Homeworld+GalCiv="Sins of a Solar Empire"? Possible noteworthy new Space "4xRTS"

[Arita]

Might be still early, but worth a look. Oh and the new trailer kicks @$$ hehehe


website
http://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/


Q. Can you give some examples of features borrowed from classic space strategy (4X) games?
A.

Galaxy exploration.
Resource exploitation.
Enemy extermination.
Empire expansion.
Planet development (both on land and in orbit).
Coordination of multiple starship fleets.
Numerous economic and diplomatic strategies.
A deep research and technology system.


Gameplay
http://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/gameplay.html

what do you guys think?

 

[Maniacal]

Looks like a mod for HomeWorld 2.

I mean, it looks ... is the homeworld engine for sale? And graphics...

 

[Arita]

Well, I guess after homeworld every game that comes out will be like homeworld to you because it's in 3d space. This game is made on a grand scale where you can have huge wars on different fronts and that is why the graphics look like that, otherwise your computer would get bogged down.
And yes it's the same developers that were working on homeworld and HW:Cataclysm. Many big clans have signed up at the forums and believe this might be bigger that Homeworld. The action scenes in the trailer are amazing Best I've seen. heheheh

 

[Maniacal]

Not just that, but, one of the space textures looks exactly the same, the tracers look the same, the ships look kind of the same (just different shapes and skinds).


Looks good though.

 

[Ranbir]

Looks good. Hopefully we get the freeform way of expanding the empire and stuff. Not always specifically having to follow story objectives.

Looks damn sexy though.

The map actually reminds me of the Galciv2 engine, which can zoom in and out seamlessly. That game of course, isn't real time...even though it really could be if it wanted.

 

[Maniacal]

It would be a pain in the buttocks if it was all real time, although then the battles would not be controlled by you (other wise you could be fighting several large battles at once!).

 

[Ranbir]

I imagine it could be like Imperium Galactica 2.

Since the scale is the entire galaxy, the overall fleet movements zoomed out will seem very slow, so the empire itself isn't moving too fast to keep track of.

Obviously when you zoom in, it will still seem normal.

Think Supreme Commander. You can still give orders zoomed out, as well as zoomed into the single soldier.

Unlike SC however, I think this is much more strayed away from a trad rts with the 4x elements of empire management.

 

[Mulholland]

This game looks excellent. I hope they have a free trial to see if my PC can handle it. Link a recent preview.
http://www.entdepot.com/features/articles/article_2983.php

 

[warpstorm]

I tried the beta. It's fun, in a slowish RTS sort of way. They said that there will be a demo about a month after it ships.

While the engine supports a galaxy sized game, I can't imagine playing it on more than a few star systems.

 

[damunzy]

quote from frogboy (Brad Wardell - Stardock developer [owner?]):

Creating an RTS with the kind of depth usually only seen in a 4X strategy game wasn't impossible, just very difficult. Thanks to the public beta, we've been able to combine the best of both worlds. The last public beta of Sins was back in November. Since then, a huge number of improvements and enhancements have been made to the builds.

For every RTS player whose seen a good RTS wrecked by cheese tactics, connection problems, dropping players, rushing, or swarming, Sins is for you. We've been there. We've read the same forums you have.

And for every 4X strategy game player who's tried a real-time strategy game only to discover it was a "click-fest" in which victory went to the guy whose memorized the perfect build order, the arcane hot keys and can micro-manage 50 units, Sins is for you. Sins is the game in which victory is based on OODA (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act). Build your strategy and execute on it.

So ask us anything. In the meantime, below are some screenshots taken on my laptop (which I'll be using next week at G4's XPlay to demo the game live). I took these at the minimum resolution so you can see the breadth of hardware support this game has (it looks incredible on state of the art mega machines but will still play fine on your 3 or 4 year old PC).

This has me all hot and bothered.

The thing I like about Stardock (developer of this game, many other fine games, and other non-game software) is their lack of "security" for their games. You won't find SecureROM or Starforce crapping up their products. I purchased the original GalCiv in a box and enjoyed it so much and the developer activity in the community (frogboy is constantly in the forums and seems to take player advice seriously) that I preordered GalCiv, played the Alphas, Betas, and finally got and enjoyed my Collectors Edition box in the mail about a year after I paid for it (before or soon after it came out in retail).

 

[Shylock]

Not just that, but, one of the space textures looks exactly the same, the tracers look the same, the ships look kind of the same (just different shapes and skinds).


Looks good though.

Space looks the same no matter where you go.

 

[Ranbir]

Sadly I don't really feel this is a RT4x or whatever. It's just a RTS that has a larger playing map and requires more playtime to achieve objectives(conquest, isn't much else there). Exploration is no more than a standard RTS demands. A slower paced RTS with an almost recycled strategy required for completion.

I'm stuck with the pre-order. Guess I'll hope for a mod to add some real depth.

 

[warpstorm]

I see all 4Xs there.

 

[Leonel]

Looks interesting. I might just get it.

 

[Maniacal]

Space looks the same no matter where you go.

But ships and planets don't (well, sort of, they get more detailed as stuff inproves). Asl well I was also referring to mroe than just the screenshots and graphics.

 

[Ranbir]

I see all 4Xs there.

You could argue all RTS have 4X. But clearly the 4X is reserved for certain games. So no, Sins doesn't have it. Not enough to be worthy of 4X.

 

[warpstorm]

So, Ranbir, if having all 4Xs is not the criteria to be a 4X game, what is the criteria?

 

[Maniacal]

I think he thinks that to have exploring it should be more like exploring in Civ then reducing fog of war on a battlefield/small area map in your average RTS.

 

[warpstorm]

It is like that (in the beta). You don't know where or what the various planets are till you send probes out to see them. All you know is that you have 3 jump lines (or whatever) connecting your homeworld to the universe at large.

 

[Leonel]

So, Ranbir, if having all 4Xs is not the criteria to be a 4X game, what is the criteria?

It needs to have 12X's to be a 4X game!