Distant Worlds Shadows

[Diche Bach]

Evidently "Distant Worlds" has been mentioned a sum total of five times on these forums. On the one hand, this is surprising because it is the sort of game that a lot of you KSP fans would I think very much appreciate. On the other, this doesn't surprise me because Matrix Games is overall not well known among gamers, though their 'regulars' are quite a devoted community. Lots of older players, retired military, retired scientists and the like . . .

In my opinion, Distant Worlds Shadows is the best 4x space game out there at this stage. (Note, you've got to install Distant Worlds, then DW Return of the Shakturi, then Legends then Shadows, so the total price tag for the fully expanded and up-to-date game is probably in the ballpark of $100).

Matrix is a bit weird compared to other contemporary publishers. Mostly their games are VERY historical strategic or tactical war games that reflect hex-based strategy & tactics (S&T) boardgames. They are probably most famous for what is certainly one of the most complicated, intricate, detailed and accurate grand strategy games of all times War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition. They don't claim that this game represents _every_ ship, plane, dinghy, battalion, and radar shack which was involved in the Pacific War, but it comes damn close. The rule book is around 500 pages of bible print. I'm a pretty smart guy, and I have played S&T boardgames since High School. I had managed to get to the point where I truly understood all of the rules in the original War in the Pacific. I just lost steam with the newer one, but I may go back to it eventually.

Not all of their games are that complicated and obsessed with historical accuracy and some of their games have a bit more of a Civ-like feel or even a Risk feel. For example Crown of Glory Emperor's Edition was a great unsung game that I had a lot of fun with a few Play-By-Email matches with half-dozen other geeks.

Matrix staff and their fans are very nice folks, although they do tend to be fairly militarily oriented and among their forum-dwellers there is a good bit of the "Get off my lawn!" sentiment. They don't work with Steam at all (to their loss I think) and their games tend to be rather expensive (WiPAE is $80!). As noted, they are not widely known among gamers. But somehow, they seem to have done well. Their product line continues to grow every year and their forums are generally pretty active.

This puts "Distant Worlds" game into perspective by showing that, it was a fairly unusual new direction for Matrix and I think the first time they had worked with the games developer, a New Zealand group called Code Force. The main developer "Elliot" is pretty active on their Matrix forums. I'm not sure if Code Force is only one guy, but it is clearly a small "indie" developer similar to Squad.

Matrix's previous space games had been pretty simple and uninspiring, but it was clear when DW first came out that this was something special, something that honestly was trying to push the envelope a bit. For one thing the way it renders space as a continuous zoomable thing manages to convey more effectively than any other space game the vastness and great distances involved (although the scales and numbers are still waaayyy scaled down relative to reality). The graphics are clearly not the focus, rather the strategic dynamics, empire building, spacecraft engineering, fleet operations, and logistics for lack of a better term are what this game is all about. Exploration is a key element of the game, and I believe it is done more effectively in DW than in any other game I've encountered. The balance between technology, ship design, ship cost (build and maintenance), exploration and empire growth are exceptional in this game. You honestly 'feel' like you are stewarding a young interstellar empire as you play this game. The ship combat is very comparable to other 4X space games, and reminds me a good bit of GalCiv II, in sum, well-done and satisfying. Much like GalCiv II, designing your own ships is a fun part of the game and essential to have the most effective fleets.

I had bought the original Distant Worlds in 2010 when I used to be more active on their forums (my avatar over there is Anthropoid) but for various reasons just didn't get into it. Main thing for me was the small fonts used in the UI were headache enducing on my big screen TV 'monitor.' That was three years ago and the game has been continuously updated and expanded since then. With the DW-Return of the Shakturi expansion came out later in 2010, Legends about a year after that, and then Shadows came out this spring.

I only owned DW vanilla up till recently and it was certainly a fun and playable game, so buying only that one and giving it a whirl is certainly a viable option I think. However, I have now updated to the most recent complete set, and I have to say, it really has a finished and satisfying feel to it.

Mainly I just wanted to give the game some visibility in this KSP community, which I think this longish note does fine. But if there is any interest, I'd be happy to do a Youtube video or two just to showcase the game!

Edited August 21, 2013 by Diche Bach