Key Features
Real time gameplay with a seamless zoom from a grand strategic view to a close-up action view
Choose from 8 beautifully rendered alien races or design your own to lead into the stars; interact, negotiate and forge allegiances on your way to victory
Expand your empire and colonize all kinds of planets, terraform and populate them and build them into specialized centers of trade or industry
Research and unlock an array of technologies to improve your military and industrial capabilities
Control your ships with classic real time strategy commands or jump into the fray by taking direct arcade control of any ship in your empire
Create your unique ship designs with the modular ship design system and determine your own fate in battle
Create custom fleet formations and set rules of engagement in the easy-to-use fleet editor
Steal technologies, incite rebellions, or rob your enemies blind with a rich agent-based espionage system
Deploy ground troops from orbit to defeat the enemies last planetary defenses in ground combat
Explore the rich universe that comes alive with random events, remnant elements, hidden treasures, deep space terrors and late-game threats
Damn no demo, not gonna touch this until it hits a major Steam sale.
Ok, you need to change your topic. You put the word "epic" in it, which would imply you played it and thought it was great. I came in to read how epic it was, and was severely let down.
I edited it a little to reflect a question. I would froth at the mouth at Civilization in space, with FTL, teraforming, etc.
Does it offer online multiplayer PvP?
That would turn me off on a 4X game. Multiplayer means the game is dumbed down and stripped of its depth in order to speed it up.
A cluttered, poorly designed, interface does not make something complex.
LOL Eve is nothing if not complex.
Got killed.
Colonized Mars too freakin early. It has shit production and no food. Earth has to supply it with everything. I never got it productive on its on.
You make zones of affect for all ships. If you want your scouts to hang out in a sector, draw a square.
You only want freighters to move goods between earth and mars? Draw a square.
Your cap ships should patrol a particularly dangerous area of space? Draw a square and set to explore, with weapons active.
Pretty damn easy once you get the hang of it.
OK, tips:
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Make several unarmed scouts early on, you need to find the best planets right away.
Dont colonize any 0.9 systems, waste of time. Go for the 10.0 and above first. Once you grab them you can settle for taking the 2.5 to 8.5 systems which are abundant.
After that make plenty of freighters, 2 or 3 to balance population, and maybe 5 or 6 to shuttle goods.
Research farms right away to have more food on each planet (you will need it, food is limited). Then biospheres to make more usable squares on each planet.
Like MOO2, each regular building can only be put down once. Like Galciv 2, there are limited squares with which to do things. Biospheres improve your land but they also cost production themselves.
The game does NOT prompt or force you to research. Make sure to put plenty of things in your queue or else its wasted.