The Expanse or No?

[Arill Wiltker]

So I'm coming across this during the Next Fest and so my question is from the videos that I've seen this very closely looks like The Expanse, which I'm definitely not complaining about. I just want to know if it is because there's no demo for it. And if that's the case then there's also Capital Command by the same group and so I'm confused what the differences are in the two games and which would give me the best "The Expanse and Ender's Game vibe" as one of the reviewers said. Any insight would be appreciated

[Alzephy]

Nah, This game is nothing like The Expanse and I honestly don't know why people keep comparing it.
This game is still big slow battleships shooting each other at close range but instead of the usual ww2 in space inspirations ships have modern capabilities so there's a greater focus on RADAR and missiles. Still incredibly fun though.

[Naya]

Originally posted by Alzephy:

Nah, This game is nothing like The Expanse and I honestly don't know why people keep comparing it.
This game is still big slow battleships shooting each other at close range but instead of the usual ww2 in space inspirations ships have modern capabilities so there's a greater focus on RADAR and missiles. Still incredibly fun though.

The reason people compare it to the expanse is generally due to the nature of the strategy involved and how it somewhat mirrors the newtonioan nature of combat on the expanse.
For example, heading and roll are independent to the direction of travel, allowing a ship to strafe while maintaining optimal offensive or defensive positioning.
Another example would be the reliance on guided missiles or good old dumb ordinance, with the exception of beams, the weapons are similar to what is seen in the expanse.
A final example would be the battlespaces themselves which are reasonably open, but the use of cover and concealment once again mirror tactics and strategy used within the expanse universe.
While the game operates in a none newtonian way for things like velocity and inertia, this is for balance (I for one see a missed opportunity in having the potential for C-fractional shenanigans)

[Arill Wiltker]

Originally posted by FTF quigglebert:

Originally posted by Alzephy:

Nah, This game is nothing like The Expanse and I honestly don't know why people keep comparing it.
This game is still big slow battleships shooting each other at close range but instead of the usual ww2 in space inspirations ships have modern capabilities so there's a greater focus on RADAR and missiles. Still incredibly fun though.

The reason people compare it to the expanse is generally due to the nature of the strategy involved and how it somewhat mirrors the newtonioan nature of combat on the expanse.
For example, heading and roll are independent to the direction of travel, allowing a ship to strafe while maintaining optimal offensive or defensive positioning.
Another example would be the reliance on guided missiles or good old dumb ordinance, with the exception of beams, the weapons are similar to what is seen in the expanse.
A final example would be the battlespaces themselves which are reasonably open, but the use of cover and concealment once again mirror tactics and strategy used within the expanse universe.
While the game operates in a none newtonian way for things like velocity and inertia, this is for balance (I for one see a missed opportunity in having the potential for C-fractional shenanigans)

This is exactly the type of response I was looking for. Not everything I think I would need to know but definitely a great response to the previous post and just further increases my desire to try the game out

[Mystras23]

its more like honor Harrington rockets and big ships

[ulzgoroth]

It's really not like Honor Harrington, especially since the missile rule change.

I get the feeling people have very few referents for 'space battles with a more realistic sensibility than Star Wars'.

[Eliphaser]

Originally posted by Mystras23:

its more like honor Harrington rockets and big ships

it's as close to honor harrington in terms of combat as it is close to assassin's creed black flag

if anything it's closer to Star Wars warfare in terms of overall map size, engagement ranges, but fails the description when you consider the radar aspect of the gameplay (and ECM), missiles being so important, and cannons instead of blasters, for the comparison

in the end, it's really just cold war naval warfare but "IN SPACE!", so not really anywhere close to most sci-fi settings, and could be seen at best as a fusion of Star Wars combat with The Expanse weapons (ECM is not as potent with either of them as it is with Nebulous)

[Firestorm🗿]

This game was originally created by an American Naval officer, if I recall correctly. Think of this game as a fusion of modern naval combat with some elements of legacy naval combat with hard science fiction, Ender's game, Battlestar Galactica and some Expanse stuff. Guided missiles and CIWS collide with high-calibre conventional cannon and flak. Then fusion-powered weapons such as ion beam cannons and railguns enter the fray. Ship and fleet customisation is extremely deep, with even the ability to make your own missiles for various purposes. As of the recent major update that added missile customisation and just overhauled missiles in general, this game is heavily missile focused, both in terms of the weapons themselves and means intended to defeat them. I'm still trying to find my way in this game again and build a fleet that can actually be effective in multiplayer, if that is any indicator as to how deep this game is once you get stuck in. Don't worry about fleet building too much however as you are given a great selection of starter fleets, some of which give even the most heavily-optimised player fleets a run for their money (cough cough, TF-Ash).

[Firestorm🗿]

Originally posted by Eliphaser:

Originally posted by Mystras23:

its more like honor Harrington rockets and big ships

it's as close to honor harrington in terms of combat as it is close to assassin's creed black flag

if anything it's closer to Star Wars warfare in terms of overall map size, engagement ranges, but fails the description when you consider the radar aspect of the gameplay (and ECM), missiles being so important, and cannons instead of blasters, for the comparison

in the end, it's really just cold war naval warfare but "IN SPACE!", so not really anywhere close to most sci-fi settings, and could be seen at best as a fusion of Star Wars combat with The Expanse weapons (ECM is not as potent with either of them as it is with Nebulous)

It astounds me that everyone else in this thread has failed to mention BSG.

[perl]

Kinda realistic

[ulzgoroth]

Originally posted by Eliphaser:

in the end, it's really just cold war naval warfare but "IN SPACE!", so not really anywhere close to most sci-fi settings, and could be seen at best as a fusion of Star Wars combat with The Expanse weapons (ECM is not as potent with either of them as it is with Nebulous)

It's not really cold war naval warfare either, considering the significance of cannonfire and armored ships. And the high speed of ships compared to the range of missiles.

[chaosguy]

Originally posted by Alzephy:

This game is still big slow battleships shooting each other at close range but instead of the usual ww2 in space inspirations ships have modern capabilities so there's a greater focus on RADAR and missiles.

WW3 circa 1980's in space- it's the Kirov vs the the Iowa.

Originally posted by Alzephy:

Still incredibly fun though.

Yep, it is solid.

[Slamz]

Really the main "not the Expanse" complaint is due to very low speed limits which are not explained. Your battleship goes about 18 meters per second more or less depending on engines but it can't just keep accelerating. But this is really a gameplay decision. I'm not sure people really think about what "no speed limit" space combat would look like.

[Otho]

I agree with a lot of the sentiment here. This game is modern "21st Century Naval Combat" in space rather than the good 'ol "WW2 Naval Combat in Space."

It'll be interesting how they incorporate carriers and strike craft eventually. It'll probably be "F-35c" in space.

The game is great though. Really scratches a few specific itches.

[Eliphaser]

Originally posted by Firestorm🗿:

It astounds me that everyone else in this thread has failed to mention BSG.

I keep forgetting BSG exists tbh
really I tend to forget about most sci-fi settings unless someone reminds me of their existence, I've become too much of a hard sci-fi nerd to bother
that said, I don't find BSG to have much similarities with nebulous outside of flak, though fighters when they eventually come (sadly) might make it feel more similar

admittedly I don't remember much of BSG aside from the old series I've watched years ago, and one of the "recent movies", probably well over 5 years ago, so I might be entirely wrong3

Originally posted by ulzgoroth:

It's not really cold war naval warfare either, considering the significance of cannonfire and armored ships. And the high speed of ships compared to the range of missiles.

I mean, fair
early cold war would be more accurate
it's really just a weird mashup of ww2 and cold war, but IN SPACE!
almost like star wars, but with guided missiles and sensor jamming

[the LORD]

No, nothing like the Expanse.
Its a good game if a bit confused at times