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27 people found this review helpful
2 people found this review funny

Not Recommended

0.0 hrs last two weeks / 110.2 hrs on record (108.1 hrs at review time)

Posted: 1 Nov, 2022 @ 2:01pm

i was deceived that this is finally some actual commander-state simulator whatever, it is not at all! just like in some "battle brothers" "tactics" - you cannot even tell your hyperkorean division to "finish this runaway hobo and pls stop revolters from taking your paycheck", which is instantly tedious from start to finish and there's actually no finish; it is a kind of state simulator - and it is kind of unplayable, especially starting with how much it throws at you; even after reading manual the esoteric mechanics were misleading and confusing

the brainless military has 0 independence or automatization like just about everything there and "characters / governors" actively sabotage you by randomly picking dumbest options in events and decisions you will wish you didn't have to guess to have a slim chance of some useful govt direction instead of total chaos and idiotocracy (maybe that's realistic though)

"Stratagems are complete plans and series of actions that allow you to complete vast swathes of micromanagement tasks simply and easily. This system can also help you respond quickly to a crisis or unforeseen situation."

that's like saying portrayed abstract spy points numbers will solve any problems and actually be relevant to playing the wargame; being realistic - your situation is near completely based on chance and your position could be losing one from the start, especially when there are barely any resources at all - this would be much nicer to see play out by AI as well

otherwise it is kind of interesting generator, but not very playable with all the micromanagement and random stuff that happens, hindering even the wargame aspect a plenty (and there's no "easy mode" or any stable mode to play, there is always a bunch of traitors you keep in a government as supreme commander for some reason, in a small scale scenario or early game - they can literally only betray you and backstab from middle of nowhere AND they're not even commanders); it is a self proclaimed complicated game, so there is no friendly modding or anything much possible from the looks of it; in the end it suffers from all the typical problems and poor efforts, usability, and tedium that is hard to enjoy

the brainless military has 0 independence or automatization like just about everything there and "characters / governors" actively sabotage you by randomly picking dumbest options in events and decisions you will wish you didn't have to guess to have a slim chance of some useful govt direction instead of total chaos and idiotocracy (maybe that's realistic though)

"Stratagems are complete plans and series of actions that allow you to complete vast swathes of micromanagement tasks simply and easily. This system can also help you respond quickly to a crisis or unforeseen situation."

that's like saying portrayed abstract spy points numbers will solve any problems and actually be relevant to playing the wargame; being realistic - your situation is near completely based on chance and your position could be losing one from the start, especially when there are barely any resources at all - this would be much nicer to see play out by AI as well

otherwise it is kind of interesting generator, but not very playable with all the micromanagement and random stuff that happens, hindering even the wargame aspect a plenty (and there's no "easy mode" or any stable mode to play, there is always a bunch of traitors you keep in a government as supreme commander for some reason, in a small scale scenario or early game - they can literally only betray you and backstab from middle of nowhere AND they're not even commanders); it is a self proclaimed complicated game, so there is no friendly modding or anything much possible from the looks of it; in the end it suffers from all the typical problems and poor efforts, usability, and tedium that is hard to enjoy

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11 Comments

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((((Semyon The Great)))) 25 Dec, 2022 @ 2:53am

overall it's ironically pretty fine if you just build roads minimalistically - and they don't even have to touch borders, many smaller maps / planets are easily even fully supplied with 1 road

i instead thought why not spam many roads to move faster, this made any amount of logistics wasted completely

PanarchTheHolon 25 Dec, 2022 @ 2:50am

Yeah I think the logistics mechanic is split into 2 systems A) overall logistics points (LP) and B) action points (AP). The longer your roads the less AP will reach the farthest point, which in turn causes a lack of LP (bottleneck). So that mean probably need to build more truck and rail stations along the line or in city. Also need to mess with the annoying traffic stop signs and switch on pull points to control the bottlenecks. Can also build stations and hubs off the main line and customize the traffick signs to inject more points into the line without penalty. It is a pain in the butt and needs an in game tutorial. Manual needs a final edit.

((((Semyon The Great)))) 18 Dec, 2022 @ 11:49pm

https://www.matrixgames.com/amazon/PDF/SE/Shadow_Empire_manual_EBOOK.pdf

might be in game folder

GnomeSlayer 18 Dec, 2022 @ 8:19pm

Where can I find the game manual?

((((Semyon The Great)))) 9 Dec, 2022 @ 6:55am

i guess like everything - government and events are pretty random, so not very controllable and basically some crap always happens more or less, and produces some problems

i have read manual a while before playing and got confused about logistics anyway lol, i think it was there though, but is itself contradictive (more roads = less logistics)

i have played a bunch of times, but government and events are always something annoying and esoteric - and the damage can be notable

also one key problem - you may obviously want SPECIFIC profile, but that is unlikely to happen - you have to lead a perfect course, which conflicts with many people and events as well - many events do not have support for your utopia, they just can ruin it, most likely will, long before you kept profile for tens of turns

PanarchTheHolon 8 Dec, 2022 @ 6:32pm

...So you will have to plan accordingly to lessen or totally negate the hit to your 'relation' levels with members of your government, usually by promising or assigning the fired member to another job or by bribing other members to get their relations back up.
Yes the manual does not explain everything and there are a few annoying typos and a few weird things like pre-battle screen and logistics not being entirely explained. The manual and the game needed a little more time and the UI needs a couple tweaks. Overall though the game is solid. Manual is a must read. After that it still takes playing a game or two to get the hang of things.

PanarchTheHolon 8 Dec, 2022 @ 6:31pm

You can get more than the default resources any time you like as long as you have the correct council that gives the "prospecting push" stratagems and the like. Your government members consist of different 'factions' yes, and these factions have different likes as represented by the various 'profiles'. So as long as you actively support the factions who support the profile arrangement that you wish to increase then there will be no great issue with betrayal from your government or cabinet. There is a job hierarchy as explained in the manual and your government members do not like themselves or other members to lose their jobs, especially jobs with high prestige and especially especially if the member has a high degree of 'seniority'.

Mossy Oak 27 Nov, 2022 @ 8:03am

I had a stroke trying to read this, but the game's UI is complete utter shit, I have an easier time playing Vic2 than looking at this shit

TrepTheSnake 26 Nov, 2022 @ 9:30pm

Terrible review.

Laykan 2 Nov, 2022 @ 7:24am

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