[Hrothgar]

Terran C,

The first Reach for the Stars I never played enough to comment on. I discovered Space 4x games less than a year ago, and, altho I downloaded it from the underdogs site, it was just too dated to play a whole game.

As for the new[er] Version, I'm one of what appears to be the VERY few who think it's not bad. I got it before I got SEIV, and I played it a lot then. Even now I'll occasionally play it as a break. I don't think people gave it a chance. The interface took a lot of heat for being different, but, once you get used to it [and I'm not talking about an endless, MOO3 kind of learning curve which, even after you achieve it, still makes the game a lot of work to play], it was an extremely efficient example of how to make gameplay easy. I hate cumbersome interfaces, but I thought RoFS's was very well done.

Another big gripe had to do with the designers' decision not to allow the player to view enemy fleets [or anyone else's, including your own--altho you could always get an idea of how far along yours were] while they were in hyperspace travel between solar systems. Again, this did not bother me, as, if you accept the hyperspace concept for the sake of the game, it makes perfect sense that ships in hyperspace would not be detectable. Sure, it was a pain when the enemy appeared out of nowhere in one of your systems, but you could do the same to him [given SSG's reputation regarding AI, I'm confident that this one did not cheat, at least not in regards to special knowledge of your forces which you could not obtain regarding its], so I guess, "c'est la guerre." The only time this really annoyed me was when, if you were lucky enough to actually beat the AI to a pulp and take all his planets, his remaining ships could cruise around indefinitely, denying you victory as you tried to track them down while they travelled invisibly thru hyperspace, popping out here and there temporarily, only to disappear again. SSG eventually gave in to demands to make an optional, researchable tech giving the ability to track the enemy while he's in hyperspace, but by then the vast majority of gamers had written RoFS off as a failure.

Also, you can only play solo, unless you play live on the internet--don't remember if you can do it on your own, or if you have to use a game server--so that was a big detraction for people who prefer multiplayer but don't have the time for long sessions on the net. I prefer PBEM myself, and never tried the multiplayer option. I suppose that, like most games, it's better vs a human player, but SSG makes great AI, and this one is more than a challenge for me.

Ship design is part of the game, with research providing increasingly effective components--altho I found myself occasionally choosing older ones over new stuff for various reasons. A lot of races are included, and you can make your own, with its own tech tree, etc., but you have to use the graphics already in the game, mixing and matching if you want, because they aren't available to be edited outside the program--at least not as far as I can determine. You also can design new scenarios and campaigns. Combat is tactical, with a sort of rock/paper/scissors choice of formation and engagment range. It's fairly abstract, more so than SEIV, but the graphics, if that matters to you, are a bit flashier.

So, if the gripes people had don't seem like deal breakers to you, you might want to pick it up. I got it Online from Chips and Bits Last fall, so there might be copies available. You might even be able to pick it up used on ebay or somewhere.