Cykur

I have always described DW as a Strategy / Sim. Depending on how you play, it can be more strategy or sim. Based on your review, I think you are more of a strategy guy, because some of your points are subjective. I love strategy games, but I also love sandbox style sims, so the private sector didn't bother me at all. I also have no problems with the graphics. The graphics are perfectly adequate for gameplay, which is fairly unique. Better graphics would hav

Overall, interesting changes and I think a step in the right direction without changing the game too radically. The Skirantra nerf and other cap ship buffs should add some variety to the beginning of games. Halcyon looks pretty good right now. The Hoshiko buff shores up late game TEC fleets. I'm not sure how valuable Subverters will be after the nerf. I suppose they will still have their uses, but because they are kind of expensive and tend t

I tend to agree with Darvin that you are losing not because of specific fleet make up but because your friend has grown much bigger than you. Based on what you say, he is using the AI as a buffer while using his economy to keep the pirates on you -- you have to spend money on defenses and slow your expansion while he grows unchecked. By the time he is ready to fight you he is just steamrolling with a bottomless economy. It is kind of a funny thing about Sins, sometim

Regarding the comment on destroyers, while it is usually advantageous to move to cruisers, destroyers still have their uses. Some of the bigger ship designs that are great at taking out large enemy ships are not well equipped to deal with destroyer swarms. Other ships chew destroyers to pieces. It all depends on what kind of ship designs you are fighting.

SotS isn't that complex -- it is actually kind of simplistic in its own way -- it just has tons and tons of ship to ship combat with custom designed ships. If this is tedious to someone, then yah they are gonna dislike the game.

Shame, it was actually getting a lot better in the last season.

[quote]Speeding to RA was fun. Whens the last time you used RA?[/quote] Speeding to RA was fun when it worked but reckless. I can't tell you how many people I shut down their gates and then they would just quit. It is bad to have one "all in" strategy. I never raced to RA back when RA was king, it was a late game strategy after I claimed some territory. I don't really play much anymore, but I used RA constantly in multiplayer games after they

[quote]After the game Blair said he would change it next patch (prolly few months later) he did. The speed nerf to the carriers needed to happen though. This was just an example of how Devs, participating in more experience games, are enlighten.[/quote] Killing devs with exploitative game tactics is a hard job, but somebody has to do it.

I play on MAC via bootcamp with no issues. While your problem may in fact be related to your specific MAC hardware configuration, it is not inherently a problem with bootcamp -- my bootcamp / Windows 7 setup works for all games as if it was a regular PC.

[quote]Personally, as far as capital ships go, I'd rather see a buff to the other classes of capital ships. I feel carriers (with the exception of the Skirantra) are about right in terms of power, and the problem more lies in the other capital ships being too weak in their respective roles, particularly late-game where a front-line role for a capital ship is borderline suicide.[/quote] I actually think Carrier Caps are a bit too good. There is a pretty strong ar

Free RA was bad. Don't get me wrong, I had so much fun in those days. Vasari had a lot of disadvantages back then -- their mid-game sucked, so you had to come out of the gate racing, then survive to get either RA or old OP Subverters, at which point you had a chance to win again. Of course, I had this bad habit of getting RA & Subverters and maintaining fleet diversity unlike lazy RA people who would just quit if they couldn't pull off RA. I can't exactly remember

[quote]This was long ago when it was still vanilla that was played(I would almost definitely say it was before entrenchment). I am wanting to say it was vanilla 1.10 was the version. You do not know how long illuminators were bugged since you only discovered it yourself post diplomacy. Nerfing carrier cruisers at this time was a bad idea due to them having a definite counter and nothing being too terribly uncounterable. It was a foolish move to go illums against fighter spam. A few very

I think all the Carrier Caps got overbuffed when all they needed were tiny tweaks. Skirantra kiting might be the most egregious offender now, closely followed by the Halcyon, but even the Sova is devastating if it forces you to fight on its ground. A double Sova rush at your HW early game can be crippling. Carrier Caps were still valuable for their abilities before the buffs. I don't think overall balance is as terrible as people make it out to be, but

The one you're on...

GalCiv II = Civ style turn based 4X with autoresolving combat based off of customizable ship designs. Single Player, Epic length games with progressive technology tree unlocking many new things to build. Sins of a Solar Empire = RTS / 4X hybrid with streamlined economy. Emphasis on Moderate twitch Tactical combat. Multiplayer for 10 people with most games taking 1-2 hours. Epic length games can be set up, but technology / fleet size tends to max out withi

It is an RTS more in a simulation sense, not in a true RTS sense. This is NOT Starcraft -- no twitch necessary. You can slow down the game and pause it whenever you want. And your ships tend to adhere to their AI design profiles for how to engage and when to run, so while you can tweak some of what they do, sometimes the AI will over-ride you. (A damaged ship will disengage even if you want it to keep attacking.) You just choose where to attack and give fleet lev

[quote]And thanks for the info on Distant Worlds...I'll certainly check it out. Doesn't look like there is a demo though?[/quote] No, there is no demo. I hemmed and hawed for awhile because I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay for it, but I read enough positive stuff to finally make the jump. If you are in no rush, there is an expansion coming out soon. They will probably have a full version packaged with the expansion. Not sure the eta though.

I've been playing around with Distant Worlds a bit and really enjoying it, but it isn't for everybody -- it is part part RTS, part 4X, part economic sim. Wish it was multiplayer. I'm really excited about SOTS 2 next year. I have managed to restrain myself from getting SC2....don't want to spend $60 just to get bored of it.

[quote]This sounds good Cykur, congratulations for devising a better back story and a new style of game. I've always liked the concept of a competitive/cooperative game where there is an overpowered AI empire that may destroy all if left unchecked. How can it be balanced though, doesn't the Sins AI just pick on one of the players? Is it limited to its own sector of space somehow? Will you be organising any test sessions at an agreed time?[/quote] I toyed w

I have uploaded a 1.01 version of the maps. Getting your colony ship out of Terra is a bit more survivable...not much though, I have never had a problem with this in the oh so many tests I've done. You won't be able to save your initial colony base with turrets now. Neutrals have been reduced in Sol system so Vasari do not have as big an advantage. Note, the game is balanced around many players. If you have 3 people playing and one is Vasari, of cours

Based on some playtesting and initial feedback, I have made an enhanced Single Star version of the map.

[quote]Does anyone remember Star Fleet I: the War Begins? It was a BASIC game with simple ASCII graphics, but it rocked back in the day (oh, say, 1985). Maybe Frogboy grew up blasting Krellans and Zaldrons, too.[/quote] Yep, played it back in the day. Here is a link to a remake of the game: http://www.symbioticsoftware.net/starfleet/downloads.htm

I made a dedicated multiplayer rp campaign style map, very geared towards FFA. Check out the thread: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/400218

In the late 23rd century mankind has come to a crossroads. The Earth is overpopulated and her resources are spent. While some look up and outward, most of the population fears change and has embraced a repressive and totalitarian world government. As greater restrictions are imposed, an audacious plan is hatched by several splinter factions on Earth....a plan to: <span style="background-color: #000000; color: #ff0000; font-family: book antiqua,

A Marza using Missile Barrage, if you can pull it off. Otherwise, what Darvin said.....