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Set phasers to conquer.

<span class="bold">Stars in Shadow</span>, a turn-based 4X strategy game with plenty of alien races to meet and do business with, is now available, DRM-Free on GOG.com with a 40% launch discount.

One galaxy, unified under your just rule - that is the only way for everyone to prosper. Assume control of one of 7 playable factions and conquer, befriend, or coerce the other races as you establish your dominion through careful interstellar management and clever turn-based combat maneuvers. A deceptively charming, and surprisingly compelling universe stretches before you.

The 40% discounts will last until July 18, 1PM UTC.

Watch the trailer.
Post edited July 11, 2017 by maladr0Id
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ashdar_games_inc: Our intention with the AIs is that they should behave more like NPC's than an artificial standin for a human player. AI's can be manipulated using the influence resource, and players can use that resource strategically to overcome difficult situations. On the harder difficulties, the AI's will have both advanced starts (higher base techs), and increased raw production capacities.
That sounds fine, can be fun. Reminds me AI Wars.

Sadly I don't have Windows OS so I must wait a bit. Did you also tried Winetricks? Or PlayOnLinux has a nice debugging console and Winetricks integration and various Wine versions installable. You can usually determine why the game is not working in Wine correctly. If it is for example because missing libraries, then you can easily install native Windows DX or quartz or something like that.
Hmmm.

Is this literally a re-skin of MoO2?
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yogsloth: Hmmm.

Is this literally a re-skin of MoO2?
No. Played this for an hour and a half so far. There are similarities as with most 4X games...but re skin MOO2? No way.
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Ricky_Bobby: I've already bought it on Steam ...
Same here. I've just bought it on GoG for the sake of supporting the GoG idea and the indie Devs who embrace it.

Edit: wording.
Post edited July 11, 2017 by i_ni
Finally it's here on GoG. Thank you GoG! Thank you Ashdar Games!

Now I can check how much I will like this true spiritual successor of MoO2. :-)
Instantly bought
Post edited July 11, 2017 by Seraphin84
OK, I played over an hour of this, for the first time.
First impressions are very good.
Perhaps I would make some small gui changes, but so far that's it.

I started a Let's Play, if anyone is interested.

This is the url for the first video. (more to follow)
https://youtu.be/ptHu7U1o0EU

This is the url for the playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtpqh8ebqvxfeLNFCYkynKwIE18y4pf3q

Obviously it's too soon to say if the game holds in the long run, but I do like what I see till now.
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trusteft: OK, I played over an hour of this, for the first time.
First impressions are very good.
Perhaps I would make some small gui changes, but so far that's it.

I started a Let's Play, if anyone is interested.

This is the url for the first video. (more to follow)
https://youtu.be/ptHu7U1o0EU

This is the url for the playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtpqh8ebqvxfeLNFCYkynKwIE18y4pf3q

Obviously it's too soon to say if the game holds in the long run, but I do like what I see till now.
Awesome, thanks for sharing!
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trusteft: OK, I played over an hour of this, for the first time.
First impressions are very good.
Perhaps I would make some small gui changes, but so far that's it.

I started a Let's Play, if anyone is interested.

This is the url for the first video. (more to follow)
https://youtu.be/ptHu7U1o0EU

This is the url for the playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtpqh8ebqvxfeLNFCYkynKwIE18y4pf3q

Obviously it's too soon to say if the game holds in the long run, but I do like what I see till now.
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Surtur: Awesome, thanks for sharing!
Glad to be of help. Thank you for watching.
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Ricky_Bobby: I've already bought it on Steam, so here's hoping a for a GOG Connect deal in the future :-)
It's more or less a one-person 4X game, so have realistic expectations.

I did write a "review" for it on GOG, rating it 3/5, in the Games Finished thread.

In a nutshell. The negatives: balancing issues in terms the AI and resource gathering, there's not much you can do with your supposed trading partners. Towards tthe end of the game I found myself with tonnes of money but with nothing to spend it on, I was always struggling to gather enough minerals, amassing the highest levels of reserach (of any faction) never benefitted me in the end. Having the strongest and most prevalent trading arrangements (of any faction) also did nothing to help me win the game. Instead it was pure military numbers that decided the game.

The positives: the game is very easy to learn and get into, the menues were well-organized and the interface was clear of clutter, there's some humor in the game, a nice variety of unique factions, the visual style is very appealing, great soundtrack.

You can automate what you build on each colonized planet, where the game decides what the best thing to build is, given your current level or status. There's also an autocombat option. So the game does have functions that make the management stuff less tedious.
Thank you for your review, i have been reading more or less the same on steam.

That trading seems only complete with pirates but no with other empires, so it has little sense that you are able to trade for a planet, for instance, if they never accept that.

That you can only win by being militaristic and once you research 1 "final" weapon, game ends, because it does more damage than any other one and you can forget about any other weapon, so game offers little choices for you ships.

That it's more casual than a 4x game. Not too much depth and only can compare with MOO2 in that dev(s?) seem to has taken some ideas from it, but it's almost like a MOO2 mobile game (less options, less depth, simplified, etc)

Lastly, i would like to know if the delay in releasing here at GOG was planned since the beginning or it's a consequence of it's low sales on steam :S I had this on my wishlist there but was waiting for news on GOG, and end up thinking it was one of those "only-steam" games (and also the reviews) so i had forgotten about it until now.

Even that, and seeing that dev(s?) is still updating and improving the game (thank you for that), i'm going to take profit of the release discount here and give it a chance.

EDIT: bought :S

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wyrenn: Was interested in this. Just like every Sci-Fi TBS game. But all it really made me do was play MoO again. Still waiting for a 4X to blow me away. Closest was SotS.
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blotunga: Have you tried Birth of the Empires?
Thank you very much for that!! And it's free! Already downloaded Win version :D
Post edited July 12, 2017 by Kakarot96
Looks like a cross between Star Control 2 and Master of Orion. And not in a good way.
Beside the glaringly obvious Star Wars reference there are 2 Star Trek references.
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paladin181: Looks like a cross between Star Control 2 and Master of Orion. And not in a good way.
No. Absolutely nothing to do with Star Control 2 besides this game also includes some funny graphics.

"And not in a good way."

Looks like you haven't played the game at all, or even watched some videos or reviews but you dare to say that.....
Post edited July 12, 2017 by Lobuno
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paladin181: Looks like a cross between Star Control 2 and Master of Orion. And not in a good way.
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Lobuno: No. Absolutely nothing to do with Star Control 2 besides this game also includes some funny graphics.

"And not in a good way."

Looks like you haven't played the game at all, or even watched some videos or reviews but you dare to say that.....
This is going to sound both stupid and crass but I am genuinely curious. Ever since STARS! became unplayable I'm looking for games like it that most closely resemble how it played. I did look at the pics and read the description and this looks like it is on the right track for myself. Have you played both?
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paladin181: Looks like a cross between Star Control 2 and Master of Orion. And not in a good way.
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Lobuno: No. Absolutely nothing to do with Star Control 2 besides this game also includes some funny graphics.

"And not in a good way."

Looks like you haven't played the game at all, or even watched some videos or reviews but you dare to say that.....
I did watch some videos. That's where my assessment came from. I don't like the game from its presentation. Sorry. I dare to do a lot of things.
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Lobuno: No. Absolutely nothing to do with Star Control 2 besides this game also includes some funny graphics.

"And not in a good way."

Looks like you haven't played the game at all, or even watched some videos or reviews but you dare to say that.....
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tinyE: This is going to sound both stupid and crass but I am genuinely curious. Ever since STARS! became unplayable I'm looking for games like it that most closely resemble how it played. I did look at the pics and read the description and this looks like it is on the right track for myself. Have you played both?
There is nothing like Stars! out there. You can still play Stars! just fine. Just use dosbox and W3.1
The closest thing to Stars! is the game Imperium which was released in 1990.
I am not saying they are very similar, just closer than any other 4X game out there.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/imperium

Strategy games are my favorite games, I play them since the 1980s. I have played many. MANY.

As for Stars In Shadow. I can't say much about it yet, I have played over an hour, not 100s of hours yet. So far it feels right in many ways. It has some very clever game design, interesting choices and graphics which remind me of Sword of the Stars. The battles remind me of Horizon (also by Iceberg).
I can't recommend the game yet due to not having played it enough, but so far I am liking it.