Your History With SEIV

ZeroAdunn · #1 November 29th, 2001, 12:19 PM

Are you saying you just got on-board for SEIV? Man you missed out!

I found SEIII when it was reletively new, I was looking for another game when Stars and some other space game (now long since forgotten) was growing stale. I found the game, downlaoded it, couldn't figure it out, deleted it. A couple of weeks later I rediscovered, downloaded it, figured out how it worked and never stopped playing untill SEIV (well actually I stopped playing it about six months before SEIV came out but still)

SEIII still remains the game I spent the most hours playing...

President_Elect_Shang · #2 November 29th, 2001, 03:47 PM

Ha to both of you! You missed SE2! Well so did I sort of, I found and played it shortly before I discovered that SE3 was out. I was hooked since then. Heck I still have my old copy of SE2 around here somewhere.

Spyder · #3 November 29th, 2001, 04:09 PM

I'm also a late-comer

I've been hooked on Logistical Puzzles (otherwise known as Strategy Games) ever since Empire. I'd been looking for a MOO II replacement for quite awhile when my wife saw a review of SEIV in one of the Gaming Magazines we regularly buy and showed it to me Last year (2000) about December. I read the review and then ordered the game.

I played it awhile and was a little disappointed in the AI and put it down until recently when I got a little burnt out on EverQuest where I am the Guildleader of a fair-sized guild. I picked it back up about a week ago and noticed that there had been about 4 patches since I Last played. I downloaded the latest patch and I am impressed by the improvements

TacticDragon · #4 November 29th, 2001, 06:19 PM

As for me, I was a big Master of Orion fan. I played MOO for hours (still remember the day I bought it) and MOO2 ruled my life for years.

Eventually, I think this was back in 97, I read about the SE series in articles comparing MOO2 to other games. At the time, SE3 was the most recent one, but SE4 was already 'in preparation'. I downloaded my copy of SE3, but I kept on coming back to MOO2 because of the graphics (at the time) and the amazing gameplay experience it offered. Something I hate is what I call 'unnecessary micromanagement', and I must say that I have yet to encounter a better balanced game than MOO2 in this aspect.

I guess I never grew into SE3 because SE4 was announced and I said to myself "why bother learning this game when SE4 is coming and promises to be a killer?". Plus, in the meantime, I had MOO2...

I remember I also tried Imperium Galactica (1 & 2 & 3 or was it just 1 & 2?), which are real-time and not turn-based. The Last two IGs (this would be 2 and 3 I think) were cool because of the storyline and I just loved the way the tutorial was built into IG2. But it had a very limited replay value. I'm not a fan of real-time strategy games but the IG series was very well made in this aspect as you could pause the game and still issue orders.

Then there was Star Wars Rebellion (as many here, I am a SW fan). Interesting because of the SW universe, but what a nightmare in micromanagement! It was a real time game but would have been much better if it were turn-based. In fact the game is built like a turn-based game but the turns just drift by automatically. I think LucasArts made it real-time just because real-time was "in" at the time. Kind of stupid.

But back to SE4. I am European, and I am currently studying for an MBA in the US. Unluckily, SE4 (finally) came out during my 1st year in MBA so I don't have a lot of time to play it. But it certainly fulfills its promises, and is easily the best 4X type of game on the market. It is the first game of the genre that made me uninstall MOO2 from my hard disk. Mind you, I still think MOO2 is one of the greatest games ever, but I have beaten MOO2's AI to death soooo many times that I'm almost sick of it.

So how does SE4 score in micromanagement? Well, not bad after all. It doesn't beat MOO2, but that is understandable because it is richer. And it is 'manageable enough'. I love the game.

I think 'user modpacks' became a reality with Civilization 2, and I am glad SE4 was conceived with this aspect in mind. It is hard to find a good mod though: one that has a balanced feel to it.

A funny thing is that I have played maybe 15-20 games of SE4 but never finished a single one. I tend to pick a favorite race to play (currently: propulsion experts/psychic/religious) and develop a 'perfect strategy' with this race, and then I just can't let go of it. As a result, I struggle A LOT in the beginning of each game (I put AI settings on the hardest possible; I used to play on the "impossible" level in MOO2), but I invariable reach a point where I know I have won the game and it is just not challenging to keep on. So I start a new one...

However, I am very, very excited about MOO3 which will soon hit the market

mac5732 · #5 November 29th, 2001, 07:48 PM

I never heard of the SE series at the time, I was always looking for a good space game, played both Moo's (still like 1 little better then 2), Pax Imperia 2, Birth of Federation, etc, then one day I read a review in I believe it was computer gaming world about SE4, sounded good, started looking for reviews in mags. At the time, my kids used the net, I very rarly. Then went on the net looking for more info on SE4, went to MM, Shrapnel sites, went to this forum, started reading the threads and Posts,which by the way, convinced me more then anything to buy the game. Sent for it, loved it, been playing it ever since,
even tho I take a break from it once in awhile and play something else, I always come back to it.
Introduced to 3 of my friends, they liked, bought, and the same with them. It is the best one out. I just wish I had known about the other SE games sooner. In addition, its thanks to SE4 and this forum that I now use the net and have become involved in other game forums, BUT, this one is my #1 favorite, it has everything all the others lack and I have found that MM and Shrapenl have the best support then any other game company out there, in addition, the vets and modders on this forum are the best in helping newbies and anyone who has questions or discussions on the game and its infrastructure. This is VERY lacking in other game forums, and there is no flaming, I hope it remains this way..

just some ideas mac

Spyder · #6 November 29th, 2001, 07:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by TacticDragon:
However, I am very, very excited about MOO3 which will soon hit the market

Yep, me too....but I heard that it was going to be an RTS game

ZeroAdunn · #7 November 29th, 2001, 09:20 PM

One of my fondest memories from highschool is playing SEIII mutliplayer in the computer lab while I was supposed to be doing research... Ahhh, the fun never stops.

[ 29 November 2001: Message edited by: ZeroAdunn ]