Anyone playing Sins of a Solar Empire yet?

[XT]

I'm currently downloading it off Stardocks site but was wondering if anyone has started playing it yet and what your thoughts are so far? I hope to have it down and loaded later this evening.

-XT

[DigitalC]

I'm currently downloading it off Stardocks site but was wondering if anyone has started playing it yet and what your thoughts are so far? I hope to have it down and loaded later this evening.

-XT

I have never heard of this but i gotta give it props for the cool name. I think i'll check it out.

[Martian Bigfoot]

Does it have sound in space? If it does, I'm not playing it.

[XT]

Here is a Gamespy link (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/sins-of-a-solar-empire/847593p1.html) if you are interested (it's a preview...the game only came out today).

I've downloaded the game and the first thing I notice is...no manual. And the first tutorial doesn't seem to work (though the other 4 do). The game is pretty cool graphically but there is a lot going on here that I'm missing. First game I over built on my primary planet and didn't go out to capture additional planets so that limited the amount of research I could do (it is dependent on orbital research facilities...which take up logistics slots).

Anyway, doesn't seem anyone else is playing so I'll let the thread die unless someone is interested later.

-XT

[Martin Hyde]

I'm interested in the game but haven't played it yet.

[XT]

Well, I'll update this then as I figure stuff out. Right atm I'm simply the punch bunny for the other races as I attempt to figure out how to play this game. :)

-XT

[Talon Karrde]

It sounds interesting. I like the stuff they say about it being slower-paced and more conservative with unit production. I always like building up my base better than cranking out units and attacking.

I think I'll wait for the reviews.

[XT]

Yeah, I have to agree that it's a slower pace than you would expect for a real time game. No 'tank rush' that I've seen so far...of course I'm playing it on the easiest setting.

The pirate raids are certainly annoying thus far. I think one of the other empires is buying them off and sending them at me.

-XT

[Kinthalis]

I downloaded the game last night (the box should arrive tomorrow sometime) but I only got about an hour or so play time before responsabilities beckoned.

Of what little I did see, I really liked 99% of. I'm running a core duo 2.8 ghz and a Geforce 8800 GTX. The game runs smooth as silk at 1680x1050. The graphics are about what I expected for an RTS that needs to render dozens or even hundreds of ships at once. Nicely detailed but not jaw dropping, and some fo the planetary textures could be a little higher rez, but overall look very nice.

I tried out all the tutorials; they were all pretty short and sweet and gave me all the info I needed to get started at least. I did run into the tutorial bug, though I got around it by quitting and restarting the first tutorial a few times. They all worked after that.

I only got to play about 15 minutes or so against an easy AI in a small map. My impressions:

The pace of the game is slower than most other RTS I've played. This is good IMHO, and there are options you can tweak to make the game more fast paced if that's what you want.

I love how the logistics of fleet control and the higher durability of units play out. In other RTS's you send out a small army to the enemy base and hope for the best, either way it's all over in a few seconds. In SoASE the durability of units, and the time required to warp to a different planet means strategy is key. Where do you attack from? Where do you station your reinforcements? And when do you send them in to help considering the ETA? It was really cool getting a taunt form the AI essentially telling me to kiss my planet goobye as a large fleet deployed nearby. My small defenses battled for their lives! It was so much fun when my reinforcements started popping in from hyperspace to save the day!

Space pirates where a cool addition too. You can place bounties on other players to entice pirates to attack their worlds. The AI did this to me before I figured out how it worked :)

So i'm impressed right now, but then again I've only played for about an hour, I'll see how the rest of my game plays out tonight.

[Kinthalis]

Yeah, I have to agree that it's a slower pace than you would expect for a real time game. No 'tank rush' that I've seen so far...of course I'm playing it on the easiest setting.

The pirate raids are certainly annoying thus far. I think one of the other empires is buying them off and sending them at me.

-XT


I liked the pirate raid idea, but I haven't played thatmuch yet. I can see it getting annoying if it happens too frequently. I heard you can eliminate the pirate base on the map. Does this affect pirate bounties for the rest of the game?

[XT]

I haven't figured out how to set bounties on other races yet...they have done that to me so I have periodic pirate raids on my home worlds. The AI seems fairly intelligent so far to, even at the easy setting. Fixed defenses with a mobile force is what I've been using to cover the frontier worlds but you really have to watch yourself as you only have so much logistics and the drain on your economy as your fleet gets larger is really a major factor.

I finally figured out why my capital ships were always getting their asses kicked. I didn't realize you could upgrade the ships and crew on the individual ships. Once I did that things got a little easier. It was fun to build up a powerful fleet and raid the other guys for a change! I ended up netting a world out of it (though a combination pirate raid and a major push by one of the alien races wiped it out later on...it's currently contested as some of my own mobile fleet survived that hammer and no one can colonize it without having the planet shredded again).

My impressions so far are along the same lines as you...it runs good and looks good. There are a lot of interesting twists on the usual RTS formula in this game. It will be interesting once I figure how to do some of the things I'm glossing over atm (bounties and the diplomacy screen). It's cool that you need to take more planets to continue to research (you need orbital weapons and civilian labs to research technologies and there are only so many logistics slots in any give planets gravity well).

-XT

[XT]

I liked the pirate raid idea, but I haven't played thatmuch yet. I can see it getting annoying if it happens too frequently. I heard you can eliminate the pirate base on the map. Does this affect pirate bounties for the rest of the game?

I haven't seen the pirate base yet...if it's out there it's in one of the unexplored systems. I sent out scout ships early but I guess the other races are in default 'shoot first and ask questions later' mode because every one of them got wacked.

-XT

[dbuzman]

For setting bounties, if its like the beta, there is a diplomacy button at the top next to the research button. Next to the other player/s name on the right side of the screen is the bounty button. Just click it to add money. Once you click it you can't change your mind and take it back.

[XT]

Ok...I saw that last night. I was wondering what that did. :smack: I'll have to try that tonight. This game could be seriously addictive I'm thinking.

-XT

[Illuminatiprimus]

I'm potentially interested in this game and what I'm hearing in this thread is good stuff so far. However I'm a stickler for not buying games until I've read at least one review, so until then...

[XT]

I checked earlier...neither GameSpy nor IGN has an 'out of the box' review yet. Give it a couple of days. Based on the last preview from both I'd say the review is going to be pretty good. Not a lot changed from January 30th until yesterday I'm thinking.

As of this afternoon it wasn't on the shelves in the Best Buy up the road from my work...MMV though in your own area. By the time reviews start coming out and folks have a chance to decide I'm betting it will be on the shelves everywhere. If not you can directly download it from Stardock (I can give a link if anyone needs it). That's where I get all of the Galactic Civ games from directly.

-XT

[Kinthalis]

there is at least one: http://www.gamedaily.com/games/sins-of-a-solar-empire/pc/game-reviews/review/5553/1948/

More should come out within the next few days. The game just shipped out monday, so most people are only getting it today. I can't wait to get home and play!

[carnivorousplant]

Sounds like Anacreon. I really liked that game.

[XT]

I can't wait to get home and play!

lol...my thoughts exactly! I am SO not into building out this firewall...I want to head home and wack some aliens. :) When I finally figured out how to build up a fleet and sent it on that raid...well, it was a thing of beauty. I'm all over doing that again and maybe finding out of those pesky pirates ARE out there somewhere...and getting some payback!

-XT

[Kinthalis]

If there's enough interest maybe we can get an SDMB match going sometime this week! Anyone interested?

[Illuminatiprimus]

This game features jump lines between systems? I'm already dubious as that's a feature I hate in games. Still, a positive review none the less - I'll wait for more (and specifically from my trusty gamespy/ign/gamespot triumvirate)

[XT]

This game features jump lines between systems?

Yeah, the planets in a system are connected by jump lines. Later on you can get a long range jump technology but essentially you have to follow the jump paths between systems. I don't see that as a problem myself, but if you don't like them then you should seriously consider not getting this game as it's pretty central to the strategy of this game.

If there's enough interest maybe we can get an SDMB match going sometime this week! Anyone interested?

Once I figure out how to play I'd be up for a trial of the network version of this thing. I'm guessing it would be a LONG game though. I wonder how it works in real time...


-XT

[carnivorousplant]

If there's enough interest maybe we can get an SDMB match going sometime this week! Anyone interested?

I'd have to be stupid to get into another Doper game. I always get creamed.

Still, this looks pretty cool...



Okay, I'm in.
Gotta find the damn game first...

[carnivorousplant]

Gotta find the damn game first...
I'm only running single core a 1.5 GHz here. What are ya'll running it on?

[XT]

Pentium D 3.0 Ghz with 2 gig of RAM here. Runs just fine at the highest settings. Unless you have a really old video card it should work fine for you.

-XT

[Hirka T'Bawa]

I just bought the game. I knew it was being released (From the Gal Civ II forums) but when I went to Best Buy yesterday, it wasn't on the shelf. I double checked the release date and saw it was released, so I went to Best Buy today to buy it and it still wasn't on the shelf. I had to have them go into the back stockroom and bring it out for me.

I would have just bought it through Stardock's site, but I had $50 in Best Buy gift cards since Christmas that I wanted to use.

I haven't really played it yet, just installed it and downloaded the update. I really only bought it before the reviews came out because it was Stardock. They are a company that deserves my support, and if the game isn't that good, or it has bugs (which I really doubt) I know Stardock will support it, and make it better.

I might be intreasted in playing a Doper game sometime soon, let me learn how to play first though. In fact, let me get back to my lurking of the SDMB so I will have time to play some tonight (you see where my priorities are :) )

[XT]

I'm playing the game and lurking. You can alt tab out of the game and still hear when events happen. As I build up resources I can tab out and check my mail and such and still make it back when the dreaded 'Pirate raid detected' message comes my way.

I'll be up for a 'doper game as well once I figure out what the hell I'm doing.

-XT

[Grey]

So is it Gal Civ II with jump lanes? So far GC2 is great but I'm not seeing the big difference between the two games. Well, at least not in this thread - I'll need to check wargamer.com I guess.

[Kinthalis]

So is it Gal Civ II with jump lanes? So far GC2 is great but I'm not seeing the big difference between the two games. Well, at least not in this thread - I'll need to check wargamer.com I guess.

The main difference is that this is a Real Time game, not turn based. This ofcourse completely changes the pace of the game, but not necessarily the strategic goals. It is essentially Gal Civ II in real time and less micromanagement.

[Illuminatiprimus]

The main difference is that this is a Real Time game, not turn based. This ofcourse completely changes the pace of the game, but not necessarily the strategic goals. It is essentially Gal Civ II in real time and less micromanagement.

There are other differences than that. In Sins there is no ship customisation, only three races to play (with completely different strategies/approaches), battles are interactive/strategic... The RTS approach makes it a completely different kind of game.

[Frylock]

Are ships moving around in a truly three dimensional space, or is it just a flat plane made to look like it's floating in a three dimensional space?

-FrL-

[XT]

Are ships moving around in a truly three dimensional space, or is it just a flat plane made to look like it's floating in a three dimensional space?

When you zoom in they are stacked in 3D, but think of it like a cylinder...a very small cylinder width wise. You can only give orders to ships to move in the X-Y axis (the circle being the gravity well of the planet in question).



Found out about that Pirate base last night for anyone interested. I finally found it at the junction of the various planets near the systems sun. It was most gratifying to roll in 6 capital ships backup up by fighters and various frigates and other support type ships and wipe them out. The Pirate base was the most heavily defended in the game thus far (well, besides my own defenses where were pretty formidable). They had a number of fixed defenses, air craft hangers for launching fighters and bombers, a couple of other defensive structures and a bunch of small mobile units. The computer must not have the same logistics limitations as we so, as I launched my attach after sucking them in to fight one of my main planets.

Even with all those defenses though my fleet didn't sustain much damage. I could practically hear the squeals of dismay (or perhaps cries of ARG!) when my fleet started systematically trashing their main base and their defenses all the while crying 'Payback is a BITCH!'.


-XT

[Kinthalis]

Sweet! Do the pirate assaults still happen though?

[XT]

Sweet! Do the pirate assaults still happen though?

Interestingly yeah...they do. After I wiped out their main base I was surprised to hear the 'Pirate Raid!' message again. Sure enough, they hit one of my frontier worlds. But it was a very weak raid...they didn't even make it past the first tier of outer gun turrets. I didn't even bother sending my mobile force there, just let them die in the outer ring.

My guess is that the Pirate base is different than the pirate raids...i.e. the actual pirate ships don't come from the base but are probably event generated when that timer thingy gets to 0:00.

Took your advice last night and started playing with the bounty stuff. Worked like a charm. I could nearly always out bid the other races which noticeably made the pirate raids a lot less (though interestingly they still did periodically raid my worlds even when I was the highest bidder).

Can't wait to play again tonight. After Mythbusters I intend to start a new game having pretty much done everything there is to do in the first game I tried.

-XT

[XT]

For those of you who wanted the early Out of the Box pre-review (which is different than a preview of course :)), here (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/sins-of-a-solar-empire/849840p1.html) it is.

Initial Verdict: Promising
There's a bit of a learning curve but Ironclad's brilliant new "4XRTS" lets players sin as much as they want and still go to strategy game Heaven.

-XT

[Kinthalis]

Two new reviews:

http://www.gamedaily.com/games/sins-of-a-solar-empire/pc/game-reviews/review/5553/1948/

http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=767&page=1

And from penny arcade: http://www.penny-arcade.com/

Installed Sins of a Solar Empire on the Night Engine yesterday, to see if it would be something we'd consider advertising. Uh... yes. Yes. Yes a thousand times over. This is why it's nice to work with a smaller company, because if they want to advertise something on your site, they're not pulling from some budget a year in advance of the game's release. Stardock sent a full, boxed retail copy of the title and asked if we'd be willing to promote that, as opposed to some theoretical game they might be making in the future. I'll talk more about it on Friday, but I am kind of bowled over by this thing. That someone would pay me to recommend a game as entertaining as Sins of a Solar Empire is really the most ridiculous kind of crap.


So far so good. Waiting on Gamespot to release a review, supposedly PC Gamer and Games for windows reviewers are also impressed.

And I also finally beat the easy AI after a 2 hour game last night, and got to kick some pirate booty (heh) as well!

[Illuminatiprimus]

Decided to throw my hat in the ring and downloaded it and have been playing it for a couple of hours. It's interesting, although it's strange playing a game like this in real time. Still getting my head around how to play strategically, but it's a lot of fun.

[XT]

I definitely don't recommend this game to anyone who wants to get some sleep any time in the near future. This game has kept me up past 2am since I got it...and last night I told myself 'Definitely going to bed at midnight...latest!'. Just one more raid. Just one more planet to take. Looked at the clock expecting it to be around 1ish...and it was 5:30am. Just in time to get up to go to work!

-XT

[carnivorousplant]

This game has kept me up past 2am since I got it

you are going to kick my ass.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

you are going to kick my ass.


You're so fucked.


I may have to get this game as well. I'll find a way to exploit the AI like I usually do.

[XT]

you are going to kick my ass.

Only if you are as bad as the computer AI playing on Easy Random. :) I'm having a hard time beating the computer on the easiest level though I've managed to win 2 games in a row the last 3 nights. I'm planning to up the AI to Normal Random this weekend and see how that goes.

I'd be game for a match next weekend though, just to see how it works. I'm interested to see how the game would play out with other players and I suppose a couple of computer AI's thrown in to add spice.

-XT

[carnivorousplant]

I'd be game for a match next weekend though, just to see how it works. I'm interested to see how the game would play out with other players and I suppose a couple of computer AI's thrown in to add spice.

-XT
Yeah, sure, like that kid who lost three marbles in a row to me and at the next recess said, "Hey, you want to play for lunch money?" :rolleyes:

I picked it up on the way home from work tonight.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

I think I may or may not pick it up this weekend.

I wonder if it'd run on my laptop or if I'd have to run it on my desktop.







As a warning: I'm usually pretty good with RTS games.

[Hirka T'Bawa]

I've been playing the game for a little while now, and I have the interface down, along with some basic starting statagies. I haven't really gotten to the end game, I keep restarting to see how I can use what I've learned.

I think I might be ready for a multi player game. I know I will probably get my ass kicked, but thats the only way to learn. Plus, I'm intreasted in seeing how the multi-player works out. So, if anyone here wants to play a multi-player game, just let me know. I'm up for all kinds, be it a 1v1, 2v2, FFA, or even an us vs. the computer game.

Oh, and in case anyone didn't notice, Stardock released the first post-release patch, which includes premade maps without pirates.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Crap. I've gotta get on my horse and get this game, it seems.

[carnivorousplant]

I think I might be ready for a multi player game. I know I will probably get my ass kicked, but thats the only way to learn. Plus, I'm intreasted in seeing how the multi-player works out. So, if anyone here wants to play a multi-player game, just let me know.
As long as we don't play for lunch money.

[Kinthalis]

Just updated, let me know if you guys want to go a round this weekend.

[XT]

I have to work tomorrow and possibly Sunday as well so I'll probably bow out of this weekends games. I also want to play a bit more to get things down. I've won on the easy levels but I haven't tried to play on the harder level...and my experience with RTS is that humans are always harder than the computer AI, even if they totally suck at the game. They are much less predictable.

And no...I won't be playing for lunch money either. ;)

-XT

[carnivorousplant]

I have a video card driver problem. :rolleyes:

[Least Original User Name Ever]

What kind of video card do you have?

[carnivorousplant]

What kind of video card do you have?
Magnum/Xpert128/x99/xpert2000 from ATI.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Personally, I got nothin' for ya. Someone help a brother out over here.

[Kinthalis]

Here are the drivers for it (windows XP): http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/legacy-xp.html

I'm not sure if that integrated chip is going to run the game though :( Hopefully updating the driver will work.

[carnivorousplant]

Hopefully updating the driver will work.
Thanks, those are what I'm running now. Looks like I'm getting a new video card. I realize you get what you pay for, but is anyone running this guy? (http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2940956&CatId=880)

[Illuminatiprimus]

Just completed my first game - phew, 3 and a quarter hours! Seriously though there needs to be a setting between easy and normal because normal is extremely difficult and easy is just a walkover. There really should be a way to turn the pirates off as well because they are FUCKING annoying. I think I read that Ironclad is going to nerf them in a later patch - we can only hope. Oh, can someone explain to me the bounty system because I'm not sure I fully understand it. It seems you just chuck money at the pirates increasing the bounty on your opponent and yet they still attack you.

Also I'm sure there's a better system than the one I'm using to fleet building, right now I'm just throwing together lots of different ships in the hopes that the mix is right. Still, good game though, definitely glad I bought it.

[Hirka T'Bawa]

Did you download the new patch? They included copies of the random maps that have no pirates in them. If you haven't, you can get the patch through Stardock Central.

As for the bounty system, the way I understand it, you place the bounty on someone, and anyone (not just the pirates) can collect it by destroying that person's ships and equipment. I don't believe you can collect a bounty you placed on a player though. You can tell how much bounty destroying something is worth by hovering over the unit, if there is a bounty on the player (that you didn't place) it will show the value for destroying that ship.

[XT]

Man, I have no idea how to play the Advent. I'm trying a normal level game and I have zero funds. I can't expand, can't even build defenses or upgrade the planet. I have one capital ship and I'm trying to fend off pirate raids and watching the resources come in VERY slowly. I've been playing over 30 min since I got home and I still don't even have a lab up. :(

-XT

[carnivorousplant]

I'm running it very slowly on the laptop and haven't figured out how to move ships in the tutorial. My lunch money is toast. :rolleyes:

[Kinthalis]

I'm running it very slowly on the laptop and haven't figured out how to move ships in the tutorial. My lunch money is toast. :rolleyes:

The 9200 you have posted above is below the minimum specs a 9600 or above is what you need. The X1650 is probably the best AGP card for under $100 (~$65).

If you had a PCI Express slot I'd mail you a left over Radeon HD2600 I have lying around.

[Hirka T'Bawa]

Hey, we are all having trouble.... Why don't we make a doper game to learn? That way you can play with other people, who you know (or at least hope) won't take advantage while you try.

Lets make a doper learning game.... I know I could use it. Heck, all of us learning can't be harder then a normal AI (specially with Stardock's history with AI's).

If anyone is into starting tonight, (Saturday night/ Sunday Morning Eastern Time) post a message or PM me. Lets start a game to play.

If there is any SDMB lurkers out there that wants to play, but can't post, email me: hirkatbawa@123456gmail.com Just remove the numbers in the address.

[carnivorousplant]

The 9200 you have posted above is below the minimum specs a 9600 or above is what you need. The X1650 is probably the best AGP card for under $100 (~$65).

If you had a PCI Express slot I'd mail you a left over Radeon HD2600 I have lying around.
Thanks, but just PCI. It's running slowly on the laptop, God knows how.

[Hirka T'Bawa]

Thanks, but just PCI. It's running slowly on the laptop, God knows how.

You have the latest drivers, have you lowered the video to the bare minimum in the game?

[XT]

I'm running it very slowly on the laptop and haven't figured out how to move ships in the tutorial. My lunch money is toast.

:( Have you tried turning down all the video settings to the base level? I got the game to play on my old Toshiba laptop that way...though it doesn't look nearly as good as on the main system.

If anyone is into starting tonight, (Saturday night/ Sunday Morning Eastern Time) post a message or PM me. Lets start a game to play.

Next weekend (being a holiday weekend) would be better for me personally. Besides, I'm sitting here in my 3rd retry with the Advent and I still haven't figured out even how to start. I've tried building no ships at all (not even a scout ship) and putting every dime into simply building the civilian infrastructure...and I haven't been able to amass enough resources to even build a single lab before the pirates swoop in and wipe me out. I don't know how these guys are even playable...the other two races don't work this way.

-XT

[carnivorousplant]

Next weekend (being a holiday weekend) would be better for me personally.
Me, too. What with hardware issues and Pilot Error. :)

[XT]

BTW, if anyone is interested, GameSpy (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/sins-of-a-solar-empire/850906p1.html) has their formal review out. They gave it a 4.5 (which is high for them).

Salvation awaits strategy gamers in an awesome title that mixes low-level spaceship combat and high-level universal conquest.

-XT

[Hirka T'Bawa]

Next weekend (being a holiday weekend)

Wait, next weekend is a holiday weekend? What holiday? I don't normally consider Valentine's Day a day with a whole weekend (unless that weekend is with my wife).

[Kinthalis]

I'm in for a game anytime sunday!

[XT]

Wait, next weekend is a holiday weekend? What holiday? I don't normally consider Valentine's Day a day with a whole weekend (unless that weekend is with my wife).

Presidents day. I have it off at least. MMV. :)


Well, afaiac the Advent are unplayable...or I'm a complete idiot. I can either build one capital ship right off the bat...and nothing else because I'm in negative money and can't rebuild it, or I can upgrade my planet to level 4 (which means I'm in positive money) build 2 labs and 3 fixed defenses (no ships) and then get wiped out by pirates.

If you take a planet you go into negative money because you can't upgrade it. I just can't see how you can amass enough resources to do anything with these guys.

-XT

[Kinthalis]

Wait, next weekend is a holiday weekend? What holiday? I don't normally consider Valentine's Day a day with a whole weekend (unless that weekend is with my wife).

Presiden't day on monday.

[DiggitCamara]

Seems like a terrific game. I dunno, though, is there a demo version?

It's been forever since I've entered the RTS-game-fray-or-whatever...

[XT]

There might be a demo on StarDocks site...not sure. It's not really an RTS game in the traditional sense of the word. No Tank Rush(tm) in this game.

-XT

[DiggitCamara]

There might be a demo on StarDocks site...not sure. It's not really an RTS game in the traditional sense of the word. No Tank Rush(tm) in this game.

-XT
Enlighten me. What's a "Tank Rush (tm)"? :confused:

[XT]

In most RTS games one of the big strategies is to simply build a lot of cheap units and rush your opponents base attempting to either wipe them out or cripple them early so you can finish them off in a subsequent strike. 'Tank Rush' (from my own memory) comes from using that exact tactic in Command and Conquer because what you would do is basically build a bunch of the first tier tanks and rush em.

This isn't that kind of twitch RTS kind of game. It has a very stately pace...in fact I'm playing the game atm while typing this and also checking my email and doing a couple of things for work remotely from home.

-XT

[DiggitCamara]

In most RTS games one of the big strategies is to simply build a lot of cheap units and rush your opponents base attempting to either wipe them out or cripple them early so you can finish them off in a subsequent strike. 'Tank Rush' (from my own memory) comes from using that exact tactic in Command and Conquer because what you would do is basically build a bunch of the first tier tanks and rush em.

This isn't that kind of twitch RTS kind of game. It has a very stately pace...in fact I'm playing the game atm while typing this and also checking my email and doing a couple of things for work remotely from home.

-XT
Thanks!

My (very limited) experience with RTS games stems from bouts with the original Civilization (not multiple player, obviously), World of Warcraft (not online) and Starcraft. So I'm... hesitant to re-enter the online world of RTS.

I'm tempted to try out this game, though. I'll look at the demo presentations of the game on StarDocks. It looks very good, and I'll confess I'm tempted to jump into the game.

[Illuminatiprimus]

Well, afaiac the Advent are unplayable...or I'm a complete idiot. I can either build one capital ship right off the bat...and nothing else because I'm in negative money and can't rebuild it, or I can upgrade my planet to level 4 (which means I'm in positive money) build 2 labs and 3 fixed defenses (no ships) and then get wiped out by pirates.

If you take a planet you go into negative money because you can't upgrade it. I just can't see how you can amass enough resources to do anything with these guys.

-XT

The first game I completed was playing the advent - seemed okay to me. Admittedly it was on easy but I don't remember it being a complete struggle for resources.

[XT]

It must be that at the higher settings resources are much harder to get. I just need to work out an early game strategy to get the game rolling I guess. I don't remember having this problem with the other two races on the normal setting.

-XT

[Kinthalis]

I managed to squeeze some free time tonight. If anyone wants to join up for a game say around 8:00pm EST, give me a shoutout here or at: johngwebdev@hotmail.com

[Hirka T'Bawa]

If your still up for that game, let me know. I just finished (for now) my homework.

[carnivorousplant]

I'm running on the laptop and getting my ass handed to me. :)

[XT]

For my part I finally figured out what was happening. It was the map I was playing...had nothing to do with the Advent. On the map I was playing the home world started off as poor quality. No idea how the other race expanded at all...or even if they did as I never saw them. Pirates kept wiping me out.

When I tried Normal on other maps with the Advent it worked fine. Managed 2 wins today and am working on a 3rd. If 6 Degrees To Change The World wasn't on tonight I'd try another game after this.

I'll definitely be up for a game next weekend some time...wife and RL permitting.

-XT

[Hirka T'Bawa]

If anyone here wants to play a friendly game tonight (Sunday) feel free to post here or email me (you can see my email in a previous post in this thread).

I've played a couple games online, but the only one that went to completion I got my ass handed to me... but that is partly because my team mate dropped. I would love to play a game with a fellow doper, and what better way to learn the game then playing with someone else on your team.

[Atrael]

Yeah well....I can already see that I won't be playing with you guys anytime soon. Picked up the game Saturday (still in the back room at Best Buy too) and haven't managed to win a single game. True I do tend to start over when I figured out I did something totally wrong. But I must suck more at RTS than I thought. On most games I'm able to beat the AI on "Easy", and after I get the hang of it, move up to "Normal" and do ok. This thing kicks my ass just about every time. The pirates are what make it difficult. Start getting ahead of the game and making your fleet fairly large, and they swoop in and raid again. Sure I can beat them...but it costs to replace the ships they destroy.


So do you let the computer controll the ships during battle? Or do you override? I'm wondering if I let the computer do it if it'll utilize the different kinds of ships better than I do.

[XT]

Yeah well....I can already see that I won't be playing with you guys anytime soon. Picked up the game Saturday (still in the back room at Best Buy too) and haven't managed to win a single game. True I do tend to start over when I figured out I did something totally wrong. But I must suck more at RTS than I thought. On most games I'm able to beat the AI on "Easy", and after I get the hang of it, move up to "Normal" and do ok. This thing kicks my ass just about every time. The pirates are what make it difficult. Start getting ahead of the game and making your fleet fairly large, and they swoop in and raid again. Sure I can beat them...but it costs to replace the ships they destroy.

After a bit of a rocky start myself I've won nearly every game since on both easy and normal (the only game I wasn't able to win was the one with the poor resource home planet at the start).

I usually don't use my fleet to go head to head with the Pirates myself. What I do is try and capture a strategic planet or asteroid in their line of march and then fortify it with fixed defenses. I usually use a series of fixed traps to lure in their planet attack craft. Those are the only one's you really need to worry about. Once those are dead the rest will just sort of flail around in your fixed defense traps. If you have them designed right they should provide some rather nasty mutual support. I also like to put at least 2 hanger defenses with mixed fighters/bombers.

This will leave your fleet free to what it does best...go forth and pound the enemies home worlds, take strategic way points and generally sow hate and discontent amoungst thy enemies. :) Oh...and when you find the Pirate base burn that motha out.

I think I finally have a good handle on this game...ready to start playing the AI on Hard now. In theory at least. I won 2 games over the weekend on Normal and the last game I won pretty easily...it was never in question as my strategy seemed to dominate the computer who never could get it together.

So do you let the computer controll the ships during battle? Or do you override? I'm wondering if I let the computer do it if it'll utilize the different kinds of ships better than I do.

Myself, I mostly let the computer handle combat. What I do usually is maneuver the fleet so that it is bringing the big guns to bear...and I keep an eye on the capital ships and withdraw them when they start taking a beating. The frigates and cruisers are pretty much throw away units the way I play (I just need to keep track of which types are getting destroyed so I maintain the fleet mix I want) but the Capital ships are definitely ones you want to keep if you can.

-XT

[Illuminatiprimus]

So far my experience of setting up defences is that the computer just runs through them on the way to somewhere else. I try and set up bulwark systems but they don't seem to work as well as I'd like. So far I'm enjoying the game much more sans pirates - until stardock nerfs them I'd rather play without.

[XT]

So far my experience of setting up defences is that the computer just runs through them on the way to somewhere else. I try and set up bulwark systems but they don't seem to work as well as I'd like. So far I'm enjoying the game much more sans pirates - until stardock nerfs them I'd rather play without.

Interesting. My experience has been just the opposite. In the later stages of the game when my fixed defenses are maxes out I don't even bother looking at Pirate raids. The only thing that could threaten my planets by then is a full court press by the other major power in the game (most of the games I've played have been 2 player games). Only then do I even bother with bringing in my mobile fleet...and even then sometimes I'll let them pound away at the planet (as long as it's not my capital or one of the Terra worlds) while just tossing up new fixed defenses in out of the way places while I send my fleet out to take one of their juicy worlds. Sometimes I'll lose a desert or volcanic or ice world...but gain a real strategic world or location on the chain. And they will have a crippled fleet now.

-XT

[Atrael]

Even without pirates I'm having a hard time keeping up with the AI. Right now I'm playing the "Derelict" map. Which has 4 star systems one of which can only be reached via wormhole. So I've gotten control over all the planets and resources in two of the other three systems. And I barely can keep a large fleet to match what the AI has. So how can he build all that with the limited resources that he has in his one star system?

[XT]

I just finished a game in that system. Was fun (though I never found any technology or whatever in the wreckage gravity wells...not sure if you were supposed to or not but I found nothing).

In short as with all these kinds of games, the AI cheats. They get bonus resources and money and that's what lets them build so much.

We get a brain in compensation. :) I really haven't had much trouble dealing with the AI...it is pretty predictable. Once it attacks down a certain path that is pretty much the path it uses. Set traps for their fleet. Cut it up. Or, better yet hit their worlds that are less protected. I've noticed the AI doesn't even make a token effort to defend everywhere. They usually have on massively defended world and where ever their main fleet happens to be...and pretty much nothing else. Go for the worlds that are less defended, attempt to cut up their fleet in a series of fixed defenses then decisively engage their fleet and wipe it out. Once you start really starving them for worlds you reach a tipping point where even if the fleets are the same size your technological advances will make the difference.

What are you researching? How big of a fleet are you initially building? What are you upgrading on your various planets...and what structures are you building in orbit?

-XT

[Illuminatiprimus]

Okay folks who actually got the physical game and therefore have the manual - I have a question: are there victory conditions other than simply annihilation? I can't find anything from what I've got but so far that's the only way I can see to win. I was wondering if maybe there was a cultural victory as well.

Help gratefully received.

[carnivorousplant]

I have a second hand Geforce FX 5200, new drivers and running on the desktop.
Cool.

[Hirka T'Bawa]

Okay folks who actually got the physical game and therefore have the manual - I have a question: are there victory conditions other than simply annihilation? I can't find anything from what I've got but so far that's the only way I can see to win. I was wondering if maybe there was a cultural victory as well.

Help gratefully received.

I just went through the entire manual, and I don't see anything about any other victory conditions.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

I have a second hand Geforce FX 5200, new drivers and running on the desktop.
Cool.


Good to hear.



I still haven't got it yet.

[XT]

Okay folks who actually got the physical game and therefore have the manual - I have a question: are there victory conditions other than simply annihilation? I can't find anything from what I've got but so far that's the only way I can see to win. I was wondering if maybe there was a cultural victory as well.

Just getting home. I haven't found that cultural tech do much more than ensure that your own extra planet colonies don't rebel. But then, I haven't figured out any way to take a planet yet save burning it to the ground and then re-colonizing it. I assume there is another way (though I haven't seen anything about troops or landing craft like in Gal Civ), but I haven't seen it.

-XT

[Kinthalis]

Culture will eventually cause enemy planets to rebel. I believe this will make them neutral to you and then all you'll need to do is bring in a ship with the colonize ability to take over (although you'll still have to deal with any defenses the enemy put in place).

However, there are currently no other victory conditions. The developers said this is something that they may add in a future patch.

[Illuminatiprimus]

Thanks everyone.

[XT]

Yeah, at least in the games I've played the enemy AI never surrenders until you smack down their last planet or colony...and then the game is over. I'm hoping they do a bit more on the diplomacy side, though I guess this game is designed more for multi-player (I still haven't played a multi-player game...anyone tried it yet?). I imagine the bounty system would make back stabbing a matter of course. :)

If you guys want to try and set up a 'doper game Friday evening we should set a time and maybe form some teams and see how it works. And if anyone has actually gotten on and played multi-player maybe you could give your thoughts and detail what we'll need to do to create our own game.

-XT

[Kinthalis]

I'm definitely in for a friday evening game. I'm taking the day off tomorrow, and only have some errands to run in the morning so any time is fine with me.

I haven't tried multi-player yet, but I plan on tonight, I'll recount my experiences after the game (it will probably be a brief retelling of my empire's brutal defeat in record time).

Anyone gotten any interesting achievements yet? I've heard something about space ponies, but no solid information.

[XT]

No achievements here though I've gotten a couple of powerful artifacts. I've been concentrating on how to balance military development with civilian development, along with what to up in your initial planets gravity well, how far to expand (and how quickly), how big of an initial fleet to make, how to build solid fixed defenses that free up your mobile force to go rampaging, etc. I'm pretty solid on the Normal level of the game to this point and have won every game on that level except the one in the resource poor map. I've tried a single game at the highest level and essentially got wiped out by pirates and the alien AI race constantly wearing me down...I never got beyond the first couple of planets outside of my home planet and could never really get rolling before it was constant attacks.

-XT

[Darkhold]

Any advice how not to suck at this game? I played two games one on an easy random map (no challenge) and one on a larger map 2 enemies (one easy one normal) and was completely overwhelmed almost right off the bat. An army about 3 times as powerful as I was simply showed up and bombed my only expansion planet and no matter how I tried to produce a counter force it was all over.....this wouldn't have stung so bad if I hadn't thought I had built a respectable army to begin with and was balancing expansion/military quite well. Should you go all out military at first until you have a good section of the universe underfoot?

[XT]

MMV. Myself I play more of a turtle type game. I build a capital ship manufacturing center first, then put out your one free capital ship and 4-6 frigates. Then I expand to the near by planets/asteroids...anything that is easy to take. Once I take one over I max out the population/infrastructure and military logistics slots (and the bombing one...can't remember what it's called) and start building fixed defenses immediately. I start off with civilian labs in my home world so while all this is happening I'm researching things like enemy detection and better metal/gem extraction methods and such.

This usually nets me 3-4 extra planet systems (hopefully with one of those a nice, juicy Terra or even ice/desert/volcanic planet). At that point I turtle down and start really hammering the military research. I usually don't go for quantity at this point but quality, so I normally only research the next up capital ship and next fleet logistics level then concentrate on better weapons and expanded abilities. I'll then pull back my fleet to some central hub so that when an enemy hits my fixed defenses I can bring my mobile force into it's prepared slot (between two fixed defense belt kill zones) and pound the enemy to scrap.

At the same time I'm sending out scouts so I know all the paths and planets out there. Once you build up to a certain point find the choke points that are strategically valuable and then pounce...or if you see any back door ways to get to the enemies rear area (usually stars are great for this) then do a raid to pound one of his main planets to scrap, even if you can't hold it (I usually can...the computer isn't very responsive when you do this).

That's my strategy anyway. It makes for longer games but I've only lost one on Normal so far...and frankly I still don't see how to win that one when you start off in deficit spending and not enough metal/gem resources.

-XT

[Darkhold]

words....-XTThanks for the tips. I'll see if I can take it to heart. Right now it's a queasy sort of mix for me it feels like it should play at a different pace then the one I'm going at. I played a third game against three easy players and once again it was just a cakewalk I guess I should go to a small map and one 'normal' player.

[carnivorousplant]

What does it mean "insufficient fleet capacity"?, Tom asked measuredly.

[Darkhold]

Thanks for the tips. I'll see if I can take it to heart. Right now it's a queasy sort of mix for me it feels like it should play at a different pace then the one I'm going at. I played a third game against three easy players and once again it was just a cakewalk I guess I should go to a small map and one 'normal' player.Tried a small map against a normal and it was another easy win. I guess I just got unlucky on that other map. Debating if it's more fun to increase the AI or number of players...

[Gukumatz]

What does it mean "insufficient fleet capacity"?, Tom asked measuredly.

It means you don't have enough supplies to field the frigate/cruiser/capital ship you want to build, or not enough trained crew for the capital ship.

To identify which, just look at the top of your screen - if the little box say 0 and you're trying to make a capital ship, you'll need a Fleet upgrade for more crew. If the other box has a number less than the number assigned to the unit you're trying to buy, you need the other kind of fleet upgrade.

Basically, go to your research page and into the Fleet tab. There's two kinds of (expensive) upgrades - one kind for fleet capacity and the other for army supplies.

Be wary of expanding the fleet capacity too much though - the increased logistics makes it so that your resource gathering takes a hit. ("Upkeep") Which makes it harder to recover from losing your fleet, to discourage repeat big-fleet rushing.

[carnivorousplant]

Thanks, Gukumatz.

[Atrael]

I've finnally gotten the hang of the game. Although I usually play the random maps with no pirates (the upgrade download they have available). Right now I'm still trying to work out my strategy and trying some different races.

For my game play, I try and send out a scout to every spot on the map. Find not only those natural choke points, but also identify which planets will be easier to capture. From what I can see the planets are a mix if having 4 or 5 ship, or 8 to 10 ships before you take it over. I'll be building up my resources and the fleet until I have a decent portion of the map explored. Then I look for not only those asteriods that can be colonized (usually only two ships defending), but also those debries fields. Those are not only a great place to plant some crystal or metal mining facilities, but because you don't "own" that gravit well, the AI almost always ignores those stations. So it lets you have a little spy section out there than rarely will be taken over.

I'm planning on getting comfortable on "normal" play with one AI right now, then graduate up to multiple computer players and see how that works. About the only thing I semi-cheat on is that I always use the high resources setting.

[carnivorousplant]

the AI almost always ignores those stations. So it lets you have a little spy section out there than rarely will be taken over.

It doesn't auto attack your ships as it comes through?

[gonzomax]

Sounds like Age of Empires in outer space.

[XT]

It doesn't auto attack your ships as it comes through?

He's talking about the metal/gem extractors that are some times located in empty gravity wells. I do the exact same thing. For whatever reason the AI leaves them completely alone, so they act as early warning systems if you pay attention to the system map. You'll see enemy ships enter the well and they will even be color coded for Pirate or the various aliens you are playing against.

-XT

[XT]

Sounds like Age of Empires in outer space.

Not really much like it. Different pace for one thing. It's more like playing Galactic Civ in real time but without the really complex tech tree.

Wish we could design and build our star ships like in Gal Civ though...

-XT

[carnivorousplant]

For whatever reason the AI leaves them completely alone,
Cool.

[Darkhold]

I think I have the 1v1 maps mastered. Just played a 'hard' and had no problems at all (in fact I was playing as the Advent and restricted myself only to the harmony tech tree and still didn't even face a serious setback)

The thing I'm confused about now is the culture achievement reward I flipped about 5 worlds using nothing but culture every portion of space was connected by my culture lines had communications stations everywhere and had about 6 of those super powered culture cannons firing at will and still didn't get 75% culture! Seriously what do you have to do?

[Atrael]

The achievement things each have a description on what exactly you have to do to achieve them. I just shut down my computer or I'd take a look. Some of them were pretty off the wall.

Here's a question, anyone know how to change your name in the game from "New Player" to something else? Or pick a default color?

[Kinthalis]

It's in the setup player options. You can do this for your single-player and multi-player handles.

[XT]

Have you tried an online multiplayer game yet btw? If so how does it work? I know you have to connect through their service (sort of like Blizzards online net for Diablo I'm guessing) but I haven't tried it yet myself.

-XT

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Sounds like Age of Empires in outer space.


Age of Empires in outer space would be StarCraft.

[XT]

And while I really liked StarCraft, this ain't it. :)

-XT

[Least Original User Name Ever]

And to be accurate, Age of Empires is StarCraft on the ground.


...Which is Warcraft in space.







....let's not take it back further, okay?

[carnivorousplant]

....let's not take it back further, okay?

There was playing Anacreon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacreon:_Reconstruction_4021) with email attachments. :)

[Kiros]

Picked this up today and promptly played it for five hours without even realizing it. The thing is, I'm not even sure it was really all that much fun... but it was definitely damn addictive, and I'm sure I'll be back to it at some point over the weekend.

[Darkhold]

The achievement things each have a description on what exactly you have to do to achieve them. I just shut down my computer or I'd take a look. Some of them were pretty off the wall.

Here's a question, anyone know how to change your name in the game from "New Player" to something else? Or pick a default color?Well my point was I won a game using culture and still didn't get the 75% you need. How can you get it maxed out when you win before the threshold is met? I think I'm going to have to isolate the enemy and spread my own culture in my own borders until every planet I own is maxed and use my culture cannon on my own border worlds until they're all 100% loyalty or something....Very annoying.

As for the look there's an option in single player to setup player or something that lets you pick the color and the name.

[Paladud]

Just picked this up. Several attempts - on easy at that - have led to simultaneous attacks from pirates and the opponent's main fleet on my two systems fairly early into the game. It takes my capital ship and the bulk of the frigates to fend off either, which means my colony dies a horrible death. Mind you, the bounty on my opponent was higher than the one for me before the pirate alarm went off.

[Darkhold]

Just picked this up. Several attempts - on easy at that - have led to simultaneous attacks from pirates and the opponent's main fleet on my two systems fairly early into the game. It takes my capital ship and the bulk of the frigates to fend off either, which means my colony dies a horrible death. Mind you, the bounty on my opponent was higher than the one for me before the pirate alarm went off.Did you get a message "The bounty on you has increased" Just before the pirate launch? That moment determines who gets attacked (the bar turns red the timer stops then about 2 mins later the raid actually launches that's the critical point). Also if they pass through your system on the way to the enemy and you engage them they will defend themselves but if you pull back and let them through they'll leave you alone.

Personally I love the pirates early game they're my merceneries beating down my opponent late game when the bounties get insanely expensive (I've dropped 20k into the bounty slot before) my armies can beat them silly anyway so it's no loss if they attack me. Heck they're even free xp for my battleships.

[RogueRacer]

Hmmm... what to buy... this or Supreme Commander...

[Darkhold]

Hmmm... what to buy... this or Supreme Commander...Well I had someone give me SC I played it for about three hours got bored uninstalled it and never was tempted to play it again.

This game I must have put about 20 hours into it since I got it and right now I'm trying not to fire up a new game because I plan on going to bed 2 hours from now and I know if I start a new game I'll end up staying up thinking "Well I'll stop just as soon as I finish my research......ok I'll stop when I finish building my defense on my new planet.....ok I'll stop when this next pirate raid is over" This game is Starcraft meets Civilization and is pure crack to me.

disclaimer: the game is far from perfect it really needs some cut scenes to play after winning a map, a general tightening of the gameplay, a better system than that 'pinning' nonsense and general polishing but I fear a well made sequel will destroy me utterly

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Darkhold, you're making me start to feel that I'm missing out on this.


Stoppit!

[Darkhold]

Darkhold, you're making me start to feel that I'm missing out on this.


Stoppit!hmm ok how about this? The races are terrible tired cliches (seriously the Military race, the economic race the weak but tons of special abilities race. And how many returning exiles does a universe need? Both the Aliens and the Advent fall into that category) the pinning system designed to keep track of your sprawling empire is a mess that I'm sure if I mastered it'd be useful......but I can't be bothered to master that cluttered POS. Battleships gain XP but leveling them is something you have to do manually and it can be hard to keep track of which one leveled up in a huge fleet. The tutorials are a joke that prepare you for a real game about as well if I started you in Civilization by saying "Build some cities and try to research good techs. Now go to it!" You usually know you've won a map long long long before you actually get there (I estimate 50% of my play time is glorified mop up) and it's a real letdown to beat a map and only get a pop up basically saying "You won....how about that" and with all the backstory and set up you'd expect some sort of single player campaign instead of just a bunch of maps.

ps, does anyone know anything about the map creator? I have a few maps I'll like to try to build but I'll be damned if I can figure that thing out.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

That didn't work.

[Kinthalis]

ps, does anyone know anything about the map creator? I have a few maps I'll like to try to build but I'll be damned if I can figure that thing out.

Theres a tutorial pinned in the user forums on the official game site.

[XT]

hmm ok how about this? The races are terrible tired cliches (seriously the Military race, the economic race the weak but tons of special abilities race. And how many returning exiles does a universe need? Both the Aliens and the Advent fall into that category) the pinning system designed to keep track of your sprawling empire is a mess that I'm sure if I mastered it'd be useful......but I can't be bothered to master that cluttered POS. Battleships gain XP but leveling them is something you have to do manually and it can be hard to keep track of which one leveled up in a huge fleet. The tutorials are a joke that prepare you for a real game about as well if I started you in Civilization by saying "Build some cities and try to research good techs. Now go to it!" You usually know you've won a map long long long before you actually get there (I estimate 50% of my play time is glorified mop up) and it's a real letdown to beat a map and only get a pop up basically saying "You won....how about that" and with all the backstory and set up you'd expect some sort of single player campaign instead of just a bunch of maps.

Yeah, all that...and yet I've still played, oh, maybe 20-30 hours so far and will probably play another game tonight. Even with all the flaws this is still a pretty fun game to play.

-XT

[Darkhold]

Theres a tutorial pinned in the user forums on the official game site.Ah the Galaxy Forge on the download page looks like just what I want. Nevermind the in game creator this looks much better. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.

[Kinthalis]

So guys, when will the great SDMB clash of the solar titans commence? Who's for a game tonight?

[XT]

If I don't have to work tonight (one of my customers has been having network troubles since Friday) I'll be up for a game. Just let me know what time.

-XT

[Hirka T'Bawa]

I'm up for a game tonight also. Haven't had any time to really practice this week due to school, but I'm done with my homework for now so I can play.

Just let me know the time and place, I'll be there.

[Kinthalis]

How about 8:30 pm EST? Sound good to everyone?

[Hirka T'Bawa]

I can do an 8:30 game.

[Hirka T'Bawa]

Ok, its almost 8:30 EST, I went ahead and started hosting a game, the game name is : Straight Dope, password: cecil

Come one, come all. Lurkers welcome, Lets play a nice friendly game.

[Kinthalis]

Ok, its almost 8:30 EST, I went ahead and started hosting a game, the game name is : Straight Dope, password: cecil

Come one, come all. Lurkers welcome, Lets play a nice friendly game.

Sweet, I'll be there in a minute.

[msmith537]

It looks a lot like Homeworld with a strategic element thrown in. Might be worth checking out. I've been looking for a game to occupy my time until Spore is released.

[Kinthalis]

Hey Hirka That was an abrupt ending! they gotta do something about that pop up. Good gaming though, next time we'll have to take on hard AI! :)

[Hirka T'Bawa]

Yea, that was a fast ending. Definably need to go against hard AI, and a larger map :)

[CandidGamera]

Bought it Saturday; installed and played yesterday. I really dig this, and foresee the loss of many hours to it.

It did crash my PC when I exited the game, though.

[carnivorousplant]

Good gaming though, next time we'll have to take on hard AI! :)
Did you guys play co-op?

[Hirka T'Bawa]

Yes, we played a random medium map with two normal random AI's.

[XT]

Sorry I missed the game last night. :( I ended up working all day and most of the night.

How was it? I haven't tried multi-player yet but it looks like that would be where this game could be challenging.

Last game I played single player was the most challenging yet...4 AI's (one was the pirate faction) on a 20 planet map, all on Normal. That is the closest the computer has come to beating me...though I still managed to win in the end. The game is getting to easy to win on Normal so I'll probably kick it up to Hard and see how that goes.

Let me know if you guys want to try another cooperative game this week...I would probably be up for a game or two if so (work permitting).

-XT

[Gukumatz]

Sounds like Age of Empires in outer space.

It's actually Supreme Commander in space.

[msmith537]

It's actually Supreme Commander in space.


That's too bad because I didn't really like SC all that much.

[XT]

I didn't like SC either...nor does this remind me of it to be honest. MMV, but this game doesn't really play much like an RTS to me.

-XT

[Kiros]

Agreed - while it's an RTS when it gets right down to it, the pace everything moves at (as well as the emphasis on the various things you do) makes it feel a LOT more like Civ, IMO.

[XT]

Well, I've played through the hardest game thus far for me. I did one of the medium sized maps with 4 AI's (5 if you count the pirates) all on Hard. The biggest challenge was trying to attack and beat down one AI while fending off another and the incessant pirate raids. I would just have one of the AI's on the ropes when another one would launch a full court press on one of my frontier worlds. Because of that the game took significantly longer than any other game I've played to date to win...I had to fortify each world I took unless I could take one world then leap the chain to another and protect from there. A lot of times I felt like I was jerking my fleet about constantly to quell one raid after another, usually in opposite sides of my empire. And for the first time since I've played influence was a major factor. I had to constantly build propaganda centers on each planet I took so I could ensure I kept the planets I took.

At any rate it was a very good game. I just wish winning something that epic you got more than a you won splash screen. Bit disappointing.

-XT

[CandidGamera]

Well, I've played through the hardest game thus far for me. I did one of the medium sized maps with 4 AI's (5 if you count the pirates) all on Hard. The biggest challenge was trying to attack and beat down one AI while fending off another and the incessant pirate raids. I would just have one of the AI's on the ropes when another one would launch a full court press on one of my frontier worlds. Because of that the game took significantly longer than any other game I've played to date to win...I had to fortify each world I took unless I could take one world then leap the chain to another and protect from there. A lot of times I felt like I was jerking my fleet about constantly to quell one raid after another, usually in opposite sides of my empire. And for the first time since I've played influence was a major factor. I had to constantly build propaganda centers on each planet I took so I could ensure I kept the planets I took.

At any rate it was a very good game. I just wish winning something that epic you got more than a you won splash screen. Bit disappointing.

-XT

Beating four AIs on hard does get you something extra.

The 'Actually, HAL, I CAN do that..' achievement.

[XT]

It wasna easy, mind....

-XT

[carnivorousplant]

I'm getting creamed here with one AI empire. I just about had the guy, and now I'm down to four planets. I get swarmed by lots and lots of frigates. I'm trying to control choke points.

The devices that prevent jumping; enemy ships obviously are able to leave the gravity well. What's the point?

Lots and lots of frigates, or battleships to control the above choke points?

[XT]

I build one core fleet with capital ships and a mobile defense fleet with cruisers and frigates. It's all in how you mix the ships. Definitely go for the choke points though.

-XT

[Jragon]

Well I got this game two days ago and I'm currently at the "find time to play the advanced tutorials" phase of learning, so I haven't actually played a map yet. And I'm a little leary of startinga game at midnight judging by the three hour stories.

[XT]

Yeah, this game is a heavy time investment. I haven't played a game yet that has gone less than 2 hours...and the last game I played took me several days to finally win.

-XT

[Mosier]

I just got this game a few days ago, and I wrote a review (http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/review/R122706.html) on Gamefaqs if anyone is reading this and hasn't tried it yet. You can sum up the review pretty easily with just the title.

"Buy this game now. It's more important than paying your rent."

Seriously though, I can't believe how great this game is. If you think about it, the design isn't all that groundbreaking or intricate, but nobody has thought to put these elements together in just the right way until now.

Once I get a little more comfortable with the game I want to play with you guys! So far I'm on my third game, after winning one and losing one. I'm playing a map with 8 player ffa, and I finally figured out how to keep the pirates from nailing me down all the time. Right now I'm keeping the pirates focused on the player on one side of me, while I'm concentrating on taking out the player on the opposite side. So far the strategy is working well!

[XT]

In the FFA games I try and keep the Pirates focused on one or two other players while I go after the other ones. I'm trying a game now with 4 computer players (and the Pirates) broken into teams but it's not going well. Apparently you have to keep your computer ally happy with you or they will break the alliance and attack you. I had thought that my flank was secure with my computer ally but then they suddenly broke the alliance and attacked me in a full court press. Seriously sucked for a while but I think I have the game back under control (Lost one of the main blocking asteroids to my home world and actually had a full on battle AT my home world, nearly losing it).

Would definitely like to try a multi-player game at some point...still haven't done that yet.

-XT

[Illuminatiprimus]

I'd love to be involved in multi with fellow dopers but being 6+ hours behind you all I don't think it's really likely.

[Jragon]

Hmm... tidbit I don't thinkw as mentioned. Apparantly you CAN manually move your ships in the z-axis. It doesn't make much difference in combat really, but holding down "D" and clicking will allow you to do so if you are so inclined.

[XT]

I didn't know that, though like you I'm not seeing why you would bother. Frankly I usually zoom out until the ships are icons so I can better control tactically how I want the fight to go (and to be honest this usually entails drag clicking every ship and having them fire at a single enemy capital ship until it is destroyed and then rinse and repeat).

-XT

[Jragon]

I didn't know that, though like you I'm not seeing why you would bother. Frankly I usually zoom out until the ships are icons so I can better control tactically how I want the fight to go (and to be honest this usually entails drag clicking every ship and having them fire at a single enemy capital ship until it is destroyed and then rinse and repeat).

-XT
Like I said, not too useful, but if someone has an obsession with the aesthetic presentation fo their fleets and requires a third axis the ability is there. :)

[XT]

I just got this game a few days ago, and I wrote a review on Gamefaqs if anyone is reading this and hasn't tried it yet. You can sum up the review pretty easily with just the title.

BTW, read your review...very good. I clicked on the recommend it to other players button. You hit most of the high points there and the things that seemed to annoy you are the same ones that I found to. For a future release of this game it would be cool if they did a campaign feature. Also, I'd like to see more on designing ships and weapons mixes (sort of like in Galactic Civ II) and maybe a more detailed tech tree. One thing I've found in really long games is that I eventually come to the point where I've pretty much developed all of the tech on the tree (with the exception of the logistics branch which I never fully develop because of the hit on the economy) with nothing more to do there but still a lot of game to slog through. Also, some more depth in the diplomacy section would be nice...and some way for the computer opponents to be able to surrender without having to slog through every system and asteroid they have (maybe having them concede if they lose their capital/home world). In most games there is definitely a point where there is no way the computer can win...but you still have to mop up and this can take additional hours before it happens.

What I'd like to see in the future is something like Galactic Civ II meets Sins of a Solar Empire, with an advanced tech tree like in GalCiv, star bases and such like in GalCiv (with economic, military and cultural bases and the ability to add on whatever defenses/weapons/components you want), star ship design like in GalCiv, diplomacy, etc...but the game play of SoaSE.

-XT

[Kinthalis]

Also, some more depth in the diplomacy section would be nice...and some way for the computer opponents to be able to surrender without having to slog through every system and asteroid they have (maybe having them concede if they lose their capital/home world). In most games there is definitely a point where there is no way the computer can win...but you still have to mop up and this can take additional hours before it happens.


-XT


I think some of this stuff is making it to the next patch, due out in a week or two. Including AI surrendering, and less skittish AI.

[Jragon]

Just played my first game on a built in map called Despot (or something like that... it started with a D). Was fun except the Easy AI seems to be about as intelligent a a box of rocks, though:
1. The map was fairly linear, I never had much oppurtunity to be flanked
2. I took out the pirate base (which happened to be on the planet next to my homeworld) accidentaly first thing, oops. Never got one raid. (As a note, you can check this by going tot he bounty section and if the portrait is shattered the pirates re dead).
3. It was 1v1, so there was nor eall oppurtiunity for the computers to use diplomacy against me.

Some major mistakes that probably would've hurt me had I been playing a higher difficulty:

1. I built my first scout late in the game. Not a good idea as I had little to no intel. I mean, I still won but...
2. My fleet was a mess of those missile firing frigates a few cobalt light frigates and two (near the end three) capitols (one being a carrier).
3. I only really had one fleet, so if things ever ended up getting hairy I would've had both no defenses, no reinforcements, or any reserves to send to an area being sneak attacked.

Right now though I'm thinking insurgency may be good to get a little earlier. As it stood the rebels on the enemy planets were more of a nuscence to ME than to them since it was so late in the game by the time they started really effecting them I was in their base and the rebels started attacking me as well. (Both of us were random and both ended up being TEC).

As a final note, does anyone know of any memory issues with the game and any fixes? I started it with only about 29% of my 2 gigs of RAM used and once during the advanced tutorial and once late in my game it kicked me out to do a memory dump for the game (luckily it autosaved a little earlier).

[Paladud]

Some major mistakes that probably would've hurt me had I been playing a higher difficulty:

2. My fleet was a mess of those missile firing frigates a few cobalt light frigates and two (near the end three) capitols (one being a carrier).


In my (limited) experience, you do want at least two thirds of your fleet to be LRM frigates as TEC, especially on higher difficulties and early in the game. They're flimsy but their damage is obscene against pretty much everything except fighter/bomber squadrons. I tend to open with two scouts, Kol with the shield mitigation trained, a colony ship, then pure LRMs for a while.

[Mosier]

In my (limited) experience, you do want at least two thirds of your fleet to be LRM frigates as TEC, especially on higher difficulties and early in the game. They're flimsy but their damage is obscene against pretty much everything except fighter/bomber squadrons. I tend to open with two scouts, Kol with the shield mitigation trained, a colony ship, then pure LRMs for a while.

In my last game I faced an Advent fleet with 48 squadrons. I had a fleet of about 50% LRM launchers and 50% flak frigates in my mobile defense fleet, and I got the living shit beaten out of me, when the little pips next to the planet showed our relative fleet strenght to be equal.

In my experience, fighters/bombers are incredibly freaking strong, even against quite a few flak frigates.

[Mosier]

BTW, read your review...very good. I clicked on the recommend it to other players button. You hit most of the high points there and the things that seemed to annoy you are the same ones that I found to. For a future release of this game it would be cool if they did a campaign feature. Also, I'd like to see more on designing ships and weapons mixes (sort of like in Galactic Civ II) and maybe a more detailed tech tree. One thing I've found in really long games is that I eventually come to the point where I've pretty much developed all of the tech on the tree (with the exception of the logistics branch which I never fully develop because of the hit on the economy) with nothing more to do there but still a lot of game to slog through. Also, some more depth in the diplomacy section would be nice...and some way for the computer opponents to be able to surrender without having to slog through every system and asteroid they have (maybe having them concede if they lose their capital/home world). In most games there is definitely a point where there is no way the computer can win...but you still have to mop up and this can take additional hours before it happens.

What I'd like to see in the future is something like Galactic Civ II meets Sins of a Solar Empire, with an advanced tech tree like in GalCiv, star bases and such like in GalCiv (with economic, military and cultural bases and the ability to add on whatever defenses/weapons/components you want), star ship design like in GalCiv, diplomacy, etc...but the game play of SoaSE.

-XT

I could see them taking it too far, though. The tech tree in GalCiv2 is a monster that works well in it's genre, but I'm not sure I'd want to navigate something like that every 90 seconds or so in Sins.

I agree that the tech tree just sort of fizzles out toward the end, though. I think the AI needs a boost in the later game, and I suspect it might be wasting money with unnecessary fleet expansion research. If the AI were more aggressive and willing to commit bigger fleets to their attacks, it would force the player to research higher into their own fleet size, and put us back on par with them. As it is, almost any AI attack can be countered with just planetary defenses.

Another idea would be to reduce the number of tactical slots most planets can use. If our planetary defenses are smaller, it would make us have to use more ships in more areas to be able to quickly reach a seiged planet.

One more AI problem is that they always seem to make wayyyyyy too many planet bombing frigates. The things take up ungodly fleet size points, and are much too weak for the amount of space they deny the real fighting ships.

[drachillix]

In my experience, fighters/bombers are incredibly freaking strong, even against quite a few flak frigates. I have been using this to my advantage building 3-4 hangar defense per planet. From what I am experiencing the response speed and damage potential of strike craft are the only thing that make true "choke points" possible. I have also found that some AI's tend to be "pinned" by engaging fighters like they want to dig in and fight even though most of the fleet has little if any way to damage them.

I dont know about you but I have been tending to build all bombers for my strike craft they are in a word.....devastating. However, if you are having problems with enemy bombers, fighters are the solution. I tried flipping a small carrier fleet to all fighters and used them for air superiority, it works very well for supressing the hordes of bombers. Now I tend to build about 50/50 mix just to make sure.

The flak frigates are good for one thing, every time the shoot down a bomber you are effectively cutting the damage output of that bomber group by 25%, whenever I am dealing with enemy ships because of my small craft centric tactics I will target flak frigates first then let the bombers have their way with what remains. Part of the reason why flak frigates may seem ineffective is also because the hangar defense will build new bombers to replace those shot down, sometimes quite quickly.

Once the hangar runs out of antimatter it will slow way down and small craft can be effectively suppresed. I have definitely noticed a difference in how effective my small craft were before and after the enemy AA was dealt with. Unless you are zoomed in its tough to see just how many small craft they bring down, I have so far been impressed with the number of small craft they do seem to shoot down, IME its not uncommon to bring one down every few seconds of they are in range. Follow a flak frigate in a big battle for a few minutes, look for a spot where you can still see small craft.

[carnivorousplant]

I have been using this to my advantage building 3-4 hangar defense per planet.
My, they do kick ass, don't they?
Thanks, my abilities have improved somewhat. :)

[carnivorousplant]

Two aborted games. I won the third tonight. Lots of flak frigates, light cruisers, hanger protection of planets. One battleship, two carriers with fighters. Once they are on the run from attacking a planet I gave the orders Modred did in Knights of the Round Table: (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045966/) "Pursue and Slay!" :)

[XT]

Played a game starting on Sunday....and just lost it. First time I've lost since I first got the game. No idea what got into the AI but they all ganged up on me. They kept hitting me with combined raids of all 3 of the computer players as soon as I captured about half of the middle (contested) star system. I fought a defensive action hoping they would turn on each other but lost star system after star system and fleet after fleet. Took the computer hours but they just wore me down...one system at a time. It's simply impossible to fend off 3 full blow fleets even with planetary defenses and a full fleet of capital ships and support ships. I finally just gave up when they threw me back to my home system and kept combine raiding into my star. The last battle I managed to get my full fleet back in order and was winning...until yet another full on raid hit me from every side at once.

I guess the computer was tired of losing or something. No idea.

-XT

[Illuminatiprimus]

Xtisme - maybe that's the point at which you might want to pursue diplomatic relations with at least one faction to keep them off your back/help you target the others.

[carnivorousplant]

Xtisme - maybe that's the point at which you might want to pursue diplomatic relations

"The best diplomat is a fully charged phaser bank."
-Montgomery Scott.

[CandidGamera]

Xtisme - maybe that's the point at which you might want to pursue diplomatic relations with at least one faction to keep them off your back/help you target the others.

The diplomacy is screwed - or did they patch it? I managed to eke out a cease fire exactly once so far, but then the AI kept giving me 'Destroy' missions that I didn't have the resources to carry out, and cancelled it.

[Illuminatiprimus]

The diplomacy model certainly isn't the best I've ever encountered - you could throw thousands of credits/metal/crystals at your opponents but unless it's part of a resources mission they don't seem to care. The only way it seems you can reach a level of relations that allows you to get a ceasefire or peace treaty is by conducting missions (which as you say are often destroy missions which you may not be in a position to undertake).

[XT]

I was able to do some missions early on and get a few of the AI's up to 30-40%...but the best I could do is get trade agreements. At some point though they all seemed to band together to attack me and I couldn't buy them off, either directly or with offers of bounty. Not sure what happened there but they weren't having any of it. At one point it was all I could do to produce ships enough just to fight for the planets I had in the contested system...I had zero credits or resources to spare for even trying to post bounties at that point.

I think it had to do with building all those media stations...for some reason that really seemed to set them off. Though I've done it in other games and never had this reaction before. This was the first game I've played where the AI seemed to band together against me...normally they all fight each other as much as they do me which means I can defeat them in detail. If they all come against you and you can't even distract them with bounty (except the Pirates...they actually continued to go after the bounty, though by that point they are more a nuisance than a real threat) no one could win.

I loaded an earlier saved game last night and am trying to puzzle out what's going on and see if there is a way I can change what happened. Instead of fighting a do or die losing battle in the central contested system I built a fleet in my own system (pretty much leaving my huge fleet in the contested system to fend for itself in a series of defensive battles as the AI tightens the noose around my neck there...going to make a last stand at the one Terra planet I managed to capture in the system and am building defenses only there this time, leaving any system where 2 or more fleets attack me in concert to the AI). What I'm doing is attacking the AI's home systems instead while they fight it out in the central system...and so far it has worked. They didn't even try and defend the first system I attacked and I took all 5 planets including the orange guys home world. The next system they sent a token fleet (like 3 capital ships and maybe 10 other support ships) which I easily defeated...and again took all five planets including the red guys home world. Going to go after the blue guys worlds tonight. I think with that base and if my main fleet can tie down the majority of the AI's fleets as they siege it I can pretty much pick off some of the worlds in the contested system and start whittling them down...they shouldn't have the resources OR the ship building capabilities to maintain fleet after fleet. I was able to fight them off several times in the losing game...they just overwhelmed me in the end. This time though it seems to be going better.

The best defense is a strong offense. :) And to me diplomacy comes down to how big a stick you have...

-XT

[Atrael]

I'm still loving this game. Although I don't often have the hours to devote to a good game. I am keeping an eye on the mods that are being placed out there. Specifically the ones that try and balance out the gameplay a bit. It'll be interesting to see how the mod community can change the game and perhaps make it better.

[XT]

If you find any good mods please post the links in this thread...would love to try some out.

-XT

[Mosier]

I played a long campaign as the Vaseri, and I have to say they're my new vote for "most powerful".

One of their end techs is called "returning Armada" which gives you free units periodically at every planet where you build a phase stabilizer.

Money is absolutely worthless after you develop this tech. You can pour 100% of your funds into fleet upkeep and pirate bounty, lose your ships entire fleets at a time, and still never spend 3 minutes without a fully maxed out fleet.

[Whack-a-Mole]

I didn't know that, though like you I'm not seeing why you would [move in the Z-axis]. Frankly I usually zoom out until the ships are icons so I can better control tactically how I want the fight to go (and to be honest this usually entails drag clicking every ship and having them fire at a single enemy capital ship until it is destroyed and then rinse and repeat).

-XT

I did not know you could move in the Z-axis on purpose either but I can think of one use and that is to stack structures on top of each other rather than side-by-side.

Against the AI, if I know it only has one lane of attack, I will put a wall of defense turrets up facing that approach (I put a few around the planet/asteroid to keep opportunist planet assault frigs honest). The AI, if it wants your planet, will prioritize attacking those defense turrets. If you can bring almost the whole system's worth of defense turrets to bear at once they can hurt a lot and drop capital ships pretty fast. If your turrets are spread all over they get picked off one at a time rather easily.

Even against a human they need to deal with that eventually if they want the system (although of course they are smarter and can tear apart the system and stay away from your lumped turrets).

If you do the wall of turrets they still get spread out and it can be hard to get all of them on one target at the same time. If you could pile them atop one another then you have a more effective wall that can all target one ship simultaneously.

Dunno if this will really work but when I get home I will have to give it a try.

[Whack-a-Mole]

I played a long campaign as the Vaseri, and I have to say they're my new vote for "most powerful".

One of their end techs is called "returning Armada" which gives you free units periodically at every planet where you build a phase stabilizer.

Money is absolutely worthless after you develop this tech. You can pour 100% of your funds into fleet upkeep and pirate bounty, lose your ships entire fleets at a time, and still never spend 3 minutes without a fully maxed out fleet.

They are powerful at the end game but the game is well balanced. Rather than reinvent the wheel I will just post a good analysis from another forum for a different game I play where they were talking about this.

TEC is the only one with a "proper" capital shield repairer (Dunov, instant/targeted), which combined with the relatively high damage output of the main battleship (the gauss gun) can be a pretty intimidating thing to encounter, and just add a few robotics cruisers into the mix (hull repair) to make it all nigh-invulnerable as long as they still have antimatter reserves.
Quite powerful in the opening to mid stages of the game, and again pretty balanced in the end-game if resources are not an issue, but has a bit of a problem in the mid-late stages when it's quite vulnerable to an economically crippling attack.

Advent, while only having an "area/overtime effect" capital shield repair, and relying more heavily on shields, they do have the iconus guardian (absorbs 1/3 of damage on shield), which combined in larger numbers with a fleet that has some repair-able capitals, alongside a few hull repair cruisers too, again, are pretty hard to bring down ; also, they have loads of special abilities that amplify or "reflect" damage. So, for instance, if you DO spot some unlucky sod focusing fire on one of your ships, hit it with the L3/120% damage reflected thingy and watch them go "ouch", add some 16%-damage-spread-to-enemies and the damage-over-time of the Destra, and you have a pretty scary combination. Oh, and did I mention, they are the only ones that CAN train cap ships (with the proper research) for free up to the L3/L4 cap ? Not only that, but they can also "transfer" the experience levels of a "dead" ship to a freshly produced ally. Oh, and the cheap frigate steals antimatter and transfers it to allied ships. Damn.
They're not so hot right when you start, but they can handle themselves. They're pretty powerful however in the late-mid and especially very late stages of the game, when most research is done already.

Vasaari, well, they have pretty expensive ships compared to the rest, but they make up in it by having a small chance to bypass enemy shields altogether. They also have "merged" metal/crystal research, the ability to research "see all phase travel in the galaxy", and especially the ability to CREATE temporary in-solar-system phase lanes.
Yup, that's right, once you build the proper building, you can jump directly to any other world of yours that has such a building, and there's also a capital ship that at a higher level acts as if it's one of those buildings.
And to make matters WORSE for your enemies... the same structure lets you later on get "free ships" (not capitals, but plenty of frigates and cruisers), after you research "Dark Armada", and there's a capital ship with a similar ability (of "cloning" your frigate/cruiser forces.
In other words, they're insanely versatile in when and where they strike, and very resource independent in the later stages of the game (your fleet is almost guaranteed to be at the max levels constantly due to dark armada reinforcements).


So, really, I couldn't say any of them is my favourite... it would very much depend on the map and the game settings, and the difference in who's favored are small enough to make it tough to pick.
I'd say they managed to get just the right amount of balance, while still keeping them very distinctive.

SOURCE:
http://myeve.eve-online.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=699737&page=5

[XT]

If you do the wall of turrets they still get spread out and it can be hard to get all of them on one target at the same time. If you could pile them atop one another then you have a more effective wall that can all target one ship simultaneously.

Dunno if this will really work but when I get home I will have to give it a try.

Definitely let us know. It never occured to me to stack my turrets in the Z-axis! :smack: Like Khan I guess I think in 2 dimensions...

I played a long campaign as the Vaseri, and I have to say they're my new vote for "most powerful".

They are my current favorite race to play. In the long drawn out game I described earlier in the thread (which is STILL going on btw since I restarted from a saved game...this is the definition of an epic game for me when it has taken me over a week and I'm STILL not into the mopping up phase!) I was playing the TEC...and in the end game they are harder to play than the Vaseri.

-XT

[XT]

Just thought I'd toss in a link (http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?libid=71) to the official mods section. Haven't tried any of them yet....if anyone does post your thoughts here.

-XT

[XT]

Think I'm going to give this (http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?skinid=27&libid=71) mod a shot this weekend...I like some of the things he is talking about doing with it.

This mod is meant for players like me who enjoy getting immersed in the game world. Additionally, it
is meant for players who enjoy using the longest game settings on the original. IF YOU LIKE SHORTER GAMES, YOU WILL PROBABLY NOT LIKE THIS MOD.

Almost all GameInfo files and aspects of the game have been changed/modified, either slightly or heavily. There is a readme included which details most of these, though not specifically.

----------

Since .4, there have been a number of balances, mostly focused on technologies and abilities that were overpowered. Certain aspects of the game should fit together better. Ranges on almost all ships has increased, so battles should be more realistic and interesting. The AI should work moderately better than it previously did, but I suggest using Hard AIs in any case, at least to try it out.

-----------

This mod strives to make the game a bit more realistic (hopefully), and also more interesting to watch.
No longer do you have to be annoyed that you finish 100% of the possible research in the first 5% of the game time. No longer can you lose an army and completely rebuild it before the enemy reaches your next world or two. No longer do you end up with endless hundreds of thousands of credits you can't do anything with. No longer are capital ships merely glorified cruisers. No longer are squadrons given the back seat in battles.
No longer do enemies give you impossible missions and weigh them so heavily. No longer can you have
a single strategy that works all the time. Planning your attacks and what to build is far more important
than it was. No longer is building a huge fleet a 'ho hum' ordeal.

There is SIGNIFICANT differences in the game play between this and the original game. Expect to
relearn many things and figure out balancing all over again. Expect to choose your research and ship construction carefully, as high resources and time are at stake. Expect much more specialization in specific research areas, even in the long run. Weapons upgrades are much more costly, and have many more levels each, so build your fleets carefully for the best effect.

I enjoy in the original game settings of 'lowest resources, slowest game speed, and slowest research speeds, biggest map size possible'
Taking that as a reference, I built this mod around
'low resources, normal game speed, fast research' settings. Changing these can significantly slow down or speed up aspects of the game.

Most battles will be no more straining on your computer than in the original game. Even though ships
have more firepower and shot graphics (and should be much more impressive to watch), the game runs at a slower pace and you will be less likely to have huge
fleets. HOWEVER, the max fleet size has increased, so it is possible to have quite taxing
battles, if you hoard up your fleet for a long time.

Steal or change this mod as you see fit - for your own ends. Do not feel obligated to ask me for permission, nor to give me any credit whatsoever in any form. I would like to see what you do if you do change or incorporate this mod though - just for my own enjoyment - so an email with a link to your mod would be appreciated.

There are a few mods that make fighters/bombers more important by allowing you to put more of them per hanger/cruiser/capital ship, and also some that make them have longer ranges or more powerful weapons. Might give a few of those a shot this weekend as well, depending on time.

-XT

[XT]

Check out the trailer for this Mod (http://www.moddb.com/mods/7175/dawn-of-victory) ...VERY well done. Fans of Harry Turtledove's In the Balance series will know the general theme the modder was obviously going for.

ETA: Wrong link

-XT

[XT]

Not sure if anyone is still following this thread or not but thought I'd give my impressions on the Immersion mod I mentioned I'd be downloading this weekend. Got it down and in today and have been playing for a couple of hours. It's VERY slow. Everything takes orders of magnitude longer and costs more and takes more research stations to do. Losing even a single cruiser would be a huge blow...I can't imagine what it would be like to risk a capital ship (it took me literally an hour to save up enough to build the capital ship plant and make the single free ship you get).

This one won't be for anyone who likes quick games.

-XT

[carnivorousplant]

Not sure if anyone is still following this thread

-XT

Yep. :)
Getting more practice. Anacreon on steroids.

[XT]

Well, if you want to have a LLLLOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGGG time to play and try stuff out, give that mod a try. I've now played literally 3 hours and still haven't even seen another race (and there are 5 in the game I'm playing atm, not including the pirates). I have only just managed to research the wormhole tech that allows me to actually go to another star system...

-XT

[Atrael]

That's why I've held off on that Mod. I don't get to play very often or for very long, so one game right now will take me three or four days. So I don't need anything slower.

Ummm.....you do know that you can jump from star to star with the "long range jumping" research, right? You don't have to go all the way to the wormhole research level.

Did anyone try out stacking the defense platforms on the Z access? I meant to play with that, but don't remember when I'm playing.

[XT]

Ummm.....you do know that you can jump from star to star with the "long range jumping" research, right? You don't have to go all the way to the wormhole research level.

Yup...except it doesn't work with the map I'm playing (or I guess it could be the Mod). You have to use the wormholes and then it's this long ass convoluted pathing to get anywhere. Makes the game even slower. I imagine I'll win this thing (eventually) without researching much of anything.

Did anyone try out stacking the defense platforms on the Z access? I meant to play with that, but don't remember when I'm playing.

I tried it but I must have been doing something wrong. It wouldn't let me stack them on top of each other for some reason...kept saying there was already a structure there.

-XT

[Least Original User Name Ever]

You guys aren't making it any easier for me to not go off and get this game, you know.

[XT]

*wiggles fingers* Come over to the dark side......

-XT

[Atrael]

I'd really like to try a multi player game....once you get the hang of it, the AI isn't really all that smart. I'm playing against 2 "hard" players right now and not having really that much trouble. I do play with locked teams though. So the AI can't ally against me and gang up on me. I do wish that the AI had the option of throwing in the towel. At a certain point there's just no way it's going to recover.

[XT]

I've been doing 4-5 player games either FFA or unlocked teams with the AI on hard. It's a bit more of a challenge, especially if the Pirates are in the game...but I've still only lost the one game and I went back and replayed it and won (though it was nip and tuck for a while there).

I'm currently in a mammoth game with the Mod I described earlier. It's SOO SLLLOOOW. I basically left the game on last night while I ate dinner, studied, surfed for a while and took a bath and things were pretty much where I left them. I still haven't even managed to build up enough money to research a second capital ship...let alone the massive cost to buy another one. Of course, having a second one should ensure the game is over as they now have like 30k hull points and 20k shield (and weapons research is so costly that I barely have the first level weapons researched...so damage is pretty low atm).

I was thinking of bringing down the mod tools they have for the game. Has anyone tried to use them? If you can change things like hull hit points/shield points or research tiers/cost etc then it may be worth it for me to do my own mod. This one I'm playing could really make the game better if it wasn't set so slow.

-XT

[Atrael]

I'm playing the Mars Effect (http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/?forumid=443&aid=301007) mod now. I like it. It addes some capabilities mostly for planetary defense. I hated the fact that really no matter what you put down in order to defend a planet from a concerted attack, you had to park your fleet there. It also adds some tweaks to the Capital ships...which is good in my opinion. I will say that I think the AI is a tad harder. I have it set on "normal", and it's being a lot more aggressive than I recall. I'm having a harder time than when I played on "hard".

[XT]

I'll check it out this weekend, work and time permitting. I've been playing this (http://www.wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?skinid=35&libid=71) mod this week (I gave up on the other one...it was cool but VERY slow). Basically it just increases the number of fighters per capital ship and the number available per hanger but doesn't seem to have any other effect I can see.

-XT

[Atrael]

Yeah, I have that one downloaded, but I haven't installed it yet. Mostly I went with the Mars Effect first because the Silver-whatever mod used one of the items from Mars Effect. I've found that there are a lot more mods being worked on if you take a look in the forums of the SOaSE official site. Some great stuff being worked on. I can't wait until someone gets the mines worked out. Also the next official update from Stardock is coming out in the next week or two. They've done some AI improvements I can't wait to try out.

[XT]

I tried out Mars Effect mod but it keeps blowing my game out to the desk top. :(

-XT

[Atrael]

Huh, that's strange. Mine plays fine. What's your resolution set at? I tend to keep mine about halfway up the scale.

One thing I do notice about these mods, is that I don't think they're going to play as well together as in some other games. The Mars Effect one had me change out some standard game mesh's and textures. So if you had another Mod that had changed something in those folders already, it could cause problems.

[XT]

I'm playing at the highest resolution settings for everything.

This was the first mod I've played where they had me copy files into the texture and mesh subdirectories for the game. All the other one's just had me put the mod subdirectory into the mod area and they seemed to work fine.

I finally managed to get the game working though there are still some weird things going on (the Forrest and Ocean planet icons aren't globes for instance but some kind of tile on the main map...they are fine when you zoom in though). It still blows up occasionally when I exit but other than that seems to work ok.

-XT

[Atrael]

Yeah, I noticed the strange planet icon issue. But I gave him a pass on that as it was a minor bug. I've always had a problem with SOaSE giving me an "unexpected error was encountered" error when I close it. I think the program itself is a little unstable depending on your hardware/OS, so I think MODS are just going to highlight those issues.

So how are you liking the Mars Effect so far?

[XT]

That was the first time I had it blow up like that on exit...and seems to do it every time when I use this mod.

Other than that and the minor icon thingy (which really is no big deal) I really like the mod. It lets you colonize gas giants (with a tech upgrade later in the tree) and I like the beefed up fighter/bombers and more in a squadron thing as well. I also like the new anti-fighter defense platforms.

-XT

[Robin Goodfellow]

Hope this isn't long enough to be considered thread necromancy, but the Sins of a Solar Empire demo is finally up!

NeoGAF thread (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9601998&postcount=1) of screenshots and hype.

Official announcement (http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/?aid=305055) and demo links!

It's... actually pretty late here so I haven't had a chance to try it, but I'm really hoping this game lives up to everything I'm expecting for it.

[Peanut Gallery]

BRAAAIIINNNSS!!1

So I just started playing this game this week (on the recommendation of the SDMB Game of the Year thread). I'm slow like that. It's pretty damn fun so far. I haven't played an RTS since Empire Earth years ago. Thanks for all of your tips and tricks from last year!

Oddly enough, I'm reading up on my "new" game, only to find that the first official expansion was released just yesterday. FYI.

http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/341111

Anyone still playing?

[Kinthalis]

It's actually been available as a beta for months now. And I've been playing it off and on during that time.

Now that it's officially out I will reinstall and conquer the whole of the galaxy! Muahahahaha!

[XT]

Yeah, as soon as I get back home from my current trip (in theory Saturday afternoon) I plan to buy and download the expansion. I've been waiting for this for a while now. :)

-XT

[RandMcnally]

I bought the game when it first came out, played it for a day, then put it away. I restarted it up, with the expansion, a few days ago and have now been playing obsessively.

I'm a fortifier. I build up my base then take one planet at a time, slowly. I've been playing easy/fortifier lately on a personal map. I think I'm going to ramp up the difficulty and play a ready-made map.

I haven't tried any other faction besides the TEC.

[MJinks]

I am a fortifier too and the first expansion really helps that style. I never seem to start in a nice dead-end system though... I tend to play on Hard, you cannot afford to ignore the diplomacy at that difficulty, the swarms of ships exploding as they hit my defences is a glorious sight to behold and doesn't happen enough at lower difficulties.

I like TEC because of their insane money making abilities. It allows me to heavily fortify all my outer systems quicker. I haven't played much with the others because I'm a little stuck in my ways with the TEC.

The expansion star bases also allow a TEC player to further enhance their economy. You can now place the equivalent of trade ports in 'empty' systems, thus potentially lengthening your trade route. Sweet!