Space Empires 4.

markusf · January 17, 2002, 15:17

Anyone play this game? its a massive game with over 1000 technologies depending on what mod pack you get. I was wondering if anyone else played it and if they saw all the similarities it has with moo2? (and a lot of improvements!)

Sencho · January 17, 2002, 16:05

I played SE4, and while I did enjoy the game, it completely cured me of any desire to micromanage at that scale ever again.

I am also angry that they never got the MP (LAN) done for it and I have to buy a second copy (SE4 gold) to get MP, a promised feature in the original.

Sammual · January 17, 2002, 16:28

I play SEIV constantly. I love the mods for it. It has the most important type of multi-player - HOTSEAT!

Sammual

(With that said - I can't wait for MOO3. I just hope MOO3 can be Modded as well and that we can find some way of playing hot seat.)

Rex Little · January 17, 2002, 17:06

I played the demo, and it didn't inspire me to buy the game. It reminded me quite a bit of Ascendancy: you build multiple copies of the same facilities over and over on planet after planet.

Lemmy · January 17, 2002, 18:06

Quote:

Originally posted by Sencho
I played SE4, and while I did enjoy the game, it completely cured me of any desire to micromanage at that scale ever again.

I am also angry that they never got the MP (LAN) done for it and I have to buy a second copy (SE4 gold) to get MP, a promised feature in the original.

they have this thing, that if you send your original SE4 copy and if you buy SE4G, you get your money back.

Sinapus · January 18, 2002, 16:57

Quote:

Originally posted by Sencho
I am also angry that they never got the MP (LAN) done for it and I have to buy a second copy (SE4 gold) to get MP, a promised feature in the original.

Are you referring to TCP/IP? If so, the only "promise" I saw for that was that the programmer said he was working on it.

Drones were also "promised", but they had problems with it so it was tabled until later.

Lemmy · January 19, 2002, 05:41

both of those, tcp/ip and drones, are included in the gold version

Sarxis · January 22, 2002, 03:46

The demo for SEIV Gold is now available.

I played SEIV vanilla demo and thought, "Wow! I really like this game! I am gonna buy the gold version for sure!

But haven't I played this game before?"

moo! moo!! (hint, hint)

Sinapus · January 22, 2002, 18:32

Quote:

Originally posted by Anunikoba
The demo for SEIV Gold is now available.

I played SEIV vanilla demo and thought, "Wow! I really like this game! I am gonna buy the gold version for sure!

But haven't I played this game before?"

moo! moo!! (hint, hint)

Actually, it resembles Starfire more than MOO1/2. Alas, it does *not* include the concept of open/closed warp points, and it isn't possible to mod that either. Ah well.

(Yes, I just finished reading "The Shiva Option", how did you guess?)

markusf · January 23, 2002, 15:42

open and close warp points are a standard part of the game. problem is you just have to get up REALLY far in the tech tree.
Gold version is supposed to be out in march!

Spaced Cowboy · January 24, 2002, 13:14

I really got hooked on this game. However, the AI was really weak. It did not uncerstand how to use ranged weapons or fighters, or how powerful these were. No matter if I created races with 5000 bonus points and limited myself to 0, I would still just roll over the AI. I checked the on-line community and there was no one really playing on-line (which is expected considering the length of the game).

Lastly, they are only offering a rebate to SEIV owners for the gold additions. Since there is no improvement to the AI, I won't be bothered. But, you guys let me know if it was worth the extra $25.

Sinapus · January 24, 2002, 14:39

Quote:

Originally posted by markusf
open and close warp points are a standard part of the game. problem is you just have to get up REALLY far in the tech tree.
Gold version is supposed to be out in march!

No, I don't mean opening and closing warp points.

Basically, in Starfire there are two generic types of warp points called open and closed warp points. (There are about twenty specific types, but they are variations of the two mentioned.)

Open warp points can be detected by a survey ship's sensors and can be charted when said ship begins running search patterns in a particular system. Closed warp points cannot be detected by such sensors. The only way to detect a closed warp point is if you enter an open warp point in one system and the exit warp point in the next system is closed. That, or seeing a ship come out of a closed warp point.

SEIV warp points are always detected, so you don't have the same nightmare scenario of a fleet coming out of a previously unknown warp point right into one of your core systems. (See "In Death Ground" and "The Shiva Option" by David Weber and Steve White.)

(Yes, I know, you can create that "unknown" warp point, but in Starfire that sort of tech isn't available in the game.)

Sarxis · January 25, 2002, 03:11

Quote:

Originally posted by markusf
...
Gold version is supposed to be out in march!

For Space Empires IV? The Shrapnel Games site gives a projected date of February 15th.

?? I won't wait 'til March, most likely...

The Rusty Gamer · January 26, 2002, 02:34

Where do you get the mods for SEIV?

Lemmy · January 26, 2002, 06:09

you can get some here, there are also some fan sites that have mods, but i don't know their url.

Rusty Nail · January 31, 2002, 18:12

Here is a link to the major SEIV strategy forum.

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...ubb=forum&f=23

SEIV is in my opinion the closest turn-based game to civ in terms of elegance of design and fun play. In some ways it is superior to civ3. It is definitely much deeper. The weakness is definitely the AI. But as opposed to civ3, the editor allows players to make subtantial AI improvements. Several mods are available with new civs that are vast improvements over the originals (try TDM mod). A major feature of SEIV is the design of ships, where possibilities are endless, and no one design can beat all the others. Unfortunately multiplayer is not yet an option , but the PBW (play by web) community is very active and the design is simple and elegant. "Manual combat " (as opposed to simultaneous) is also a nice optional feature, but too easy against the AI. It would be an ideal basisr a quick multiplayer game if they ever get around to it. I highly recommend SEIV to civ players.

Grumbold · January 31, 2002, 18:29

Hmm, if they've done some AI mods I'll have to revisit the game. It was just too easy to be nice and outexpand everyone before.

Jeff George · January 31, 2002, 18:52

Quote:

Originally posted by markusf
Anyone play this game? its a massive game with over 1000 technologies depending on what mod pack you get. I was wondering if anyone else played it and if they saw all the similarities it has with moo2? (and a lot of improvements!)

I bought it when it first came out and never even finished a full game. I just found it too boring and micromanaging. I'd rather play MOO2, and hopefully MOO3 when it comes out.

The Rusty Gamer · January 31, 2002, 22:22

What's the difference between the standard version and the upcoming gold version? From what I've seen of the demo so far, I haven't seen any difference. Will it be worth it to upgrade?

Lemmy · February 1, 2002, 05:34

The two most important are that drones implemented and there's multiplayer (TCP/IP)
And some of the best user-created mods are included on the gold cd.

For a challenging mod, try the pirates and nomads mod, i don't have a link, but it's somewhere near that other link i gave earlier.
Your playstyle has to be completely different if you use this mod.