Forum Overview :: Gamerasutra
 
I should've just talked about the game rather than calling you out like a drama by queen - stupid newbie 01/10/2014, 7:00pm PST
Look, I'm just gonna cop to my being an utter fag in this thread. I ranted like a guy out of Look Back In Anger. Even my admission of this is coming right out of a closet.

And if you like Pandora, fine, whatever makes it easier to cool off after a long day of paying the mortgage. I say that without irony. I don't care if someone's entertainment comes from Saint's Row and SMAC or Call of Duty and Candy Crush, it does not matter to me even if the latter make my head explode. Hope that gets the church-lady screech out of my voice.

I was expecting a heuristic kinda review from you, one that could help someone with a different schedule and palate to figure out whether this was gonna work out.

No idea why I was expecting that. Caltrops usually helps me out with that kinda thing I guess? Though when I fail to make it work I go hog wild, it's like street theater.

pinback wrote:

There is a depth and variety in SMAC and Civilization that definitely doesn't exist in Pandora (yet?). "SMAC Lite" is a tag I definitely think it earns, unabashedly.

I'm not as harsh on it because of this as many folks are. I don't feel every 4x game needs to be Ultimate Empire Simulator 5000. I think there is room in the 4x landscape for more "streamlined" experiences like this, when the magnitude of one of the more complex offerings seems too daunting, or time-consuming, or hell, you just don't feel like it.

Less is most definitely not more, but I think in some cases, including Pandora, less can be enough.

I agree with the spirit of your writing, but I don't think your thought holds quite enough water. Pandora's not SMAC lite and I do not say that because of the writing. It's kind of like a spin-off with almost none of the flavor of SMAC's feature implementation, it's very flat even with the unit design bone they threw us. Whole chunks of features that have an impact on gameplay and break up monotony in SMAC are outright missing in Pandora so the comparison fails. To say it is streamlined like a bobber motorcycle is misleading, this thing's just the motorcycle engine. I can have some fun building the engine but until I put it in the frame and get out on the road I don't feel like I've got my money's worth.

If you really like 'Civ, but simpler and with less of everything' as a set of mechanics that's fine but I can't keep playing Pandora after at most a handful of games. I know exactly what will happen. It isn't chess, it's checkers, and honestly I get tired of both pretty fast and put them away for a long time.

For me, this whole thing embodies everything ICJ said about what we lost from the era when PC hardware limitations wrung creativity out of designers, and it's not even completely about SMAC because I think I know a few games that are to 4xs what Orc Knight is to current RPGs - a proof of concept that there's a different kind of fun you can have visiting interesting worlds even in this genre while gettin' your Civ on, and maybe enough to make things like Civ V and Pandora hard to go back to.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:

or just make more games with realistic guns and be part of the wave of sour-faced children that thinks they will be the first to rip off The Red Wedding in a video game, you fat fucks, I don't give a shit


ICJ


Hahahahaha, oh god, maybe I can stop being one of those fucks now.
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Pinback trolls hard with review of failed spiritual successor for Alpha Centauri by insomniac newbie 01/03/2014, 1:34am PST NEW
    Please don't stop posting, the drones need you. They look up to you. NT by A friend 01/03/2014, 6:12am PST NEW
    Pinback trolls hard with review of failed spiritual successor for Alpha Centauri by Ice Cream Jonsey 01/03/2014, 9:26pm PST NEW
        He'll.be.back. NT by WITTGENSTEIN 01/03/2014, 9:42pm PST NEW
        Re: Pinback trolls hard with review of failed spiritual successor for Alpha Cent by fucking newbie 01/05/2014, 3:35pm PST NEW
            What? Where did you get that impression? by WITTGENSTEIN 01/06/2014, 4:31pm PST NEW
                Like Shogun 2? NT by fucking newbie 01/06/2014, 5:11pm PST NEW
                    Shogun 2's not a 4X, junior. NT by OH HO SIDESTEPPED YOUR LOGIC TRAP 01/06/2014, 6:52pm PST NEW
                        It seems as close to them as you want to get, DAD by fucking newbie 01/06/2014, 7:06pm PST NEW
                            Psst, Fortinbras = WITTGENSTEIN NT by Caltrops Historian 01/06/2014, 7:50pm PST NEW
                                Good, now I can mock him directly. NT by bored newbie 01/06/2014, 8:14pm PST NEW
                                    There hasn't been a really good 4x in a few years. by WITTGENSTEIN 01/06/2014, 8:38pm PST NEW
                                        This is why I want to identify the one or two things a game will occasionally by get right and enumerate the flaws. 01/06/2014, 8:57pm PST NEW
                                            You take that slick convo right here and nowhere else NT by Caltrops.Com 01/06/2014, 11:15pm PST NEW
                                                what, no lecture about not being a wannabe failed romero? NT by surprised newbie 01/06/2014, 11:23pm PST NEW
    Well, I agree with some of that. by pinback 01/09/2014, 2:47pm PST NEW
        I should've just talked about the game rather than calling you out like a drama by queen - stupid newbie 01/10/2014, 7:00pm PST NEW
            I really have no argument for any of this. by pinback 01/10/2014, 10:06pm PST NEW
                If that's really how you feel, I'll just take a minute here to tell you to buck by up - stupid newbie 01/10/2014, 11:21pm PST NEW
                    And thanks for the compliment. by stupid newbie 01/10/2014, 11:23pm PST NEW
                        pinback will be nice to anyone who fellates his ego, so thanks for that. NT by We don't want him to come back here 01/11/2014, 12:59pm PST NEW
                            FAGGOTS don't want smart guys around, true NT by You FAGGOTS 01/11/2014, 1:43pm PST NEW
                                Thanks for proving our point, pinback NT by We don't want him to come back here 01/11/2014, 3:20pm PST NEW
                                    I didn't post that. NT by pinback 01/11/2014, 4:59pm PST NEW
                                        You brought this on yourselves, Caltrops. by stupid newbie 01/11/2014, 5:27pm PST NEW
                                            Hm, I wonder why someone might have been fooled by an angry Pinback ATOR NT by It is a mystery. 01/11/2014, 6:10pm PST NEW
                                                I assumed it was him. Caltrops & Pinback: PRETTIEST PRINCESSES. Dance-off up nex by stupid newbie 01/11/2014, 9:14pm PST NEW
                                                    At least he's not posting gifs of spinning dicks or anything. NT by Caltrops Historian 01/11/2014, 11:11pm PST NEW
                                                        Gotta miss trading on the Zseni-Cable Cock Exchange now that boner futures are by down :( - stupid newbie 01/11/2014, 11:23pm PST NEW
                                                            I'LL BUY THEM AT ANY PRICE. HOMPTH HURMPTH SLURP BLUGH NT by JERKCITY 01/12/2014, 12:13am PST NEW
                                    Was Pinback also Flack? I get confused. NT by FoK 01/11/2014, 6:38pm PST NEW
                            You're welcome, dad. Is that whining I hear, or are you just aging gracelessly? by stupid newbie 01/11/2014, 1:46pm PST NEW
 
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