I have stopped playing SE4 some time ago, not enough time being one but not the sole reason. I will give SE5 a try, definitely. I still have doubts that I will start playing SE again with the new version, though. From the screenshots on the Malfador webside, eye candy seems to have the biggest part in the new design. Seems to be the new design style: take an old game, make it simpler and worse, add eye candy and fancy 3D graphics. A concept that fails every time I have seen it. I hope Aaron doesn't get too carried away with graphic design. A screen with 90% graphics and 10% boxed in a corner with a tiny part of the total data, forcing me to make my own spreadsheet in order to have a minimal overview over the game - I don't have time or fun to do this any more.
As also mentioned by others, real-time is an issue. It ticks me off every time I read it. If I want to play a game where the number of mouseclicks per second is the most important factor, I would go and play Unreal or whatever, not a so called real-time "strategy" game. It seems to be there is no forced realtime aspect in SE5, but I still fear - it's a crazy idea to introduce realtime in a strategy game in the first place, and with crazy designers you never know what happens...
MOO3, the biggest failure ever - I hope Aaron doesn't try to use parts of its design in order to prove there is a viable game behind it. Games where 90% of my efforts are directed to prevent the "helpful" stupid AI to ruin my empire are not my idea of fun. I don't mind management even if it means micromanagement. They way to reduce micromanagement is macromanagement and scripting, not artificial stupidity ruining the game if allowed to.
I do hope the testers do their job properly. Which is difficult if you hire dedictated fans to test your game. The proper testing is not seeing a new feature, getting all exited about how wonderful it is, and using it every way the designer intended to admire it even more - even if this is what I too whould probably do
. A proper tester must have the will to BREAK every feature, trying not to use but to EXPLOIT every rule in ways never intended by the designer - this is the only way to find loopholes that may otherwise ruin the game when hitting a market full of merciless players after release. I would recommend a second beta phase with more testers, especially players being totally new to SE if possible.
All in all I have mixed feelings and it seems to be very unpredictable what will finally emerge. I hope the lack of informations about SE5 does not mean the designer expects disappointment and disapproval, and tries to hide to avoid the heat.
Re: Abandon SE4?Opinions:Space Empires 5 screen sh
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