Amplitude Studios announced that they will go Beta for Endless Space next Monday (4th June 2012) at the end of the day on Steam. So, I believe they mean end of day in France’s (Amplitude’s HQ) time.
So, apparently, you have until this next Sunday to benefit from the 25% off on full price promotion during alpha pre-ordering.
The beta will include the following new features (on top of many bugs and other changes since the first alpha):
- 8 playable factions: previous 5 plus the Amoeba, Sowers and the Pilgrims (art work above)
- Multiplayer enabled! You’ll be able to play against 7 other players online
- German and French languages
- Achieving the first version of the multiplayer
- Completing the last 3 playable factions (art, gameplay)
- Improving the diplomatic system (better feedback, better attitude behavior)
- Tweaking the game parameters and content to improve the gameplay flow and depth
- Fixing many bugs
- Including some of the community requested improvements (they didn’t say which at this point but they promised a long list of changes a few hours before the release – squeezing all you can, right guys?)
Amplitude is now aiming final game release “around July”. They didn’t want to advance a firm date (clever of them). They said that “the final date will depend on when we’ll be fully satisfied by the game”. Good. I remember that the publisher, Iceberg Interactive, announced a retail release date for 24 August 2012 by the way. So, you have some time :)
Then, they end the beta announcement with an intriguing teaser statement: “For us, the release is the just the beginning for Endless Space… definitely not the end!” ~Amplitude Studios
So, if you didn’t pre-order yet, and are planning to buy this game, I think this weekend would be a good timing for that. 25% off is still much more than a couple of beers :) Here is our hands-on preview for you to have a close look at it.
Subscribe RSS
35 Comments
Related Articles:
- Endless Space Pre-Orders Next Week
- Endless Space Releases on the 4th of July!
- Endless Space Giveaway Contest – 10 Emperor Edition Keys! [CLOSED]
- Endless Space Pre-Orders Open On Steam
- Endless Space Expansion Pack Disharmony This Summer
Loading ...
This is getting to look better and better :)
The final faction, the Pilgrims has also just been announced. I look forward to taking another tour through the game next week. Diplomacy was a gripe of mine, and it looks like they have been focusing on that area for the beta.
Is it just me, or does this game seem to progressing forward at hyperspeed? They must have some nanomachines cranking out code for them.
Is it just me or does this:
http://www.amplitude-studios.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/body-image/pilgrim-corporate-commander/355254-1-eng-GB/Pilgrim-Corporate-Commander.jpg
look like Judy Dench to you too?
And im really excited about what these guys can get out of the AI.
I thought the same thing. They must have Judi on-board, or this is an amazing resemblance/coincidence.
Yes, when they released the Alpha 2 I was blown away by the amount of community requested features present in the patch.
Amplitude seems to be a great studio, which we should support actively.
Is there another way to buy it than by Steam ?
I don’t want to use this service but I’m interested by the game.
Not during this phase that I am aware of. When it officially releases, Iceberg Interactive will be bringing it to retail and potentialy other digital vendors as well.
OK, I’ll wait the official release then :)
Thank you.
I can understand some push back to using Steam, but you are truly missing out on an amazing game. Just read all of the comments on their FB page.
What are some people’s hang up about Steam? Offline availability? Games are available offline.
So I investigated and ok, you can launch steam games while offline (a quick google search will do). But you need to be online to choose the setting that allows you to play offline games later on :/
So, if I understood correctly (but I may be wrong here since I’m no Steam power-user) unless you leave offline mode always on you may end up forgetting about ticking offline mode back again and be stuck with “online mode” without being able to play in a place without internet connection. Because, as I understood it, you need internet to launch steam to choose offline mode right?
I can’t recall what I had to set on my laptop, if anything, but I can confirm that I was playing Endless Space on it with no internet access. I was able to click on start in offline mode and then launch the game from steam. I don’t do this regularly, so it is possible it doesn’t always work or has other quirks.
I played the first alpha they released on steam. Did they put real time combat in or did they at least get rid of the card based combat that was present at the time.
No, the card based combat is a staple feature of the release — it is not a placeholder, it is intentionally like that.
Wish I would bother my arse to look into games before I buy thanks for the info, yet another 4x rts that comes close to greatness.
Don’t give up all hope yet Jingles. I will admit that in my opinion the current combat system is rather drab, but I am also very hopeful that more love in that area is on the way. I will know a lot more in about 28 hours or so when I am hopefully home from work and enjoying the beta release.
A freecam mode in battle seems to be the clear winner for the next game design feature they will be including. I do feel like being able to at least look around the battlefield is a step in the right direction.
My major gripes are with the Rock/Paper/Scissors type of weaponry/armor. I don’t feel that it offers much choice in ship design or is particularly exciting. I am hopeful that they consider tractor beams, boarding, perhaps EMP pulses, or other sorts of weaponry that will provide us more options.
However, even in combat doesn’t see as much love as I’d hope, the strategic gameplay is still entertaining, at least for awhile. The introduction of better diplomacy mechanics and some new races less interested in warfare should help in this area.
I will be honest and say I’ve not played the game in over a week due to some of these shortcomings. This coming week should be a different story.
“the strategic game play is still entertaining, at least for awhile”
I played it in early alpha i thought the User interface was superb, but the game seemed to lack any real depth, it felt more like some sort of Ipad casual type game imho that is completely unsuited to the genre {4xRTS} by my definition should feature depth in all aspects of gameplay , im not looking for a game I can pick up and play for 30 mins a time I want to get lost in a universe.
The fact that you had to use certain system to travel to others created a more of luck driven type of game based on initial galaxy creation {yes I know many have used that kind of universe map before IGII etc etc} coupled with the lets be frank here boring combat it seemed like the developers who clearly have massive of skill lack the vision.
Maybe the developer just wants to get to gold and release and maybe they plan to put alot more in, however Ive heard nothing like that so ill assume at the moment this was there vision joy another game I can add to the pile.
*rant off
Some time soon ill finish writing my piece for the forums its entitled:
The good the bad the ugly
A brief look at the state of the 4x rts genre and the problems I have with developers
peace
How to play the demo of that game? On the amplitude site I couldn’t find any download option…
There is no demo available. Something that is becoming quite common these days, unfortunately.
I bought it on steam and downloaded the alpha
From there site @ http://endless-space.amplitude-studios.com/Games2gether
SAVE 25% – PRE-PURCHASE ENDLESS SPACE ADMIRAL EDITION
Instant access to the Alpha and all upcoming versions
500 G2G
ENDLESS SPACE forum award (at game release)
Official Digital Soundtrack (at game release)
Yea, it’s strange but there seems to be no link to buy the game in Amplitude’s website (but there was before). Probably something to do with their publishing agreement.
Yes that sucks, because it prevent people that doesn’t want to use steam to get the game.
I hope it will be not the case at release time because they will lost some sales.
The game will not be only available on Steam. Iceberg Interactive (that has signed a publishing deal with Amplitude) will release a box version on the 24th of August. They will also release the game in other digital channels other than Steam: http://www.iceberg-interactive.com/news-mainmenu-33/1-latest/489-endless-space-to-debut-in-retail-on-24-august-2012.html So, there’s plenty of options. I’m not sure but I think Iceberg ships worldwide.
Thank you for these informations :)
You’re welcome :) It’s important that everybody knows that they don’t have to buy now on Steam if they don’t want to. We don’t know the other digital channels the game will be available on yet (I’ll bet it’s GamersGate and GreenManGaming perhaps) but we know there will be box also.
This is not the place to debate digital vs box but I would say that everything that forces you to be online to play is a bad system. I know, many people will tell me that you don’t need to be online to play Steam games (or perhaps other digital platform’s games). I admit that I didn’t investigate yet how to do that but the last time I wanted to play Endless Space (with no internet connection) I ended up not being able to. And … there was no internet around to read how to play Steam games offline … very frustrating.
Yeah, that’s the ridiculous part with commercial games in this 21st century.
Even the sim that I bought (DCS A-10) as a sort of activation, but at least they implemented an auto-activation in the game itself in case of their server and/or Eagle Dynamics went dead.
I also bought the game and I quite like it so far. I hope they keep on improving the game until (and even after) the release before going for an expansion. The price is quite competitive (much better than Distant Worlds). I like the fact that the game isn’t over complicated. I hate useless micro management. I also enjoy the relatively simple combat mechanics. I like strategy games and not so much tactical games. People who like tactical space games should play SINS or Homeworld imho.
O and I almost fortgot to say, the game interface is great.
I agree with GJD. I LOVE empire building and an over complicated combat system takes time away from making the other guys civilisation, part of my civilisation. In Endless Space, no matter how many ships I have, they have, their configuration ect. Combat takes X mount of time and can be automated and minimised. No more having to watch my 5 battleships smack down his on scout ship. Automated, minimised and back to the grand strategy. Love it.
Is the beta available on pre-purchase?
Clearly im in a minority on the nature of the game. Also Ive been in that situation where I have no internet connection and have hated steam on those occasions I think publishers should offer more than one kind of way to purchase and play even if that means going back to the likes of star-force.
Today’s Beta release notes (apparently still work in progress): http://forums.amplitude-studios.com/showthread.php?446-Playable-Alpha-Release-Notes&p=41940&viewfull=1#post41940
WoW, Wow…. Already 4 days that i pre-order this new 4x games.
Very impress and happy to help this team to get a Best Sellers .
Old pc like mine, needed to change quality level to fast for having a normal Turn speed time!!
Almost all recent 4x games have problem with balancing the gameplay with a big empire as Moral, administration fee, etc. Killing the end gameplay
This one seem to have enough planet improvements to fix that problem… really a master of orion (1 and 2) way ==> working and simple way to manage
Graphic : Beautiful, simple, small icon to see what we have in queue, time left, systems dots (number of planet with colors) etc.. awesome
Combat : ok, is not a Eve online but simple and working, i would like to have more control of the camera and select enemy ship to view the damage
I watch about 4 hours of youtube video on this game before realy deciding to pre-order.
Good response of the youtube community with Let’s play series
Alot of 4x games this year. Sure that everyone will like one more than others.
For me it’s a very good Moo 2 sequel.
Review : 9/10 and it’s only a beta. Hope they keep their great work and not listen all those marketing guys to scrap it.
Its OK.. Imho though I prefer Distant Worlds Legends over Endless Space. Endless Space is much simplier to manage for sure but simplier is not alway a good thing either and with not being active in battles makes this too much like GC II..
I see some references to “simple” game play. Anyone care to explain what they mean (and maybe some changes they would do)?
How much better would this game be if they made combat more interactive(some form of TBS or RTS for examples) instead of mostly cinematic?
As it turns out the combat design is highly contentious, and a poll Adam did here on SS.com even shows that. He asked what combat is preferred, and believe it or not turn based tactical combat split almost 50/50 with simple combat.
So the devs can’t obviously please everyone when it comes to combat, because they will displease at least half of either crowd.
Now there is a work around, like some games managed where you can AUTO the combat part. However, most games I have seen penalizes the player by having you loss where you could have won or take higher casualties.
At this stage in development, I think it is too late to change the combat mechanics. Adding a whole layer of tactical combat requires far too much coding and assets to be implemented.
I like my 4x game’s complex but also I like to battle and why not look at some decent animation if you can. Well looking at the youtube of this makes me think it is complex alright but simple at the same time. And the battles totally are not what I am looking forward to.