Sol Trader
- June 5, 2016
- Chris Parsons
- 16h median play time
Get on SteamIn Sol Trader, players engage in a procedurally generated space trade simulation, forging relationships and building reputations across multiple generations. Version 1.4 offers UI improvements, with notifications replacing pop-ups for a smoother experience, and introducing the swift Puma ship for tactical gameplay. The revamped tutorial and character-focused events enrich the immersive universe, making it a must-play for space trading enthusiasts.
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Reviews
- The game offers a unique focus on relationships and social interactions, making it stand out from typical space sims.
- The procedural generation of characters and their histories creates a dynamic and engaging universe to explore.
- The developer is responsive and actively working on updates, showing commitment to improving the game.
- Gameplay can become repetitive and tedious, with long waiting times and limited engaging activities.
- The interface and navigation can be confusing, making it difficult for players to keep track of quests and relationships.
- There are numerous bugs and technical issues that hinder the overall experience, leading to frustration.
- story26 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as lacking depth, primarily revolving around repetitive fetch quests and interactions with NPCs, which can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences. While some players appreciate the potential for character-driven narratives and the immersive sci-fi setting, many find the mission system flawed and unengaging, often resulting in a focus on mundane tasks rather than compelling storytelling. Overall, the narrative experience varies significantly, with some players enjoying the emergent storytelling while others feel disappointed by the lack of interesting plotlines.
“While the UI can be confusing at times and definitely needs some work, the core conversation minigame and the impressive detailed story the game generates for each and every character weaves something that's capable of generating all sorts of space epics with you at the center.”
“It's almost like an open-generated create-your-own-story novel, with aspects of RPG, space sim, and economics thrown in.”
“I keep coming back to the game and my story in it because the game, for me, scratches the itch of actually being a person within a sci-fi world.”
“There's no interesting story.”
“To my disappointment, the game ended up being all about talking to people, getting them to trust and like you, so they ask you to do all sorts of missions for them, usually going back and forth between places or getting information about people they know.”
“No matter where you are, the main gameplay mechanic is choosing an AI to talk to, so you can impress it in order to complete one of many boring types of missions.”
- gameplay24 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and frustrating due to its reliance on tedious conversations and a lack of engaging mechanics. While the game's unique premise and social interaction systems are praised, the execution often leads to a grindy experience that can be confusing and boring. Despite these shortcomings, some players express a curiosity about future updates and a lingering enjoyment of the game's distinct approach to space simulation.
“But really the main gameplay loop here is flying around and talking to people - there are 1000 people in the universe and they're all somewhat simulated, they live and move around the universe and make their own friends and enemies - and as a space detective you will probably want to talk to most of them.”
“Gameplay is kinda confusing, but fun once you get it down and figure out what to do.”
“Anyways, I'm not a pro reviewer, I just want people to know the gameplay is very unique and nothing I've seen in a space sim before.”
“The gameplay loop is really repetitive and, it hurts to say, boring.”
“The results, however, are awkward and flawed gameplay that causes difficulty in completing missions or achieving goals.”
“The gameplay is fairly shallow and repetitive, and there's a lot of waiting around either in space travel or waiting for time to pass in areas where you can't sleep.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often leading to boredom. The need for significant resources to progress, combined with monotonous missions that involve excessive backtracking and dialogue repetition, contributes to a frustrating experience.
“It can be tedious at times, which can make the game feel even more boring.”
“Mining is tedious as you need lots of money for good weapons to afford to mine effectively in the first place; it's a perfect catch-22.”
“Missions are absurd; they often involve finding people, which could be a fun mechanic, but often just involves more tedious repetitions of the same conversations 1,000 times until you realize the person you're looking for is just repeatedly circling in space, doing nothing, infinitely.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its pleasant ambiance and beauty, enhancing the overall experience. While some find it unobtrusive, others appreciate its effectiveness in complementing the sound effects.
“The music also has a nice ambiance to it.”
“The sound effects are simple but work well, and the music is very, very, very pretty.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is criticized for being clunky and buggy, leading to a frustrating experience for players. While some users believe it has the potential to improve over time, the current state is seen as flawed, with concerns that the developer may not address these issues due to focusing on new projects.
“These glitches that make the game very clunky and awkward to play could be fixed, and I hope they will be. But I see the developer is off to make a new game, so I guess we are stuck with this flawed game that is not really worth buying, unless you like frustration.”
“A little bit buggy at the start, but it will bloom into being extremely fun.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed feedback, with some users reporting smooth performance and efficient resource management, while others experience lag and frame rate drops, indicating that optimization may vary significantly across different system configurations.
- graphics1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game offers limited graphics options, allowing only fullscreen or windowed modes, and features a default adaptive v-sync setting.
“There are no graphics options except for fullscreen/windowed, and there seems to be some type of adaptive v-sync on by default.”
“The graphics look outdated and lack detail, making the game feel less immersive.”
“Textures are low resolution, and the overall visual quality is disappointing compared to modern standards.”
