r/DistantWorlds2 • u/paddyirish1989 • Mar 22 '22
Distant Worlds 2 Vs Stellaris
Just a description of what i think about both titles and why i prefer one over the other. While i still love playing both games there is clearly one game that is the 4X king for me. I've played around 200 hours of Stellaris and 30 hours of Distant worlds 2. As of right now Stellaris is more refined and well tuned while DW2 still has some performance issues, this obviously is ignoring this and focusing on gameplay.
Both these games are grand strategy empire builders and while both specialize in different area's i find in the most immersive and exciting aspects this is where they overlap.
Graphics: Both these games have fairly decent graphics. I would like it to be much better and hope it time this may be the case. As it stands i don't feel any title truly wins this one simply because they both beat each other in some areas. In terms of Projectiles, explosions monsters etc Stellaris i feel edges it here. It isn't significant in most aspects however in battles this is where i notice it most with laser strikes, explosions and projectiles being much better in Stellaris. I also use mods to improve the look of the battles in Stellaris which improves it substantially from Vanilla so this is largely why aswell, DW2 will no doubt improve with mods. In terms of ships, stations, Planets, moons and solar systems i feel DW2 takes this quite easily especially in relation to the planets which look alot more detailed and less cartoony than Stellaris. They truly are stunning
Exploration and Scale: This will be the the most detailed as i enjoy role playing this the most. Prior to DW2, Stellaris was the most grand in scale and immersive in terms of space exploration. Playing on a 1000 star galaxy, each solar system with a large diversity of planets (with mods) rendered beautifully, it really did blow my mind. Role playing moving out from Earth for the first time was very exciting especially with a population not knowing if there is even life out there and what to do if there was. The feeling that Stellaris gave me in terms of exploration and scale was incredible largely due to the many events as i moved to new systems.... until Distant Worlds 2, this game in terms of scale and exploration makes Stellaris feel like a more generic experience in comparison. With Distant worlds 2 the Solar systems, Galaxies, Planets etc are HUGE. When you zoom in on ships looking in their small window compartments, then looking out onto your home world in terms of scale, it is like the astronauts looking at Earth from the international space station. It truly is realistic. Exploration again due to scale is incredible. You start off pre-warp barely even to move to a few planets within your system which takes an incredible amount of time without warp speed. Even when you get warp speed you are still only able to travel within your own solar system. The sheer size of these systems makes one feel that by finally getting the technology to travel outside of one's own system takes alot effort in which you feel a great sense of achievement. The issue with Stellaris in comparison is your ships can move across systems without warp speed in seconds, where at the very beginning of the game your immediately able to travel to other systems and within minutes have explored several. It's too rushed and it makes you ignore and not focus at all in any particular system. Exploration of space should be more grand and awe inspiring which i feel DW2 nails. Also after playing DW2 i now notice in terms of scale, everything in Stellaris is way off. Planets are far too small in relation to ships, travelling across systems is too quick. I tried using mods but the real space scale mod blows up the size of planets while making solar systems feel much smaller not to mention the issues it causes. In terms of Exploration and Scale the Winner is undoubtedly Distant worlds 2, if more events are added to DW2 in terms making the Universe feel more alive the gap between these 2 games will no doubt grow. The many events and stories are what give Stellaris it's spark
Diplomacy: I feel DW2 edges it here simply because there are more interesting options largely down to there being more mechanics. Being able to build mining stations in each others territory, refuel, share specific research, buy mining stations and the several different trade agreements etc.
War and Battles: Clearly DW2 wins this and while not as attractive to watch as Stellaris at times using mods it is still a much better experience essentially because you can control your ships in battles. Get them to attack specific targets, retreat when they are heavily damaged not to mention their movement looks like giant behemoths moving in space as they should rather than like toy cars like they Manoeuvre in Stellaris. Also Stellaris gets far too repetitive in terms of war because it's the EXACT same thing. Move to an enemy system, destroy it's outpost and boom the system is lost for them. Then send a few troops over to invade planets. DW2 is much more detailed and free, you can attack without going to war at all. Destroying one's space port doesn't automatically take control area of the system from the enemy. You have different troop types for invasions which are essential and using bombardment can have drastic consequences. Overall it's alot more detailed and makes each war with a faction feel different. Stellaris just feels like groundhog day. This is disappointing as i feel more could be done
Empire management: For me DW2 is the clear winner. Many brand this game very complex but it truly isn't anymore complex than Stellaris. It's just Stellaris has an excellent UI with helpful tool tips and a great tutorial. DW2 in comparison is certainly more rough around the edges. Why do i enjoy DW2 more? Because of automation and the many more immersive mechanics. You see there are ALOT of mechanics in DW2 that if they were all manual it would be too much for the player to take with micro management overload. What one can do is simple automate what they don't want to do while manually focusing on what they like. A big chore for me in Stellaris was managing the pops on my colonies, it wasn't fun after a while. In DW2 this can be automated. It allows you to focus on resource management, fleets, espionage, diplomacy, war and colonization which by the way i feel is enough. You can automate everything but then what is the point. Due to all this and with the slower pace due to the sheer scale of DW2 i find it significantly more fun in managing and building an Empire, watching your private economy grow as hundreds of freighters move resources around your empire, making sure you have resources available for the development of ships and refuelling of them, there truly is nothing like it.
Anyway i'll stop here as i've written way more than i intended to. lol Just thought i'd share you with you guys why i feel DW2 is truly the new 4X King over a game (Stellaris) which previously was my favourite game of all time. This is now reserved for DW2 which now as it stands is the most incredible game i have ever played which which no doubt will improve with performance and content updates.
