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Forum: Games
Topic: Sins of a Solar Empire
started by: Leisher

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 22 2008,07:26

Did you ever get Sins of a Solar Empire? Is it worth it?

I'm asking because I've been hearing good reviews and now I saw that mod makers are already doing Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar, etc. total conversions.

Posted by GORDON on Apr. 22 2008,11:22

It is actually the next game on my list to purchase, assuming the Orange Box never drops in price, which it hasn't.

Been busy with a contract since the beginning of the year, and now summer is coming and my little unwritten rule is, "If it is daylight, there is probably something you should be doing." But I guess now the rule is written.

But it really is the next game I am getting.

Posted by Leisher on Apr. 22 2008,11:36

QUOTE

It is actually the next game on my list to purchase, assuming the Orange Box never drops in price, which it hasn't.

Take your pick, the Orange Box or the video card. :-)

QUOTE

Been busy with a contract since the beginning of the year, and now summer is coming and my little unwritten rule is, "If it is daylight, there is probably something you should be doing." But I guess now the rule is written.

I wish you lived in Iceland. I'd like to see how long that rule would last there.

Posted by GORDON on May 05 2008,18:01

Just picked up Sins at Target for $40. I'm cringing because it recommends a dual or quad core processor. Installing it now... not sure if it will be important that I have a single core proc, or not.

Posted by GORDON on May 05 2008,19:10

Was going through the tutorial with graphical settings maxed and was just thinking "this isn't so bad" when the game locked up my PC requiring a hard boot.

Posted by Leisher on May 05 2008,20:48

I've heard complaints about it not having a single player campaign.

Posted by WSGrundy on May 06 2008,12:30

(GORDON @ Apr. 22 2008,11:22)

QUOTE

It is actually the next game on my list to purchase, assuming the Orange Box never drops in price, which it hasn't.

What is your target price? Amazon had it for $29.99 the other day. It hits that price about once every two weeks.

I'm still waiting for it to go to $19.99 then I will pick it up. 5 games I have never played for $30 is a good deal but I have enough other stuff to play that I can wait.

I'm also wondering what the package deal will be when HL:Episode 3 comes out.

Posted by Leisher on May 06 2008,13:04

I doubt the Orange Box will drop to $20 for some time unless a retailer screws up. The individual games all were recently released individually for more than the compilation Orange Box, thus the Orange Box price should've actually risen.

I doubt we'll see another Orange Box. The Orange Box was WAY TOO successful.

We know Half-Life: Ep3 is in the works and that's the closest we might get to another Orange Box.

Actually, I take it back. We might see another Orange Box, but Portal 2 will not be in it. It was a huge hit and will get its own release from now on.

And if you think they'd release HL3 immediately into a box set, you're insane.

Posted by WSGrundy on May 06 2008,13:34

(Leisher @ May 06 2008,13:04)

QUOTE

I can wait. I just played HL1 and all the expansions for the first time about 6 months ago because it was selling for $2.99.

I've seen the Orange Box go as low as $25 but I had/have too many games to play so I didn't go for it.

If enough other people I knew were playing TF2 it might push me to get it but again only at the $30.

Posted by GORDON on May 06 2008,13:39

(WSGrundy @ May 06 2008,15:30)

QUOTE

(GORDON @ Apr. 22 2008,11:22)

QUOTE

It is actually the next game on my list to purchase, assuming the Orange Box never drops in price, which it hasn't.

What is your target price? Amazon had it for $29.99 the other day. It hits that price about once every two weeks.

Ah, I've never noticed that. Still $40 in the stores, too.

$30....... maybe. I should prolly grab it now for $30 before they decide to retire the Orange Box altogether and sell the individual components for $20 each for the next 2 years.

Posted by GORDON on May 06 2008,13:39

Let me know next time you notice it for $30 on amazon.

Posted by WSGrundy on May 06 2008,19:28

< $30 at gamestop. I don't think they offer the free shipping like amazon though. >

Posted by GORDON on May 06 2008,20:07

Nope, gotta stay with free-shipping-no-sales-tax amazon.

Posted by GORDON on May 06 2008,20:16

Actually, I just noticed amazon is selling it from a 3rd party, which means shipping costs. Alrighty then.

Posted by Leisher on May 06 2008,21:17

Why don't you just drive your ass to Gamestop Gordo? There's like a thousand of them here in the city.

You will love yourself for getting Portal. Not to mention HL:Ep2 is just awesome.

Posted by GORDON on May 06 2008,21:47

Tried playing Sins again tonight,a nd it locked up on me again. It happens when a ship explodes. Next time I fire it up I guess I'll try turning down the graphical detail of the explosions.

Posted by GORDON on May 08 2008,15:53

Put the graphics settings back down to "Default." I was able to play for about 2 hours before it locked my system.

Posted by GORDON on May 08 2008,15:57

(GORDON @ May 06 2008,23:16)

QUOTE

Actually, I just noticed amazon is selling it from a 3rd party, which means shipping costs. Alrighty then.

Grrr, gotta pay sales tax, too. I guess I should have expected that, since I've seen GameStop stores in Ohio... physical presence in my state.

I'm passing for now. Maybe if I walk past a GameStop soon I'll walk in, I'm just accustomed to everything in mall retail stores priced $10 more than it all should be.

Posted by GORDON on May 09 2008,09:16

Turned off "Objects Bloom" and was able to play for about 2 hours before my system locked.

This game is NOT Homeworld 3. In fact, it is barely a RTS... it is closer to Civ 3 than Homeworld. Very close to MOO, but with real-time ship movement.

All in all, so far I like it better than any other "conquer the galaxy one planet at a time" game I've ever played.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 08 2009,17:00

A few nights ago no one was in UO and I was bored so I thought I'd fire up Sins again, and see if it would work with no DVD in the drive.... and it did.

I lost track of time and when my game ended it was 4am. Dammit.

This is still a really fun game, won all kinds of "Game of the Year" awards, and I just spent $10 to buy the expansion online. Before you get all "WTF, gordo," it isn't even available as a box. So that's that.

Note: you buy it through a STEAM competitor called IMPULSE, and supposedly it will always remember I own it, as it lists another Stardock game in "My Games" I haven't had loaded in a couple years. Service seems identical to STEAM in most respects. Until Stardock goes out of bidness and then I'll never be able to install the expansion, again.

Oh, also, in rereading this thread, I see I was having all kinds of problems playing on my old system. On my current quad core system, I have zero problems with lockups.

Also, this game has the exact same "Solo Campaign" that the Civilization games have, so not sure if that is a valid criticism.

Posted by Troy on Dec. 20 2009,06:31

Just got this from impulse for 20 bucks...

Is the expansion worth it? It is only 10. I've only played one game, but it was a super long game, and I learned a lot.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 20 2009,08:24

I got the first expansion, and it is worth it.

There is an expansion called "Diplomacy" that I will be skipping.

Posted by GORDON on Dec. 19 2013,05:09

This should be considered for multi play. I played a shitload of this game, solo, for like 3 months. Sort of a cross between Civ and a RTS, in space. Very pretty. Very fun.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 23 2014,20:06

Bump.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 23 2014,22:01

Thoughts on playing this after not touching it much (and also the Rebellion Expansion, which is a standalone):

So it's a space based 4x - but not turn based, RTS. Like Gal Civ and TA combined with less micro.

There are three races(and then two variations), ships are pretty different, each has a spec.

You explore the galaxy like in Gal Civ 2 looking for good planet to colonize. You build up each colonizes planets infrastructure and you can build defense stations now, and trade buildings, etc.

In combat your ships (frigates, cruisers, cap ships, titans, strike craft) will auto attacks when ships jump into their gravity well, or you can micro them and choose targets manually - it's not like TA micro levels though. Bigger ships take more attention and cap ships have abilities. It seems like ships have a lot of health so you have time to fix some strategic fuckups and sometimes not die while you wait to jump out of a system.

Your capital ships, and there are now apparently two classes now, are your heroes, and you upgrade them like DOTA or HMM. Classes for each race are Carriers, Battleships, Dreadnought, Drone ships and other varieties based on race/variation.

Sometimes the RTS thing is tough. Like stumbling around in research pages while you get warned ships are entering your system. Scouting a system and forgetting the warning to pay off the pirates so they go after you instead of the other 3 guys. Luckily, while in the same gravity well, your defenses(and there are some fun ones) and ships attack relentlessly so you can focus on building and sending them to your borders.

The catch on this one is the game length. I can see it supporting lots of players, but a good game of this would take 3-4 hours.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 23 2014,22:15

If I wanted to look at this game, what should I look at? I see:
SoaSE:Rebellion and Trinity. No diplomacy or 'core game'. I see other DLC, but not sure which ones to consider.

But ya. 3-4 hours might net us two games. That's steep. Would be hard to get people together for 4 hours. No way to shorten it? What if we played teams? Smaller map/universe? Can you save the game?

Posted by Troy on Jun. 24 2014,14:02

(Cakedaddy @ Jun. 23 2014,22:15)

QUOTE

I think all you have to buy is the 13 bucks standalone Rebellion. I THINK.

Posted by Leisher on Jun. 27 2014,15:40

Can anyone confirm this? If we want to try this, I'd like to buy it while it's still 66% off.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 28 2014,10:46

(Leisher @ Jun. 27 2014,15:40)

QUOTE

Can anyone confirm this? If we want to try this, I'd like to buy it while it's still 66% off.

Confirmed, because it's 40 bucks otherwise. You seem to get all the expansions and their content with it.

13 bucks isn't bad if you've never played it before. It will suck up ~10 or so hours even if it isn't your thing.

e:There is some DLC you don't get with it, but it's not important, add-ons with more exotic planets for exploration (i still bought it at 75% off b/c i'm a nerd)

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 28 2014,15:14

It was up for vote at one point for 80% off. I'm holding out till the end for that discount.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 28 2014,15:57

"Rebellion" includes the two expansions, "Entrenchment" and "Diplomacy," and you also get the features from "Trinity," whatever that was. If we are going to try it out, then I will purchase it again on Steam for $13, and I can justify it in my head that I never bought the "Diplomacy" expansion before.

So is that what we are doing?

< http://sinsofasolarempire.wikia.com/wiki/Rebellion >

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 29 2014,11:37

Bought it. Doesn't look like it's going to hit that 80% they teased with.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 29 2014,12:59

Wanna play tonight?

e: maybe PA makes more sense

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 29 2014,14:15

I'm game for any game tonight. Not sure we have 10 hours to spend on this game though. Can it be saved?

Going to install and get to know it now.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 29 2014,14:55

Small solar systems would make for fast games.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 29 2014,16:50

(Cakedaddy @ Jun. 29 2014,14:15)

QUOTE

Can it be saved?

Not sure, haven't done multi yet.

< Steam Community has this? >

e:True you could just focus on stomping the pirates on a small map, too.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 29 2014,18:59

Just got beat up pretty bad. I was doing ok, but the enemy kept getting the pirates to attack me.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 29 2014,21:17

Second game, better. Lots to learn though. Good game. It's like EVE RTS.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 29 2014,21:39

4 player game and it was an hour and a half I think? That bodes well.

Definetly EVE, the real time strategy game.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 29 2014,21:51

Holy geez, a small system, 1v1. Took me a long while to regain my feet, but at the end I stomped the pirates then the bad guy. Took me forever to figure out why my dreadnaught wasn't building.... that was new in some expansion. And there is all this diplomatic skill tree shit... I don't know any of that.

But I just played a 6 hour game. Holy shit.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 30 2014,05:43

Did you have time to tech up to Titans?

e: Oh that makes sense now, there is a capital class that is anti-planet focused and called a Dreadnaught

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 30 2014,06:39

Yeah, that's what I meant when I said "dreadnaught." Couldn't remember the correct name.

But by the time it was done my fleet was unstoppable anyway, so it was only in 2 battles.

Posted by Troy on Jun. 30 2014,10:34

(GORDON @ Jun. 30 2014,06:39)

QUOTE

Yeah, that's what I meant when I said "dreadnaught." Couldn't remember the correct name.

But by the time it was done my fleet was unstoppable anyway, so it was only in 2 battles.

"Titans largely unnecessary except for e-peen factor"

Totally EVE.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 30 2014,11:28

At first I didn't realize there were actually 4 tech upgrades to get the Titan. I did the first one, thought that was it, and started building, and could not figure out why it would only build 25% and then stop. I thought I had a bug in the game. Started and stopped building it 3 times before I figured it out.

But yeah, by the time it was done I had already mopped up the pirates and had 6 battleship variants, level 5+, heading into bad guy space, and meeting no real resistance. Unluckily for my opponent the pirates were at a bottleneck between them and the rest of the system, and they only had like 6 planets to colonize.

He fired his supergun at the pirate homeworld a couple times while I was there fighting them. I have no idea what it was supposed to do, but it was splashy. I assume it was like my Novalith cannon, knocking the planet down fast.

Posted by GORDON on Jun. 30 2014,16:30

I might be ready to multi tonight. I will let Cake beat me so he doesn't lose interest.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 30 2014,17:00

Working nights for a few more nights. Will be available nights again after the holiday weekend.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jun. 30 2014,17:03

And I find that our varying rts skill levels always push us to fight ai opponents. So you don't have to le me win.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 01 2014,16:55

Working a lot lately, but will have some gaming time tonight and this weekend.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 01 2014,20:14

I'm afraid to launch practice games when nobody is around because I don't have 6 hours to lose when I blink and all that time passes.

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 02 2014,07:31

From the sound of it, this is going to be a weekend only game.

I do have it, but I haven't had time to even start to learn it yet.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 02 2014,07:48

Yeah, weekends only and starting at 7 because I don't want to be up until 5am.

Posted by Cakedaddy on Jul. 02 2014,08:00

Well, Troy and I finished a game in less than 2 hours. I played a game by myself that lasted 3 hours, and that was because I kept playing after I won to keep trying out game mechanics.

Yes, if we pick the biggest map with the most enemies and set difficulty way up or something, the game could last 6 hours. But with a small map and manageable settings, this game could be over in an hour too.

You don't have to take vacation time from work to play this game.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 02 2014,08:11

So is there a save game feature? I'd like the gigantic triple star systems, but with a strict "90 minutes only" timer at which time we change games. Will take us a couple weeks to finish a game. Glorious.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 02 2014,08:12

According to this we would all have the same autosave files in a multi game.

< http://steamcommunity.com/app/204880/discussions/0/846941710175050362/ >

Posted by Troy on Jul. 02 2014,08:14

Yeah, as long as we stop playing when we've obviously won, I don't see a problem with a shorter game.

This game could be really fun against a bunch of AIs, or even FFA, thanks to how the pirate system works to keep players in check.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 02 2014,08:16

That's the only info I was able to goggle, and it seems to assume multi games HAVE autosaves. I think we should try one in the near future, just launch some small game, play for 15 minutes, and try a save and see if we can restore it.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 02 2014,08:20

(Troy @ Jul. 02 2014,11:14)

QUOTE

In the original game the pirate bounty was easy to scam. Just keep an eye on the other guys bidding you up, and stay on top of it til the pirates launch. Now, with some patch between the beginning and now, those fuckers bid you up right at the last instant because they are the computer and they know the fucking timing. Fucking cheating assholes. I think I had the pirates launched at me 3 times before I stopped even trying to stop them.

Prolly why my game was so long. I was still trying to get the previous wave out of my system when the next wave was launched.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 02 2014,08:22

(GORDON @ Jul. 02 2014,08:12)

QUOTE

According to this we would all have the same autosave files in a multi game.

< http://steamcommunity.com/app/204880/discussions/0/846941710175050362/ >

Seems like an ok system with the autosaving feature.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 03 2014,08:11

No one was on last night and I got my 1st win bonus on LOL so I decided to fire up a quick game of Sins.

4 fucking hours later it is 2am.

Goddam this game.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 03 2014,08:54

Gordon's going to kill everyone at this game, complaining the whole time, isn't he?

Posted by Leisher on Jul. 03 2014,09:34

The strategy to beat him will be to stall until after midnight, then start playing offensively.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 03 2014,11:56

"Jesus christ, I took out your entire fucking empire and this is all you managed to build? Why did I even stay up until 3am to do it? I could have just put some goddam starbases with bomber groups in my choke lanes and let you kill yourselves trying to get in while I went to bed."

Will prolly be like how it goes.

Posted by Troy on Jul. 03 2014,16:39

There's an experimental weapon that can kill planets at long range. Kinda OP. Maybe just because I wasn't expecting it.

Posted by GORDON on Jul. 03 2014,16:40

Novalith cannon, and variants.

I am not going to tell you how to counter it.

Posted by GORDON on Aug. 06 2015,08:13

Just throwing this back out there as a multi-option. I thought of this when peeps were talking about Homeworld multi.

We'd want to play giant maps though, to have time to build before encountering each other, so we'd have to expect month-long games of 2-3 hours per session, once a week. Hopefully the save-game functionality is bulletproof.

Posted by GORDON on Aug. 06 2015,09:01

Also, you could have several ongoing games going at once, with different groups of people, depending on who is available to game, so really this one could be multied several times a week if you have that kind of availability.

Posted by Leisher on Aug. 06 2015,11:27

I'll play.

I've had trouble getting into anything multi lately due to my work schedule and family commitments, but I own this game specifically because it was mentioned here for multi and I'd like to try it out.

Posted by Troy on Aug. 06 2015,11:58

Would be in, also planning on Rusting it up at some point this weekend.