[jpowell]

I played the demo, and decided not to buy the game.

- Judging from the demo, the game isn't very stable. My system is far above the minimums, but it crashed every session.
- The ship you start with is a destroyer, but the game mechanics were that of a fighter. I never felt I was in charge of a crew and substantial vessel. Larger ships were somewhat better, but the game didn't simulate the experience of captaining a capital ship.
- Size relationships were way off. Planets looked like beach balls, even close up. Other than the distance "gauge", you couldn't tell how close you were to a celestial body until you impacted.
- There are much better tactical space games on the market. You want tactics, great graphics, modability and 3D movement? Try any of the Homeworld games.

Don't get me wrong, I have spent hundreds of hours with SEIV. I love 4X games, and have been playing them since Reach for the Stars on the C64. But the relationship between SEIV and SESF is tenuous at best. One game is graphically simple but with gameplay as deep as the Grand Canyon. The other is graphically simple and...well, plays simply too.

Every artist has his genius and his limitations. Picasso never wrote a symphony; Beethoven never produced a still life. MM should stick to 4X games; that is his genius.