I just got a copy of the full game of Stars today, and I must admit, its .... well, detailed. The tutorial is very good. Right now, I am on tutorial page 30, and just about dozed off. Time to post at shrapnel. I think Stars is a good game just on what I have seen, but not worth what I paid. Its old, and very windowish. Not bad for the age of the game, and quite revolutionary in its design for that time though.
Overall, I like the look and feel of SE IV. The concept of having a huge 2000 plush glaxy (not a grid) to explore is very tantalizing. I like the Year concept. It takes X many of years to reach Y location. I also like the Intel aspects of the up coming new release of Stars Supernova. Reminds me a tad of Rebellion.
To me, what makes a game one to keep is one that had indepth game play, long term play, and one that allows you to emerse yourself in it. SSN seems to have some nice features that would be excellent components for SE V. I like the Emporor notes system, you can keep track of what your doing in a journal and post it to the web. I like the Spy feature, and the way that the galaxy looks like a galaxy with starts (Red, Green, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Red, etc) that represent systems with up to 22 planets and moons. It takes 15 years to go from point A to point B with Tech level X in warp drive. That I like. keeps the game down to earth, and allows for more realistic game play.
I do look forward to SE V as I am sure Aaron,(who is really the only guy working on SE IV or V compared to the 15 people working on SSN,) is working on it.
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"We've made too many compromises already, too many retreats! They invade our space and we fall back -- they assimilate entire worlds and we fall back! Not again! The line must be drawn here -- this far, no further! And I will make them pay for what they've done!" -- Captain Picard STNG
New Age Ship Yards