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1. Distant Worlds Universe Cheats

TL;DR: Distant Worlds: Universe couples strong core gameplay with fresh, badly-needed innovations to the 4X genre, buried under an imposing presentation, poor graphics, and painful UI. The private sector mechanics and automation eliminate a lot of the tedium of ruling enormous interstellar empires, but those who are overwhelmed by too much data. Universe is also the ultimate collector’s edition, the first time all previous Distant Worlds releases have been included in one package, along with an updated manual and greatly expanded modding support. Distant Worlds is a vast, pausable real-time 4X space strategy game.

'In which we embark upon a galaxy-spanning tour in this 4x space-empire simulation, bringing fire, misery and corporate enterprise to an unwilling universe. They'll be grateful one day..'
Whoever could say no to destroying swathes of planets in the name of private-sector corporate expansion in an attempt to create resource scarcity in the market? Well that is one potential in Distant Worlds: Universe. A game developed by Code Force and published by Matrix games back in 2010. To this potential, I screamed a resounding 'YES!' and jumped straight in, though when my (hugely flashy and overly expensive) planet-killer reached these guys:
I may have shed a single tear of regret….so adorable!.. They all burned though. All falls before capitalism in the end.
Distant Worlds: Universe is a detailed and comprehensive real-time 4x strategy game, that on the surface seems like many of its other counterparts in the Space 4x market, BUT it has a unique twist over its competitors- that being the ability to forge your own story on any level, at any scale. Allow me to entice you through the medium of a snappy explanation… ahem. You can run your empire as the god-like autocrat you always imagined yourself to be, micromanaging every single aspect of your empire in meticulous detail, or you can get right down to the grubbiest, lowliest ship captain's level and direct control the adventure of this intrepid explorer as you trade, bounty hunt, explore (there are basic RPG story elements and traits to gain) or privateer across the galaxy, blissful to the political horrors happening around you, only to be swept up in their current eventually.
Alternatively you can be in charge of a group of ships as their Admiral, or indeed aspire to be your empire's ‘High Admiral’ in charge of all military ops (Leave the politics, lies and laws to those slimy politicians), or perhaps take control of the 'poor bloody infantry' leading your empires expedition forces from frozen world to furnace all to die horribly..in the name of glory. If that fails to appeal, maybe being a Chancellor dealing with balancing the books appeals to you (If you want to be the most hated person in the universe that is), or perhaps being a secretive spy master engaged in the cut and thrust of nocturnal diplomacy- directing saboteours to destroy your rivals lovely holiday resort (hah take that tourist income!), assassinating their key officials and turning enemy agents into you 'bessie' mates, maybe though you liked watching the Big Bang Theory a wee bit too much and feel the pull of a chief imperial scientist calling, directing research and effectively turning the game into an automated sandbox where you see how your empire uses your creations in practice. All of these things and more are possible through Distant World’s complex and comprehensive automation system. The AI is incredibly good (It has to be, as Distant Worlds is only a single player experience alas) and literally every aspect of your empire can be given over to the AI to run, while you can carve out a ‘human niche’ as large or as small you want.
The second ‘unique’ aspect of this game compared to its fellows is the active portrayal of ‘state’ and ‘private’ sectors and enterprise. Your empire exists on two levels; one that can be (potentially if you choose it) formally controlled by you to the aforementioned varying degrees and includes the military, defense, and state-led colonisation and mining efforts, and also the private sphere which is part of your empire but acts as an AI sub-faction, expanding, settling, mining, trading and indeed ordering ships from your state shipyards (paying you of course for the pleasure). This leads to an interesting ‘sub-game’ where protecting and ‘helping’ these private interests in your empire can lead to large dividends, while likewise ignoring them can have a detrimental effect- particularly if pirates or hostile empires start plying your trade lanes. Thus wars become not just the usual ‘massive space battles followed by planetary tug of war’ but also have a commerce raiding aspect which can effectively bring an empire to its knees.
This is further compounded by the myriad of resources, both staple and luxury that a growing empire needs to sustain all aspects of its function- Not only does your military and by extension private sector require mundane stuff like steel or uranium, but also all your ships require fuel, and the type of drive you're equipping your ship designs with determines the type of resources and fuel amounts you need- All of which needs to be mined through either private or public enterprises and protected at all costs, as a lack of fuel will see your mighty high-tech armada drifting aimlessly in space at a snail's pace back to port through the void, while your solar systems burn (This totally didn’t happen to me *cough*).

Distant Worlds Universe Cheats

Thus asymmetrical space warfare is rather well represented. Add to this logistical limits which can only be overcome through specific supply ships (the loss of which can potentially again strand an entire fleet) and rough swashbuckling pirate factions with whom dodgy deals of the overt and covert variety such as raiding rival planets or smuggling in supplies to a besieged wcan be struck. Careful though as they'll likely extort from you the minute they sense weakness. This all goes to create a very dynamic-feeling game that somehow seems very ‘real’ to play..well as real as a sci-fi space setting can be.
The diplomacy system itself is rather ‘simple’ compared to most games, but with its own complex nuances that more than make up for this. There are typical ‘Mutual defense pact’, ‘peace’ or ‘war’ relationship statuses (Which are simpler than most Facebook updates..)- but if you don’t get on with a faction, but are not at war with them, your military can and will (if under the ai especially- aggressive wee thing that it is) raid and skirmish with them, potentially creating a ‘trigger point’ where they finally decide 'enough is enough, genocide is the only answer'- this style of undeclared fighting can even see border worlds plundered and so the player is always on edge in the realm of diplomatic relations. The system is further refined through specific agreements such as ‘free trade’ or ‘mining rights’ which allow for their own myriad of advantages and disadvantages. The potential for covert operations and pirate contracts rounds this all off very nicely leading to an intensive and consuming ‘Great Game’ of diplomacy- at least that’s what i found with a good 40 percent of my time spent staring at the diplomatic screen. A caveat to this is there are certain 'in-grained' racial diplomatic preferences seemingly that cannot be changed. This means that generally you can be rather certain after playing a few games which other races would be best to ally with, and who will be your main problems.


The warfare element is graphically basic, with the weapons all visually represented, but again in a rather lackluster and (naturally) two dimensional way, but the combat mechanics are incredibly complex which perhaps mitigate the visual let down. An array of ship roles exist from Escorts, to Frigates, to Cruisers and Carriers and more- all with their own particular role which is further defined by your research and just how you design them. Ships can act individually, as part of a strike force or as part of a fleet and according to role and the player or ai's further input will behave in a myriad of ways- Frigates will raid and out-ride while also escorting larger ships and patrolling your space lanes, Cruisers can act more independently, alone or in packs delving deeper into enemy space and raiding planets. Ships can be boarded, disabled and left adrift as well as of course being outright destroyed in glorious 2d adding extra elements (and the possibility of recovering the wreck of that really expensive Battleship..that may or may not drive you to bankruptcy in trying to safely get to and repair the darn thing). This helps break the formula that many other 4x games fall into- in Distant Worlds: Universes ‘blobbing up’ your forces together and outnumbering the enemy locally has no real positives, but a sleuth of negatives, so sure you can do it, but be prepared for the AI to swipe your empire away from you while your staring at the shiny hulls of your Grand Armada being whittled down through attrition as their ambushed, their refueling bases destroyed and that massive armada in the middle of nowhere drifts now helpless, while your worlds burn.
Where Distant Worlds really shines is in the detail of its ship designer. Let your creative juices flow as there are hundreds of images to choose from for each design, all of which can have its size changed. Alongside this are the many different torpedoes, missiles, lasers, grav-weapons, bombs, engines, crew compartments, commerce modules, rail-guns, lance beams, shields *Breathe*, armour, crew quarters etc; the amount of ‘stuff’ is quite dizzying, even designing a basic ship can be a tad intimidating for newcomers due to the need for non-normal extras like life-support or storage, and getting the balance between speed, fuel, survivability and armament is difficult. In this respect it strongly reminds me of 'Rule the Waves' (Shameless plug for a future review perhaps?)


Furthermore all of these things need specific resources, with different jump engines needing different crystals or gasses- thus your military is shaped by the geography of your empire as much as it is by your research. You may have a fast hyper-drive able to cycle up in a mere eight seconds… but if you only have one viable mining colony for the crystals required to run it, that’s a big risk, perhaps it's better to stick to your older ‘chuggers’ for the majority of your fleet.

For all its scope (seriously, up to 1400 star systems with a vast variety of planet types, asteroids et al) and its unique crafting of a truly ‘living’ galaxy, Distant Worlds: Universe does have its failings. The most obvious for many i’m sure would be that price-tag- for a game that’s seven years old it's still retailing on steam at £44.98. Now in fairness that is because Distant Worlds: Universe includes its two large expansions alongside the base game, which add a fair-bit of new content. But it is a big ask perhaps when newer games which are just beginning their development cycle such as Stellaris are only £34.99. A counter to that of course would be arguing that Distant Worlds does not follow the modern DLC model of many newer 4x games, and thus overall will be/is cheaper. But this dear reader is a personal judgement that you must make alone (For i steer well clear of the pro/anti DLC debate, i like all my limbs attached thank you)

The lack of racial customization, or meaningful racial differences may also be a ‘no-go’ for some. While physically the races are clearly differentiated- ships looking different, portraits and indeed text-speech varying these are not the sweeping changes that are perhaps present in other real-time 4x games. You are completely unable to change anything about one of the set 20 races. Now each of these have detailed and comprehensive lore behind them explored both in the games main quest-lines, but also in the handy in-game encyclopedia, but it means your rather railroaded in terms of game-play and RP to what your race is ‘good’ at, as well as their background stories, potential for allies and enemies and also possible ‘meta’ avenues. Furthermore while there are in-game characters such as scientists, agents, admirals, officers, leaders etc and these over time develop their own traits, they are not as meaningful as they could be. The traits are a nice addition, but have very little game-play relevance, and moreover just feel a bit ‘bland’. A few hours in, i couldn't remember the names of all my officials, nor did i particularly care when they gained new 'traits'.
These though are the only two points of contention that i have personally. It all still makes Distant Worlds: Universe a very solid and complex game that you could whittle away your hours on (I know I've lost whole days to it..that’s also my excuse for the erm ‘generous’ time it took to finish this review!). The ‘living world’ nature of the universe- watching citizens and private enterprise expand their operations and travel, its slow burning story arcs that suddenly tumble into a huge intergalactic struggle for the fate of the universe, are factors that really do make this game stand out. If you're a lover of pouring over perhaps overly-complex systems and trying to ‘state-manage’ rather than micro-manage then this is the game you probably never knew you needed.


Now excuse me, I've got to get back to roasting those cute lil furry chaps.

No tease before the jump here, let’s get straight to it. Distant Worlds: Universe is my favourite space strategy game. Not my favourite space strategy game released this week and not my favourite space strategy game released this year. It’s the definitive version of the best space strategy game I’ve ever played and I want to share the excitement with everyone, starting with an old friend. The transcript below explains all.

I was going to write a conventional Wot I Think, whatever the hell that means, but my good friend Admiral Adama happened to be visiting for a night of brandy and cheesestrings. I was saving my latest campaign when he arrived early and bustled through the door (he has his own key; we used to have ‘a thing’). He spied the screen and asked what the heck I was playing.

Adama: What the heck are you playing? Is that the new Battlestar Galactica game?

Me: There isn’t a new Battlestar Galactica game. This is Distant Worlds: Universe and it’s just about the hottest slice of space this side of an Eta Carinae family reunion.

Adama: Or a Cylon deathfleet, right? Sure, sure. This Distant Worlds just looks like a lot of pokey little graphics crawling around on a screen though. Where’s the fun in that? Do I get to be a crater-faced space hero?

Me: That’s a good question and conveniently leads to one of the best things about this brilliant game. Help yourself to a cheesestring by the way, I’m going to be talking for a while here.
Notionally, Distant Worlds is about building an empire, moving your people from planet to planet and system to system in an attempt to dominate the other spacefaring civilisations of the universe. Domination can take many forms. Perhaps you’ll construct hundreds of fleets and bombard alien colonies from above, or maybe you’ll construct a trading powerhouse and control galactic economies. You can even be the Butlins of your local spiral arm by owning a chain of gorgeous cultured planets that attract shiploads of tourists.

But if you’d rather concentrate on space heroics, you can design a ship, using all the latest hyperdrive tech, weapons and shielding, and set out to explore far-off stars. You might find beacons that direct you toward derelict ships from the previous interstellar age, or giant insects and slugs that live in the void and want nothing more than to eat your crew. If you head out into the depths of the great unknown, you might even find evidence of machine species that herald the end of days for all sentient life.

Adama: Sounds like my kind of gig. But if I’m sailing the solar winds of an ancient star system, chugging supernova fumes and fighting the good fight, won’t my empire fall apart without a gruff, noble hand to guide it?

Me: Not likely. You’re only as necessary as you choose to be.

Adama: I choose to be absolutely necessary at all times.

Me: I know that all too well, Admiral. You could take a hands-on approach and manage almost everything that happens. To start with, if you choose to control a pre-interstellar race, that’s easy enough. Choose which areas of research the science bods should focus their energies on and work toward building your first spaceships. There won’t be many parts to choose from and you’ll most likely start with construction and exploration vessels, the former to harness the resources of your local sun, moons and planets, and the latter to look for resource-rich asteroids in the vicinity.

Developing the tech to break away from your home system takes a while but within a couple of hours, you’ll have a web of colonies and connections, with ships zipping back and forth between them. The largest maps in the game have 1,400 stars and each could have a full system of planets and moons. It’s a big old world out there.

Adama: I’ve seen it.

Me: Not this one. The universe is randomly generated and can take different forms. Fancy playing on a map that has isolated ‘islands’ of systems so that civilisations have time to develop before harnessing the power to reach one another? The choice is yours. Perhaps you’d favour a spiral galaxy.

Adama: I’d favour a spot of that good brandy.

Me: Apologies. There’s a bottle of the tasty stuff hidden behind the bleach.

Adama: Clever. I’ll get on it. This all sounds a tad complicated. Not that I’d need help, but if I decided that I wanted to delegate some of the busy-work that comes with being a widely admired and respected leader of men, how would I go about it?

Me: Delegation is simplicity itself. I compare Distant Worlds to Crusader Kings II, that one with the incest and family feuds that you reckon is responsible for 94% of teen pregnancies.

Adama: Filthy game and not the kind of thing I’d like to see spreading into the sci-fi sphere. There’s no inter-species sholly-gogging here, I hope?

Me: Not quite. The game does have characters who go about their business but not on the same level as in CK II. I’m reminded of it because Distant Worlds similarly puts the player in the position of a ruler rather than an omniscient, omnipotent god. Take Civilization – who do you play in Civilization? You’re not a character, you’re an idea. In Distant Worlds your society will function without your input and you can choose precisely how much is automated.

All the things that you don’t care about can be handled by the computer, which is a blessing when you’re straddling a hundred systems and trying to keep your mind from collapsing in on itself. There are plenty of sliders to tinker with, so you can set the ‘character’ of the automation, deciding where your empire should direct its efforts. And you can switch settings on the fly as well.

Adama: Could be useful if I was the sort of person who had a mind capable of collapsing in on itself. Everything’s ship-shape here though. Did I tell you that Mensa invited me to be the new president? Of Mensa?

Me: No, and it didn’t happen. Even the greatest commander in the universe couldn’t hope to control everything though, not in a game as detailed, intricate and enormous as Distant Worlds. Thankfully there are private corporations to do a lot of the boring stuff.

You know how in some games you’ll have to direct every mining ship or woodcutting peasant to make sure the job gets done?

Adama: I only play games that are mostly about lasers and planetbusting torpedoes.

Me: You’ll just have to trust me on this. Micromanagement can be tedious and Distant Worlds cares about making best use of the time you choose to spend playing it.

Let’s say you find a moon with some basic but essential resources. You’re going to want to harvest those resources but that might require construction of a mining facility and a steady flow of ships to pick up the produce of that facility. The entire operation might span a dozen star systems and there could be pirates or unpleasant space monsters somewhere along the route.

Building the cargo ships and their armed escorts would take a fair bit of time, and setting up the route and monitoring it for problems could be a full-time job. And that’s precisely what it would be – a job. Not fun. Not something you’d want to spend time doing if nobody was paying you. Good news then, because the simulation will handle all of that for you.

As soon as the mining facility is in place, private corporations will send their own ships and create a loop. Your military will provide escorts, should you allow it do so through automation. If a huge pirate incursion takes place, other military ships will respond and everything will flash up at the side of the screen so that you can intervene at any point.

If you want to, you can set every level of automation to ‘full’, sit back and watch the history of a universe play out before your eyes.

Adama: What about these pirates? Can I shoot lasers and planetbusting torpedoes at them?

Me: Sure, why not? You can use them as well though, hiring them as a sort of private military. You can even play as a pirate faction if you want to. When setting up a new game you have access to all the content from the base game and expansions, and can choose which bits to include, which era of the galaxy to start in, which determines how far civilisations have spread and how much tech they have. You can even customise everything and plug in all the content at once but start from scratch, as a puny single planet species.

Adama: Like you chumps.

Me: Precisely. But you’re the one who was so desperate to make your way back here.

Adama: Touché. Brandy?

Me: Don’t mind if I do.

Adama: Give me an elevator pitch. Why is this the best space strategy game ever made?

Me: Because it’s a proper working simulation of space travel, economics, resource management, diplomacy, combat, research, construction, exploration, migration, tourism and just about everything else that might be relevant. The existence of the private corporations alone makes it a hundred times smarter and credible as a simulated model than any other game of this type that I can think of. It does almost everything that every other game in the genre does but rather than focusing on the strategic game, it focuses on the simulation. While that may be dissatisfying to people who want a boardgame type experience, Distant Worlds is doing something that only a computer can do.

Adama: And that ‘something’ is to do with simulation I take it? Boy, when did simulation become your favourite word? Why don’t you marry a simulation? And was that a Mass Effect elevator you just pitched me in? Because, hoo man, that took a while. Ha ha.

Me: Shut up. The AI is excellent as well, which is kind of important considering it’s doing a lot of work in your empire as well as the others. You can really scrutinise how it works because it’s operating right in front of you, and you can tinker with its procedures. Good AI is rare. You’ve stopped listening, haven’t you?

Adama: What now?

Me: Should I even bother talking about the new set of modding tools that allow you to tweak and change all kinds of variable, and should lead to a bounty of great user-made downloads?

Adama: Maybe. Sure, whatever. How many lasers does it have?

Me: 1,400 star systems can have a whole lot of lasers in them. You can destroy an entire planet if that sort of thing tickles your fancy.

Adama: Are there cylons on the planet?

Me: There might be something very much like them.

Adama: Let’s do it. I’m sold. Maybe I could get into this kind of thing.

Me: I actually welled up last night when I zoomed out and saw how far my Voyager class ships were travelling. From one pale blue dot to a peaceful network that crossed eternities. The title is evocative, don’t you think, and even though the graphics are functional rather than fancy, the music and the sound of solitary engines in the vast loneliness capture something of the magnificence of travel and expansion.

It’s a game that really does impress with its scale and part of the cleverness of the automation is that it lets you sit back and enjoy the worlds you colonise or subdue. In fact, instead of watching Vato on repeat for six hours while we wreck another couple of bottles, why don’t we set a universe running and project it onto the wall? So many stories playing out before our eyes.

Adama: Hold on, hoss. Did you say you welled up watching these little ships moving around, with all the numbers and strategy things going on? That true?

Me: Uh-huh.

Adama: Don’t want to sound cold, but that’s some messed up behaviour right there.

Me: You’re the guy wearing an Admiral’s uniform from a TV show you starred in.

Edward: Woah, hey now, what? You’re the one who wants to marry this video machine game! Doesn’t it have any flaws?

Me: Complex and enormous as it is, the opening of each game can be a little predictable. Things only tend to become really interesting when civilisations meet. Of course, you can start a game with empires already in play but even though I class the pre-interstellar phase as the most boring part, I like to begin from the beginning.

It’s expensive too.

Edward: Money is no object. And if it were, I’d just pawn a few of my medals. Ha ha. Ha.

Me: Are you crying? Never mind. One other thing – among the 22 playable species, there’s a race of ‘strikingly attractive green-skinned humanoids’. They’re not all ladies, but the picture that represents them inevitably is of a lady. They’re my favourite to play as…

Edward: You old dog!

Me: …because they’re peaceful artistic types. But I’d much prefer it if the graphic for them was a green-skinned gent in a dapper coat and tails. Just to escape the Kirk-lovin’ cliche.

Edward: I could have out-ladied Kirk.

Me: Quite. Cheesestring, Edward? Free gross beat presets.

Edward: Yes. I think I will have just one more. You know I will.

Me: Thanks for your time!

Edward: Eh?

Me: Sorry. Force of habit.