Horizon - Almost a clone of BotF

[cleverwise]

I recently ran across across Horizon. Have you seen it before?

If not Horizon is basically the foundation of what many of us have been looking for in a BotF 2.0. It is a turned based game that you explore the galaxy while developing your empire. It has research, colonization, ship building, diplomacy, and much much more. The graphics are very modern and when you zoom in on a system you can individually look at a planet. In this mode you see the planet spinning in 3D, any moon (s) orbiting it, and any ships or stations above it.

You even can send ships to individual planets in a system, but it doesn't stop there. You can board other ships and try to take them over. Plus you can custom build your own class of ships by changing the configuration of weapons and features. When in combat fighting is done in turned based mode with up to 20 moves. If the battle isn't over in 20 moves then it continues in the next turn, so you actually have battles lasting several turns.

Also like BotF you can form friendships, declare war, and build out your empire. However unlike birth you can give systems. Also multiple species can own different planets in a single system. You can build out tourism for extra cash. Plus you can build at least three ships at once in system and buildings are built at the time too. Horizon also has multiple research levels like our beloved BotF and you can control where you choose to "spend" your research points at any given time. There is ground combat too with tanks and soldiers and you are able to customize the names of systems.

Humans are the only species similar to BotF, although the ships don't follow Federation design. Still I can easily see this game reskined and tooled for the Star Trek universe. In and of itself the game is very interesting and has a fascinating story of its own. There are so many similar functions to BotF and many that go to the "next level". This game a lot more like BotF than say Sins of Solar Empire. It is a 4X based game.

More info: http://www.iceberg-games.com/index.php? ... uct_id=385

[cleverwise]

I should add unlike BotF you can have farming planets that can sell their own extra food while other planets buy and import that food. You can control taxes and even the style of government you want. It really is a cool game with peaceful background music like BotF. I have barely scratch the surface on this game.

Finally don't get me wrong I still love BotF, but of course there are other good games out there. :-)

[Martok]

Cheers cleverwise! I'd been following Horizon's development for years before its release, and (I believe) was one of the first to purchase the game when it became available via Early Access on Steam.

I'll admit I found it to be an underwhelming experience initially. However, I've since heard a number of folks say it's now pretty fun, especially after it received some dedicated patching/updating by the developers. I've been meaning to take Horizon for a spin again, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I take it you're enjoying the game, then?

[cleverwise]

I think it has a lot of fun aspects to it. Of course it can use some enhancements (what can't? ;-). While the combat mode is turned based I have to admit I like the BotF model better. Still understand why they choose the design they did because you can send out board parties and do things you can't do in BotF.

The story line is interesting too and much like the TNG one where one species seeded the galaxy. I like that Horizon is never the same gameplay twice like BotF. The extra optional missions are interesting too. I think overall Horizon is very well done and I find the music score awesome!

[Flocke]

Found it a while ago. The map view looks promising, but what I've seen from the gameplay I found not so great. Still would like to give it a try some time.

[adi]

looks like whoever did Endless Space had a hand in this; even the fonts looked familiar;
what i did not like in Endless Space was the trade card combat; maybe this is better.

[cleverwise]

I have never played Endless Space but the combat in this game shows your ships (outposts, etc) which you click on to give orders and the ships performs your tasks immediately. You give each ship their orders individually and when you can't move and/or fire anymore you hit turn. The combat is on a 3D map and each side gets 20 turns max and if not over then combat rolls into the next global turn. At the end of the battle there is a recap showing what ships (outposts, colonies, etc) survived.

[KrazeeXXL]

yup, I heard of this game. There was a big hype around it. I'm a bit surprised that it's released already.

Kinda bad sign, honestly.

I guess that it's not as good as the hype initally suggested. Otherwise, I would've heard of it much earlier or at least from any reputable source when it comes to games.

Any good gameplay vids on this?

[cleverwise]

I have been following the user Trusteft on YT:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... DHC65ngY2U

Is the game perfect? Of course not. What game (or software) is?

However I still believe the game has the bases for BotF 2.0. I also personally like the built in Horizon story. It isn't as good as Star Trek (of course) but I still find it entertaining. Also things like the animated scene cuts of a new colony being formed, galactic news, research breakthroughs, first contact, etc are nice touches.

[KrazeeXXL]

I've just seen this game for 10€ at Saturn yesterday. But I went there to get another one ^^

I fast-forwarded a bit through that lets play video and yea. Perhaps I'll get Horizon at some time. At the moment, I'm a bit busy with Civ BE, though. ^^

[cleverwise]

I personally haven't bought Horizon myself. I have just been watching videos but I plan on buying it soon.

It is very much like BotF and if you watch the Let's Play link (for others reading this) you'll see so many similarities between Horizon and BotF. I will state again is the game perfect? Nope and as mentioned above the combat mode is a little odd. I prefer BotF's model for combat but still Horizon's combat isn't bad.

Still all the details are awesome. When you establish trade routes you see little "ships" moving one them. I also like how you can orbit specific planets and even have multiple species owning different planets in a system. The music I have read has been used in other games like Endless Space or something but I don't care still is peaceful IMO.

[Anguille]

yup, I heard of this game. There was a big hype around it. I'm a bit surprised that it's released already.

Kinda bad sign, honestly.

I guess that it's not as good as the hype initally suggested. Otherwise, I would've heard of it much earlier or at least from any reputable source when it comes to games.

Any good gameplay vids on this?

There was no hype around this game. I think you are confusing it with another game. As Martok said, they started working on the game years ago. The game is very solid and should be fairly easy to mod into a full Birth of the Federation game. I don't have the skills nor the time but there's a lot of potential here. I've enjoyed the game a lot (even if it's no replacement to BotF).

[Flocke]

The game is very solid and should be fairly easy to mod into a full Birth of the Federation game.

I rather see it as an exchange of one bugged game by another.
Here a german review on the game: http://www.4players.de/4players.php/dis ... rizon.html
In the end, after getting bored by the combat, cumbersome menus and ugly old cgi the game quit itself by an election of a galactical emperor. LOL
Just one damning review of many I've found. Still some day I'd like to check it out and get my own impression.

[Anguille]

The game is very solid and should be fairly easy to mod into a full Birth of the Federation game.

I rather see it as an exchange of one bugged game by another.
Here a german review on the game: http://www.4players.de/4players.php/dis ... rizon.html
In the end, after getting bored by the combat, cumbersome menus and ugly old cgi the game quit itself by an election of a galactical emperor. LOL
Just one damning review of many I've found. Still some day I'd like to check it out and get my own impression.

I don't take 4players seriously for some time. The game has had a lot of patches in the last six months, so yes, it is solid and I don't see any bugs. The election is just one option to win the game (like in MOO2). The combat has been improved a lot compared to the release version (where you had to move your ships through the entire map). Is the game perfect? no. It's an indie title done by a very small team.

[KrazeeXXL]

There was no hype around this game. I think you are confusing it with another game.

I don't know what else to call overly enthusiastic 4x fans who were waiting for a good new title in ages. From my PoV it was hyped as hell in the scene, like people were expecting a new Messiah and then it came out and nothing. I haven't even heard of the release. And this is bad news.

Is the game perfect? Of course not. What game (or software) is?

I will state again is the game perfect?

Is the game perfect?

Could someone please state again that this game isn't perfect? I still haven't gotten it.

If it'd be able to revive the dead 4x genre, than it wouldn't be around for 10 € half a year after release. Do I have to say more? There are so much good (not perfect) games around nowadays which want to be played, too.

4x games aren't exactly AAA titles and this often shows. They want a lot, maybe too much and while they do some things pretty well, some important ones are neglected. I just don't find them compelling anymore. May it be Endless Space, Galactic Empires or Sins of a Solar Empire. They're just not for me anymore as it seems.

I just got Grey Goo and this game rocks. This game is like going 20 years back in time and playing C&C1 all over again. It has an amazing Soundtrack by Frank Klepacki which alone made it worth buying in my opinion. And more importantly: it really looks and feels like a game from 2015. But yea, it's not perfect. But it's polished. And all the design decisions make sense.

It wants to be an RTS - it is an RTS. And it's pretty damn good at what it is.

4x games on the other hand. They want you to explore, then you should be able to create your empire, wage wars and have diplomacy and all that really tough stuff (from a dev pov). Creating a good 4x game is a mammoth task in my book and people are expecting too much from those games. 20 years ago the concept was mind blowing. The entire experience of playing such a multifaceted game was amazing at the time. But the time doesn't stand still and to create something equally "mind-blowing" nowadays, is hard, maybe even impossible.

Lets be realistic: 4x games are a niche market and the budgets for games like this are rather small. The fanbase is rather small, too. The potential is there but the genre is suffering like many others. And when nobody is willing to put money in a promising project, we're just going to see budget titles.

I'm all for great games but I won't waste my time playing mediocre ones. The market is too saturated with good games and my time is too limited - so, I have to choose wisely. I don't get nostalgia feelings from playing Galactic Empires but sadness of how bad the genre became and I'm still sad that I wasted those 10 bucks on it. This won't happen again.

Either get (the right!) investors for the game you want to create and make it a great game or just let it be. It's sad to see a 4x game half a year after release lying around in the Rammschregal/Wühlkiste for a 10 mere bucks.