Pandora: First Contact

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:04 pm

P:FC is a total Alpha Centauri ripoff in late beta stages, to be released by Matrix Games at what's sure to be a ridiculously high price, and never to be discounted, ever, because that's how Matrix Games makes their money.

I was finally invited into the beta, and after an exhaustive playtesting session of 15 minutes, I will tell you this:

1. It captures the Alpha Centauri vibe perfectly, even though I never played a single game of AC past the first ten turns.

2. It is hexes, and looks/feels exactly like a low budget Civ V on an alien planet.

3. It is poised to be my favorite game ever, until I read a review telling me why it actually sucks, and then I won't play it again.

4. The first fifteen turns I played were actually quite moving. You do the regular 4x/Civ thing, explore, find some ruins, do whatever... And there are aliens on this planet, because it's not your goddamn planet, but unlike any other game of this type, 1) most of them are way more powerful than you, and 2) they just fucking leave you alone.

In what appears to be an otherwise "standard" (but well made) sci-fi 4x, that was the one little touch I noticed. The planet is loaded with life already, but it seems that unless you start messing with their shit, they're just happy to go about their lives, doing their thing.

I hope that's not a bug, and the beta testers don't complain about "passive AI", because, gosh was it nice to encounter a strange alien being and not have to worry about lasering its fucking ass three minutes into a game.

Look out for Pandora: First Contact. Could be a winner.

RetroRomper · Post by **RetroRomper** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 9:55 pm

Pinner wasn't kidding about the game being an Alpha Centauri clone, as everything from the unit graphics to the dialogue options are exact (but slightly upgraded (at least the graphics are)). Still interested in giving it a twirl though, as I exhausted the community AC mods about a year ago (and hey, new Alpha Centauri!).

RetroRomper · Post by **RetroRomper** » Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:21 am

The release date for Pandora is "end of Spring 2013" or Jun 15th, 2013 as per the developers.

Can't wait!

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Sun Dec 29, 2013 2:25 pm

Pandora: First Contact is out, by the way. Yes, it still has the worst name possible. But after three hours of gameplay, let's take a look at my impressions!

Pinback's Impressions
-----------------------
It is very much Civ in space (or SMAC), but feels simpler and more straightforward. Which I like! As tremendous an accomplishment as I think Civ 5 is, golly there's a lot of crap going on.

P:FC does away with most of the extra stuff, and presents you with some pretty base-line 4X action. The factions (races) are all pre-set. There is no race customization. There are five different planet sizes and three different types of planets, and that's it. Setting up a game is fast because there's just not that much to choose from.

Once you're in-game, you're comfortable right away assuming you've played any of these games in the last 20 years. Which I hope you have, because get this: There is NO DOCUMENTATION, other than in-game tooltips, hover boxes and popups! So that's it, I guess. We've gone from 150 page printed manuals, to 50-page PDF files, to nothing.

Impressively (and because it IS so straightforward) this isn't really a problem. You build stuff, you research stuff, you sign deals with the other guys, and you blow stuff up. That's it. Just like always.

The graphics range from overly cartoonish to quite beautiful (some of the undersea aliens are especially striking to behold). Not on par with Civ 5, but golly, good enough. That's probably a good way to sum up most of the game.

Extra bonus points for a clean, sleek UI that makes sense, pretty good writing, and a remarkable lack of typos and misspellings, which is becoming ever so rare.

Right now I would have to say that this is my favorite 4X game for the moment, because it's fun, it's fast, it doesn't tire you or tie you down with minutiae, and it sticks to what made 4X great in the first place.

I give Pandora: First Contact an 8 out of 10! I guess? I dunno what the two points are knocked off for, as I really didn't have any complaints. Other than the name.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:05 am

Oh also the soundtrack is exceptional. I give it an extra point for that.

9 out of 10!

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:05 am

Double posted by accident. I'll count a half-point off for that.

8.5 out of 10.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:48 pm

Hey you guys I made the front page of JC!!

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:11 pm

I'm so fuckin' bad at this game! Why do I have to be bad at games I genuinely enjoy? I find them so rarely. :( :( :(

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:37 pm

For those even remotely considering this, I'm going to keep posting about it because it's not on Steam, it's on the dreaded MATRIX, so unless it gets some serious publicity, it's going to die under their terrible pricing policies.

Here are two very cool/unique things about P:FC, in comparison to other, similar products:

1. The tech tree is semi-randomized. So shit will show up in different spots, and may not even be available, depending on the game. ("But Sword of the St-" don't even mention that... that thing to me.)

2. Here's the most interesting part: Gathered resources are shared GLOBALLY, but used LOCALLY, depending on how you assign the population of each city. So:

- Any food or minerals gathered by a city go into the overall food/mineral bank.

- How it's used is determined by each individual city.

So, for instance, you can have one city where you make all the inhabitants MINERS. They will MINE their little hearts out, adding tons of minerals to the global reserve. However, because there are no BUILDERS there, the city doesn't build anything.

However, this city over here, has lots of population, and having a bunch of build-related upgrades, so you assign them all to be BUILDERS, and they will use all the minerals that the dudes in the other city are mining.

In this way, cities can (and maybe should?) become specialized, generating whatever they're best at generating and letting the other cities do what THEY are best at.

Seems subtle at first, but it isn't. And it feels... it feels right.

At least until I lose.

How much does this-- okay, it's $30. I'll let you know if it goes on sale ("HahhaHAHAlololol" - Matrix) and then I demand you all buy it.

RetroRomper · Post by **RetroRomper** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:27 am

Sounds as if they resolved the city issues with SMAC (that in a weird way, management of the cities was out of the user's control and became nearly unmanageable by mid game). But the important question is, does the game give me the option of committing genocide / atrocities?

Can I nerve staple / lobotomize dissidents?

Confront the UN (or equivalent) and unleash a planet buster?

Send the world into a spiral of destruction by melting the polar ice caps?

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:44 pm

RetroRomper wrote:Sounds as if they resolved the city issues with SMAC (that in a weird way, management of the cities was out of the user's control and became nearly unmanageable by mid game). But the important question is, does the game give me the option of committing genocide / atrocities?

Can I nerve staple / lobotomize dissidents?

Confront the UN (or equivalent) and unleash a planet buster?

Send the world into a spiral of destruction by melting the polar ice caps?

I doubt it. Everyone who's played it long enough gripes that there's just not enough to do.

You fuckers never grew up playing Empire Deluxe. There was literally NOTHING to do, and we LOVED IT.