Dyson Sphere Program Review (Yoriichi)
This is review two of three
I am writing in depth reviews for what i consider to be the three main factory/automation games, Factorio, Dyson Sphere Program, and Satisfactory. There will be TL;DR's at the bottom of each section as well as at the bottom of the review
This is an early access review. When this game is fully released I will update review
Dyson Sphere Program (DSP) is one of the most promising early access games I have ever played. It is a prime example of a game that looks at the leader in the genre (Factorio) and iterates and improves on what worked in that game, as well as creating it's own unique systems. This is something that I think Satisfactory ultimately fails at and I will illustrate why I think that in my review. DSP has a lot of potential but I worry that it may suffer from feature creep, I hope that the devs can continue to add and iterate at the pace that they have.
Performance
Dyson Sphere Program, impressively is a pretty stable game. Even in it's current early access state, I didn't start seeing frame drops until deep in the late game. This is impressive because DSP is a 3D game, with multiple layers to it unlike Factorio. Planets are fully rendered, though lacking in detail, and once you have multiple bases on different planets, you can look up into the sky and see the fruits of your labor orbiting, launching or doing whatever else, even across space. It really is something to see, when you have a dyson swarm completed and you see the thousands of pieces individually orbiting the star. There is a list of options to assist with performance, however it's not as extensive as i would like, but overall the performance is extremely satisfactory
tl;dr: for an early access game the performance is very impressive. Fully rendered planets, factories, and thousands of entities without frame drops into deep late game. The game is very visually pleasing to look at as well
Gameplay
Like in Factorio your goal in this game is to automate a factory, though the end result is completely different. In this game your end game goal is to build a fully functional Dyson Sphere, and everything you automate along the way will assist you in that goal. To do that you need to produce data packs, which allow you to unlock things in the games expansive tech tree. This game is also on a universal scale, you are given a sector of a galaxy with dozens of stars, and planets to exploit, and eventually you will have entire planets completely covered in factories, absolutely teeming with logistics, and shooting things off to distant stars, it is very satisfying to see. Where DSP differs in it's factory design is with less of an emphasis on complexion of the recipes, and more of the mass production in my opinion. Adding in the extra axis by making the game 3D is used to great effect here, and it is carefully designed with many items to assist in with the extra complexity an entire extra dimension to build in adds. DSP, like Factorio, is not scared of big numbers, and also of just giving you the tools that you need to have to streamline efficiency.
Using the inventory and building feels snappy, and satisfying. Everything is very clearly presented and even late game factories are easy to follow and see what is going where. The game also has a nice tutorial at the start that will help new players ease in.
As of right now DSP does not have any external threats to your factory, however a combat update is in the works and it looks absolutely ridiculous and I will update this review when that is implemented. DSP does have a local, and planetary logistics system though not as in depth as Factorios, definitely does feel well thought out and extremely intentional in its design all logistics are done with either belts or drones. Your late game planets will be swarming with drones, and the space in between the planets will have swarms of interplanetary drones as well. As of right now there is now logic system for computation in the game.
tl;dr: DSP's gameplay loop is extremely addictive, with very well thought out factory design mechanics that keep you moving towards your next goal or milestone. A responsive and easy to use inventory and blueprint system make for a game that flows very well from one objective to the next. Logistics in this are simple, but fun to use systems that are extremely fun to watch in action as they fly in the skies or between planets.
Early Access
I feel like one important thing that is often overlooked when reviewing early access games, especially on their full release, is how did the devs treat their community, as well as their game when it was in its early access period? I am happy to say that as of right now, while major updates have been slow, the dev team has been very communicative of their goals, and while pushing out minor updates, have continuously been working towards the large combat update. The team is open to feedback, and is quick with hotfixes when major bugs are discovered.
Overall tl;dr:
DSP is an extremely well designed and very promising early access game. The games performance is impressive on my rig with stable framerates up until the very endgame, there are many options to help performance as well. DSP has a fun and addicting gameplay loop, shallow but rewarding logistics systems, infinite scalability with the blueprint system, and a dedicated dev team that seems committed to providing not just a clone, but a competitor to Factorio.