OT: SEIV
 

Sorry, I see "SEIV" written here in different contexts. Seems like it is a game. Or is it something else? What is it? And is it good?

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Think, tank ... it's Space Empires IV.
Guess where you can find it ...

Re: OT: SEIV
 

It stands for space empires 4, another game published by shrapnel. I have played it, but it never captured my interest like dominions.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

I have the demo, but didn't really get too interested. I guess its supposed to be really good though...

Re: OT: SEIV
 

I played it for a long time before dominions. I'd say that yes, it is very good.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

The game is OK, but the MODs really make it. Increases everything a hundredfold or more. Map size, images, techs, and definately the races you can play. It has alot of the same "hooks" that dominions has such as a large number of variations for creating your starting nation which allows for alot of "playing it your way"

Re: OT: SEIV
 

I played the SE4 demo as well but could not get into it. It had some really cool and innovative features. My particular favs were the diplomacy features and the different (positive and negative) relationships you could have with other empires. And the way it handled Intelligence/Counter-Intelligence operations. But aside from those things it was an absolute MM nightmare. Like Mictlan blood economy MM on crack!

Re: OT: SEIV
 

That's interesting to me, because I like both games a lot, and am slightly surprised that only some of the players of both games appreciate the other game. It's also really interesting to read this:

Even though I know each player has really different tastes, it's quite interesting to me that one of the few players here on this OT D2 forum topic who so far has expressed a appreciation of SE4, says the opposite of the typical SE4 fans! That is, if you read a thread on the SE4 forums where the diehard fans list the weaknesses of the game, they will point to the diplomacy and espionage systems as two of the weakest points of their otherwise beloved game, and they sometimes say Dominions' management keeps them from getting into it! Really interesting.

Anyway, I guess for both games, if it's a type of game you like, then both games are really good at what they do. Personally, these are two of my favorite games! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

PvK

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Last I played (a loooong time ago, pre-Gold even) late-game micro was a bit painful; I had to take notes to track which planets needed atmosphere converters and which facilities needed to be exchanged for Monolith IIIs. In particular, Monolith IIIs are very very nice given a resource converter, but you couldn't give an 'upgrade' order that would work en masse and you couldn't afford to scrap them ALL at once and go for Mono IIIs. 'course, for multiplay, this might be less of an issue with one their being more pressing things to do than massively overhaul of the economy with Mono IIIs and improvement plants.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

The Gold edition and the later patches really fix a lot of quibbles and to me really added up to a major improvement. Resource coversion only requires one facility to convert huge amounts of resources, and can be set to repeat orders.

However, like Dominions, the amount of late-game management depends on the map size and your play style.

SEIV has a great automated multiplayer site too at http://seiv.pbw.cc .

PvK

Re: OT: SEIV
 

I was kind of turned off by the insanely high ship upkeep, actually. It seemed to me that you were always far better off sacking a ship when its injured or runs out of supplies and building a new one, rather than trying to resupply or repair it, which seemed just plain silly. IIRC, the upkeep was 1/4 the initial cost! Thats insane.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Personally, I think it's a great little space conquest game. Iused to play MOO II a long time ago, but when I started playing SEIV I put it out to pasture.

It's one of the few conquest games I've seen in which you can actually force an AI to surrender.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

It's a great game, but like Dominions, you have to play it multi-player to realise how great a game it is.

I think the key feature is the research-ship designe-ship tactics cycle. Choose which technology to research, design your ships and create ship and fleet tactics to exploit your technological strength and minimise your weaknesses (and counter-act what your opponent has), and test the result in combat with fleets of dozens (or occassionally hundreds) of ships.

In some ways there is more micro than Dom2, because SEIV has much more economic infrastructure to build and manage. On the other hand, SEIV has some basic features like build queues and multi-turn move orders that make life rather easier.

Mark

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Maintenance is usually equal to 15% of the total price of the vessel for most Empires (it is a bargain to get from 25% to 15%), and you can lower it to something like 10% or 5%. Upkeep is usually not a problem for most Empires, unless fighting a losing war, and it allows to set a limit to how many ships you can send in a single war (a very high limit, however).

I agree with the previous posters about the game being about multiplayer and mods. I would definitively not recommand playing the vanilla game in singleplayer, but mods make it much better. Mods and multiplayer, and it is much better all of a sudden. Odd game setups can also increase the interest of the game: a 200-ship game proved to be very interesting, as fighting a three-front war with limited resources is not the easiest thing in the world.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Space Empires IV is easily one of the greatest games ever created. I recommend everyone purchase it. Also Space Empires V is coming out this summer and will have a 3d engine for combat and system view. And PBW.cc(se4s multiplayer site) is very well designed and maintained. Also SE4 has the most deticated and friendly online communitys I have ever seen.

Also I maintain a very excellent mod for SE4 which can be obtained in my siggy(yes I know I am shameless everyone tells me)

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Tell me but one thing: Will the right click of power be restored in SE5?

If not, I'll stick with SE3 !

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Wich mods are most widely used? Which mods do you recommend? I have played vanilla, but when I had to install some mods I was overhelmed by the huge amount so I didn't know which one (or which serie) to install to improve the game.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

I liked the devnull mod.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Play SEIV.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Almost necessary for some mods:
-Neo-Standard add-on - adds many new ship/unit pics for the stock races. Many mods use the neostandard pics.
-all Image Mods - a lot of mods use the Image Mod Packs which contain over 1400 new comp pincs, IIRC approx. 1000 facility pics, the Planet and Event Packs add lots of new pics to use, and the Combat pack adds new beam/torp graphics.

Recommended, because of widespread use:
-Proportions, which adds many new techs and several ship sizes. Introduced the famous Cultural Centers which give massive bonuses - and with whom your Homeworld is packed.
-Pirates and Nomads, also adds many new techs. You can play as a normal race, a Pirate who cannot colonize but is specialized in, well, piracy, or as a Nomad, who cannot colonize wither, but who are well adapted to life in space.
-Babylon 5 Mod - popular mod that emulates the TV series.
-Atrocities Star Trek Mod - also a popular mod that emulates the TV series.
-Adamant - a massive mod which adds Organic and Magical races.

And there are many more mods out there, some huge conversions like Adamant, some only small mods which can be used as add-ons. I'm (yes I'm shameless) currently working on two mods which both change gameplay, Capship where you get to have unbelievably huge warships which crawl through space and cost astronomical amounts of resources to maintain - not only because of the 50% maint cost, but also because the base cost of the hull is so huge, and Realism, in which you start with space travel technology which is actually slightly lower-tech than what we currently use. You later get solar sail ships for fast short-range interstellar travel, and sleeper ships which are slow but have a long range.

Check the SEIV forum sometimes for more info, and drop by the Won-Ton Violence Take-Out Hut for a nice drink & chat.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

There is no widespread mod in the field of multiplayer SEIV games (quite surprisingly too, since the regular game could *really* use some improvements, more so than Dominions). A few other mods include, but are not limited to:

* PvK Balance mod, which makes Empire setups less of a no-brainer. There is literally *one* setup worth your time in the standard game, with a couple of variations, and everything else is... well, more expensive and weaker.
* Proportions does not merely include tech areas: it is rather a major overhaul of the game, which reduces the focus on reckless expansion and focuses instead on a more careful development (colonies take a long time to pay off, and the tech tree can actually last beyond turn 70).
* TDM for AIs with better scripts, and AIC for AIs with added assets. TDM is essentially the same thing as the regular game, while the AI Campaign is quite close to Proportions, and therefore offers a vastly different gameplay.
* Fyron's Quadrant Mods for a more varied galaxy.
* Adamant and the universe mods mentioned below.

That list mostly includes mods that have reached a certain level of development; there are other promising mods currently in development, but this would be another matter.

Re: OT: SEIV
 

But .. are the different mods compatible?
For example, can I install Proortions, PvK and TDM?

Thank you

Re: OT: SEIV
 

Most of them aren't: only mods affecting a part of the game (like FQM for systems) can be used with other mods. PvK Balance changes Empire setup, but Proportions does that as well, and changes the actual balance between the characteristics; TDM requires the vanilla game to work, as it uses improved AI script, which would not work together with Proportions.

So, the general rule is that mods cannot be used together, though this is not always true, and you can always try to bend several mods if you have a bit of spare time. In the case of Proportions+TDM, the AI Campaign would probably fit the bill quite nicely, as it resembles Proportions with a tougher AI.