased it have any advice on whether i should do so as well or not. I've seen the Recent reviews drop to mixed so i wanted to know more. Any info is welcome, thanks!

[POWER WITHIN USER]

Gameplay is good, could be better.
The UI is all over the place and there's a lot of rather pointless, constant pausing.
Even if you understand or like these types of games I'd recommend waiting.

[Valkyrie]

Originally posted by POWER WITHIN USER:

Gameplay is good, could be better.
The UI is all over the place and there's a lot of rather pointless, constant pausing.
Even if you understand or like these types of games I'd recommend waiting.

I see. I saw a thread where there was mention of the AI being able to do impossible things, seeming as if it got cheats. Is that true?

[Torpex]

Originally posted by Valkyrie:

I see. I saw a thread where there was mention of the AI being able to do impossible things, seeming as if it got cheats. Is that true?

Without spoiling the game, sometimes you'd think that AI cheats, but it is not so. AI uses the same rules as you do. It's just deck is stacked against you.

Game is playable, feature complete, and currently is getting "balanced". I have a love/hate relationship with it.

[Valkyrie]

Originally posted by Torpex:

Originally posted by Valkyrie:

I see. I saw a thread where there was mention of the AI being able to do impossible things, seeming as if it got cheats. Is that true?

Without spoiling the game, sometimes you'd think that AI cheats, but it is not so. AI uses the same rules as you do. It's just deck is stacked against you.

Game is playable, feature complete, and currently is getting "balanced". I have a love/hate relationship with it.

So, it's not like in stellaris where the AI gets resources from the game to artificially inflate them so they can keep up with you? (Sorry if you don't know stellaris, it's just a good example)

[Torpex]

No, nothing like stellaris. AI human factions have some quirks, but Aliens are so overwhelmingly OP at the start, that game "lore" has to "cripple" them abit.

[Valkyrie]

Originally posted by Torpex:

No, nothing like stellaris. AI human factions have some quirks, but Aliens are so overwhelmingly OP at the start, that game "lore" has to "cripple" them abit.

That's very good to know, thanks!

[SigmaSquadron]

I'd wait until it's closer to release. You just get a lacklustre 4X simulation that pads its playtime by making everything take forever to happen. It also doesn't have a lot of content as it stands, and modding can't help it now since our modding tools are terrible. Some design decisions, such as ship-to-ship combat, also seem to have no polish at all, to the point where they're so convoluted it detracts heavily from the experience.
It has potential, but it's not anywhere good enough to spend money on when there are so many better alternatives out there.

[POWER WITHIN USER]

Originally posted by Valkyrie:

I see. I saw a thread where there was mention of the AI being able to do impossible things, seeming as if it got cheats. Is that true?

Haven't seen that but one complaint that I have about the AI is that it's very easy to stomp as it can't do economic buildup right and it mismanages it's combat units.

[Valkyrie]

Originally posted by SigmaSquadron:

I'd wait until it's closer to release. You just get a lacklustre 4X simulation that pads its playtime by making everything take forever to happen. It also doesn't have a lot of content as it stands, and modding can't help it now since our modding tools are terrible. Some design decisions, such as ship-to-ship combat, also seem to have no polish at all, to the point where they're so convoluted it detracts heavily from the experience.
It has potential, but it's not anywhere good enough to spend money on when there are so many better alternatives out there.

Hmmm, i see, that's pretty good info. What alternatives are you talking about?

[gimmethegepgun]

Originally posted by Valkyrie:

What alternatives are you talking about?

It probably depends on what about this game caught your eye.

[debott]

Terra Invicta is an attempt at a hardcore realistic sci-fi simulation about contemporary/near-future geopolitics and space exploration+colonization in a 'looming alien invasion' scenario.

To enjoy this game, you should a) be interested in a (realistic depiction of) these topics and b) be willing to put in some hours to learn the mechanics, otherwise you'll be struggling.

Personally, I'd estimate it takes 10-20 hours to get a rough understanding of all mechanics, and beyond 100 hours to really stop getting overwhelmed. (claiming the game "doesn't have a lot of content" is gross misinformation)
In all likelihood this is the reason why reviews went from 'very good' to 'mixed'; hardcoe fans were 100% on board from the beginning, whereas more casual players have a hard time enjoying it.

If you're still on the fence, I'd recommend waiting for the next major update. The upcoming '2070 scenario' should be a good way to get a quicker start into the game.

[Valkyrie]

Originally posted by debott:

Terra Invicta is an attempt at a hardcore realistic sci-fi simulation about contemporary/near-future geopolitics and space exploration+colonization in a 'looming alien invasion' scenario.

To enjoy this game, you should a) be interested in a (realistic depiction of) these topics and b) be willing to put in some hours to learn the mechanics, otherwise you'll be struggling.

Personally, I'd estimate it takes 10-20 hours to get a rough understanding of all mechanics, and beyond 100 hours to really stop getting overwhelmed. (claiming the game "doesn't have a lot of content" is gross misinformation)
In all likelihood this is the reason why reviews went from 'very good' to 'mixed'; hardcoe fans were 100% on board from the beginning, whereas more casual players have a hard time enjoying it.

If you're still on the fence, I'd recommend waiting for the next major update. The upcoming '2070 scenario' should be a good way to get a quicker start into the game.

Thanks for the info and the advice! I'm indeed in geopolitics and space exploration which is one of the reasons i went here. I'm just a lil more careful since i've seen quite a few games in early access go down the route of never really finishing the game.

[debott]

Originally posted by Valkyrie:

I'm just a lil more careful since i've seen quite a few games in early access go down the route of never really finishing the game.

This is very reasonable of you, and I've made similar experiences. Which is why I usually advise to wait when you're still hesitant.
However, in this case I don't believe Terra Invicta will be another 'EA miscarricage'.
TI had a very successful kickstarter campaign[www.backerkit.com], which allowed the devs to start EA with a very complete product. They even put in a lot of bonus content already (i.e voice acting, art design, ect.)
As a matter of fact, I don't expect TI to have a ton of content added over Early Access, anyways, since it's as good as feature complete as is. It's running quite stable, too.
So far, EA has mostly served to make the game more accessible for new players.

[Torpex]

Originally posted by Valkyrie:

Thanks for the info and the advice! I'm indeed in geopolitics and space exploration which is one of the reasons i went here. I'm just a lil more careful since i've seen quite a few games in early access go down the route of never really finishing the game.

The game was playable in .37 and it's now on .107.

While devs patched a lot of "exploits" they also "unbalanced" the balance. While I was in "overwhelmingly positive" camp on 0.37 in 2022, now I am in a "mixed" one. It's not a bad game in any sense.

But, in a good strat game there should be different ways to do things, not oscillations from "we are all going to Mercury to build dyson sphere" to "we are all rushing Jovian system to prevent alien build up". Or from "nuking works on aliens bases" to "only marine assault works'. That's just my opinion, and opinions differ.

But now game is much more accessible to new players. Cinematic should be recommended, not normal BTW. you will get +2 to rolls.

You can also set up a custom game and chose to run a "quick" game where all progression rates are doubled. You can also remove randomness on research projects and pick specific councillor types.

[olstar18]

Its one of those love it or hate it kind of games. I love it though there are some serious issues with the way the ui presents or hides information. For example the national policy mission. You don't hit the button then select what specific task you want to do you hit the button and wait until the 'task' is completed then you get a menu for all of the options with little explanation of why something isn't possible. For example I wanted to unify another country into the eu but it wasn't even listed as an option on that screen so there was no information on why it couldn't be done.