Today Stardock & Ironclad Games are proud to announce the first of several micro-expansion packs, for the award-winning Sins of a Solar Empire. The first micro-expansion Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment is currently in development and will be released late 2008 for $9.95 via Stardock’s Impulse digital distribution platform (www.impulsedriven.com).
Developed by Ironclad Games, Sins of a Solar Empire is a real-time strategy game that adds an extreme amount of depth normally only seen in turn-based releases. One of the highest ranking real-time strategy games of 2008, the title has sold over half a million copies and won several Editor’s Choice awards.
Specifically, Entrenchment promises to bring fans a Starbase defense platform for each race (extremely powerful and armored bases housing a variety of weapons and other upgrades capable of defending an entire planet), turret upgrades for each race to make them more powerful (not only stronger than the current versions, but also upgradable with long-range weapons), mine fields and a Subspace Inhibitor platform that will slow enemy ships within its range.
Ironclad has two additional micro-expansions in development as well. One of which adds new diplomacy features to the game and another that will add new technologies and ships.
The expansions are being developed to prevent fracturing of the multiplayer community. If both players have a given expansion pack installed, the features are available, but if one does not, the expansion pack features are disabled for that particular game.
You can pre-order the micro-expansion now for $9.95 directly from the Impulse Store. Entrenchment is only available through Impulse.
That is very very cool.
Sounds like a good plan, instead of selling 1 expansion pack for 29.99$ you develop 3 mini-expansion packs for 9.95$ each. Players can just buy the features they really want.
I like all three, so i will just buy everything anyway
i hope all of those micro-expansion packs are included in the big expansion they are developing for sins, because i can't buy games through impulse only retail games
Huzzah! Good news, indeed. I'll be sure to pre-order when I get home
Sounds great and the feature RaveBomb quoted is brilliant.
YAY! *now decides to read it*
why not after they are all done, sell them all as a whole expansion in stores for those of us who don't like to buy stuff online but who still want the stuff it provides..
All it provides is a better tool for those people who like to turtle. I definately won't buy this to ensure the MP games I play will be fluid.
Woot woot!
We will be bundling them all up together as a compilation expansion pack later next summer. There will be more details on that uber-pack later
I bought Sins via Stardock Central.... And I bought Tokens especially fot he Expansion Pack? How can I use them with Impulse or will it be available thru Stardock Central?
Fucking...sexy. Now I don't have to keep re-modding each patch to make my defenses stronger (how I like them), i will have Starbases and turret upgrades. This is just awesome. Thank you stardock. I will GLADLY pay you 10 bucks for this, pre-odering this tonight.
Yay, sign me up! Much to Stardock and Ironclad!
Ok $10 is too much for too little imo, sorry guys you wont be milking me on this even though I still enjoy playing this game allot. I can wait till all of those are wrapped up into one and it's only $20.
Okay - few questions.
Are you going to add a single player campaign, or at least something like a prologue?
Why this will be available only via Impulse? I don't want to install Impulse and there should be another way to get it. Why not Stardock Centrall as well?
And as Howdidudothat mentioned isn't that major defences improvement going to turtle the games? Give more information about it pls.
What about the campaign you guys were planning? dam it some one already posted it.
Because Stardock Central is being phased out, so nothing new is going to be added to it. And it's not going to be in retail until the whole bundle for obvious reasons, $10 product does not justify making boxes/disks/retailer contracts.
I don't know about the campaign, though. That one's a mystery for me as well. I know they wanted to do one, so I expect that eventually they will. I also expect that it'd be kept as much a surprise as possible.
1. A single player campaign will not be a part of this micro expansion.
2. Because Impulse is the replacement for Stardock Central. All new products are being released to Impulse as we retire the SDC platform
3. Entrenchment, as the name implies, is about bolstering defensive capabilities in the game. As it stands you have one turret type, and a hanager bay for fighters/bombers. Short of having a fleet at a planet, your defensive options are limited. Adding defense deepens the gameplay and gives players more options. As to how powerful these structures will be, that's unknown still as the expansion isn't ready for balancing just yet.
Ok, that is good to hear, I can wait til next summer.
Sounds good. So no campaign in this set of mini-releases... But are you guys still going to do a SP campaign at all?? or is the plan to only work on mp related things for some time?
Is there any possibly of a lower price for buying all three at the same time?
Is this the expansion that was mentioned in the press release a little while ago? The release said that the expansion would have a single player campain and multiple new factions. If these mini-releases won't have a campain, does that mean that a full expansion will come out later with one? Or has the big one been scrapped? Will there be any new factions in the mini-expansions?
Quoting Kayden3, reply 14Ok $10 is too much for too little imo, sorry guys you wont be milking me on this even though I still enjoy playing this game allot. I can wait till all of those are wrapped up into one and it's only $20.
$10 too much? That's your opinion and that's fine, but I wouldn't calling it "milking"... I'd call it practically giving it away. What's ten dollars? Two packs of cigarettes? Two and a half gallons of gas? An hour's work? I don't think $10 is unreasonable, and I'm not loaded either.
Idk if I'll be buying the diplomacy and the other expansion pack, but I think Entrenchment sounds pretty good! Having bases protect the planet, more long range weapons, devices that slow down enemy ships... awesome! I give it five stars
Very nice. I am looking forward to these. Bravo Stardock.
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