Sins of a Solar Empire compared to other games. and more

Miltary Terms

Sins of a Solar empire is a good game. I had it for two years now, but for some reason, I aint WOWED! by it. It just seems too easy for me in term of stargey and tactics. When I first played Homeworld seris and hegomonia:legions of iron, I was fasinated on the univerise of the games, and the way the designs of the battleships just made you feel when fighting each other, and chunks flying off. I loved the way the game captured each battle with big explosions and different kind of ships types (proton, ion missle, quantum wepons) but for me, sins didnt really appeal to me at all. 

The reason I brought sins was becuase it was the only space game out there similar to these titles. I dont care about having a 1000 point fleet capacity, hundereds of units on the screen, I care about big battle ships, not kodiaks or captial ships, I care about hundereds of fighters and different kind of weapon based ships. I want research to take a long time to find, I want to meet new races, I want to have different planet types, not just 4 (desert, artic, terrian and desert).

 

Hegomonia Battleship

Now compare this to a kodiak.

 

For some reason, after playing games like homeworld and hegomonia, SOSE feels like a drop down to me in terms, like coming from playing Empire:TW to Command and Conquer. When battles are fought, its hard to see any enjoyment from the drag colours of machine guns, lasers and plasmas.

I want more colourful explosions, I want to see ships losing parts of there wings, and falling off into other ships close by. I dont want ships to be built in there hundereds, I want to see ships with fewer fleet sizes, but MASSIVE, with loads of firepower, just htting everything, massive explosions etc.

As I have noticed in deplomacy, you can now make pacts between players to get better armour, weapons upgrades etc, this is a very nice fature, and I hope that it is develop further, inclduing more upgrades.

How about a way to let players build units for other players, then sell them to them for a price or a trade. For example if an allie needs help, you can sell him 20 jarvis missle for 2000 creds or his cap. 

 

Civic Terms

I want to see more danger in the civic labs too, I want Governments to be implemented into games, allowing different bonus and extra features to be granted into games. I want to see Recession being caused by having big economies, for example, if allies with trade agreements start producing less units or spending less, then your economies get affected too (persuave economy) or by losing planets too fast, you also lose trade income. 

I also want to see Corruption within fractions, allowing other people to corrupt governments of other players so that they can affect the way there empire is run. Also, allowing other players to invest in there economies like a share system, so if a player lends money to another, an agreement policy allows the player who lent the money to get a percentage back each time, until another play buys it from him, or the play buys it back.

Money is the key to this game, whoever owns majorty of the map, has allies with trade pacts should also be the most vulnerable in terms that if people are not buying, then they should be affected by it.

I believe by adding governments, and a kinda share and loan system to the game, it could be an effective way in building an empire, by not fleeting up. A espionage system would also be very valuable.

I also want to see natural disaters to happen on peoples planets, earthquakes, volcanic erruptions, solar flares etc.

 

 

 

I do love SOSE but Just some things to think of when making another space game guys.

12,420 views 16 replies
Reply #1 Top

Yes nicely put.I have felt the same way black.I never played hw or those games but I played alot of 4x games s(space empires 5,moo2,galciv2).This game lacks major depth.Dont get me wrong its real fun but its like all face value.If they could merge space empires 5 with this game it would be the best game ever.Space emp 5 had 100 s of tecs all kinds of diplomacy packs and you could even make a united nations type of thing.Custom ships anyway you want.Starbases all custom.You could make missiles to shoot from your planet to another planet.Move population with frieghters.It was massively complex but I liked it for this because you could do ANYTHING.Dyson sphere.Make phase jumps and destroy them.Kill and make suns.

Reply #2 Top

Passionate story. I have to try Hegomonia after seeing this picture.

A universal recession seems like a nice idea :0

Reply #3 Top

I got Hegemonia and its expansion. Its a very good game and surely a beautiful. However neither its mechanics nor scope can compare to Sins. Also you picked one of the ugliest ships and compared it to one of the most beautiful. If you compare it to a Halycon things look quite different.

Reply #4 Top

Quoting MindsEye, reply 1
Yes nicely put.I have felt the same way black.I never played hw or those games but I played alot of 4x games s(space empires 5,moo2,galciv2).This game lacks major depth.Dont get me wrong its real fun but its like all face value.If they could merge space empires 5 with this game it would be the best game ever.Space emp 5 had 100 s of tecs all kinds of diplomacy packs and you could even make a united nations type of thing.Custom ships anyway you want.Starbases all custom.You could make missiles to shoot from your planet to another planet.Move population with frieghters.It was massively complex but I liked it for this because you could do ANYTHING.Dyson sphere.Make phase jumps and destroy them.Kill and make suns.
End of MindsEye's quote

 

Thats what I mean minds :), the game lacks depth, it reminds me of like a command and conqueser style of play.

Quoting GJDriessen, reply 2
Passionate story. I have to try Hegomonia after seeing this picture.

A universal recession seems like a nice idea :0
End of GJDriessen's quote

 

Its a really good game, I loved it from start to finish, stroyline was excellent, and the ships were so lovely.

Quoting MRDred, reply 3
I got Hegemonia and its expansion. Its a very good game and surely a beautiful. However neither its mechanics nor scope can compare to Sins. Also you picked one of the ugliest ships and compared it to one of the most beautiful. If you compare it to a Halycon things look quite different.
End of MRDred's quote

 

Ok maybe hegomonia wasent as depth as SOSE, but it felt like it. The diffrent types of weapon based ships such as proton, missle, ion, and quantum was a joy to watch other ships fighting each other. And the battleships aint ugly, there designed in a way to show the roughness of the technology the human race had at that time. I rather have an hegomonia battleship then an hecloloyn any day.

Reply #6 Top

I'm thinking completly opposite.

I think the sizes of the ships are perfect. Capital ships shouldnt be so HUGE.

But I wish the designs were a little more different. But in a way where all ships look almost the SAME, with just minor changes, such as just adding on different guns.

 

You know why i want it this way? It looks so cool having a fleet with all similar designs,size, shape.

Reply #7 Top

Haegemonia was a show, not a video game. You couldn't control more then 12 squadrons (or units as the squadron of seven fighters, the squadron of 4 corvets, the squadron of 2 cruisers and finally the squadron of one battleship are the only four military units you can build in the game !)

The battle were nice to see but didn't involve strategy at all, it was just watching the pretty effects.

You are comparing a game with only 12 units maximum to Sins... Haegemonia was nice, i had fun with it but it was not a strategy game at all.

The only thing that was really good in Haegemonia was the planet managment system.

(just criticizing the comparison with haegemonia, for the rest, well, it is up the devs to listen to you or not !)

Reply #8 Top

Haegemonia and homeworld set the standered for me on how space games should be. The fact is those, Haegemonia did have smaller amount of units compared to SOSE, but that what made it good, it made a whole different stragey out of it.For example, in SOSE, my main Fleet would consist of 50 kodiaks, 3 hosh, 20 garda, 40 Jarvis etc. and in my defense I would leave 10 carriers, 20 kodiaks just in case and keep building more fleet.

in Haegemonia it was different, you had 8 battle ships, 4 figther squadrons, 4 covets squardons and 2 crusior squardons, spread out all over your systems (3 systems). this may be WAY SMALLER then the fleet in SOSE, but it was more relsitic in that point. you dont need 50 kodiaks etc and numbers to make a game.

you need a relistic space game, not a command and conquer kind of game. I dont want a battleship to be built within 1 minute, I want it built in 6 minutes, I want to feel that it has been worth it, and I want to see it get battered, and bits flying off it when hit, i want to see ion weapons, missles, and protons being hit at every single direction,I want it to be one 'Amazing show'.

I think there are two types of RTS space gamers, the one for the Command And Conquer style of play, the other for the Homeworld and Haegemonia style of gameplay. There maybe some for both, but compared to homeworld and Haegemonia, SOSE seems to lack depth for me.

I aint sayings its a bad game, far from it, its a very good game, but lacks the depth for me to keep interested.

Reply #9 Top

The reason I brought sins was becuase it was the only space game out there similar to these titles.
End of quote
Perhaps you shouldn't have bought it. Sins was designed to emphasize ability use and high lethality.

Reply #10 Top

I dont want a battleship to be built within 1 minute, I want it built in 6 minutes, I want to feel that it has been worth it, and I want to see it get battered, and bits flying off it when hit, i want to see ion weapons, missles, and protons being hit at every single direction,I want it to be one 'Amazing show'.
End of quote

 

Get a graphical mod, and play on slow.

Reply #11 Top

Quoting -Ue_Carbon, reply 10

Get a graphical mod, and play on slow.
End of -Ue_Carbon's quote

 

My thoughts exactly. If it's just the mechanics that are bothering you, there is nothing stopping you from modding them away. It's extremely easy to make all of those game play changes you mentioned, and more planets and better graphics have already been implemented thanks to some awesome modders. While you're right to criticize them for some of their design choices, I think IC easily made the best system and engine for a space real time strategy game yet.

 

 

Reply #12 Top

it isnt just the grpahical elements to the game, and the ships. read the main part above, the point i talk about the depth of the game etc.

Reply #13 Top

Generally I prefer turn-based 4x game, or combinations such as Total War.  It's very hard to get real-time games at the strategic level right, with the right pacing, smooth but deep (not overcomplicated) tech trees and decisionmaking, and moderately intelligent unit AI meaning the focus can be on strategy. It's also hard to avoid getting bogged down.

I thought SOASE hit the mark fairly closely when it came out and has been improving since.  I only wish I had more time to play.

Reply #14 Top

Eh...I always thought that Heagmonia was pretty but it had realy slow and boring gameplay and there was just not any reason to build anything but battleships. Sins isnt nearly as purty (with bailknights and other mods it gets close) but its gameplay is much more entertaining, the sides much more diverse and just about every ship has a role in your victory. I like my space games like I like my women, mildly pretty but with a brain, personality, and substance. Heagmonia is a gourgoeus dumb blonde... stark at first but spend some time with her and she is prety boring and underwelming... :-P

Reply #15 Top

Quoting -Ue_Carbon, reply 10

I dont want a battleship to be built within 1 minute, I want it built in 6 minutes, I want to feel that it has been worth it, and I want to see it get battered, and bits flying off it when hit, i want to see ion weapons, missles, and protons being hit at every single direction,I want it to be one 'Amazing show'.


 

Get a graphical mod, and play on slow.
End of -Ue_Carbon's quote

*cough* *cough*

It IS an 'Amazign show'.

I don't want to diminish Haegemonia - it was a good game for its time, but it had its letdowns.

-very strict unit limit

-very fast research... so fast it became invasive... was there an option to slow research? I can't remember.

-assaulting planets really sucked. If you bombarded a planet that was building something you hit first the building structure and after that was gone you hit the planet... until the AI or enemy build something new... wich it was constantly doing... a pain in the lower end section.

But it had a nice campaign. And it looked great. But so is Sins.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNtXp3NlbRE

Reply #16 Top

I think your problem is that you want Sins to be fully 4X, instead of RT4X. The problem is that most 4X's with the kind of depth you're talking about are turnbased, because TB's work much better with 4X.

With a TB you can take as much time as you want to make your decisions, with no adverse consequences. With an RTS, you can take a lot of time to make decisions, but the AI, or your opponent, won't be doing the same. With an RTS, it can get to the point where there is too much complexity and too many options, and it becomes un-fun for the player, because they have to doing *something* at all times, from beginning to end.