Info about NEBULOUS: Fleet Command:

Official game description:
Take command of a fleet of space warships tailored to your exact play-style. Favor a small task group of robust, flexible multi-role combatants, a large group of specialized ships, or something in between. Do battle in a heavily simulation-based tactical game featuring everything from kinetics and beam weapons to realistic radar and electronic warfare. Nebulous seamlessly blends the thoughtfulness of pre-mission planning, tension of battle decision-making, pressure of real-time action, and pain of inevitable sacrifice into an intense tactical space game that will keep you reflecting on every decision (and mistake) for hours after each battle.
Skip the economy management: you're here to dominate in battle. Drop into the battlespace with your full fleet and engage the enemy in a tense back and forth where a single mistimed advance, poorly executed withdrawal, or missed shot can turn the tide of battle. Deep, methodical combat based on thrusts, withdrawals, and counter-thrusts keeps the tension ratcheted up without numbing you with a screen constantly full of explosions. With no reinforcements coming, every hit hurts and every loss counts - victory favors thoughtful planning and precise execution.
It's in your hands, Commodore.
Take unparalleled control of every unit right down to their individual mounts. Keep your entire fleet together, dynamically split off task units, or give each ship its own assignment. Large maps with lots of cover and radar occlusion make methodical positioning and sight lines critical. Massing firepower in one place is not always the best solution, as the enemy could come from any direction in the fully 3-dimensional battlespace. Covering your retreat is always in order.
Group your weapons and task them to different targets or focus fire with everything you have. Selecting the appropriate weapon to engage a target is as impactful as deciding which targets to engage at all. Weapons have compounding benefits and drawbacks, all of which can be compensated for and planned against.
Intelligence is key to victory and your situational awareness is never a given. Asteroids and gas clouds can hide ships behind their radar shadows, preventing enemy sensors from detecting their presence, and ensuring enemy illuminators and fire-control radars are unable to mark targets for missile systems.
When out in the open, electronic countermeasures take the lead as they attempt to jam, scramble, or otherwise mitigate enemy sensors on board their ships and missile systems alike. Multiple ships moving in close proximity produce a larger signal, making them more easily spotted by enemy sensors, and ships can opt to run cool, turning a variety of systems inactive in order to more easily hide from detection at the cost of some functionality.
Occlusion, passive signal detection, balancing radar signature size, and the ability to deceive the enemy makes the fight for intel a critical part of every battle.
Fleet design allows you to choose between multiple classes, configuring everything from their munitions storage, power supply unit, and electronic warfare capabilities to their damage control systems, point-defense capabilities, and armaments - right down to the types of missiles each bay carries.
A point cost system keeps fleets balanced as you design battleships, cruisers, frigates, corvettes and more, arriving at the battlespace with little idea as to what your opponent might be fielding. Scouting enemy fleet composition and adapting to their designs will be essential to securing victory, and at times you may spend half the battle (or more) trying to accurately determine your adversary's capabilities so that you can strike with precision and force. Express your tactical identity through the design of your fleet, and each individual ship within.
Each system and subsystem aboard your ships perform specific tasks and are tracked and simulated individually. Their position on your ship can determine optimal facing when unleashing a salvo, or the risk factor when enemy systems open fire. Vital systems should be protected with the help of point-defense systems and defensive maneuvering that presents auxiliary systems towards incoming fire while keeping essential systems hidden behind the armor plating and hull.
Damage is modeled for individual components, determining which ship systems remain active under enemy fire, and damage control teams work rapidly to repair what they can as they move from compartment to compartment. Retreating from active combat to repair damaged components before re-engaging is not only a viable strategy, but at times, an essential maneuver, and in a worst case scenario, a ship with a breach in its reactor can be quite a potent weapon in its own way.
Nebulous has extensive modding support, with hundreds of player-made mods available on Steam Workshop including new maps, ships, weapons, and more.

Release date: Feb 11, 2022

Categories: Tactical, Real-time Combat, Ship Combat, Unit Customization, Strategy, Multiplayer, Mod Support, Custom Asset Support


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $15.00 - $20.00
  - Reasoning: The evidence consistently suggests that the game is not worth its current full price of $30. Multiple reviews recommend purchasing the game only when it is on sale, indicating that the community perceives the fair price to be lower than the current base price. The general sentiment is that the game has potential but is not worth the full price in its current state.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 100.0h
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: 1.0h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The evidence provides direct and indirect indications of playtime metrics. The quote 'Matches generally take 30-60 mins' suggests a typical session length. 'I've got over 30 hours in it just playing skirmishes against the AI' and 'I've now passed 100 hours' provide insights into the time players spend on the game, which can be indicative of both story completion and game completion times. The quote 'I have almost 4000 hours on Space Engineers' is excluded as it refers to a different game.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game has a steep learning curve that hinders early enjoyment, but it becomes fun after players invest time in learning the mechanics and strategies, particularly when playing with friends or against AI.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: Learning game mechanics and strategies
  - Time to anchor: 5h 0m
  - Friction: Steep learning curve; Unhelpful tutorials; Dominance of experienced players in multiplayer; Complexity of the game
  - Unlock drivers: Playing with friends; Playing against AI; Investing time in learning the game
  - Conditions: Co-op play; Playing against AI; Modding; Custom rule-regulated matches with friends
- Player Archetypes:
  - Cooperative AI Challenger (sale)
    - Motivation: Enjoys the strategic depth and cooperative play against AI.
    - Playstyle: Plays against AI and in cooperative settings with friends, avoiding the competitive multiplayer scene.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: casual player; co-op enthusiast
    - Reference games: Homeworld
  - Strategic Depth Devotee (buy)
    - Motivation: Enjoys the strategic depth and potential future content.
    - Playstyle: Plays extensively, focusing on skirmishes and potential future multiplayer content.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: strategy fan; tactical gamer
    - Reference games: Homeworld; Master of Orion
  - Community-Supported Newcomer (deep sale)
    - Motivation: Seeks community support and mentorship to learn the game.
    - Playstyle: Relies on community guidance and support to navigate the game's complexity.
    - Experience: newcomer
    - Purchase stance: deep sale
    - Labels: new player; community-supported
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Competitive Meta Optimizer (no buy)
    - Motivation: Enjoys the competitive multiplayer scene and optimizing fleets to the current meta.
    - Playstyle: Focuses on competitive multiplayer, often using meta builds and strategies.
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: competitive player; meta optimizer
    - Reference games: N/A


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Tactical space combat excellence (weight 0.33): The game is praised for its brilliant and tactical space combat, offering a unique and deep gameplay experience in three dimensions. It captures the essence of space naval combat with strategic and intense fleet maneuvers.
- Deep and complex mechanics (weight 0.28): The game features uniquely deep and complex mechanics, offering intricate details and extensive strategies. This complexity is rewarding and engaging for players.
- In-depth fleet customization (weight 0.28): Players appreciate the detailed and intuitive fleet builder, allowing them to customize and build their fleets exactly as they imagine.
- Helpful and competent tutorials (weight 0.28): The tutorials are noted for being neat, competent, and helpful, effectively teaching the basics and assisting players in getting started.
- Engaging and realistic combat (weight 0.28): Combat in the game is described as engaging, visually appealing, and realistic, with good battle dynamics and a collaborative feel.
- High-quality and enjoyable game (weight 0.27): Players consistently describe the game as amazing, fun, and high-quality. It is noted for being complex and engaging, keeping players thinking and entertained.
- Realistic electronic warfare (weight 0.17): The game includes a strong emphasis on electronic warfare, with realistic and detailed mechanics that add depth to the gameplay.
- Supportive and helpful community (weight 0.16): The game's community, particularly on Discord, is noted for being helpful and supportive, with veterans willing to assist new players.
- Detailed damage mechanics (weight 0.14): The game features a detailed and tactical damage modeling system, with realistic ship damage that affects various components.
- Variety in ship types and tactics (weight 0.14): The game offers a variety of ship types, designs, and tactics, along with unique ship abilities and weapons, providing diverse gameplay options.
- Active and dedicated developers (weight 0.1): The developers are praised for being very active and dedicated, with regular updates and active development.

Common complaints:
- Steep learning curve (weight 0.3): The game has a high learning curve and is difficult to learn, requiring significant time investment. This creates a high barrier of entry and a noticeable skill gap among players.
- No campaign mode (weight 0.22): The game lacks a single-player campaign mode, which is a significant drawback for players looking for a single-player experience. Currently, there are only skirmishes available.
- Toxic player community (weight 0.22): The community is known for being toxic and hostile, especially towards new players. This includes elitist behavior and general toxicity in community interactions.
- Low player count (weight 0.18): The game suffers from a low active player count, leading to poor matchmaking experiences and long wait times for matches.
- Subpar tutorials (weight 0.18): The tutorials are criticized for being uninteresting, hard to understand, and generally ineffective in teaching players how to play the game.
- Multiplayer focus (weight 0.14): The game is heavily focused on multiplayer, particularly PvP, which can be a drawback for players interested in single-player content. The multiplayer community is relatively small.
- Shallow single-player content (weight 0.11): The single-player content is described as shallow and lacking in substance. There is a notable absence of meaningful single-player missions or campaigns.
- Cancelled conquest mode (weight 0.11): The much-anticipated Conquest campaign mode has been scrapped, which has disappointed many players looking forward to this feature.
- Difficult ship controls (weight 0.09): Players find it difficult to control their ships, with issues related to maneuverability and targeting. This adds to the overall complexity and frustration.
- Balancing issues (weight 0.09): The game has significant balancing issues that need to be addressed. These issues affect the overall gameplay experience.
- Limited customization and content (weight 0.09): The game offers limited ship types and customization options, as well as a limited number of maps and fleet sizes, which can restrict player creativity and variety in gameplay.

Gameplay feedback:
- Tactical space combat focus (weight 0.85): The game emphasizes tactical space combat, featuring elements like missile combat, radar mechanics, and electronic warfare. Players engage in realistic, naval warfare-style battles in a 3D environment, requiring strategic decision-making and teamwork.
- Fleet and ship customization (weight 0.57): Players can design and customize their fleets and ships, with a variety of options for ship components, weapons, and modularity. This includes a fleet editor and ship-building mechanics.
- Complex and challenging gameplay (weight 0.21): The game is noted for its complexity and high skill ceiling, offering detailed and challenging mechanics. This includes a steep learning curve and a focus on strategic depth.
- Multiplayer and PvP focus (weight 0.2): The game is primarily focused on multiplayer and PvP gameplay, with competitive multiplayer modes and skirmishes against both bots and other players.
- Variety in gameplay (weight 0.12): The game offers a variety of play styles, maps, weapons, tactics, and strategies, providing diverse tactical options and builds.
- Modding community support (weight 0.11): The game supports modding, allowing players to create and share mods, including modded campaigns and custom ships.
- Conquest mode and updates (weight 0.09): The game includes a Conquest mode and campaign, with future updates planned to expand this mode.
- Missile design and modification (weight 0.09): The game features an advanced missile design system, allowing players to create and modify missiles.
- Realistic damage and simulation (weight 0.09): The game includes a realistic damage system that affects specific ship parts, with detailed simulation elements for individual ship components.

Performance notes:
- Performance issues in battles (weight 0.11): The game suffers from performance issues, particularly in large battles and scenarios with high missile counts, causing framerate drops and stuttering.
- Network and server issues (weight 0.06): Players have reported significant problems with the game's netcode and server performance, leading to a poor online experience.
- Loading and freezing issues (weight 0.06): The game has been reported to have loading issues and periodic freezes, which disrupt the gameplay experience.
- Optimization and graphics problems (weight 0.06): There are ongoing issues with game optimization and graphics bottlenecks, affecting the overall performance.
- No reconnect feature (weight 0.04): Players are frustrated by the lack of a reconnect feature, which forces them to restart the game if they get disconnected.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for tactical fans (weight 0.12): The game is highly recommended for those who enjoy complex tactical games and realistic space battles.
- Buy on sale only (weight 0.11): Many players suggest purchasing the game only when it is on sale due to its niche appeal and dominance by experienced players.
- Complete the tutorial first (weight 0.08): Players recommend starting with the tutorials to understand the game mechanics and strategies better.
- Avoid if uncomfortable with Early Access (weight 0.08): Players advise against buying the game if you are not comfortable with Early Access issues and suggest waiting for improvements.
- Single-player campaign awaited (weight 0.07): Players are waiting for the release of the single-player campaign and its assets.
- Better with friends (weight 0.06): Playing with friends enhances the gaming experience significantly.
- Recommended for niche fans (weight 0.06): The game is recommended for those interested in its specific niche and naval warfare enthusiasts.
- Enough content despite Early Access (weight 0.06): Despite being a work-in-progress, there is enough content to justify playing the game.
- Try it out (weight 0.05): Players encourage others to try the game out, especially if they are on the fence about purchasing it.
- Join Discord for tips (weight 0.03): Joining the Discord community is recommended for getting detailed breakdowns of game systems and strategies.
- Learn shipbuilding basics first (weight 0.03): Players suggest learning general shipbuilding before attempting to make a fleet.
- Watch gameplay videos first (weight 0.03): It is recommended to watch gameplay videos before buying to get a better understanding of the game.

Other player notes:
- Solo developer project (weight 0.03): This game was developed by a single developer in their spare time, highlighting the effort and dedication involved.
- Early Access game (weight 0.03): The game is currently in Early Access, which means it is still in development and may receive updates and improvements.
- Translation data available (weight 0.03): The game provides a link to the translation data, which can be useful for players who want to contribute or modify translations.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.23): Players are frustrated with the game's steep learning curve, complex mechanics, and toxic community behavior. Issues such as poor tutorials, unbalanced missile systems, and the necessity of multiplayer contribute to this frustration. Additionally, long wait times for matches, lack of single-player content, and persistent bugs exacerbate the problem.
- Disappointment (weight 0.2): Disappointment stems from the lack of single-player content and the cancellation of promised game modes. Players also express dissatisfaction with the game's development, unbalanced multiplayer, and the hostile community. The game's slow pace, lack of improvements, and unfulfilled expectations contribute to this sentiment.
- Excitement (weight 0.15): Players are excited about the game's unique and complex gameplay mechanics, customization options, and upcoming updates. The anticipation of new campaigns, the depth of gameplay, and the ability to mod the game add to this excitement. Engaging combat and the potential for future content also contribute to this emotion.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.08): Satisfaction comes from the game's depth, realism, and rewarding gameplay. Players enjoy the tactical combat, customization options, and the feeling of commanding a space fleet. The continuous improvements by the development team and the game's complexity also contribute to this sense of satisfaction.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.06): Enjoyment is derived from the game's fun and engaging gameplay, fleet building, and space combat. Players appreciate the depth and realism of the game, as well as the supportive and helpful community. The complexity and uniqueness of the game also add to the enjoyment.
- Joy (weight 0.03): Joy comes from the fun and engaging gameplay, as well as the creative and mod-friendly aspects of the game. Players enjoy the tactical space combat and the variety of options available. The supportive and loving community also contributes to this sense of joy.
- Hope (weight 0.03): Hope is centered around the anticipation of future updates, including a successful single-player campaign and co-op campaign. Players also hope for improvements in game depth, language support, and career advancement. The potential for future updates and improvements keeps players hopeful.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.02): Enthusiasm is driven by the enjoyment of complex and challenging games, as well as the positive experiences with the game and community. Players are enthusiastic about the fleet editor, theorycrafting, and the teamwork aspects of the game. The space setting and positive community interactions also contribute to this enthusiasm.
- Excited (weight 0.02): Players are excited about the niche aspects of the game, such as the power of small ships with mixed missiles and the complexity of battles. The fun and helpful fanbase, as well as major updates, add to this excitement. The anticipation of seeing how the game evolves also contributes to this emotion.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is caused by toxic community behavior, game issues, and feeling ripped off. High barriers to entry and negative experiences with the community contribute to this anger. Players are frustrated with the community's behavior and the game's issues.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Appreciation comes from the game being made by actual navy people and the realistic elements in ship-to-ship combat. Players appreciate the quality of space combat and the presence of carriers. The game's development by a single person in their spare time also adds to this appreciation.
- Engagement (weight 0.01): Engagement is driven by the game's sci-fi space combat and the strategy involved in modern naval battles. Players enjoy learning about modern naval battles and the unique aspects of the game. The complexity of the game also keeps players engaged.
- Love (weight 0.01): Love for the game is driven by its realism and Newtonian physics, as well as the enjoyment of ship building and fighting. Players love the game despite its complexity and enjoy playing alliance. The unique aspects of the game contribute to this love.
- Hopeful (weight 0.01): Hopeful players are looking forward to a campaign and believe in the game's great potential. They hope that balance issues will be fixed and are eager for future improvements. This hope is centered around the anticipation of new content and updates.
- Overwhelmed (weight 0.01): Players feel overwhelmed by the game's systems-heavy mechanics and initial complexity. The steep learning curve and the complexity of the game at the start contribute to this feeling of being overwhelmed.
- Engaged (weight 0.01): Players are engaged with the game's unique aspects and complexity. Learning about modern naval battles and the game's intricate mechanics keeps players engaged. The strategy involved in space combat also contributes to this engagement.
- Recommendation (weight 0.01): Players highly recommend the game and suggest playing it with friends. The enjoyable aspects of the game, such as fleet building and space combat, make it worth recommending. The supportive community and fun gameplay also contribute to this recommendation.}