(Shocking) News!!!!!

[Tim Brooks]

tesco samoa said:
I do not quite follow this... So for 3 years it sold away and then in year 4 D2 took over for year sales and then to date this year 4th place... So does this mean it is only the best selling game by a little then
No disrespect. Just trying to understand the paragraph.

Sorry tesco, what I meant is that on our 'all time' top sellers list, SEIV is in the top 3, not our "best seller by far". Last year, 2004, Dominions II was our number one seller and SEIV was 4th.

This is not meant to discount SEIV in any way, we are proud to call it a best selling Shrapnel game, it just shows how much our fan base has grown since we started in business. Heck our new releases now do in a month what it took SEIV several months to do back in 2000, when it was first released.

[Lisif Deoral]

Tim Brooks said:

All the above quote actually says is that the Space Empires IV crowd is vocal and the game has enjoyed longevity - which, I believe we all knew . We wish we could get the wargamers to be this vocal here, but they have a vast forum network that extends beyond the Intel Forums. The reality though is that SEIV was not our 'best selling game by far'. It however has been in our top 3 sellers since its release over 5 years ago. In 2004 it was beat out by Dominions II, which was our top seller, and, in fact, SEIV came in 4th place for the year.

Er... yes, I think I used the wrong tense (English syntax error in line 2... er, I meant "it isn't my native language, sorry"). What I meant was that I thought that SEIV was the best seller in 2001 or 2002. Anyway, I suppose the overall sales total for 2000-2005 is good if it managed to stay in the top 3 for 4 years.

[Tim Brooks]

Lisif Deoral said:
Anyway, I suppose the overall sales total for 2000-2005 is good if it managed to stay in the top 3 for 4 years.

No doubt. We will miss SEIV.

[Caduceus]

I am still suprised that there is no response from Malfador. Aaron...?

[Iron Giant]

Wow. Thats a kicker. But for all the back and forth "he said, she said" it seems to me the real questions don't have answers:

1. Will SEV be dumbed down for a broader market?
2. What is its current PROJECTED release date?

As much as I happen to think Shrapnel games is cool (A forum for a game they don't sell?? Who DOES that??) and I like the group of fans here, the publisher won't really affect my enjoyment of the game, the cost is irrelevant (charge $100 for all I care, if the game has the draw of SEIV I'll get 1000 hours out of it. How many games are $.10 per hour?) and its clear that Aaron will support it long after it comes out.

If its dumbed down to appeal to twitch gamers I'll stop following it entirely.

If this change means its not coming out till 2006, I'll stop following it (but I'll keep an eye out in 06...).

[David E. Gervais]

Iron Giant said:
Wow. Thats a kicker. But for all the back and forth "he said, she said" it seems to me the real questions don't have answers:

1. Will SEV be dumbed down for a broader market?
2. What is its current PROJECTED release date?

The quick and to the point answers are..

1) No!
2) The Beta starts in April. (release is always pending the speed and success of the Beta)

Cheers!

[tesco samoa]

This is my last post in this tread.

But I am going to say this.

Some people here are starting to sound like the SEIII crowd when seiv was coming out.

F.U.D. is not the way to go about this. Enjoy what was and what will come down the road. If its not your ride then get off and catch on to something else. No reason at all to be bitter here. As Geo would say. Dude Chill.

[DeadZone]

Actually David, I now fear, that with Aaron going to SF, what happens to every other game on the market will happen to SEV
Aaron is pushed into releasing before its ready

How many publishers have we seen do that? about 90% of games today are released well before they're ready

I hope this won't be the case and Aaron has full control of this aspect

[Malfador Machinations]

Greetings to the Space Empires IV fans!
------------------------------------------

Shocking! No, not so shocking. We love the community here at Shrapnel and have had a great time working with Shrapnel Games over the last 4 years. We just need to try and see if there's a bigger audience for the Space Empires series out there. This will mean getting the game into retail, and releasing specific language versions for different countries.

And don't worry about the SE5 development. Its completely in our hands and we have total control. Its being made much the same way that SE4 was. Our support for the game will be the same as always regardless of the publisher. We'll make patches as long they're needed!

The beta test for Space Empires V will start next month, and the first screen shots will be posted in April. We want to thank everyone for the terrific suggestions and support! We couldn't do it without you.

Aaron

[sachmo]

Malfador Machinations said:
We couldn't do it without you.

Well, you could, but who would buy the game?

Good luck in your venture. I hope things work out the way you hope they do.