Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Pleasure to meet you. *snip* I'll avoid the flame bait.

I checked out the galciv2 website and it does look like it might be closer to what 4x is supposed to be.

Galciv was a complete waste of my time to the point that any game with the name galciv in any part of it has a long way to go to call itself 4x in my book. If they got completely away from galciv, it might be worth something.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

GalCiv only succeeded due to the abysmal failure of MOO3. I bought GalCiv. It annoyed me to no end. SEIV was/is a much better game. Hell, SE3 is a better game! SE5 will be a much better game than GalCiv2. Granted, GalCiv2 looks better than the original, has a few things that the original really should have had (ship design anyone?), but...nah.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

I can vouch that the Galciv2 beta is streets ahead of SE4 at this moment.Don't know about se5 yet,apart from the fact the groundcombat graphics look laughable for 2005,even the 1999 game ImperiumGalatica2 had better looking graphics.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

IG2 could have been so good... too bad it was fundamentally flawed. Like I'm supposed to believe you can rule the galaxy simply with thousands of fighters, like the AI continually did. No upkeep. The game was busted.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

This should reassure you. Too often graphics are enhanced at the expense of gameplay. I'm not sure about you, but if a game is pretty but without lasting appeal, it's useless. However if it looks a little 'dated' as some would say but has addictive gameplay, guess which wins in my book.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

One of my most favorite computer games growing up was on a Atari 800 pc. It was called "The Battle of Midway"...yes WW2, planes and carriers and ships. All of the graphics were ascii characters, and text messages...and maybe a few bleeps and beeps...but it was very well done, and engrossing, and it had sit on the edge of your seat kinda feel...Like will the torpedo planes get any hits...how many will make it back to the carrier...will their scout planes find our carriers...I agree graphics don't make the game...'game'play makes the game...

Kana

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Aash...sorry to hear about your troll bait problem...maybe a good proctologist can help you with that. I think there is plenty of room for all kinds of 4X games in the world. From the mind-numbingly tedious to the incredibly light and quick.

As for what is and isn't 4x...perhaps it's your kind of dogmatic, repetitive, uninspired thinking that has so badly limited the genre over the past few years. Seems like at the beginning of things there was room for things other than remaking the same game with the same options the same way just with MORE. I am looking forward to galciv2 myself but to be honest, from your raving, I think it might be too good for you. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

...Tick...Tick...Tick...

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

...boom?

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Not yet.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

I dont know what you want in a game..... let alone a 4x game but I do know that what I like and what you like can easily be lightcenturies apart... yet still be in the same game genre. That is all to the better.

Personally, I have played SE (the whole series) and Stars for years. I also played ImperiumGalatica and others. They didnt last 6 months on my selves...let alone harddrive. To many things that caused me to grind my teeth.

My frustration with the Homeworld series was 1 I couldn't design my own ships, 2 was limited to the senarios presented 3 limited to the meager resources in the game, 4 didn't have the challenge of an empire to manage.

I also was a little dismayed at the diplomacy options at first but then after talking to the devs agreed with the choice. These are alien races. You have to learn the language. Therefore you have to meet, attempt to communicate, listen, snoop, then practice their language (all research) to be able to talk to them. You cannot negotiate complex treaties when you are still speaking baby speak.. plus each race has different cultural concepts. It makes since that you have only limited options.

As for spying... you can barely talk to them.. How are you going to spy? There is some limited stuff you can do - send a ship to a region of space to investigate, etc. How are you going to infiltrate otherwise? Especially when they are infiltrating a toxic (possibly) environment?

I welcome anyone that wants to shake things up a little and provide a fresh view that is well executed. The more little fish that we get actually trying new things in good ways that listen to the community that gathers around them then the better off we are as gamers.

So let them work and present their unique take on the 4x genre. Even if you dont appreciate their work, they may inspire someone who's work you will appreciatse.

Rasorow

(Fades back into the mist)

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Rasorow writes: "How are you going to infiltrate otherwise? Especially when they are infiltrating a toxic (possibly) environment?"

We know humans can be bought. Perhaps members of other intelligent species are also for sale (or rent).

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Heh, what a strawman argument for simplistic gameplay.There are many animals on this planet humans can communicate with and they haven't built Space empires and all have IQ's under 20,lol.I laugh at such rubbish.

Anyway, i don't want to slate this game, even with such a rude designer.It does look a good military game with a starmap,but it ain't 4X.And it aint unique by any means.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Umm... why are you here?

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

We were talking about that one a couple years ago on the forums here...

For reference, here is a compiled version, colourized (!) and with slow-down code for todays modern computers:
http://imagemodserver.mine.nu/nick/t...Midway_exe.zip

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Thanks...I can' believe its 92kb...nowadays games are gb's of code and such...

Kana

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Warlords and Warlords2, I still play them.
Spent 12 hours on Master of Orion (Not 2 or 3) last week when I was sick, it's still great!
But that doesn't stop me from buying SE5 when it comes out!

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

AAsh that wasn't rude, it was replying in kind http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Everyone seeks attention in their own way and you have found yours...not very originally of course. You want to be heard...and really, you don't want to take the risk to produce or create anything. I can understand that. It's scarey. But please, don't try and hide behind civility because you show none. And I show very little to you in return. Your attempt to be the one to define 4X or orginality is the ultimate in bombastic, pointless judgement calls. I could go on and on refuting your silly claims or making valid points of my own but in the end that is pretty much what guys like you want. Attention.
Ras gives you a bunch of reasons why he likes things in SotS and you respond with "I laugh at such rubbish." (wow dude, get a better script writer. Even Doctor Doom doesn't talk like that anymore.) So much for intelligent debate or respect for anyone else's thoughts than your own.
Lets face it...you are the person who runs into a restaurant and yells "I hate the food here!" Is it because you are interested in polite, meaningful debate? Nope. You just want to be heard by the people who are enjoying, or in this case looking forward to enjoying, their food.

SotS is attempt to break out of a mold set down 15 years ago or so. To take what works and question what doesn't. If that eludes or upsets you then don't buy the game...hell, I forbid it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif Its not for you. Now scurry along to the next restaurant.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

The source code is only 1941 bytes. (816 when rared)

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Wow... I havent seen a game like that since "Bombs" back in like 92. How do you play Midway? I couldn't grasp the thing just by looking at the UI.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

I went to the SoTS site, read some about the game, registered on the forum, and dove into one of the threads. The game certainly has potential, and I'm eager to try the demo when/if it comes out.

I was disappointed to learn that enemy populations can only be eXterminated, not eXploited; nevertheless the game remains well within the boundaries of the 4X genre. The upside of simplifying planet management is that the programmers can spend more of their time on other aspects of the game, e.g. tactical space combat.

One thing I like about SoTS is its terraforming requirement: most (all?) worlds have to be made friendly to colonists before they can be eXploited--especially if an alien species has already modified the world to its own specs. Unlike SE IV, even if two SoTS species breathed the same atmosphere they couldn't really live side by side in the open--the ecosystems needed to sustain them would generally be incompatible. That makes sense to me; it sounds like it would be a nice option in SE V.

[Edited 12/16 for grammar]

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Midway was 1942 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Just one byte off. That's pretty damn accurate.

*****

AAsh, if you don't like this game, WHY are you still posting in this thread? You're not going to convince anyone here that it's rubbish just by acting like a self-centered self-righteous troll. Some people like it; you don't. That's the way it is. Get over it and find another thread to post in. Period.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Its called trolling Strategia... best to ignore trolls.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Show me where i said the game was rubbish you clown.I said the game looks a good military game with a starmap.Don't put words into my mouth troll.

The appeasing going on here is a joke.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

This all reminds me of when the Internet was young, before most people realized that you should not talk to people on the Internet differently than you talk to them in real live person. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

actually, it reminds me of the REST of the internet. I sure hope this kind of behavior does not catch on, round here.

even in the BBS days, things were divided between civil communities and the unkempt barbarians at the gate. everythings bigger now, and the twits are more numerous.

im happy that the player base is expanding, but a bit upset to see the bottom falling out on our least common denominator.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

You don't like appeasing? Fine.

[censored] off. Hows that for a lack of appeasement? People like you seem to only understand things when people descend to your level. It's just too bad certain words are censored.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Can we please stop feeding the troll and let this thread return to its purpose? Any response is what he wants... Thanks.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Sigh, the trollers always eat my threads.


I swear, they should implement a ban button for topic posters to keep certain users from posting in that thread.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

actually, its not really a problem here. despite how looney we all are, this really is an island of sanity on the net.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Scarily true. Trolls generally starve to death around here, and we don't have many to start with.

We also have an amazingly high standard of grammar and spelling around here.

(Sod's law says I will have made some mistake in this post, -10 brownie points for anyone who points them out. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif)

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

[Nasty, Trolly Voice]If you use 'points them out', which is multiple, you must use 'made some mistakes', so they balance.[/Nasty, Trolly Voice]
Now, take your ten chocolate brownies and like them, you nasty bad grammer person, you!

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Strictly speaking, I think it's "I shall have made".

If I'm right, save the brownie points. Obsessive nitpicking is its own reward. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Merry Christmas, folks!


http://www.kerberos-productions.com/...opic.php?t=140


And there is now a SotS wikipedia!

http://sots.rorschach.net/

Have a great holiday!

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

*Engages Thread Resurrector 3000*

I read today that this game is now available for purchase via download, with the box copy to be released on the 22nd of August (next week). Has anyone tried the demo or release copy of this game yet? I just started reading about it; it sounds somewhat intriguing.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

I've downloaded the demo but haven't tried it myself. However, the few items I've seen about it in the local forums are kind of cold on the game.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Check it out when you get a chance, and tell us what you think. Try to keep an open mind http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Is the demo available for the general public now? I could only find a link to the File Planet you-have-to-subscribe nonsense.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Gamedaily has the demo:

http://www.gamedaily.com/download/in...eid=0078701454

I've been playing the demo on and off (RL has kept me busy lately). http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif The demo comes with a "mini-manual" which only explains the controls on the various screens, and a "tutorial" mode which is just enough to get players started. The lack of documentation was frustrating at first, but I eventually found the answers to most of my questions at the Kerberos forum, which has a whole sub-forum dedicated to the demo. Nevertheless, I suspect some potential players may have been put off by the lack of handy instructions.

More information on the game can be found earlier in this thread, and in the thread "Sins of a Solar Empire" also on this forum. For those undecided about buying SoTS, I strongly suggest investing some time in playing the demo; that would be more useful than any second-hand account I could give.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

So, i take it you like the game, Hunpecked ? I was one of the main-flamers in the thread you are referring to.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

I thought GalCiv 2 was simple...SotS practially plays itself...I was expecting some new ground breaking game, and in the end it turned out to be a rehash of a couple fo different games, and didnt do any of those things well..

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Actually I'm ambivalent about SoTS. The strategic side is a bit too abstracted for my taste, as I mentioned in the "Sins of a Solar Empire" thread. A good tactical game could make up for all the strategic abstraction, but there's a problem with SotS tactical combat: I really, really suck at it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

However, so far I've only played one of the two demo races, I've only played 1 vs 1 against the AI, I haven't found the end of the demo tech tree, and I've never played more than about half way to victory or defeat. So I intend to play the demo a lot more before making up my mind.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Most games for me...if I'm hooked, or like it in the first hour of play, then it probably will be a good game...if it turns me off, or even worse pisses me off, int the first hour, then I probably never play it again...

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Played the demo for several hours yesterday; it has potential, but I certainly don't see it as a replacement or even competition for SE:V. They could do a little better job of explaining how combat works, I never did figure it out. There's a reason I usually avoid RTSs...

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Mecron's idea for the game was the "ooooo.... shiney" of Homeworld with the simplicity of SpacewardHo!. It's a mass-market game designed for broad appeal, not the nit-picky hardcore SE-fan. That was stated from the beginning.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Well, the "ooooo.... shiney" aspect may capture the impulse buyers, but it wears off pretty fast when, like DarkHorse and me, you're trying to figure out how combat works and the game just isn't helping. Similarly, the voice responses are cute at first, but lose their charm with repetition (although I still get a kick out of the shipyard guy; he sounds just like Fat Bastard).

From recent posts on the Kerberos forums I gather that the manual won't clarify a lot of the game's nuts and bolts, perhaps on the theory that prolonging the learning curve will prolong the game's longevity on customers' hard drives. For "mass-market" gamers, however, I would expect just the opposite. Yes, all the answers will probably be available on the Kerberos forums, just as so much of Space Empires' lore is found here. But how many "mass market" players will bother with the forums?

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

I've been playing the demo, off and on, for two days and I must say, I'm not impressed. Random techs, RTS combat, even the Main Map conspire to turn what could be a fun game into more of an irritation than anything else.

Re: Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)
 

Guess I am in the minority....liked the demo and love the full game.

*shrug* different strokes/tastes, different folks I guess.

Tactical combat DOES take some getting used to.