Sins of a Solar Empire

[10-Neon]

I've been watching this game for a while. The developers are big RTS fans, and even created an authorized expansion pack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft:_Retribution) for StarCraft. It will be a real-time 4X game, and is scheduled to launch in February.

Recent Interview about the game. (http://www.shacknews.com/extras/2007/060107_sins_qa_2.x)
Older Gamespot interview. (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/sinsofasolarempire/news.html?sid=6169556&tag=topslot%3Btitle%3B1&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot&page=1&cpage=1)
Gamespot screenshots. (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/sinsofasolarempire/images.html)

[markus]

Hey, this looks really good!

I haven't heard of starcraft retribution. Is it any good?

[Wlck742]

So I've preordered this game but stupidly enough, I did it on Amazon so I can't play in the beta as far as I know. I just want to hear some feedback on this if you think it's a good game or not. If you've never heard of it it's a space RTS 4X hybrid. Unlike Galactic Civilizations, which is one thing it's compared to, it plays out in real time, and unlike Homeworld 2, another game it's compared to, it has elements of a 4x game such as diplomacy, culture, trading, alliances, etc. Obviously it's not as deep in those aspects as a full RTS or 4X, but it looks like it's got the best of both worlds and a little more. The feedback from the reviews are mostly very good.

Link: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/sinsofasolarempire/index.html?tag=result;title;0

[BirdofPrey]

It looks interesting. I have been keeping an eye on it and was planning on buying it. One thing that kind of annoyed me though was them comparing it to Homeworld and then finding out the controls of the ships aren't near as involved. i hear there is no 3d movement

[Wlck742]

Mmm, I don't really mind. From what I hear a lot of the units will be automated since the game's so big, so it's probably not a issue. Besides, I hardly ever used 3D movement in Homeworld. Never found it to be that useful.

[BirdofPrey]

It was good for fighter ambushes but frigates and above didn't make enough use of the ability to pitch up or down

[Light]

They should've stressed more on it, like giving ships weak points and stuff.

[BirdofPrey]

Hopefully they will make HW3 now that they have the license back. I loved the ability to box select attack and defend commands and wish there were more games that used those 2 features. Honestly the defend a single target seems archaic in comparison and you never have jut one unit you want to defend usually more like 4 or 5.

HW2 wasn't perfect though. Getting fighters into bays for hyperspace jumps was an exercise in frustration. I wish there was a command that sent them either to the nearest bay or allow you to link them to a specific ship that they will fly to when using a recall command.

Maybe Sins will have something of the sort (assuming they have carriers[If they don't somone is in trouble])

[10-Neon]

I'm downloading the game at this very moment. It looks like it'll take a couple of hours, even on my school's absurdly fast connection.

--

And seriously, search before you post. This was a dupe of a thread that had the same name, word-for-word, with the exact same capitalization. -_-

[Shadowdragon]

It's fun. I highly recomend it. Though I do want to mod it for THOUSANDS of ships!

;D

[BirdofPrey]

I'm wondering. My favorite thing is fighter combat and the use of carriers so how does it work in Sins? Is it similar to homeworld where you build fighters and can then put them in carriers for storage during transit as well as stop for repairs or do the carriers come with their own fighters already built ala SC?

[Wlck742]

Ugh, all these good reviews make me want it all the more, and my order doesn't come unitl MONDAY! :P

[BirdofPrey]

I thoght it was aready out

[Shadowdragon]

It is, he probably ordered online. To answer your question, it is more like homeworld then SC. Fighters/bombers don't cost anything to build, they build quickly, and you can generally only have one squad per ship. Each side has a capital ship which can eventually carry seven. The fighters DO have to stay in a home ship for the space lanes though, but you can still control the fighters themselves, however.

[Fenix]

It's fun. I highly recomend it. Though I do want to mod it for THOUSANDS of ships!

;D


Over nine thousand p'raps?

Anyway, the guys from Penny Arcade recommend it, that's enough to make me check into it.

[Wlck742]

I think nine thousand would just screw up your system lol. Isn't the limit 200 or something?

[10-Neon]

It is amazing how well this game runs... my system is six months old, and was only middle-end then, and runs the game at my monitor's full resolution at max settings quite smoothly.

But yeah... I think over 9000 would equal dead computer. Even if a computer could handle that, the interface couldn't.

[Wlck742]

I got this game on Monday, and I'm impressed at how sleek and useful the interface is. In a game the size of this, a bad UI could mean the whole game goes to hell but the developers managed to pull it off with their empire tree.

[Shadowdragon]

Actually, I hear you can have upwards of 400+ ships, so maybe it can handle them...well, on second thought, the engine may not be able to handle it. But I don't care.

[Wlck742]

I heard they're increasing the max fleet capacity in the next patch but I don't know to what.

[Unentschieden]

It is certainly good but initially the huge fleets will slay you. But eventually you will get used to the great UI (hint hint) that made the game possible like it is now. The Autoadd to fleet is especially nice . I still have trouble figuring out when to use what (why use fighters?).

Unlike SC to have the factions unique they had to pigeonhole them into certain overall strategies unfortunately. TEC is obviously the economic giant, Advent the mind controlers and Vasari the warmongers.
There IS a interesting backstory but no Campaign wich is a shame, especially since that could have doubled as extended tutoriual.

[Inpox]

i love this game, it looks very nice, has a wonderful interface but its a shame that they didn't make any campaign, well its not really such a big problem cause the big maps takes a really long time to complete.

one thing i have noticed though that in the end youl use the same tactic to defeat the enemy, you attack their fleet, beat it up good, they retreat and comes back later with the same fleet but weakened, you do this several times and after a while they are so weak that they cant fight back anymore

And tec all the way btw, after a while you get so much money that youl easily get the strongest upgrades and you can defeat the enemy by overwhelming them with units cause you can build so many

and for those who wonders about carriers, you can choose to build 2 types of ships on carriers, fighters (good vs other carriers fighters and bombers, they take them out quickly so make sure to attack the enemys bombers with your fighters) and bombers (good against big ships)
when you built them the appear next to your carrier and follows it, when a enemy comes up they auto attack (but you can manually control them)


and btw the supply limit is at 2000, so if you only build simple ships that take 5 in supply you can have 400 at most(and yes i have done it :P)



(( okay I'm **** tired right now so yes i know theres a load of spelling errors here but don't mind them))


(((btw the Marza Dreadnought is the best capital ship in the game)))


here's a trailer to the game (personally i love this trailer, its so cool)

http://www.youtube.com/v/e2Pv7TtV8js&rel=1


and this video kinda shows how big a normal big map is, you can make customs who are much bigger if your comp can handle it(well this is already a huge custom map but strangly enough my comp seems to be able to handle pretty much anything)

http://www.youtube.com/v/jEGxNC11yPU&rel=1


btw i just remembered,if you wanna download the game its just a 0,9 GB download (the game isn't bigger then that

just remembered something else, the music in the game is AWESOME

i recommend you gyz to get this game, it will enjoy you gyz good until sc2 comes out :)

[Unentschieden]

For thouse confused the Marza Dreadnought is the TECs (Traders Emergency Coalition, the "normal" Humans) Planet Siege Specialized Capital Ship. Best is debateble but it shurely is the most impressive looking. I have better experiences with the KOR Battleship, Planet sieges are a secondary issue imho.
In this game Capital Ships are a lot like Heroes in WC3, with active and passive abilities.

[Inpox]

well the KOR is undoubtedly a good ship but i prefer the Marza cause with a little micro you can use the radiation bomb to make huge damage to several ships, i just feel its easier to blow things up with the marza :P

and btw the Marza Dreadnought is the Tec's planetary bombardment and long range combat specialized capital ship

and about planet sieges i just send in some krosov siege frigates (the ships tec use to bomb planets) after i crushed all the defenses around the planet.


and btw here's the unofficial wikipedia with lots of information about Sins of a solar empire
http://www.soasewiki.com/index.php/Main_Page

[Unentschieden]

Ah thanks for the wiki link.

Well the KOR has extreme staying power, the experimental shield, Flak and especially "Finest Hour" make it propably the most durable ship in the game.
For AoEs I prefer the Cluster attacks, while the oneshotting and anti capital capabilites from the Railgun make it preferable for the capital ship.

[Inpox]

arghh i would just have post a long text but then i got logged out :(

and btw np
anyway il write it shorter this time

Indeed KOR has great survivability but Marza can output alot more damage, with all the upgrades it can get through tech tree and using Incendiary Shells to increase the attacks of its auto cannons and missiles greatly, thus it can use missile barrage to deal good damage to all enemies in a area

i would say Merza has better direct damage though i have to agree that KOR prob has better abilities

but that doesent really matter cause you can after all have many capital ships :P