Landmarks include things like black holes, ancient fuel deposits, crystal clouds, ordinance caches, and more. Where you stage your defensive fleets, in particular, needs to be considered more carefully now.īeyond the larger galactic terrain features, sectors can also be populated by special landmarks.
Nevertheless, the addition of terrain makes the galaxy a bit more interesting to navigate. Theoretically you could use this to your advantage if you knew what types of equipment your opponent had, but in actuality you rarely have the chance to create these opportunities. These terrain features can also affect your ships’ performance in combat, such as disabling shields or weakening beam weapons. They will dramatically slow down ship movement, forcing you to decide between taking the long way around or pushing through. Large nebulas or ion storms can now span across multiple sectors. The sector system provides a structure for introducing terrain into the galaxy. Thankfully, Sector Zero takes a different approach.īees… Honeycomb… Hexagons… Sectors… It’s perfectly natural. Other games have tried to rectify this by creating a galactic topology through the use of star lanes. This can result in ship movement being somewhat bland, with no organic choke points or open fields to cross. Stepping back from SD2 for a moment, a weakness of many space 4X games is that space is so often devoid of any semblance of terrain, which would otherwise shape the landscape in the way that mountains or oceans might in a terrestrial game. For example, ship sensors now function in terms of sector range, so a ship with level 2 sensors can detect objects two sectors away.
#Stardrive 2 changes series
you can send your fleets to any exact point, limited only by the fuel on your ships), the galaxy is now divided into a series of hex-shaped sectors, which provides an organizing structure to the landscape. While the basics of fleet movement and navigation remain the same (e.g.
Sector Zero builds on this eXploration strength by adding a new layer to the strategic landscape: the sector system. Whereas the late-game tended to bog down in micromanagement hell (at least in the base game), the early game was punctuated by plenty of discovery and tension. A diverse menu of strategic resources to secure (all with unique and powerful benefits to your empire), combined with an abundance of narrative events, quest sequences, and special research projects means that venturing into space is always exciting. With an increasingly crowded 4X market space, however, the question at hand is this: does Sector Zero bring enough to the table to reinvigorate SD2 and help it reach its potential?Įxploration has always been one of SD2 ’s strong points. On paper, the list of changes in Sector Zero is impressive: four new victory conditions, revamped ground combat, sector-based territory control, and a hearty dose of new technologies, events, and galactic features. Our sensors are weak… We didn’t see an eXpansion coming More distressing, many feared that SD2 wouldn’t receive enough long-term support to fix these problems, much less an expansion… Yet here is Sector Zero. Despite many thoughtful mechanics, the game never quite reached its ambition due to a combination of clunky gameplay, bugs and a late-game that drowned in its own tedium. Released in April 2015, the base game provided a compelling experience that was close to being a solid spiritual-successor to Master of Orion 2 (for which people have clamored for decades). StarDrive 2, created by solo developer Dan “Zero” DiCicco, seems haunted by the ghosts of its past moreso than any other recent space 4X. įor many, Sector Zero’s announcement came as a pleasant surprise, albeit one paired with trepidation. During this tumultuous time, we might also mark our calendars as the moment when StarDrive 2 received its first expansion-sized DLC: Sector Zero. As the landscape comes closer to the saturation point, many are left wondering which game, if any, of the current crop will become the next timeless classic. Call it what you will, but fans of space-based 4X empire games are weathering a veritable storm of titles. And soon enough, Stellaris and Endless Space 2 will also arrive at port. Polaris Sector was released in March and the Master of Orion reboot hit Early Access back in February. 2016 is poised for an even bigger tsunami.
In 2015, a massive wave of space-based 4X games crashed ashore with the release of StarDrive 2, Star Ruler 2, and Galactic Civilizations 3.
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