Starbase Orion

This game is nostalgic for me, as i played Orion: Battle of Antares (i think that’s what it was called) often when i was a child. It’s very enjoyable to spread your civilization across the stars and improve it gradually, but i always end up fairly disappointed by the lack of challenge. For clarity, i only play the single player. The AI is very unaggressive. In fact, the word might be passive. They don’t colonize much, they never seem to terraform (leaving them at a massive disadvantage mid-late game) and their military forces are almost always outclassed by the most casual effort. They seem terrified of space monsters, allowing the high value planets that are feebly protected by said monsters to always be ripe for the picking by the player. I only play at the hardest difficulty with the AI bonuses on, and still it presents no challenge. I’ve played countless campaigns and only been attacked a handful of times, which were easily repulsed. Victory is inevitable, and completely effortless. I love terraforming worlds until my many colonies are all Gaia class industrial powerhouses, but there isn’t much satisfaction winning every time against completely inept opponents. As a call to the developers, is there any way you guys could make this more challenging? Thanks for the good work, it’s a great game in all other ways. Thanks, Wilson.

Still an incredible empire building/space strategy game! Easy to get started in the game with helpful tutorials, but plenty of advanced options and depth for advanced players and replay-ability. I’ve played this game almost since release, and I’m still a fan. AI needs update: it gets limited later in the game, especially in areas like like time management, resource acquisition, and diplomacy. I.e., sending a ton of single vessels spaced over several turns, against a large fleet: not smart. Regardless of race, spends all their money on ships, rather than investing in infrastructure to build wealth. Won’t surrender when overwhelmed. Update the AI, and this game would be very refreshed.

Review update for 1.2.9: The developer listened to user requests to make some final tweaks to the game, allowing this wonderful game to continue to be fun & viable, rather than forcing everyone to wait until the eventual release of the sequel. The game is still worth the full asking price. Unlike so many other games, there are no in-app purchases here! ---- The community of this game is excellent and very mature. The forums are full of very helpful people. Even if you are only interested in playing single player, I encourage you to check out the forums or the multiplayer "spacebar" chat room for any questions you may have. If you want to be involved in improving the game, you can even join the beta testing group-a fun experience in which you can see your suggestions implemented very quickly while interacting with the developer.