A favor...

[Gandalf Parker]

Not give up?
Hmmm... I guess part of what keeps me coming back to SEIV is its friendliness on my computer. Ive bought lots of the newest greatest games since then but they tend to want to take over the machine. All of the cpu, all of the memory, change the graphics mode, full screen only, take over the speaker settings, slow to load, wont drop to the taskbar quickly, wont come back quickly. Generally rather obnoxious and making it hard to split my day between work then game then some chores then some game then check email and back to the game. The fancy graphics, sound, features I get with new games are nice but SEIV fills a niche that keeps me coming back. Of course those features also mean it runs on any old machine and portables.

I have a number of games that are very old and just will not die on my machines. They are part of an initial load to every new computer. And things they have in common are extensive game setup but then its fast in, do a couple turns, drop out. That fits the way I do my day.

Oh and I dont mind long hosting times if it provides better game (such as larger maps and better AI). Even better if its a game-setting option for those who prefer faster hosting for small MP games. Long hosting times make sure I remember to take care of things in the real world.

[PsychoTechFreak]

More abilities to finetune the AI. Something like scripted events. For example, if you encounter this schemer race then replace everything from research slot #2 on with counter intel. Or if you count more than 10 mines, focus on minesweeping. Scriptable special attacks like planet invasions, blockades.

Programming the AI could be more user-friendly and intuitive.

More than 255 Systems maps.

Better AI use of training facilities and other planet-wide facilities. Or change them to system-wide if the AI is unwilling to park their fleets over training facilities (and similar facs).

[dumbluck]

I'm surprises Fyron or SJ haven't spoken up. they have modded enough to know most of the guts of this game.

One that comes to mind is ship/fleet experience. ATM it is completely hard-coded. Being able to mod what happens at what experience level would be very nice.

[Atrocities]

I like that SE IV was modifiable.

Game play I enjoyed the detail and many control options that allowed for an in depth style of game play that both inspired and excited me.

I liked that we could design our own ships, bases, fighters, satellites, mines, weapons platforms, and troops by choosing our own components.

I like that there were planet ans system restrictions available for facilities.

I would have enjoyed the option to lay out my planet surfaces and put my facilities where I wanted too though.

I would have enjoyed the ability to set a facility, component, ship or anything in the game to one per empire.

I like the simple way the GUI worked. The lay out, albeit dated, had been laid out in such a way that it was easy to maneuver and understand.

I did not like the all blue GUI color though. Depressing.

I like how the system map was the primary focus with a galaxy map being the minor focus.

I would have enjoyed the option to have more than one galaxy open to exploration.

I liked how the ships worked. It would have been better if they were true 3d top down views that were scalable though. This way we could get a real feel for the size of a ships, bases, fighters.

I like the top down combat but felt that again, 3d models, scaled to size would have been better.

I like the mineral, organics, and radioactive production system for the game but wanted more options for economy, population growth, and planetary ecology.

I wanted to see populations react to planet conditions, effecting revenue and production.

I did not like the political system of SE IV. SE V's is much more involved.

I like the tech tree concept of SE IV. The sky was the limit.

I did not really like the INTEL system.

The game needed special resources, wonders, and 3d planets that rotated.

I liked the scale of the GUI system view. I like how when I clicked on a planet I got good useful information about that planet and what was on it, around, and being built on it.

There were a lot of really great ideas implemented in SE V that might have a better bearing on this topic than not.

Task Forces,
Political system
3d planets and ship combat -
ground combat
obsolete hulls
etc

[Combat Wombat]

Hypothetically if you were to take SE4 and add/remove features this is how it would play out

Add

Effortless/Just Works TCP/IP the currently se4 implmentation is a nightmare

Weird Worlds Retun to Infinite Space style 2d graphics keeps the game looking very spiffy yet does't bog down the hardware and is easy to mod

As completely open modability as possible se4 was sure a good start but games like Civ4 have taken it to the level where you can mod almost any part of the game from AI scripting to extensive UI reduxs

More specific changes would be more detailed and fair ground and space combat and better research and intel systems

Different modes of tranportation possible, FTL, jumpdrives ect.. not just the very static WP system se4 uses

More to come when I have something easier to type on then my G1

[Combat Wombat]

And continuing...

Beta testing! Listen to your testers don't release before it is ready. From my experience Shrapnel is pretty good about this but I want to make sure it stays fresh in your mind

Also I think hiring on some of the great se4 modders for the dev team would be a good idea. A few names come to mind and I can provide a list if it is wanted.

back to features

Make the game scale to different resolutions effortlessly. I run my desktop at 2048x1152 and se4 becomes quite the small little box(using SJ's windowed SE4 tool)

Descriptive error windows! nothing is more frustrating to have something go horribly wrong and never know what caused it(also useful for modders)

ease of use features are a must for late game play when you have 300+ planets and thousands of ships! Minimal clicks(something se5 failed horribly on and the main reason I don't play it)

Already been mentioned but a quality map/scenario editor is a must.

water planets and multiple friendly races have colonies on the same planet like one in the ocean and one on land(this goes along with total modability though)

Everyone on the team that has any say in how the stock gameplay works must play SuicideJunkie's Carrier Battles mod the poster child for balanced and fun gameplay

Ship the game with mods! alot of people still don't use websites and download things for some reason so make sure the game gets to modders early(like have them on the beta team) so they can have finished mods to ship on the game cd/dvd

PBW intergration: have the game automagically send/recieve turns from the PBW system so theres no file moving needed. Also this goes along with having the right people in the beta/dev team make sure the game is supported by PBW (pbw.spaceempires.net) and make the standards open so anyone can make their own PBW implementation maybe even have an official site/server

hopefully still more to come once I gather more thoughts into words

[Alikiwi]

Firstly, I'd suggest you check out Se.net and read up of the SE 6 wish-list forum. It covers a fair bit to say the least. I think the majority agree that SE IV makes a better base for a future version, although SE V (I'm told), has a better ability to develop the AI players with more flexiblity.
I played SE III back in 1995, SE IV since 2006. One point that comes to mind, is that SE III was more sensible on planetary production, in that the shipyard WAS a shipyard and was seperate from planet production. SE IV got that wrong.
Any new game needs to allow Modders more flexibility, and if possible (big ask), an open ended list of abilities. Whilst SE IV had a fair list, it was limited too much.
As for fans, eve though SE IV is almost 11 years old, I notice over 700 copies of my Skywalker Mod have been downloaded over the last 12 months, thats dam impressive and a testiment to the basic good foundation of SE IV itself.
A personal point, whilst fantastic graphics are nice, its gameplay that really counts. More scenarios would be good (I'm working on some now), and characters with speech (ala Imerium Galactic II) would be a must these days. I'll come back when I have more ideas...
PS I m so pleased to think you are heading in this direction

[Xrati]

Originally Posted by Alikiwi

More scenarios would be good (I'm working on some now),

Ahh for a scenario editor...

[Gandalf Parker]

Ive been playing SEIV and Dominions 3 back and forth for the last month (no money for new games), dwelling on the things that make me love them both equally. And the differences.

One thing I realized is that for ME at least one thing that SEIV had over Dom3 was something that lent an RPG factor for my character. With Dom3 you dont really manage the provinces you take. You simply use them to recruit bigger armies.

With SEIV there were facilities and events which made me feel more like a leader that had to also take care of the empire. Yes they all had impact on war-capabilities. But some of the planets could be primed for specific purposes. Such as an optimum world, facilities which increased growth, fighting off a plague, these things gave me the feel of one planet being a Ryssa party-world to be protected. There wasnt alot of it. But SEIV does have more of a feel for managing an empire than Dom3 does. In fact it was probably a pretty good level. Not so much as to feel like micro-managment, but enough for some variety and rpg.

Just thought Id mention it. Id hate to see it left out in favor of more war-game.

[Ed Kolis]

This doesn't have anything to do with an open-source project started by Ken Musante, does it? "SE4.5" is his codename for the project, until we can come up with a better name... and I never heard anything about his contacting you!