SEIV GOLD Rebate

[fdlu]

Hi to all.
It's nice to hear of the extended features of SE 4. But as with all purchases from the USA to Europe (Germany in my case). They are very expansive and a little bit uncertain!!!

There are 3 big points on rebate and shipping related items.

1) Not all Online purchases reach the customer and it is a heck to locate, track and then get the item if it has been lost in shipping. If you get it at all !!! (It's not that uncommon)

2) The shipping cost !! SE 4 was the first game i
bought Online (no other way to get it)and after the customs opened the package it cost me around
USD 75,00. I had it ordered through chips and bits
as they had the lowest shipping costs.

3)not everyone has a credit card or is willing to
order with the card on the internet. in my case i order usually through friends. and therefore there is no direct proof i ordered the game.

as of this i ask shrapnell to think of a way to:

a) consider the outside of usa purchases in their
offer on rebate. i think the 12,00 usd option
on a credit card will be better for many
europeans than a check.

b) is there any other way to not !! sent the
original cd to get a rebate, as i do not want
to lose it if the shipping is lost.

shrapnell can set up a thread to get information
on shipping time, end cost for customer etc.
for overseas purchases just to get a feeling for the problem.

as there may be probably no way for me to get a rebate i would very much like more detailed
information on the added items.
will this be possible ?? (for example some excerpts from the new manual would be very nice,
more details on new graphics, capabilities)
will the pdf file be downloadable also ?
hopefully nobody will be bored to death by now.

[Tim Brooks]

Manual. Did someone say manual!

This is a work in progress, so don't take it as golden. The manual will be in the 150 page range (as of right now) when completed and will have to be perfect bound (glued binding) due to its size. I know this isn't much, but maybe it will help those trying to decide what to do about GOLD. The manual is being written by Mark Walker, who has numberous game strategy guides and industry books to his credit including the just released "The Video Game Almanac." The manual will be something all will want!


Space Empires IV: User Manual Outline

Introduction

· About Space Empires IV
· A Brief Overview
· Quick Start

Getting Started

· System Requirements
· Installing the Game
· Additional Documentation

A Day in the Life of a Galactic Emperor
Walks the player through three or four turns of play. This is not a tutorial-like walkthrough, but rather a general description of the flow of play, and the choices made in the first few turns.

Game Interface

· The Startup Screen
· New Game Screen
· Scenario
· Quick Start
· Load
· Resume Game
· Tutorial
· Credits
· Quit Game

The Main Game Screen

· System Window
· Selection Window
· Galaxy Window
· Interface Selections-includes an overview of the following buttons. I intend to describe the Planets, Colonies, Ships or Units, Construction Queues, Empire Status, Help, Next ship/fleet/planet, selections in depth. I intend to briefly describe Designs, Research, and Empires, because I plan to go into depth on them later in the manual.
· Planet and Ship Interface Selections Consists of a nut and bolt examination of the selections available when ships and/or planets are selected.

Designs

Includes an explanation of all the selections available on the Designs screen. Special attention will be given to explaining exactly how to design a ship and unit.
· Design Screen Selections
· Ship and Unit Design

Production and Research

Describes how to research and produce. Describes all the selections on both the research and planet production screens.
· Research
· Production

Combat

Describes combat options. Special attention will be given to explaining how the player manages tactical combat, and how his or her choices affect the combat’s outcome.

Diplomacy

In-depth explanation of diplomacy, and each species in Space Empires IV.
· Diplomacy
· The Races of Space Empires IV

Editor and Player Add-ons

Details the Space Empires IV Editor and the user add-ons included on the Space Empires IV: Gold Edition ROM.

Appendices

*Hotkey and Attribute Icon List

Lists the Hotkeys and the attribute icons.

*Troubleshooting

*The credits.

[fdlu]

Thanks for the reply. :-))
I know it is currently in development.But seems nice so far.
When are some sections done could there be
some examples to be seen Online ?? Just to get a feel for it.
As a suggestion, can there be added some how to's
with example setups on strategic combat or other ??
I have seen nice ones in this forum but they were to fragmented for myself and my limited time to really use them. maybe they can be compiled
as with the mods to be included, at least as a txt-file. i am pretty sure the authors of them would feel honored to be included.

[Shyrka]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tim Brooks:
The manual is being written by Mark Walker...

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I think that a PDF Version of this manual would be very interesting. I use to print a copy of my favorite games manuals and use the copy instead of the original. Sometimes i even print or copy portions to make a mini-manual or reference cards, and SE4 is the most complex game i've ever played.

BTW, i think this is the best addition.

[CombatSquirrel]

You know if the manual is really very good, that alone would be worth the cost of the upgrade to Gold for me...

I'm starting to get more excited about this already...


CombatSquirrel

[Puke]

quote:

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Originally posted by Tim Brooks:

How about if we offer an option for a $15.00 coupon to our store. Would that help? We thought about just giving a credit back on your charge card, but each transaction like this costs us about $3.00. We could offer to credit your card for $12.00 in place of the check?

---

okay, here is the honest answer people will probably hate me for. since i think that darn near everyone hates me anyway, im not going to mind to much.

i am a lazy bastard. a business asociate of mine just got done relating a story about how his uncle just got done with a valve replacement. the same guy who though that five minutes of calisthenics each morning would be enough to keep him in good health. all I could think about was "****, thats five minutes more than I do each morning."

point being, I have a long shopping list of games that I want to buy and try. many of which are higher on the list than some shrapnel games. If offered a store credit, I would probably use it as an excuse to buy a 'good' game from your store rather than some slick piece of kit that i think looks nice and swanky from the screenshots and previews. if you offer an option of a refund OR a credit, i will probably take the refund because it would require less effort on my part.

actually, Honestly, i would probably take either nothing, or take the credit. If I did not want to see the serise develop into SE5 and beyond, I might take the refund.. but i can see how other people would readily ignore the credit bit if they were offered the refund.

I say you should offer either a credit or nothing. if you are offering a credit, you might be able to do it without any proof of purchase, thus all the non-cd-breaking people can be happy. that will also increase exposure to other shrapnel games, and encourage many of us here in the 4x comunity to branch into real mans games. like battletech you WUSSY WARHAMMER PLAYING ENGLISHMEN! PLAY A REAL WARGAME GODDAMMIT!

i mean, ah, umm.. too much newcastle, g'night.

[Atrocities]

quote:

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40,000 pirated copies of SEIV in existance

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Good god! This figure makes me sick. Too bad you can't impliment what sierra did with Tribes 2. A single user register. You get the game, install it, and registar it. It then sends you an activation code. The disk that you have can never be used again to obtain an activation code. The only other way to get an activation code is to request it from Sierra, and they don't give them out very often.