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[Shepard]

Is it just me or are the purity victory conditions extremely hard? Find spots to deploy the 20 colonists in the late game is already difficult, plus those damn settlers have just 1 tile movement, time enough for that Mandira bitch to build the Mind Flower and win the game before me :|

 

[Bregor]

Is it just me or are the purity victory conditions extremely hard? Find spots to deploy the 20 colonists in the late game is already difficult, plus those damn settlers have just 1 tile movement, time enough for that Mandira bitch to build the Mind Flower and win the game before me :|

You can stack them 6 to a spot.

 

[Shepard]

You can stack them 6 to a spot.

d'oh I can't read. That sure will make it a lot easier :\

 

[Rentahamster]

d'oh I can't read. That sure will make it a lot easier :\

Yes, so you only need 4 spots. You can make this a little easier on yourself with a little preplanning ahead of time to ensure that there's some space in between your cities to found settlements. Or just phasal transport them out.

What you can also do to prepare is to construct a magrail network while you're building the Exodus Gate so that you can pop an Earthling Settler, move it along the magrail, and settle it all in the same turn.

I really like the purity units, +%attack based on unused movement is OP. With +movement dragoons and cruisers, it's ridiculous. The victory condition, though, is fucking shit.

 

[Kikirin]

Finished my first game of this (vs. AI) the other night with a Contact victory and the final phase of the Purity victory started. Liked it, would play again. Some thoughts:

Like others, I got lost/overwhelmed by the tech web in the early game, but I do like the idea of it. Really gives the feel of being able to grow/develop your overall strategy instead of racing for particular techs/wonders. Knowing which directions of the web corresponded to which benefits would've helped immensely. Looking forward to the patch to improve this.

As a person that tends to play defensive/isolationist, I do not lament the loss/weakening of city-states/diplomacy. Perhaps it was because I regularly played against a friend that rushes that strategy, but games with him in Civ 5 regularly devolved into countering his game (via also pushing diplo) or suffering the consequences later on in a clown show of a world congress.

Didn't really pay attention to the loss of flavor text, leader/faction personalities, etc.

Overall, I like the differences introduced. Looking forward to getting in more games.

 

[Rentahamster]

I've been playing around with not "wasting" a virtue with the free colonist in the Prosperity tree, and instead buying my fist colonist around turn 25-30 (standard speed). That way I can go straight to Knowledge or Industry for an early +2 academies or increased trade routes/Magnasanti.

Works out pretty well. You just need a loan from the AI to be able to afford it that early, and some strategic nest killing with your explorers (without Purity level 1).

 

[Rentahamster]

http://blog.gameagent.com/civilization-beyond-earth-mac-linux-dev-update-6/

They don't say it explicitly, but it seems like the Mac version of the patch is a factor in delay.

As noted, the Mac version is now live and playable, but there’s still work to be done. Firaxis/2K have a planned patch on the way, and we’ve been working hard to get it implemented for the Mac. Our goal is to release the update on Mac at the same time as Windows PC, primarily to keep versions in sync for our cross-platform multiplayer… players.

Unfortunately, we’ve hit a few snags, as the implementation of the patch so far is not playing well with the rest of the game. We’re still working hard on it, but we want to let our players know that these unforeseen difficulties may delay the patch implementation for the Mac as well as Linux. We’ll have more info in the coming week(s).

Are there enough people who are using cross plat multiplayer to justify waiting?

 

[Dylan]

Is there any way to see how many people are still playing this on steam?

Every single (non-internet) person I know has given up completely on BE and either went back to Civ V or moved on to some other game (or life). Such a sad story this game is.

 

[xbhaskarx]

I stopped playing this within a week... when are they going to release expansions that make the game not suck?

 

[m_dorian]

I was very excited for this title since it was announced because i enjoyed Alpha Centauri so much back then. But seeing all that negative feedback on Steam and elsewhere i decided to stay away from it until its first expansion.
Just like what i did with Civ 5 that turned out to be my second most played Sid Meier game.
I hope i ll not have to wait that much though.

 

[Rentahamster]

Is there any way to see how many people are still playing this on steam?

Every single (non-internet) person I know has given up completely on BE and either went back to Civ V or moved on to some other game (or life). Such a sad story this game is.

http://steamcharts.com/app/65980#7d

Beyond Earth

Month 	     Avg. Players 	Gain 	                 % Gain     Peak Players
Last 30 Days 	8,321.1 	-2,007.1 	-19.43% 	22,154
November 2014 	10,328.3 	-18,135.7 	-63.71% 	38,492
October 2014 	28,464.0 	- 	- 	86,747

http://steamcharts.com/app/8930

Civ 5
Month 	         Avg. Players 	Gain 	     % Gain 	    Peak Players
Last 30 Days 	28,017.5 	-1,282.3 	-4.38% 	51,191
November 2014 	29,299.8 	-2,253.5 	-7.14% 	55,229
October 2014 	31,553.3 	-2,490.1 	-7.31% 	55,493

 

[AngmarsKing701]

http://steamcharts.com/app/65980#7d

Beyond Earth

Month 	     Avg. Players 	Gain 	                 % Gain     Peak Players
Last 30 Days 	8,321.1 	-2,007.1 	-19.43% 	22,154
November 2014 	10,328.3 	-18,135.7 	-63.71% 	38,492
October 2014 	28,464.0 	- 	- 	86,747

http://steamcharts.com/app/8930

Civ 5
Month 	         Avg. Players 	Gain 	     % Gain 	    Peak Players
Last 30 Days 	28,017.5 	-1,282.3 	-4.38% 	51,191
November 2014 	29,299.8 	-2,253.5 	-7.14% 	55,229
October 2014 	31,553.3 	-2,490.1 	-7.31% 	55,493

Dayum that's a whopping drop

 

[Dylan]

http://steamcharts.com/app/65980#7d

Beyond Earth

Month 	     Avg. Players 	Gain 	                 % Gain     Peak Players
Last 30 Days 	8,321.1 	-2,007.1 	-19.43% 	22,154
November 2014 	10,328.3 	-18,135.7 	-63.71% 	38,492
October 2014 	28,464.0 	- 	- 	86,747

Ouch....

(thanks for digging up the numbers Rentahamster!)

 

[Pooya]

They should have waited for the game to stabilize a bit before releasing other version, cross platform play, with different development teams in particular, isn't going to work. The port team seemingly is failing to deliver a decent product either, their updates seem to be about how hard it is to get this/that working, first with performance and now the patch.

 

[Rentahamster]

They should have waited for the game to stabilize a bit before releasing other version, cross platform play, with different development teams in particular, isn't going to work. The port team seemingly is failing to deliver a decent product either, their updates seem to be about how hard it is to get this/that working, first with performance and now the patch.

I'd be fine if they waited...because I'm selfish and it would mean that the PC stuff gets fixed earlier

The ports do seem to be a little hard to manage at the moment though. I didn't quote this part but in regards to the Linux version:

However, we’re seeing some of the same problems as on the Mac. And like the Mac version patch release, this may cause a delay in the full game’s release on Linux. It’s still too early to tell right now, but we’ll keep a close eye on the situation and relay any news to you in our weekly updates.

Additionally, we’re seeing some graphical problems with Intel and ATI cards on Linux. The performance is good (i.e. no slowdown or chugging frame rates), but there’s still lots of graphical tearing and other anomalies that make it practically unplayable. Though not official yet, it’s likely we’ll drop support for Intel and ATI graphics cards on Linux platforms prior to the game’s launch on Linux.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Looks like the fabled CivBE patch has finally landed on Steam. 77.8 MB.

Changelog:

Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth Fall Update Patch Notes

Balance

Wonders and Buildings:
• Holon Chamber provides 3 Science, 4 Energy (was 5 Science)
• Mind Stems cannot be bought with Energy.

Diplomacy:
• Any diplo item can now be traded in exchange for a peace treaty
• Lump Energy trade requires a Cooperation Agreement.

Trade:
• Water trade routes no longer receive any increased yield.
• Revised trade route formula for city-to-city trade, with reduced yields.
• Trade Depots can no longer be purchased with Energy.

Aliens:
• Clearing a friendly alien nest now removes the Xenomass resource from player stockpile.
• Adjusting passive recovery rate for alien opinion to be slower, to permit easier aggression escalation.
Covert Ops:
• Establish Network now has 0 difficulty and produces 0 intrigue. This prevents players from exploiting it to increase intrigue.

Health effects balancing:
• From -20 to -70, Production is penalized -1% per point (up to -50%).
• From -15 to -65, enemy Covert Ops Intrigue is increased +2% per point (up to +100%).
• From -10 to -60, Science is penalized -1% per point (up to -50%).
• From -5 to -55, Culture is penalized -1% per point (up to -50%).
• From 0 to -50, Outpost Growth is penalized -2% per point (up to -100%).
• From 0 to -50, City Growth is penalized -2% per point (up to -100%).
• From 1 to 5, nothing happens.
• From 5 to 25, Production bonus +1% per point (up to +20%).
• From 10 to 30, enemy Covert Ops Intrigue is decreased -2% per point (up to -40%).
• From 15 to 35, Science bonus +1% per point (up to +20%).
• From 20 to 40, Culture bonus +1 per point (up to +20%).
• From 25 to 45, City Growth bonus +1% per point (up to +20%).
• From 25 to 45, Outpost Growth bonus +2% per point (up to +40%).

Virtues:
• Eudaimonia (Tier III Prosperity virtue) now provides -15% less Unhealth (was -25%)
• Learning Centers now provides +1 Science for Academies (was +2)

Game Setup:
• Sponsors:
o Kozlov Ability: Orbital units last 50% longer, +50% Petroleum resource (was Orbital units last 20% longer and first launch grants free technology)
o Barre Ability: +10% Growth when Healthy, all cities start with an Old Earth Relic (was +10% Growth when Healthy)
o Rejinaldo Ability: Melee units +10% Strength, all units +5 Heal when fortified (was +10% Melee combat strength)
o Elodie Ability: provides 1 free Virtue for every 10 Virtues earned normally through Culture (was 1 free Tech for every 10 Virtues earned in any way)
• Colonists:
o Aristocrats now provide +4 Energy per City (no Health bonus)
o Artists now provide +3 Culture per City (no Health bonus)

Tech Web:
• Clear Miasma now unlocks on Ecology (was Alien Biology)
• Miasmic Repulsor now unlocks on Alien Biology (was Ecology)
• Array Science bonus now unlocks on Astrodynamics (was Orbital Automation)
• Planet Carver now unlocks on Orbital Automation (was Astrodynamics)
• Markov Eclipse now unlocks on Transcendental Math (was Artificial Intelligence)

Stations:
• Station start turn base is now 30 (was 20)
• Station minimum allowed distance to another station is now 2 (was 3)
• Station minimum allowed distance to a city is now 6 (was 5)
• Station minimum allowed distance to an outpost is now 5 (was 3)

Affinity Perks:
• Harmony level 1 grants Miasma Immunity to the Explorer unit (was Alien opinion recovers twice as quickly)
• Purity level 1 adds double combat strength when defending to Explorer unit (was Aliens cannot attack Explorers)

Quests:
• Affinity rewarded as a quest reward now ramps up slowly over the first 100 turns (on standard). This ramp will vary with game speed.
• All players now get affinity quests within 1 turn of each other. If it's not possible for all players to receive a quest at the same time, the game waits until this is possible, then immediately gives all players a new affinity quest.
• Autoplant Building Quest grants bonus Production (was +1 Trade Route)

Units:
• Explorers now have 6 combat strength (was 3).
• Sea units now follow the same rules for ranged combat defense as all other units: they use the highest of their combat values (ranged combat or melee combat) when calculating defense.
• Combat Rover unit can no longer fortify, and no longer receives defense bonuses from the terrain it is on.
• Raising the secondary level requirement for the hybrid upgrades of affinity units:
o First affinity unit (ex. Xeno Swarm) now upgrades at level 10 of main affinity and level 4 of secondary affinity (was 10+2)
o Second affinity unit (ex. Xeno Cavalry) now upgrades at 12+5 (was 12+3)
o Third affinity unit (ex. Rocktopus) now upgrades at level 14+6 (was 14+4)
o Fourth affinity unit (ex. Xeno Titan) now upgrades at level 16+7 (was 16+5)
• Lowering strategic resource costs for many affinity units, to ensure consistency across affinities and make top tier units easier to build. The first affinity units require 1 strategic, the second require 2, the third require 3, and the fourth require 5.
o CARVR now costs 2 Firaxite (was 3)
o Rocktopus now costs 2 Xenomass and 1 Floatstone (was 3 Xenomass and 1 Floatstone)
o LEV Tank now costs 3 Floatstone (was 4)
o SABR now costs 3 Firaxite (was 4)
o Xeno Titan now costs 5 Xenomass (was 7)
o LEV Destroyer now costs 5 Floatstone (was 7)
o ANGEL now costs 5 Firaxite (was 6)
• Increased production costs of upgraded Combat Rovers and Missile Rovers:
o Combat Rovers now cost 80, 160, 260, 370 (was 80, 140, 220, 320)
o Missile Rovers now cost 100, 190, 290, 400 (was 100, 180, 270, 370)
• Lowering combat strength progression of Combat Rover:
o Combat Rover combat strength progression is now 12, 18, 28, 52 (was 12, 18, 32, 52)
• Changes to the combat strength of affinity units, to make non-upgraded ones more weak in general:
o Xeno Swarm now has 22 combat strength at start, 54 when upgraded (was 34, 54)
o Xeno Cavalry now has 36, 72 (was 48, 72)
o Rocktopus now has 60, 92 (was 60, 82)
o Xeno Titan now has 86, 114 (was 96, 114)
o Battlesuit now has 24, 66 (was 40, 66)
o Aegis now has 34, 34 double strike (was 40, 40 double strike)
o LEV Tank now has 44, 77 (was 52, 77)
o LEV Destroyer now has 74, 104 (was 84, 104)
o CNDR now has 24, 63 (was 38, 63)
o CARVR now has 38, 76 (was 50, 76)
o SABR now has 52, 86 (was 58, 86)
o ANGEL now has 78 with 78 melee, 102 with 88 melee (was 88 with 88 melee, 102 with 102 melee)

AI:
• Once the game is in Extended mode (after the player clicks the One More Turn button) the AI will now only pursue Domination.
• Warmonger threat per city acquisition is now capped.
• Warmonger calculation now scaled down when cities are taken by Sponsors that are reacting to a war that was declared upon them (that is, when that civ is not the aggressor).
• Adjusted AI bonuses on higher difficulty levels.
• Additional AI tuning, improvements, and tweaks.

Gameplay Feedback:
• Implemented anonymous gameplay telemetry for design feedback.

UI

Settings and Game Setup:
• The menu now displays EQAA modes instead of MSAA modes if in Mantle version and the GPU supports EQAA.
• Added option to disable UI/Map blur.
• The player is now informed that
(Ed. note: Yes, it cuts off like that.)

 

[Nzyme32]

Looks like the fabled CivBE patch has finally landed on Steam. 77.8 MB.

Changelog:

That thing is a beast. I'll have to give it a spin at the weekend

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

Oh good they fixed the 144Hz full screen issue.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

That thing is a beast. I'll have to give it a spin at the weekend

Haven't picked this one up yet mainly because of the issues/complaints. Will be interested in hearing whether this patch significantly helps.

 

[Corpekata]

Hey I can finally play in 1080p in full screen. Amazing it took them over a month to fix.

 

[Rentahamster]

Nice. Rest of the notes:

UI

Settings and Game Setup:
• The menu now displays EQAA modes instead of MSAA modes if in Mantle version and the GPU supports EQAA.
• Added option to disable UI/Map blur.
• The player is now informed that enabling max turns disables victory achievements.

Trade:
• Previous trade routes appear in their own category at top of trade route chooser

City/Production UI:
• Adding Health tooltip help in City View to explain health sources and population cap
• City production pop-up now shows the last item completed.
• Increased city renaming from 15 character max to 23 character max.

Misc:
• Allow "One More Turn" after the default win conditions (Contact, Promised Land, Emancipation, Transcendence, Domination, Time), added text to defeat screen explaining how you were defeated.
• Option to make minimap opaque
• ESC leaves orbital mode instead of raising in game shell menu
• Added a badge to covert ops button in the action corner which will show up, and a warning to the covert ops panel when a player has any cities with high intrigue.
• Tech web - adding color underlays to building and wonder types.
• Added additional Advisors for trade convoy and trade vessel.
• Added support for third party wars in diplo overview.
• Full touch/gesture and pen support added (Ultrabook, Surface Pro, etc.).

Multiplayer

• Setting the internet server browser list distance filtering to worldwide.
• All players are notified when anyone completes a victory wonder.
• Multiple improvements to stability.

Modding

• 2D fallback image now supported for leaders on all video quality settings, not just the lowest.
• Added the ability to mod Quests.

Bugs

• Embarked workers can now correctly repair pillaged improvements.
• Fixed an issue where Max turns was getting set on “Reload”, causing achievements to not fire.
• Fixed bug where victory achievements would only unlock for the first player on a team.
• Fixed empty trade requests that could occur during the AI turn.
• Fixed multiple Quest issues (quest tracking, information, and reward bugs).
• Fixed multiple issues with screen resolution on specific displays (like the 144Hz full-screen issue), and a Mantle issue causing the game to not display on the correct screen.
• Setting MaxTurns only affects timed victory conditions. For a timed victory, you must either not set MaxTurns (of which, there will be a default for the game speed), or set it to 100+ turns. All other victory conditions can be achieved regardless of max turns.
• Friendly aliens no longer blockade cities.
• Fixed some specific issues with resources not appearing properly in the player stockpile.
• Many additional bugs and crashes addressed based on community feedback. Thank you!

 

[Rentahamster]

After a cursory glance, it appears that most, if not all of the stupid broken things that I do to get sub turn 180 wins on Apollo got nerfed. Good lol.

 

[Askherserenity]

This is probably the most disappointing release of 2014 for me. Sucks :[ Hopefully those expansions that we'll have to shell out extra money for will fix the game.

 

[VoxPop]

Civ 5 was my first Civ game and I ended up really loving it.

I was super hyped for Beyond Earth as I was one to always go for a science victory. But after playing Beyond Earth it really felt like a shitty money grab. The production value just isn't there compared to Civ 5 and just feels real lazy. Am I the only one who felt this way?

 

[LurkerPrime]

This is probably the most disappointing release of 2014 for me. Sucks :[ Hopefully those expansions that we'll have to shell out extra money for will fix the game.

This seems like an unusual post to make right after a major, game-changing patch is released.

I know it took a while, but by all appearances it was worth the wait.

Civ 5 was my first Civ game and I ended up really loving it.

I was super hyped for Beyond Earth as I was one to always go for a science victory. But after playing Beyond Earth it really felt like a shitty money grab. The production value just isn't there compared to Civ 5 and just feels real lazy. Am I the only one who felt this way?

I can't disagree with you. At release, there were a lot of elements that seem half-finished compared to Civ5 - the UI in particular was an immensely unfortunate step back.

After Civ5 got so much right, it's hard to believe that Firaxis made so many of the same mistakes again.

 

[Rentahamster]

After Civ5 got so much right, it's hard to believe that Firaxis made so many of the same mistakes again.

Yes. It was giving me Diablo III flashbacks.

Quick patch notes analysis:


Wonders and Buildings:
• Holon Chamber provides 3 Science, 4 Energy (was 5 Science)
• Mind Stems cannot be bought with Energy.
Wonders still seem pretty useless except for some. I guess they didn't have time to change them. Mind Stem nerf will cut down the strategy of founding a few extra cities right before the Mind Flower finishes and then rush buying Mind Stems and Xeno Sanctuaries.

• Lump Energy trade requires a Cooperation Agreement.
A change that they implemented in BNW. I have no idea why it wasn't in this one. Cuts down abusing the AI for money, and should increase the penalty for taking all their money and then declaring war. Unless perhaps if you bribe them to war dec your ally.

• Water trade routes no longer receive any increased yield.
• Revised trade route formula for city-to-city trade, with reduced yields.
• Trade Depots can no longer be purchased with Energy.
Non-coastal cities more viable now. Sea trade routes were a no-brainer most of the time. Trade Depots and 2 ships were the best return on investment for rush buying. Can't do that anymore.

• Eudaimonia (Tier III Prosperity virtue) now provides -15% less Unhealth (was -25%)
• Learning Centers now provides +1 Science for Academies (was +2)
The other changes make the free colonist from Prosperity a little better now. With the nerf to trade routes, the academy would be better relatively, but the learning centers nerf keeps them in check, I guess. I never really used Eudaimonia much anyway. The Knowledge and Industry trees are better.

• Sponsors:
-Kozlov Ability: Orbital units last 50% longer, +50% Petroleum resource (was Orbital units last 20% longer and first launch grants free technology)
-Barre Ability: +10% Growth when Healthy, all cities start with an Old Earth Relic (was +10% Growth when Healthy)
-Rejinaldo Ability: Melee units +10% Strength, all units +5 Heal when fortified (was +10% Melee combat strength)
-Elodie Ability: provides 1 free Virtue for every 10 Virtues earned normally through Culture (was 1 free Tech for every 10 Virtues earned in any way)
• Colonists:
-Aristocrats now provide +4 Energy per City (no Health bonus)
-Artists now provide +3 Culture per City (no Health bonus)
Free techs for Kozlov and Elodie are no longer there. That was one of the things I abused to get really fast win times, or to get really OP tech before anyone else. You used to be able to abuse the timing to bring out Battlesuire, or CNDRs, or even Planet Carvers way before anyone else has them, and then just fuck everyone up. For a Harmony Victory, you could use the free tech + the institute free tech to ding both Nanotechnology and Nanorobotics really quickly and save a shitload of turns on research.

Aristocrats need more energy, Artists still really really strong. Africa's traits aren't shit anymore and might be pretty strong with Artists.

• Clear Miasma now unlocks on Ecology (was Alien Biology)
Good. Now you don't have to get a point in Harmony just to clear Miasma with a worker.

Planet Carver now unlocks on Orbital Automation (was Astrodynamics)
No more super early Planet Carvers that fucks everyone up.

• Harmony level 1 grants Miasma Immunity to the Explorer unit (was Alien opinion recovers twice as quickly)
• Purity level 1 adds double combat strength when defending to Explorer unit (was Aliens cannot attack Explorers)
Good. Harmony's previous bonus was worthless, and Purity's previous bonus was hands down the best, and really really powerful.


• Combat Rover unit can no longer fortify, and no longer receives defense bonuses from the terrain it is on.
These needed a way to differentiate them from other melee units. They were too good.

• Warmonger threat per city acquisition is now capped.
• Warmonger calculation now scaled down when cities are taken by Sponsors that are reacting to a war that was declared upon them (that is, when that civ is not the aggressor).
Good. I would hate it when I punish a civ that declares war on me, and then everyone else gets pissed at me for taking his capital.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I was waiting for the patch, so I haven't played much of CivBE at all...

Thanks for the analysis, Renta.

 

[Kikirin]

I like the changes, at least on paper. Will see how it'll play out.

Was kinda hoping they'd address some of the combat unit perks. Purity's +10% for unused movement was too good when they always got the full bonus (all movement points) when defending, even after moving.

 

[KePoW]

finally first patch released

 

[Rentahamster]

Played the patch for a few hours on Apollo (hardest difficulty). Thoughts -

The pacing is a lot slower now. AI has a better chance at winning now due to their buffs and trade route nerfs (I doubt the AI knew how to use trade routes optimally before. Now it doesn't matter).

Gaining science is so slow. The trade route recalculation means that now, when I do an external trade route, the AI gets more benefit than me. This made me change my strategy to allowing open borders more often so that the AI can scout my location and send me a trade route. It also made me try better to keep friendly relations, especially since you now need a declaration of friendship to trade lump sums of gold.

I also ended up bribing other civs to war dec each other in the chance that they'd send their newly opened up trade routes to me instead...lol.

Tier 4 affinity units (Battlesuits, Xenoswarm, CNDR) aren't OP anymore if you get them early...but they lose their utility pretty fast once you hit tier 6 affinity and can upgrade your soldiers.

I dunno about the role of tier 4 affinity units in general. They need some different characteristics to make them unique. Right now, they're pretty much just another solider unit.

In general, I still feel that the military upgrade path doesn't really work cleanly right now when affinity is tied so closely with science. There's too much power discrepancy for someone who delays researching affinity tech in favor of other, different, tech. It restricts flexibility. Perhaps that is a choice that they want the player to make, though.

 

[KePoW]

Played the patch for a few hours on Apollo (hardest difficulty). Thoughts -

The pacing is a lot slower now. AI has a better chance at winning now due to their buffs and trade route nerfs (I doubt the AI knew how to use trade routes optimally before. Now it doesn't matter).

Gaining science is so slow. The trade route recalculation means that now, when I do an external trade route, the AI gets more benefit than me. This made me change my strategy to allowing open borders more often so that the AI can scout my location and send me a trade route. It also made me try better to keep friendly relations, especially since you now need a declaration of friendship to trade lump sums of gold.

I also ended up bribing other civs to war dec each other in the chance that they'd send their newly opened up trade routes to me instead...lol.

Tier 4 affinity units (Battlesuits, Xenoswarm, CNDR) aren't OP anymore if you get them early...but they lose their utility pretty fast once you hit tier 6 affinity and can upgrade your soldiers.

I dunno about the role of tier 4 affinity units in general. They need some different characteristics to make them unique. Right now, they're pretty much just another solider unit.

In general, I still feel that the military upgrade path doesn't really work cleanly right now when affinity is tied so closely with science. There's too much power discrepancy for someone who delays researching affinity tech in favor of other, different, tech. It restricts flexibility. Perhaps that is a choice that they want the player to make, though.

thx for feedback broski

 

[Forerunner]

I can finally play! Over 100 turns in, full screen with no crashes and it's running great. Hopefully this will be the first game I can actually finish.

 

[Rentahamster]

I did some testing and apparently that 0.5 health per trade convoy virtue gives global health. Given the greater impact health has on the game now, it might be useful to have one or two cities just pumping out trade units in the early game...lol.

 

[Rentahamster]

I dunno if I'm liking the change to trade routes. I think I would have been satisfied with a simple percent decrease of outputs of the previous formula, as well as changing the autoplant quest.

With the new trade route formula, I can't really direct internal routes to a new city in order to grow it faster, or to give it a production boost. It makes specializing cities in food, production, or energy hard to do. It also makes external routes kinda unappealing since the AI benefits more than you do.

 

[Rentahamster]

Now that the games actually last long enough for the AIs to be contenders, a new helpful strategy seems to be to identify the harmony AIs as soon as possible and then start to sabotage them. When it comes down to the last 20 turns, the purity AI doesn't know how to efficiently settle earthlings, especially if its a smaller map and the AI has nowhere to go because it expanded too damn much. The mind flower is much more of a threat since it's just set and forget.

 

[jaundicejuice]

Civ 5 was my first Civ game and I ended up really loving it.

I was super hyped for Beyond Earth as I was one to always go for a science victory. But after playing Beyond Earth it really felt like a shitty money grab. The production value just isn't there compared to Civ 5 and just feels real lazy. Am I the only one who felt this way?

Beyond Earth feels like an unfinished expansion to Civ V, not a stand alone release.

 

[Rentahamster]

Linux version on Thursday

http://blog.gameagent.com/civilization-beyond-earth-mac-linux-dev-update-8/

The title this week is a bit of a misnomer, as we don’t really have any development updates since last week. What we do have, though? A release date for Linux!

The Linux version of Civilization: Beyond Earth will be arriving worldwide this Thursday, December 18, at 12pm CST. (What Time is That for Me?)

If you haven’t already, be sure to pre-order the game from GameAgent! Members can save 25% on their pre-order, and all customers that pre-order will be granted free access to the Exoplanets Map Pack. Pre-ordered Steam keys from GameAgent will be released at 12:00am CST, Thursday, December 18. (Please note that even if you have your Steam key in hand and redeem it via the Steam client, the game will not be available to download until 12pm CST.)

Finally, as noted last week, this will be our last “update” on Beyond Earth, at least for some time. We’ll continue to provide news and updates on the title as it becomes available, but our regular weekly time together is coming to an end. (Probably for the best–it gives you more time to actually play the game!) However, if you have questions, comments, or anything else you want to discuss about the game, find us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or any of the forums we all like to visit.

 

[Rentahamster]

Staying as peaceful as possible, forming cooperation agreements, securing lots of resources, and them selling them to the AI (4 resources for 2 science) makes a decent difference, especially in the early game.

 

[Maledict]

How easy is it to stay peaceful with the AI? Firaxis have never addressed the issue introduced with Brave New World where the AI is ridiculously passive, and Beyond Earth definitely had the same issue.

 

[Tapejara]

I've been having an issue since launch that I'm hoping you guys can help me with. Every time I start Beyond Earth the game runs with a black border around the screen. Video settings are 1920x1080p (native resolution of my monitor) and I have it set to fullscreen. In order to get rid of the black border I have to switch to windowed mode and then back to fullscreen. I'm using an R9 270 and this is the only game that's given me this problem.

 

[Fragamemnon]

This is somewhat off the beaten path, but I wanted to point out a great article over on the GIA about BE:

http://www.thegia.com/2014/12/17/civilization-beyond-earth-going-beyond-theme/

I'm not going to get hung up on thematic issues in the games I play-the only thing I ask out of games are mechanics-but it's a very astute analysis of why the game has felt a bit "off" to both scifi fans and Civ fans alike in terms of theme.

 

[mike4001_]

Maybe you can help me a little bit.

I never played Civilization before (but loved Colonization back in the days ...). I also like other PC strategy games.

I wanted to start with Civilization but should I start with

Civilization: Beyond Earth
or
Civilization V + Addons

?

I was really hooked on the Space feeling of BE but I also heard many bad things about the game, and that it is a downstep from Civ 5.

 

[Dylan]

Maybe you can help me a little bit.

I never played Civilization before (but loved Colonization back in the days ...). I also like other PC strategy games.

I wanted to start with Civilization but should I start with

Civilization: Beyond Earth
or
Civilization V + Addons

?

I was really hooked on the Space feeling of BE but I also heard many bad things about the game, and that it is a downstep from Civ 5.

Absolutely positively 100% go with Civ V + addons. It's not even close. I'm at 400 hours and counting according to Steam.

 

[Rentahamster]

I wanted to start with Civilization but should I start with

Civilization: Beyond Earth
or
Civilization V + Addons

To start, Civ5 with both expansion packs is the best game. It's more polished. Fortunately, both games have free demos that you can try. I'd say that you should test them out first before deciding.

 

[Rentahamster]

The fastest turn times I can get post patch on Apollo seem to only be around 220-ish, which is about 40 turns or so slower than pre-patch. Them trade routes sure made a big difference.

Here's a victory screen shot of a recent game. I used the bionics quest tech, and the 15 tier 1 virtues perk to ding the two tier 3 techs needed for the deep space telescope so I could get a contact victory.

Using pre-patch Elodie (Franco Iberia) you could do it a lot faster since she was able to get a free tech for every ten virtues. Not anymore!

 

[eznark]

Maybe you can help me a little bit.

I never played Civilization before (but loved Colonization back in the days ...). I also like other PC strategy games.

I wanted to start with Civilization but should I start with

Civilization: Beyond Earth
or
Civilization V + Addons

?

I was really hooked on the Space feeling of BE but I also heard many bad things about the game, and that it is a downstep from Civ 5.

Civ IV

 

[Hieberrr]

Man, this was my first entry into this genre and talk about being completely lost.

 

[garginator850]

http://blog.gameagent.com/civilization-beyond-earth-mac-linux-dev-update-6/

They don't say it explicitly, but it seems like the Mac version of the patch is a factor in delay.


Are there enough people who are using cross plat multiplayer to justify waiting?

Me

 

[Rentahamster]

All is quiet on the western front. Anyone still playing this?

The fastest I can get my win times down on Apollo so far is around turn 230. The game ends far too soon for a lot of the mid to late game buildings and units to be of any use.

My latest annoyance are the stations and how they're rather lackluster compared to the city states of Civ V. The station system seems so barebones, and they're usually annoying when they appear at the places you want to settle yourself.

I'd suggest being able to have no settling restriction, so that you can settle right next to a station if you want.

They should also have more of an impact on the overall world and dynamic between players. They should be able to convert to any of the affinities, so it would be in the players' best interests to try to convert the stations, and then help them survive. Or, to destroy the stations that pledge allegiance to a different affinity. This influence could work similarly to the religion system of Civ V, or the diplomatic system, or a mixture of both.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I've only played a couple hours since release. I liked it but there were definite improvements to be made. Mostly, I've been waiting for the patch that'll fix everything. (I thought about playing it after that first patch, but found other things to play and now I fear it'll be a while before I want to jump in again.)

I feel like Firaxis went all but radio silent after the tepid launch... though maybe it's just my disinterest colouring my perception.