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]

Originally Posted by xtisme

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 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]

Originally Posted by xtisme

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]

Originally Posted by Kinthalis

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. 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-...iew/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]

Originally Posted by Kinthalis

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]

Originally Posted by Illuminatiprimus

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.

Originally Posted by Kinthalis

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]

Originally Posted by Kinthalis

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]

Originally Posted by 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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by Kinthalis

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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by Kinthalis

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 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-...iew/5553/1948/

http://www.shacknews.com/featuredart...?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]

Originally Posted by xtisme

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

you are going to kick my ass.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Originally Posted by carnivorousplant

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]

Originally Posted by carnivorousplant

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]

Originally Posted by xtisme

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?"

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]

Originally Posted by Hirka T'Bawa

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.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

What kind of video card do you have?