BHunterSEAL

I have them all installed, and am currently playing a game of Diplomacy. Just saw the Starbases research tree--I guess I just didn't know where to look. Thanks!

Longtime Sins player here, but I lost touch with the series for a while after I got bored with the original and never bothered with Entrenchment. Tonight I bit the bullet and bought both Entrenchment and Diplomacy, but I'm surprised to see that they appear to be separate games--that is, they are launched separately either in-game or from Stardock. This begs the question--will I be able to play a game that has all of the features included in both expansions? That is, use both the advanced dipl

Like in Galactic Civilizations! Now there's a game with a lot of morality and how that plays out on your relationships and people.

Yeah, antialiasing is a performance-killer. You could try not using it at all, or using it on a lower setting. Going from none to 2x or so makes a big visual difference with a moderate performance hit, but upping your AA settings further give less and less of a visual boost while creating more and more of a slowdown. @kublikhan: I have a few secrets. First, I have 2x8800 GTX cards, which makes a huge difference with the SLI performance boost. I'm also an XP stripper: I rip out all of th

I acutally found SR2 to be completely bug-free. Except, of course, for some rather serious (and hilarious!) typos and translation gaffes, but I never had a single crash-to-desktop or issue of any kind.

Here's real information about the Space Ponies thing: It's a joke. You get that achievement after exploring planets, but it doesn't give you anything. It's a joke/easter egg left over from some beta or something. It's nothing. It's bullshit. Period. It's not cool, there's no secret, it's not even cute anymore, people should grow up. Just get it and don't worry about it, you're now 2% closer to 100% of achievements. It's also a clan: http://www.thespaceponies.com/

On a related note, this sounds a little like the "keep playing" feature you can do after surrendering. What's up with that? I've never done that before and I have no idea how it works.

The dynamic zoom is incredible. It makes a minimap unneccessary and allows the bottom left (or right) corner of the screen to be freed up. I think this game has the best UI I've ever seen, especially for an RTS, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it the best ever.

Exactly. And that's true for any 4X game on any computer, period. My computer, previously mentioned, shreds the requirements for Civ II. By over 500x. (8MB RAM vs. 4 GB RAM, no video card required vs. 2x512 MB GeForce8800GTX, 33 Mhz. vs. 2.5 Ghz dual-core) And playing on massive maps against 8 opponents on the highest difficulty setting still causes slowdowns late-game. Don't blame yourself, blame the genre.

I mean the option to play text quests and RTS battles from the main menu is nice, but I've always considered those features secondary to the main aim of the game. Can you give me an example of one of the [quote]Numerous quality-of-life improvements[/quote]? It seems like this is more of an add-on with new content than a truly substantial expansion...

Welcome to the world of 4X games. Back in the day, CivII/III would bog down my computer with 3 GHz, 512MB RAM, and a 64 MB graphics card not because my computer didn't pwn the requirements 4-8 times over, but because of the sheer number of calculations that must occur late in the game. Every 4X game I've ever had has been the same way. The more stuff there is going on, the longer it would take turns to calculate. Unfortunately, there isn't really a solution that I've been able to find. Even a du

I'm not sure whatever artard that posted those idiotic referrals understands that [quote]The descriptions I've read seem to describe SR2's features without specificially commenting on what Reboot adds[/quote]. That is, I've already googled it and every single site says the same thing. Why would you refer someone to a google search? How bloody stupid is that? Is it an implication that I am too stupid to google something BEFORE I post a request for information about it in an unrelated

Because all of the websites I've visited so far are pretty vague about what Reboot will add to SR2, I'd like to know if anyone has it and has played SR2 enough to be able to comment effectively on what the changes are. I love SR2 and plan on getting Reboot, but I would like to know exactly what it adds before I spend money on it. The descriptions I've read seem to describe SR2's features without specificially commenting on what Reboot adds. Obviously, it's cool that new maps and missions are

Register your game through the game launcher, which you can do by choosing the "Update Game" option.

Okay, here's what you should do: Try using the game's built-in uninstaller. If that doesn't work, or it doesn't come with one or you can't find it, add/remove programs. If you can't uninstall automatically, go to the game directory and delete ALL files--best to delete the entire Stardock folder, assuming you don't have any other games by them installed. Then go into your system registry (run-->regedit) and expand the LOCAL MACHINE and CURRENT USER folders, then go into the Software fold

[quote]If you have $50 to spend, get the 8600GT/8600GTS. If you have $130 to spend, get the 9600GT. If you have $150 to spend, get the 8800GT. If you have $200 to spend, get the 4850.[/quote] Those prices seem a little low. Ordering the parts new from Dell when I bought my new XPS, two 8800M GTX 512 MB cards and a PhysX processor set me back $1000 OVER the price of a 256MB NVIDIA card of a type I don't remember. Obviously, desktop cards are cheaper, but I highly doubt you co

I think the reason ATI has the edge on NVIDIA currently is the amount of resources the latter has channeled into the development of SLI and PhysX technology, as opposed to strict GPU development. Sure, ATI has some good cards, but it's hard to beat [i]two[/i] Geforce series cards in SLI with a PhysX processor. Obviously, if you're looking for value, that's not the way to go (2x the power, 2x the price, plus an SLI bridge).

Sins is not Civ4! It's a lot easier to add features within the framework of a turn-based game than it is in a real-time strategy game. Why do you think Sins is the first (and only) respectable RT4X game? (Empire Earth tried, and I've yet to play III, but from what I saw in I, II, and the expansions, it never really created a true 4X feel as Sins does) But yeah, I liked being able to rename fleets in GalCiv2. I would always name them after the system they were based in, like "Battlefleet

[quote]The 1.1 patch is available only through Impulse.[/quote] I also read that somewhere. I hope someone gets around to posting it on the internet as soon as it comes out. I didn't see anything wrong with the old system of entering my serial and then having access to the update. I wouldn't think Impulse would make it any more secure: people with a valid serial who purchased the game get patches and updates; people who got it illegally [i]don't[/i]. I will not be downloading Impul

I mean, right-clicking on an enemy ship will have on of your ships (or a fleet) pursue it... it's not automatic, but it's not 'micro' by any means. I believe they will follow the enemy ships through phase jumps, but I don't quite remember.

Obviously, you won't be able to play online, but you should be able to find patches elsewhere on the internet. And I seriously hope people will continue to put patches on the internet or on file sharing when 1.1 comes out only for Impulse, because I REFUSE to download any application of that sort.

Actually, I think I know why this occurred. When you have a huge fleet that includes many close combat, long range, and support vessels, both normal and cap ships, you can see that the formation is not only wide but also very long. If group jumping is enabled, they will maintain their formation as they prepare to jump. The rear ships in the fleet--usually the support vessels, like your Drone Hosts--will be able to jump from [i]inside[/i] the gravity well. This could make jumps from next to

Maybe the option works, but we don't know what it does. I always assumed it meant decreasing the fleet supply awarded by upgrades, but I could be wrong--I haven't noticed any difference.

Stars are a little small. But the thing that always gets me is that first shot a battleship fires at a second target after the a first is fired. No matter how oblique the angle, no matter how straight the beam-shooters seem to be pointed, the lasers always seem to hit their target.

[quote]Of course, I did have 5-6 Nova's auto-firing the whole time.[/quote] Yeah, that'll do it.