Well, this one seems decent. Their previous title was pretty good too, in its own right. Even though ultimately I got bored of it quickly,  but at least it was a pretty and polished game. I was not turned away by horrible UI after 5 min like it happened for Warlock: master of the arcane.

The main problems I found with Endless space was predictible AI and low re playability. The starmap also felt constrained.  But at least the immersion and Gameplay were good.

  In other words I will definitely want to try their second game. By opposition to Master of the Arcane 2, that I wont be playing for a while.

.. and heroines.

Great idea. We can have two versions of the game. Twice the profit.

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XtraDeconstruct

XtraDeconstruct Canons

We aren't accepting business partners, only employees.* (*unpaid internships.) we are also making a game called "World of nerd", a game based* (*a spin off) on the imaginary award winning game "The world of nerd". Max and I are going to be so rich.

DARCA.

The Alpha footage is looking really sharp

Um, shit, Endless Legend might just be the darkhorse 4X hit for me this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQGrSHFIIew

I don't know how you can do better. It looks amazing. Purely freakin amazing. 

The graphics are awesome.  What about acual game play, and the AI?  Will keep an eye on this one.

About 30 minutes worth of gameplay in that video. That looks even better, if you ask me. Unique factions, a winter mechanic, awesome turn-based battles....and much more. 

BTW, the game website is here...

http://g2g.amplitude-studios.com/Games/Endless-Legend

I'm liking the promotional artwork, with associated descriptons.  Looks like they have put some thought into this!

I dunno. I like to think we provided a good case study of how NOT to do it.

Frog, did you watch the video? Did you see how they handled combat? Also, did you see the "winter" mechanic?

Yeah...

I might break my 'never buy on release' rule for this one.  Endless Space was great I thought, though it did suffer a bit with replayability, but mechanically I thought it was exceptionally well done (other than no HOT KEYS!!!).

Endless Legend really looks like they have taken the fantasy 4X and added a bunch of interesting mechanics to it, some obviously 'borrowed' from ES, but so what, if it works well why change it???

Also Amplitude seems to have a very good reputation with patches/updates/community relations.  I'd be far less likely to take the plunge if not for the overall positive experiences I had with their attention to ES.

Early access starts Thursday. 

Looks great... can't wait to give it a try.

Yes, very excited about this one. Will definitely be buying it. It really looks like some really good features and mechanics were implemented.

As you suggester, I watched the video, and the youtube vids.  Wow, game, even in alpha, has so many really quality aspects.  Was a time warp for me watching the 'tactical' battles.  Most of what I saw I suggested to SD as my ideal tactical game play for Elemental.  The one thing I saw in the battles that needs fixing was the lack of any ZOC, or ZOE by melee units set to defend.  Any enemy melee type waltzed adjacent to three defending units in a line, and got behind to melee the vulnerable archer units.  That was the only thing I saw that was a killer (forgive the pun) for me.  Also, the designer has shere genius using the strategic map as the tactical map for combats.  Sheer genius! 

Being alpha, the game is really nice. Some stuff still needs work, obviously, but I find it quite polished and fun. The AI isn't a genius but it does more than GalCivIII's. And it's really nice in battles how nearby armies join as reinforcements (a couple units each turn). Scary when you are in the wrong side.  

Very promising future. And it's (relatively) cheap!

I played the alpha at PAX East. It looks pretty good even in alpha. Combat is tactical but it's interesting in that you combat on the actual strategic map itself. Though I couldn't figure out the game determines 'which' starting tiles you basically begin combat on. It was still kinda simplistic in its implemenation. not sure if they'll advance that more.

I felt it addressed one of the issues with Endless Space in that that world feels more 'alive and vibrant', where as endless space for some reason felt very sterile.

It's definitely something to keep an eye on.

Pretty much this. I ultimately stopped playing ES due to the bland, unlively feeling I got from the game (although the game was very polished and the UI was good). I also didn't like the endless unit spam that was surrounding ES. Playing EL so far has been a significant upgrade over ES and its just in alpha. Having very high hopes for EL and GalCiv III. Both of these games have the potential to be legendary (no pun intended).

I feel exactly the same about ES. Perfectly summarized. 

The game is quite solid in it`s own right. But it didn't have teh magic for me.

Also, kind if lacking in the Strategical aspects. Games felt more like grinding forward instead of strategy.

Ive been playing the game for a good part of the evening. Very impressed.

For what they claim to be an Alpha it seems extremely polished already. 

No crashing, all the features -at least in appearance- are in and functional, plays very smooth, AI is active.  These guys over at Amplitude got them some skill at making games.  Seems like this will also be better then Endless space by a wide margin.

There are some rather minor things that annoy me, like the unit animation movement is very slow, and seems it cant be sped up. It is even worse than in GalCiv III. 

I will post my feedback on their forum.

Since AOW III turned out to be bland and repetetive to me, I am happy that there is another game to try  

I buy all 4x games I find to support the effort, but rarely do I get really pulled in. I have spent the most time with Warlock and Fallen Enchantress the last couple of years. I have also tried games like Pandora, Endless Space and others without getting hooked. 

I want a 4x game where the focus is surviving a tough world, not a balanced game made for multiplayer. Hopefully the frog will deliver one day. Looks from a recent post of his that he is thinking about it

So tonight I buy early access to Endless Legend

Bought it yesterday and my first impressions are good.  For an unfinished alpha is amazingly good. 

It has a really nice feel to it if you know what I mean, and the UI is an absolute pleasure to use, clear and precise.  As for the graphics, I think it may be a love/hate thing depending on the player, but I love them.

I remember making some suggestions along these lines.  Specifically, the 'strategic view' of a city also being the tactical view.  I even mocked up an illustration...

Here the Sov, Mr. Elemental and Mr Dragon are positioned to repel some creatures menacing the city... I suggested using the 'strategic view' as your tactical map as well.  Imagine each 'mega square' being 8x8 or 9x9 on the tactial map, and place buildings appropriately....

That would have been brilliant. 

EL really got this right.  You can plan attacks on the strategic map and know the ground you are getting when you go to tactical combat.  Sure there's some tweaking needed to get the system perfect, but they are definitely on the right track.

And to echo what Tatty said, there is something about the graphics that just draws me in.  The game fires my imagination in a way nothing else has recently.  Here's hoping they can continue to pull this off as they finish the game.

I actually thought this is what we were getting before WoM was released, and still think it's a wonderful idea for enhancing immersion - just zoom the camera in so that the background for battles is the local strategic map.  Plus, the tactical battle maps don't need to be so detailed and pretty when the battle tactics themselves are (intentionally) so quick and simple.  I absolutely love being able to zoom in real close to see the little people working in my cities and my troops running all over the map, and also being able to zoom out all the way to see the world-at-large from the cloth map perspective.  Extending this trend to the tactical battles would be awesome!

Addition: Imagine draining all your mana with fireballs in a battle, then being able to zoom out and over to queue up some additional mana production in one of your cities, and then going back to finish up the battle.  Your stream of consciousness doesn't have to be broken by an invisible barrier between the strategic and tactical levels... they become one.