OT: Gratuitous Space Battles

[Stretch]

This seemed like a game that would interest people here.

GSB is the next game from UK developer 'Positech Games'. It's a strategy / management / simulation game that does away with all the base building and delays and gets straight to the meat and potatoes of science-fiction games : The big space battles fought by huge spaceships with tons of laser beams and things going 'zap!', 'ka-boom!' and 'ka-pow!'. In GSB you put your ships together from modular components, arrange them into fleets, give your ships orders of engagement and then hope they emerge victorious from battle (or at least blow to bits in aesthetically pleasing ways).


Gratuitous Space Battles aims to bring the over-the-top explodiness back into space games. The game is for everyone who has watched big space armadas battle it out on TV and thought to themselves 'I could have done a much better job as admiral'. This is not a game of real-time arcade twitch reflexes. GSB is about what ships you design, and what you tell them to do. Your individual ship commanders have total autonomy during the chaotic battle that unfolds. This is not a tactical game, it is a strategic one. These gratuitous space battles are not won by plucky heroes with perfect teeth, but by the geeky starship builders who know exactly what ratio of plasma-cannons to engines each ship in the fleet will need.

Why do I suspect that Dom3 players will absolutely annihilate in this game?

http://www.positech.co.uk/gratuitousspacebattles/index.html

[Trumanator]

Looks rather interesting I must say.

Edit: On second thought, it sounds like it has none of the higher strategic gameplay, focusing strictly on the battles. My interest is diminished :(

[Omnirizon]

Looks rather interesting I must say.

Edit: On second thought, it sounds like it has none of the higher strategic gameplay, focusing strictly on the battles. My interest is diminished :(

hello? you must be new here. we play a game called dominions. have you heard of it? dominions?

[Trumanator]

Was that necessary? Did I say something to the effect that I would rather not be playing dominions? Did I insult your mother? If so, then I apologize, otherwise I suggest you keep your bad day to yourself.

[Omnirizon]

simma' down now! simma' down!

I thought my point would be made without resorting to explicitness.

it is just that:

a) dominions is a game noted for higher strategic gameplay
b) dominions focuses on battles, with minimal building/researching/exploring framework (minimal, but crucial)

therefore, just because a game focuses on battles, doesn't mean it lacks higher strategic gameplay.

I just thought it was really funny that, on a dominions forum, you would remark that because a game focused on battles, it must have little strategic meat.

so no insult or hard feelings were intended :)

[Jarkko]

si
b) dominions focuses on battles, with minimal building/researching/exploring framework (minimal, but crucial)

Wut? Dominions is all about strategic planning and you can win the whole game without a single battle (I've actually participiated in a MP game where the player who won the game fought only against independents, and still won the game by eliminating all opponents (sadly I was one of the first to croak)). I think you are confusing Dominions with some other game, like the Total War series perhaps?

[vfb]

Hah! That's nothing. In my day, people won Dominions without recuiting any units at all, they used used their sheer power of will. Now that's some good old-fashioned fun we're talking about!

[Sombre]

If the space battles really are gratuitous, I can't say I'm that interested. I need a bit of context - total war had it.

[calmon]

I'm in the beta of this game (like everybody who preorders). I didn't find the time to play much but the things i did was fun.

There is a nice feature called "Challenges" where you can upload your fleet and other players play against.

In moment Cliff (the only developer) still does much balancing, i'll play more as soon its out of beta.

btw i also want to open a thread like this here few weeks ago but now it obsolete ;)

[Trumanator]

simma' down now! simma' down!

I thought my point would be made without resorting to explicitness.

it is just that:

a) dominions is a game noted for higher strategic gameplay
b) dominions focuses on battles, with minimal building/researching/exploring framework (minimal, but crucial)

therefore, just because a game focuses on battles, doesn't mean it lacks higher strategic gameplay.

I just thought it was really funny that, on a dominions forum, you would remark that because a game focused on battles, it must have little strategic meat.

so no insult or hard feelings were intended :)


Sorry about the misunderstanding. WHen I said higher strategic gameplay I meant that it appears to lack a larger picture. While its true that battles are important in dominions, the forging, diplomacy, ritual casting, research, etc are also a huge part. GSB seems to lack that. I consider planning a single battle to be tactical, as opposed to a campaign, which is strategic.

[Balakirev]

In fairness to GSB, it's not a bad game. It's simply a very good tactical space fighting sim, and was never intended to be anything else. Dominions 3 can be better compared to any number of strategic conquest games, which it beats hands down.

[Stretch]

Yes, I am not saying that it's a replacement for Dom3, but if you like planning battles in Dom3 you might like planning gratuitous space battles.