[jc173]

Well SEIV has probably been one of my best purchases as far as computer games go. I can't put an exact value per hour of fun on it for me, mostly because I'd probably be shocked if I tallied up my total playing time. Aside from the usual 4x play features I think what I really like about SEIV is the incredible ability for you to customize just about anything in the game techs, planets, star systems, units etc. It can be overwhelming at times though especially if you play large games. Some of the mods I use and would recommend are the TDM modpack, God Emporer's research mod (although it takes a little editing to make the TDM modpack compatible with it see the filler tech thread for details), Sun Devil's politics mod, and the sound mod (I think it's from TampaGamer?). I also use elements of my own stuff, Suicide_Junkie's Pirates and Nomads mod, and the Devnull Mod. The other good things about the game are the community and the customer support from Aaron/Malfador. I've seen very few game companies/designers that were so open to input from the players. The game does have some drawbacks the baseline AI isn't very smart, but that can be improved with the use of the mods. The amount of data in a large game can be overwhelming at times, it would be nice if more filters and displays were included, ie show me all planets with non-breathable atmospheres that don't have an atmosphere converter or show me what system wide bonus facilities are in this star system. But all in all I think this is the best 4x space strategy game I've ever seen.