Hertston

GalCiv 2 plus expansions, SotS: Born of Blood and Dominions 3.

[quote]Sins is a sort of odd (and IMO not entirely successful) hybrid that tries to combine RTS and 4X games and frankly doesn't result in a very good example of either. [/quote] If it had resulted in a "very good" example of either in their classic form the attempt would have been a total failure. The whole point was to combine elements of both to provide something [I]new[/I]. Whether that something is 'better' than a classic RTS or 4X game is a matter of opinion, of course, but for

Just buy, either way (the box 'Collectors Edition' is well worth the extra) direct from Stardock. It's a good time to pay for anything in $US and even with shipping you won't be paying more than if the game had a UK publisher.

[quote]I think Hertston is talking about game play more than graphics.So we're back to the gameplay vs graphics argument, which has been discussed a million times on pretty much every game forum in the universe.[/quote] In the case of TBS games (we were talking about the new Stardock fantasy TBS game, not Sins)there [I]is[/I] no gameplay vs graphics argument. Sure, in general the prettier the game looks the better but graphics have never defined a great TBS game - gameplay design does

Just go round them. They are clearly designed [I]not[/I] to be taken out. The ever-present invincible pirate base is a poor design decision, IMHO .. and even then before the last patch you at least had the option of playing random maps without it.

[quote]I must have colonized over a thousand planets by now across all games, I've never seen space ponies. Still have that lone achievement sitting there, keeping me from 100%. AFAIK they don't actually exist...[/quote] Hehe.. no, they certainly exist. I 'found' them in my second or third game, it's just luck of the draw I think.

[quote]I hope that Stardock will not be « out of its depth » with that new type of game it is designing. Even with all its flaws, Heroes of Might & Magic 5 (version 3.0) is currently the very best in the genre. Its A.I. is mediocre, but the visuals are awesome. Stardock is confronted to a huge challenge, here.[/quote] You have to be joking. Stardock could code a better game than HoMM5 in their sleep. Decade old gameplay with some new pretty graphics (hardly essential in a str

PLEASE bring back the 'no pirates' random maps... i.e. NO pirates, not just 'inactive' pirates.

It doesn't require that. Perhaps I (and I assume he) didn't make it clear but the first poster and I were talking about the [I]random[/I] maps. All it needs is a generator for random maps [I]without[/I] pirates.. which it HAD prior to 1.03!

This has me irritated, too, and I can't see any option that sorts it either. No, they don't go on raids but with pirates set to 'inactive' the pirate base is invariably still sat in the middle of the map, ships, defences and all. It's pointless and rather annoying.. what was wrong with just 'no pirates'?

[quote]So what is wrong? -Simple game is MP only basically and in MP is the average game time. A good ,fast 1vs1 on small map takes anywhere from 2 to 3-4 hours. Before you even see enemy at all a good 10-15 minutes passes, and first battles do not happen until 1-1.5 hour mark. This is outrageously slow. Even on the tiniest map (e.g. point blank) it takes up to 20 -30 minutes- and that is a game with 0 development, research and expansion. With a medium map...-forget it , you not gonna fini

No, it's far from being "just another RTS", and hopefully the devs won't be pulled too far in that direction by those who would like it to be. That said, it does need a little speeding up at present (that from someone very much at the '4X' end of the spectrum) particularly in multiplay. The devs are on the case. As to screenshots, I think there are a lot of those featuring battles as they are just the prettiest kind. Not too much exciting about seeing a star-map or factory/asteroid a

do you ACTULLLY have 2-3 hours to play the game and still work for a living?? I may not have to support myself yet, but school and scholerships combined is plently to not have 2-3 hours to play a game I can manage it with working full time, postgraduate study AND raising child and dog, so that's hardly an issue - depending on what you are studying, of course. It's just time management, one three hour game ta

For medium , 2-3 hours. For that size map, 45 or even 90 minutes isn't the game I want to play. Would be OK for small. I think people may be overlooking that game duration will depend a lot on how well opponents are matched.. if you have two evenly matched, skilled, players your game is likely to last considerably longer than in a mis-match - and you would enjoy every minute of it!

There has to be something in between 'real'-time GalCiv and kiddie click-fest that most people would find acceptable, if not ideal? I'd hate to see the game dumbed down to the "C&C in space" that somebody wanted, but then I can't find the time for 5 hour online games either. Maybe compromise is better than a multitude of options, at least for online play? The trouble with having too many options for online games is that you spend half your time trying to agree on which to use. You

Thanks, Craig. Schod, try first enabling hidden folders as aldarian suggested (it's within one, on XP anyway). Then play at least one game (no need for a full one, just abort) then do a search on "Record[" (without quotes, obviously). Check 'properties' on any of the results and that will identify the location of the correct folder. I missed it initially because there are 'Ironclad Games' folders in both 'Admin' and 'All Users' folders (XP) - the recorded games folder is in the 'Admi

While on the subject (sort of) could someone tell this newb how you actually record games? I can't see the facility to do it, and a search of the boards didn't prove helpful. Thanks.

Top that off, add a few 4x options like spying on the governor, bribing him to leave, or even switch over to your side, assasination... Lots of options open up..... I like those ideas a lot, if sufficient balance is introduced as well. For example, a failed assassination or bribery attempt (the first should be very difficult and the second hugely expensive) could result in a big (if temporary) loyalty bonus for the area under the governor's

Hi all, Agreed 100% with JimLasCola. I forked out on this precisely because it wasn't C&C in space; I want to exercise my brain, not reflexes and fingers. However, no reason everybody couldn't be satisfied by the introduction of selectable speed settings. When you attempt to merge genres you obviously get different expectations from fans of each as to what constitutes the ideal game.