Carpe Sidera: ‘Endless Space’ Pre-Purchase Alpha Preview
Seize the stars – a grand edict, and a worthy goal for any wannabe space-emperor. This little surprise has been making waves lately. Developed by small French outfit Amplitude Studios, they’re reaching high with their first game, and seem to be almost there already. Endless Space is technically only in Alpha at the moment, but is already letting people buy in and play early via Steam. This is doubly unusual, because Alpha versions tend not to get onto Steam to begin with and, more importantly, the game almost feels complete already, offering more polish than many finished products released even in the same genre.
Endless Space is a turn-based 4X strategy game (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) in the mold of venerable old classic Master of Orion. As the unseen emperor-godhead of a newly spacefaring civilization (proudly boasting a single scout and colony ship in orbit around your homeworld), your goal is to bring the entire galaxy under your dominion, one planet at a time. Aside from a minor issue in the current version that forces you to make screen resolution changes in a config file instead of in-game, Endless Space makes a grand first impression. Absorbing music, beautiful concept-art used for backgrounds and loading screens, clear menus and a cleverly constructed UI that never leaves too many questions unanswered by concise tooltips. While the tutorial offered is maybe a little on the dry side, it’s functional enough for those familiar with the genre.
Combat may be relatively passive, but it's spectacular to behold.
If you’ve ever played a 4X game before, Endless Space is like settling into a cozy armchair with a mug of hot chocolate. All the core concepts are familiar and accessible, but with their own little spins and tweaks. The main macguffin of the game – and setting in general – is Dust. Not the kind of thing you find in your computer’s vents, but near-mythical clusters of advanced nanotech left around the galaxy by the Endless (hence the title), the previous ruling power of the galaxy. It works as the standard unit of currency in the game, akin to Gold in the Civilization series, and in addition to force-speeding construction of ships and colonies can also be used to trigger several special combat abilities. Perhaps drawing parallels with Dune, Dust seems easier to gather on arid and desert planets, meaning that an economically viable civilization is going to want to push for research that aids the colonization of unpleasant planets like that. ‘He who controls the Dust,‘ and all that.
Breaking away from tradition, the Humans really aren't the good-guys here.
Another little twist to the gameplay are Heroes. At the start of the game, each player is offered three available to hire (with one more appearing every 50 turns), each with their own personal traits, upkeep costs and potentials for growth. You can assign Hero characters to either lead fleets (providing combat bonuses) or oversee colonies (providing production and morale boosts). Experience in either of these fields levels them up, both increasing their annual wages to be paid and giving them a new trait/perk of your choice. A skilled combat hero can change the tide of a war, and a skilled manager can turn an underperforming system into an economic powerhouse. They’re an interesting trump card mechanic (and appear almost in the form of trading cards) which adds an extra layer of depth to the game.
The starmaps are uncharacteristically pretty for a 4X game.
The core 4X gameplay here is rock solid, albeit not particularly finely balanced at the moment. There’s a feeling of acceleration and progression during the early phases of a game, with the mid phases becoming a rising tide of increasingly bloody battles and conquest, and the late-game being a winner-takes-all grab for whatever victory conditions seem within reach at the time. One element that might divide opinions somewhat is the combat engine, which is very dramatic and impressive to watch, but a relatively hands-free experience. The two fleets square up against each other, automatically closing range as they fire. As they reach each range bracket (long, close, melee), they’ll carry out a single order set by you, such as ‘Overcharge weapons’ (for a damage buff) or ‘Emergency repairs’ (obvious). However, there’s a rock-paper-scissors element at play, with certain enemy orders capable of disabling yours and vice versa. It’s not quite as hands-on as Master of Orion 2, but your choices in combat do have a real effect on the outcome.
While combat may be hands-off, your ship designs are vitally important.
The game is still officially in Alpha at this point, though. Incomplete, unbalanced and potentially buggy. You’ll encounter unnamed enemy fleets from time to time, and only five of the eight pre-set playable races are currently implemented. Some techs and weapons are disproportionately powerful at the moment, and there’s no multiplayer or custom race feature in the current build, although both are planned to be in place by release. If you do put your money down on the game now, you’re definitely getting an unfinished product, but even in this early state, Endless Space is a serious contender for the 2012 4X crown. As an interesting quirk that Amplitude call the Games2Gether initiative, the developers leave certain decisions – such as art direction choice – up to the players, letting preorder customers vote periodically on which of several options to use in the final product. It goes a long way to helping the players feel more involved in the evolution of the game from its current state to release.
It's not all war. Half the game is finding places for your subjects to live.
There’s no fixed release date on the final version yet, although they’ve got it pencilled in for some time this summer. In keeping with their theme of open development, they’ve got a full development tracking page up on the official site, letting players see exactly what hurdles need to be jumped between the current release and the final V1.0 build. It’s been a long time since any game has really had a shot at dethroning Master of Orion 2 as king of the genre, but Endless Space looks to be reaching for the stars here, and they’re just about within reach. Keep watching the skies (and IGM) for further news on this very promising space epic.
