Topic: Sins of a Solar Empire (Read 755 times)

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DO YOU LIKE SPACE?

DO YOU LIKE RTS?

DO YOU LIKE 4X GAMES?

IF YOU ANSWERED YES TO 2 OR MORE OF THESE QUESTIONS, READ ON, FAIR NETIZEN!





SINS OF A SOLAR EMPIRE
Publisher: Stardock
Developer: Ironclad
Release Date: February 4, 2008
Website: http://www.sinsofasolarempire.com



So I am pretty pumped for this little game! First of all, the development team from the incredibly addicting Galactic Civilizations II has been heavily involved in this title, despite simply being on the publisher side. However, whereas GalCiv is strongly turnbased, SoaSE is a RTS with massive fleets battles across multiple star systems and tons of little details to watch.

The Features List:
http://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/features.aspx

Gameplay breakdowns:
http://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/gameplay.aspx

And of course, screenshots:

Lots of other screenshots on the website (sorry, their gallery is a cheeseball)

Anyone else looking forward to it? Like GalCiv2 (the game that generated buzz when a Starforce employee posted torrent links on their official company forum in anger at Stardock blowing off Starforce and their nazi drivers) this game will have zero copy protection, making it easy to torrent. However, if GalCiv2 is any indication, buying a legal copy is very very worth it, as it gives you access to the patches which not only tweak, balance, and optimize the game way more than most patches from other companies, but also add new features and shit for free.

thots???
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It feels like the better part of FOREVER since I've been following this game but I am pretty stoked.  My biggest complaint with most 4X's is how they usually ignore graphics for better gameplay.  There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with this (as 4X games are some of the hardest to create) but I'm glad there's a game coming out with the depth of GalaCiv and a really cool graphics engine.  What's the point in building your own spaceships when you can't see them duke it out in MASSIVE GALACTIC BATTLES? 
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It feels like the better part of FOREVER since I've been following this game but I am pretty stoked.  My biggest complaint with most 4X's is how they usually ignore graphics for better gameplay.  There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with this (as 4X games are some of the hardest to create) but I'm glad there's a game coming out with the depth of GalaCiv and a really cool graphics engine.  What's the point in building your own spaceships when you can't see them duke it out in MASSIVE GALACTIC BATTLES? 

GalCiv's battles are actually pretty good man. I mean, they don't look MEGAEPIC but, especially with the new expansion pack still in beta, they look really good. Not as good as this game, no, but still a lot better than you'd expect from a turnbased strat game (Civilization????)

Assuming you're talking about GalCiv that is, because you can literally see each ship flying around, firing weapons and taking damage in that game.
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I just wasn't feeling GalCiv's battles.  They were leaps and bounds above Civ4 (SWING SWORD, PUNCHING NOISE, FALL OVER DEAD) but they felt too... inorganic for me.  This game wets my Macross/Battlestar fanboyism and still looks like an intelligent, strat heavy 4x game.  I've got my fingers crossed it doesn't end up a buggy nightmare like Masters of Orion 3 GOD DAMMIT I CANT MENTION THAT GAME WITHOUT FUCKING SCREAMING AAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH
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I was fairly interested in this when it showed up on my radar a few weeks ago, but honestly I'm not sure I can cut it in real-time. One of my favorite aspects of 4X games is I can just sit there for an hour double-checking to make sure nothing is fucked up; succeding flawlessly on a global or GALACTIC scale is what has always drawn me into the genre. But, it looks like it will be hard to do with this. Even with all the streamlined micromanaging they're talking about, I feel like it will be just too much to take in for real-time.

Still giving it a try though.
Last Edit: January 30, 2008, 06:04:08 am by Ash
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DO YOU LIKE SPACE? YES!!

DO YOU LIKE RTS? YES!!

DO YOU LIKE 4X GAMES? YES!!

FUCK YES

I think that sums my feelings up.
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I'm still waiting for a 4x RTS game like Imperium Galactica which allowed you to control everything from space to planet surfaces.  Most space games are limited to JUST SPACE and while you could invade planets in GalCiv, battles weren't done tactically it was just numbers vs. numbers + whatever technology you had.  Space Empires V is pretty cool but the game just feels really dated and it's not as customizable as GalCiv.
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Yeah I think SPACE BATTLES + LAND BATTLES in one package is long overdue. Obviously the attraction of a space based strategy game is, well, SPACE, but who wouldn't enjoy a massive orbital fleet battle, followed by a planetary bombardment, followed by landing 1000s of GIANT MECHS or w/e and rampaging through your enemies destroyed cities in pretty 3D or at least ATTRACTIVE 2D? GalCiv2's planetary combat WAS severely boring, especially given that until Twilight of Arnor (that new expansion I mentioned earlier), invasion tactics were really unbalanced, making only one of them really good.
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I am moderately interested in this, I'll definately buy it no doubt but I wish there was a playable trial/demo of it. These things tend to be either really, really good or fucking dreadful.
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I am moderately interested in this, I'll definately buy it no doubt but I wish there was a playable trial/demo of it. These things tend to be either really, really good or fucking dreadful.

I'm actually torrenting the beta right now (gasp, how illegal of you!).  The MP's been cut out and I hear the original beta's AI is butt awful but there's this massive patch that fixed almost all the beta's problems and the guys on the SoaSE forums said it was pretty much stable after that.  The final beta actually went up in Sep 2007 and the game only went gold (meaning it was printed on CD) last week so that's plenty of time to fix any bugs and problems.
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I am moderately interested in this, I'll definately buy it no doubt but I wish there was a playable trial/demo of it. These things tend to be either really, really good or fucking dreadful.

Go ahead and torrent the full game (no protection) and if you like it buy it and add the CD-key.

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I just played the unpatched latest beta (version 3 from last September) and I have nothing but good things to say.  The game looks and plays like Homeworld 2 (except the graphics are 'grittier' and feature better bump mapping and pixel shaders).  I only played on a random small map which was a solar system with several planetoids on it.  Your main objective is to explore those planetoids while upgrading your home planet.  I don't have the patch installed yet so culture and diplomacy is next to useless (a feature which the patch adds so I'll update this post later) but opponents go about their business unless you provoke them.

The best part of the game is the actual micromanagement.  The HUD is composed of little semi-transparent yet still visible icons that depict every planet and ship you have, what it's doing, and how it's faring so you really can do multiple things like fight battles on different fronts while building your army, without switching from screen to screen.  The AI is also pretty smart (well, your AI; the beta's enemies are dumb) and the ships have different priorities based on who and what they're fighting. 

For example, I was going to colonize an asteroid and I was building a colony ship to come to the planet.  An opponent waltzed in with a small little fleet.  The fleet wasn't large enough to pose much of a challenge but instead of going after the smaller ships, they destroyed the enemy colony ship first (so they wouldn't start colonizing) and then cleaned up the mess afterwards.  Support ships are usually primary targets by opponent AI but if you mass a large enough force of smaller ships, you can divert their attention or use support ships as lures to have your opponent waltz in front of a cruiser or a bigger ship.

Oh yeah, the combat rocks.  It's like a flashier Homeworld.  Tactics and positioning is important (different ships have different soft spots) and you have all of these cool abilities.  One of them launched a barrage of missiles and I swear the game looked like something out of Macross. 

So far, so good.  It definitely feels more like an RTS than a 4x game but I'm downloading the patch now to see what changes it made.  I'll definitely be buying this.

EDIT: oh yeah, the game requires a pretty average computer to run.  I'm playing on a 4 year old laptop that meets the requirements and the lowest FPS I've hit is 25 during a massive battle (and it only dipped every once in a while).  This is on medium settings with no anisotropic filtering and 1x antialiasing.
Last Edit: January 31, 2008, 03:13:37 am by angry black man
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So yeah, I just played the patched B3, and I have to completely agree with Marcus here. This game fucking owns so bad, I am going to totally buy this shit.

Maybe you dudes would be up for some MP games.

EDIT: Yo Marcus, would you be interested in seeing if you can Hamachi LAN this game, Beta 3 version 0.83.29 (the patched one?). I kind of want to try out the multiplayer some time.
Last Edit: January 31, 2008, 12:29:50 pm by handsome lamb
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Support ships are usually primary targets by opponent AI but if you mass a large enough force of smaller ships, you can divert their attention or use support ships as lures to have your opponent waltz in front of a cruiser or a bigger ship.

Just like in Battlestar Galactica.....................

I'm also torrenting Beta 3 release, can't wait to try it out.
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Is there any info on what the Day 1 patch is going to include, I must of skipped over it (I am assuming this works like other Stardock games where they release a massive patch on Day 1 so that the people who download the game have a reason to buy on Day 1).

I am assuming something like a more in-depth and out-of-game map editor, and the usual bug fixes, is that all?
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Quote
EDIT: Yo Marcus, would you be interested in seeing if you can Hamachi LAN this game, Beta 3 version 0.83.29 (the patched one?). I kind of want to try out the multiplayer some time.

What is this hamachi lan you speak of?  I haven't tried multiplayer yet, but I"m going to assume that because it's cracked it won't work.  If you can find a workaround then by all means proceed.

Also, I cannot get over the soundtrack.  It's a really, really good soundtrack.  Normally I mute these kind of games and set winamp to play random songs but this games OST is like something out of Star Trek.  The songs randomly play but they merged it together so it sounds like one giant, sweeping song.
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hamachi is a program that creates a virtual local area network (lan lol??) and lets you play online with people connected through hamachi via the lan option in games.
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What is this hamachi lan you speak of?  I haven't tried multiplayer yet, but I"m going to assume that because it's cracked it won't work.  If you can find a workaround then by all means proceed.

Also, I cannot get over the soundtrack.  It's a really, really good soundtrack.  Normally I mute these kind of games and set winamp to play random songs but this games OST is like something out of Star Trek.  The songs randomly play but they merged it together so it sounds like one giant, sweeping song.

yeah basically hamachi tricks games into thinking a bunch of PC's are in a LAN, letting you play (cracked) games over the internet if they have a LAN option pretty much on a private deal.

i haven't really explored the multiplayer yet so I don't know if it actually works, I'll add you to AIM and try and catch you and we can test it if you want!!!

also I fully agree with the soundtrack comment, though, there was one song that I swore to god was like a Final Fantasy song (one of the classic ones...Other World (not the one in FFX) was its name iirc) just a bit different. Still sounded awesome though.

EDIT: it definitely seems to work! I'll have to test with ABM for sure, but I don't see why it won't.
Last Edit: January 31, 2008, 02:25:24 pm by handsome lamb
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4X games always sound awesome to me but I haven't actually liked any of the ones I've tried.  I usually prefer turn-based strategy games (Total War is like my favorite thing ever), but you guys are so enthusiastic about this that I really wish there was a trial.  I guess I'll pirate it and then hope to convince myself to buy if it's good :(
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4X games always sound awesome to me but I haven't actually liked any of the ones I've tried.  I usually prefer turn-based strategy games (Total War is like my favorite thing ever), but you guys are so enthusiastic about this that I really wish there was a trial.  I guess I'll pirate it and then hope to convince myself to buy if it's good :(

Most 4X games are turn based strategy games tho...