Hi all. I recently acquired Sins of a Solar Empire, and like it. The only thing is it's an RTS, and primarily designed for MP as I see it. I do like it, but I'm still looking for a nice TBS to play until Elemental becomes fun (I'm guessing some time in Q2 2011, hopefully). I have played the Civilization incarnations up until CivIV BTS -- all good games for sure. But I was never able to complete more than 1 CivIV game, I just hated the endgame. I enjoy Dominions for MP, but I want a nice SP TBS. I got tired of GC2 for a number of reasons (disliked "combat", found I was always building and doing the same things, really disliked the boring maps, planet building was bland, etc.), although I really liked the idea of it for a while
So....
what do you think of SE-V? It got poor reviews (about on par as those of Elemental so far), but that was 2006; I was wondering if patching has addressed the issues that the reviewers noted, those being noteably poor AI and bugs. Is it good now? I am not interested in "truth", but merely your qualified opinion. Thank you!
I like the game. It is sure a hard-core game considering the number of Excel-style tables you deal with and the impossibly large tech tree (I researched it all BTW), but I really liked the game. The real time tactical battles are cool stuff, especially early on in the game when every level of every tech matters.
Later on when my empire is big and I am way ahead of competition tech-wise I can blow up their ships no problem. The AI seemed OK - it did lock-up sometimes, but it sure was not as retarded as Civ V. It took over systems, it set up sensible defenses and it would go after your jump systems, so it was kind of important to defend them.
Obviously there is always a pivot point when you get ahead and then it is a matter of out-researching and out-producing your smaller opponents.
More importantly: I got SE V for like 9 bucks...
Space Empires V has been better since its release. However, I still prefer SE IV. Both games give the player the ability to change almost anything during set up so you can make the game what you want it to be. The research trees are good and the options for ship design are many. Of course one of the reason that I like the Space Empires series it is many similarities to the old Starfire tabletop game system.
My suggestion is pick up a copy of SE IV. It has simpler graphics that SE V but it plays better.
thank you both so far.
The AI on SEV is good now, you say?
Hmn, I didnt realize that many people preferred SEIV. I do not know if I could even get a copy over here (Germany). In which ways does it play better than V? I had imagined V was better because of all the customization possible .... but if you could add anything, please do... thank you
I really like V. Thats All I got, plays fine for me.
Be careful.
Try the SEV demo first. The game does not work well on Vista or Windows 7. You will get a frame rate of about 7 to 9 frames a second. It's a well documented problem if you check around on Steam or other forums. I would buy it too if it worked better on 7.
SEIV is supposed to have better AI than SEV.
I dunno, I've tried to get into it several times, but each time some kind of bug interrupted the process.
SE IV is my favorite of the series for now, I've played it more than any other space 4X.
I'd like to third or fourth the suggestion of trying out IV over V. SE: V was ambitious, but it was also plagued with bugs, somewhat faulty mechanics, and some balance issues. And the worst UI I've ever seen in a 4x title. All in all, IV is still a sleeker, cleaner and more user-friendly title with solid mechanics.
Not that V is all bad. I appreciate a lot of the ideas like system supplies, hex grids, the scanner revamp, and the changes to research.
Root around for a demo for either game, and see which you like better.
But damn, that Interface....
Thanks much. I've found a copy of V for 6 Euros, but have not been able to see a copy of IV in my region anywhere anywhere. (Steam sells V for 20 Euros.)
If you end up not liking Space Empires V, you could always try Sword of the Stars.
You might be able to pick up 4 and 5 in the same package... I know for a while they were shipping SE5 with SE4 thrown in, too. I think it was the "Delux" version. Might be worth checking the nearest Gamestop (or European equivalent).
Edit: I'll also second the Sword of the Stars suggestion. Very different game from Space Empires, but undoubtedly well done.
Get Distant Worlds instead. By far the best 4X game at the moment.
I loved SEIV but never enjoyed SEV. I played the SEIV Star Trek mod a lot.
Was Space Empires the game where you had really interesting unique racial traits like races that were made of energy and lived on space stations or races that left giant mine fields on the map? I remember it was a really interesting game, although I also remember that (at least in the version I played) 90% of winning it was about extremely detailed and lengthy micromanagement of your colony and transport ships to build your economy to a critical level, which wasn't really my cup of tea.
Another vote for Sword of the Stars. I am really enjoying it.
I personally am a big fan of SE IV. my gold edition came with a few mods. Two of which I installed one of which made bigger starting galaxies and was ai friendly... (the ai has an issue with black holes and a few other things where they can't figure out how to manuever)
And another one which upped the ai significantly. They came with SE IV gold and were semi weird to install from what I remember. I should dig out my copy and check it.
Hey thanks. Still haven't been able to find SEIV, but do have the SEV demo. I am currently sweating my way through the microscopic text. It looks like there is a LOT of attention to detail, and to micromanagement. If it's more micro than Dominions, I might have to pass.
What strikes me as particularly bizarre is that during the tutorial, in which, obviously, nothing happens, I never get more than 6 fps!! I cannot imagine the cause for that, my machine runs fairly demanding games without a problem. It inhibits scrolling, which I have to do a lot of.
If I find SEIV at a price similar in price to the copy of SEV, I will surely pick it up, you can't cry over 6 euros.
Try setting the game video setting to 16 bit colour instead of 32 bit. I've been able to get a few more FPS that way.
Yep, thats exactly why SE IV is way better than SE V. It has some bugs too, like integer overflows in some places, but overall it is very stable since its sprites-based instead of 3D.
That was actually "Stars!" Also a great game, and one that still runs on modern machines.
Seems to be most stable in a windowed mode; but sadly, I cannot find a way to readjust the window (make it larger), and it's just too small to play in windowed mode. Odd!
I agree. I jumped on the DW bandwagon last week and I am really enjoying the game. It has a steep learning curve, but its approach to the 4X genre is commendably innovative. I really can't wait for the first expansion (supposedly by Christmas).
There is a good thread about it here.
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