Acreo's Beta 2 Impressions and Feedback

...after playing for several days

from Sins Forums
Gameplay
+ Satisfying, but lacking (see the '-'s)
+ "Fleets" and ships in general will return fire and auto-intercept hostile forces
+ Excellent addition of ability to "colonize" worlds, allegiances, trading, and intelligence pact
+ Well thought out and immerseful technology tree (research)
- Lack of storyline mode
- Lack of multiplayer and LAN options
- Pirates are numerically stronger by many factors over the other AI "players"
- AI's "empire strength" is slow and very underdeveloped after an extended time period of gaming (compared to the human player and pirates)
- Colony ships fail to run when attacked or approached by hostile forces
- Lasers are weak (even after upgrades); They should be more powerfuls since only the capital ships use them.

Graphics
+ Good detailing on units
+ Breathtaking and vivid spacescapes, planets, and "galaxy" view
- No ability to test framerates during graphic setting tweaks

Other
- No "loading" screen on game load (only a hourglass appears)
- "Large" Galaxy only includes 3 solar systems

Impressions and Feedback
For me, the above sums it up pretty well. Of course, a few things listed above will become available as Beta 3 comes around and as the full game is due to release. The three things that bugged me the most were: 1) pirates are stronger than AIs, and AIs are too weak; 2) The TEC's capital ship lasers should be more powerful; and 3) I hope and wish there will be more than 3 solar systems within the "large galaxy". I just feel 3 is small and not very expansive or breathtaking when playing with 9 other players.

When I first started playing Beta 2, I noticed instantly that I got a sense it felt like I was playing Homeworld 2. As time progressed, I saw it is very much a combination of Galactic Civilization 2 and Homeworld 2 with some extensions and additions (very good). I am a immersed science fiction fan and the TEC capital ships reminded me of Freespace's capital ships (with the sensor probes "sticks" out in front and the boxy shapes).

Overall, Sins of a Solar Empire (SSE, my shorthand), is coming along nicely. I can't wait until the game feels more balanced and new features and races are released in the upcoming betas.
4,175 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
-Multiplayer and lan options aren't out until beta 3.
-The pirate and AI problem is known and will be fixed in monday's patch.
-i agree with you on the framerate request
-you can create larger galaxies by using the customize galaxy button and i've seen modders with galaxies of hundreds of stars (which is silly imo but shows that you its very easy to open a text file and make whatever you want). oh and also the patch notes say that the new large galaxy is going to be larger and youc an have up to 10 solar sysytems in the custom builder.
-yes i agree, it is coming along nicely
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
weird... I have a loading screen... It has the bar at the bottom that goes from Red to yellow, to green
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Lordkosc,
I mean the initial load when you double-click on the SINS icon on your desktop. All I see is a hourglass and after about a minute, the ingame menu shows up.

Ironfuzz,
About the Multiplayer and LAN, I mentioned that some of the points I included weren't going to be released until later. I placed them in because I felt not having them contributed (or lack of) to my impressions of the game itself.

And I haven't used the customize, so I can't comment on that portion.

I might end up modding this game based on a science fiction series I am currently reading.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Lordkosc,
I mean the initial load when you double-click on the SINS icon on your desktop. All I see is a hourglass and after about a minute, the ingame menu shows up.


weirder... you should have 2 mini movies that play, the IC logo movie and the SD logo movie... it then pops you to the in game menu.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Err, whoops, I have those to vids, after the hourglass. I forgot about those vids since I have a habit of hitting the ESCAPE when those come up.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
- No "loading" screen on game load (only a hourglass appears)


I personally prefer the less is more approach, and if given the chance would gladly start a custom game directly from the desktop if there were tools to handle it. While splash screens and introduction movies are a common thing, and necessary in a way to promote the product and developers/publishers, I find them annoying because I usually already take an interest in who made/published the game long before I bought it.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Regarding your point on lasers, the TEC, being the low-tech emergency military that it is, is not generally a laser faction, hence why lasers only have two levels of upgrades to the... larger number for missiles and autocannon.

The Vasari and/or Advent will probably make use of lasers more.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Well, I was just saying, since lasers aren't used by any other type of ship beyond the capital ships. And seeing how it basically reminds me of Freespace and Babylon 5's capital ship's lasers, they should be a bit more powerful.