https://explorminate.co/the-pegasus-expedition-early-access-examination/

Just read the explorminate early access examination, I think its spot on.

I'm enjoying my time with this one a lot so far. Still early access, so they can and will tweak/update/fix things. But its fully playable for the main story/campaign. As the article mentions the early game is kind of a tutorial and on rails for the story/events, but once you hit mid-game it opens up and you're free to make a lot of impactful choices. Nice mix of story/narrative elements, limited colony management, and quick combat that allows for just enough control to keep it interesting.

I'm sitting at 24 hours played so far and more to come so got my money's worth already which is nice, never something I'm guaranteed of with early access.

Originally posted by melkathi:

Originally posted by DevildogFF:

It's out now. I'm curious to hear what people think!

There are a couple of eXplormiate videos on youtube you can watch if you are interested ;)

Given Rob is the one who made this videos I imagine he's seen them ;)

I like it so far. The tutorial could be better, I've had to trial and error some things because I didn't understand key mechanics.

I've actually found I like combat a lot so far. It starts off with the Endless Space premise, picking strategies and watching them play out, but a few key differences. For one, you can pick the entry points for your fleets, so you get to decide where to concentrate forces which makes for interesting decisions. Should I overwhelm this one planet's defenders while getting hit longer range by the ships around the other planet or should I split up and go for all planets with smaller forces? Then there is the whole thing with using "all means" or not in combat. Going all out gives big buffs but diplomatic penalties. Also the use of missiles and nukes gives some active input during combat.

I like colony management, picking the right outpost for the right planet and then picking specialty buildings for colonies and such.

Narrative is interesting. It is nice having the AI catch me lying. I told the Empire's representative I would stop expanding as requested/commanded but decided to see if I could push things by claiming a few more systems first. Got a nice "visit" from the Empress basically calling me out for lying and promising consequences. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

Yeah, I’ve been avoiding any demo because I want to experience the story from the start. I’ve always wanted a strong, narrative focused 4x so I’m hoping this is it.

And for those who want a sandbox, that is coming in EA so no concerns there.

I really liked the supply mechanic in Conquest Frontier Wars. I could focus fire supply ships to cripple enemy fleets deep in my territory

This is definitely one of those games where I’ll need to restart multiple times as I learn my mistakes. But it’s engaging enough so far to make me want to do that. Finally have a strong Resistance start where I control the US. We’ll see if I can get to space now.

Congrats! Already picked it up

Just completed my first game, Atreides hegemony win. 5.5 hours total. The Fremen were giving me a run for my money in the mid-game, but after taking two special regions from them in the center of the map I left them in the dust. All default settings/difficulty.

I enjoyed my time with the game. The other factions look to have their own unique mechanics. If they each prove fun enough to play a full game with that should add up to more than 20+ hours of enjoyment which is what I'd be looking for given what I paid. Really is about managing resources, setting yourself up for success. I believe they said a campaign will come at some point which I hope I will enjoy because I love the lore of Dune.

Worms not going through village or rock surrounding it, it shows up on the outskirts of the rocks where the battle is happening as my troops try to push into the village against militia. So they are just outside of protection from worm attack until they can fight their way in close enough

Maybe a bug then, but I’ve had armies in the middle of a battle near a village get chomped on by a sandworm with little/no warning. I think the worms are attracted to a lot of movement so a big battle would catch their attention