Eclipse? Anyone here still play it?

Eclipse... is it worth getting? It seems it gets little mention around here anymore.

Plus, as an empire development game is it actually more fun than TI 3?

Only played one game of Eclipse and a handful of TI3, but for me it's TI3 all the way. It delivers the interaction, exploration (of sorts), brinksmanship, excitement that I'm looking for in a space opera. Eclipse let me mod my ships.

Ha ha, I just bought it today and spent the last 30 minutes punching the components.

I have play TI3 a lot (>20 times) and find Eclipse a better game (played ~3 times). Of course the two take different approaches with TI3 going for an epic experience and Eclipse for a shorter playtime. As a result, Eclipse is much more dynamic, but it also manages to bring the best of an X4 game to the table, largely because it cuts out the more tedious aspects, for example resource management is done in a clever way that is simpler but still tactical (yes by pushing cubes around). Apart from capturing the essence of larger X4 games though, Eclipse also has several unique aspects, in particular the ship design and upgrade system, which is very cool.

We will play it tomorrow; looking forward to it.

I gave it away (that's right for free) a long time ago. I thought it had a lot of surface shine, the economic tracking was cool, but in the long run the games tended to follow the same boring pattern.

It is nothing like TI3 except for the theme of a space empire. Don't bother to compare them despite what every jack ass and his brother says or discusses over on TOS.

If you want a game superior to Eclipse that is about Civ/Empire building get Clash of Cultures. It is superior to Eclipse in every possible way.

I never got it in much the same way I resisted the Dominion and Agricola craze (don't have, nor have I played either) and yet I love space stuff. Something kept warning me off...so this is a debate I'm interested in.

Never got T3 either because I just don't get together with enough people regularly to make that an option. I like the idea of Eclipse but keep thinking the game I'd likely get instead is Space Empires 4X

If Twilight is too heavy for you or you are just looking for a shorter sort of 4x game I think Eclipse is awesome. They are very different games but I think that Eclipse is an excellent design despite a bit of a popularity backlash it's felt the last few months.

I also have the expansion which is excellent.

The other suggestions are good too, but for me as a space theme Eclipse scratches the itch profoundly.

Clash of Cultures and Eclipse are probably closer than TI and Eclipse.

I think Eclipse is a good game, it is very polished, i don't think it is an excelent game, and it certainly is more economic civ game than dudes on a map or diplomacy.

Its a little front loaded, as vps are drawn out of a bag and the higher value point tokens are usually claimed by the late game. This means most of the game strategy is often in the multiplayer solitaire early game. Late game can turn into a big fight, but i tend to find it has little impact on the game outcome.

Im not sold on the ship customization so much. It is cool, but in effect it just makes it harder to work out whether making an attack is a good idea because the odds are far more obscure. Thematically its even more generic and lacking character than TI.

I've only played Clash once, and it might win me over as being better than Eclipse. I like eclipse, but it gets a little samey.

TI2 all the way.

repoman wrote: I thought it had a lot of surface shine, the economic tracking was cool, but in the long run the games tended to follow the same boring pattern.

This is it right here. Very nice components and systems make it quite alluring in the beginning, but the game just doesn't hold up. It never seems to get to the "fun" part.

I've written about it a lot here but the short is basically fuck Eclipse. It has some cool ideas but is ultimately a boring Euro with none of the magic that really makes a 4X shine. Modding the ships is cool, and the economic system is interesting, but it's just not any fun.

MattLoter wrote: I've written about it a lot here but the short is basically fuck Eclipse. It has some cool ideas but is ultimately a boring Euro with none of the magic that really makes a 4X shine. Modding the ships is cool, and the economic system is interesting, but it's just not any fun.

I know the feeling. Same thing happened to me when I played Summoner Wars. It seemed to have all the right stuff but it wasn't any fun. Don't need another one of those.

Nobody's mentioned it yet...try the IOS app. It more or less ended the board game for me. All the great stuff in a smaller, faster package. Excellent design...but I'll take a 30-45 minute version of the game over a three hour one.

I still like it and play it. Its a fine resource management euro with a scifi theme. I really like the expansion stuff too.

If Eclipse is a resource management euro, then so is TI3.

People who think TI3 is an epic galactic conquest game are basically fooling themselves. Particularly without the expansion, victory is awarded to the player who sticks by the system the most, not "the one who dominates the galaxy". But superficially you never get that feeling from TI3, as you are buried in miniatures, cards, complex rules and other chrome. Unless you play the game often enough. People look at TI3 and think it's the game they always dreamed of as a kid, when in fact under the surface it falls short of this illusion and also borrows more rules from eurogames than Eclipse is accused for. Eclipse doesn't even attempt to bury the players in layers of chrome and that is probably what most of the criticism is directed at.

There is valid criticism of Eclipse. But that it doesn't compare to or is inferior to TI3 isn't one of them and people who think so imagine TI3 to be a game that it isn't. Yet Eclipse manages to distill the parts TI3 gets right into a shorter playtime. In other aspects it is better, for example flotilla building and space combat; in that regard TI3 is merely an Axis&Allies clone.

I'd say skip it. I bought it and played it once or twice and never again. It just takes too long. The app is probably a great choice.