So since the original game was released, alot has changed, and at the same time, not alot has changed. This title is called a "standalone expansion" This title is sold on its own and includes everything from Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity (original sins + entrenchment + diplomacy). It looks like it's basically a beefed up expansion. Better graphics and a bunch of new features. Civil war has erupted within the TEC, Advent and Vasari races; customize your faction and unlock new options by declaring yourself loyalist or rebel. Updated graphics bring Sins of a Solar Empire to life as never before, with new particle effects, enhanced textures, and improved shading. Six massive Titans enter the fray - each with upgradable special abilities - giving loyalist and rebel factions a way to eliminate their foes. Three new capital ships bring immediate options to the table, offering even greater strategic depth; while existing capital ships have been rebalanced for their roles. New technologies grant loyalist and rebel factions new ways to advance towards the ultimate victory! New corvette class ships use their enhanced speed and maneuverability to weave through the battlefield, inflicting damage to enemy ships’ systems. AI enhancements make single-player games more fun and challenging than ever. Multiplayer optimizations for Ironclad Online make getting games set up simple. New victory conditions provide multiple paths towards becoming emperor of the galaxy. http://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/features So more of the same and a barrage of new modern stuff such as this being a steamworks title. The titan warships look crazy though. it almost looks like a starbase on the offensive. The bastards at ironclad announced this title about a year ago. the release date is finally out now for june 12th this year. intro: http://youtu.be/og0aMApQCfU
The original is one of my favorites strategy games. The main thing I wanted to see though in a sequel or expansion was some kind of story driven campaign instead of just standalone skirmish maps.
The original was great but pretty flawed. It was just all about capitol ships... keeping them alive to level up their rank so that they could slaughter the new low ranked capitol ships your enemy built. It looks like they have done a lot to balance things and make the game a lot more interesting. Also, being a steamworks game at a decent price I'm pretty sure I'll pick it up.
I forgot, but have you played the homeworld series? I'm pretty sure you have, but those conversations are so old and long lost in the old forum. That had a pretty large scale storyline.. but oddly, I felt sins was simpler to play.
I played Homeworld and Homeworld Cataclysm. I played a bit of Homeworld 2, but never finished it. Homeworld had a decent storyline, but it felt a bit generic. Cataclysm actually had a pretty good storyline, and I think it's the best game in the series.
Entrenchment fixed a lot of the balancing problems because it added starbases. It was very difficult to defend a system without parking your fleet there prior to the starbases.
This game is freakin hard. I've playing the same damn battle for 5 hours and it's noting but a ginormous stalemate.
Harder than the original Sins? The thing about that game was that the AI opponents were like freaking cockroaches. Even if you wiped out their fleet, a few of them would always escape and set up in a new star system.
I probably just suck but my last game lasted 5:45 and no one was winning. I finally gave all my money to pirates in an attempt to wipe them out but that failed hard. I never plated the original but I'm guessing Rebellion skips the whole learning curve thing and jumps right into the action.
That sounds like me playing Anno 2070... although that game is a lot less about combat. I spent hours trying to make one of the tycoons oil takers sink off the coast of the greenies because they sunk one off one of my islands and killed the ecosystem I forgot about this game, in the first I would have pretty long games also, but once you had the upper hand it was usually just a matter of having your leveled up capitol ships spread out to defend each fleet. It sounds like the expansions and this new version have changed all that. With the way I play RTS that would probably mean 12 hour skirmishes with no end result...
To tell you the truth, the tutorial on the original didnt really prepare me for the real game at all. It just taught me how the game mechanics work.. but the actual gameplay is much more complex. Since you haven't played the original, give it a few more goes and then you're actually get the feel of the game. That's how I ended up getting sucked in.
Damn I played for 3 hours tonight and I thought I was rocking. I built a huge TEC empire, have every upgrade and plenty of money. Then I discovered that there is a pirate base on the only path between me and the PC. We can't get to each other without someone wiping out the pirate base. I threw a fleet at that base with 4 capital ships and a Titan and lost it all in a few moments.
Pirate bases are rough. I've beaten them before, but it usually involved paying off the pirates to attack the enemy and then sending a massive fleet to attack their base while it was vulnerable.
So I'm about 6 hours in right now and and me and the TEC (I'm Vasari) are at somewhat of a stale mate. The pirates are off in their own area so they're not a problem. I'm not even bothering to pay them off this late in the game either. They're good level builders for my capital ships to take out when they attack my asteroid. I think, once it gets to the point where you and the enemy have titan ships built, it makes the game that much harder to progress. I have the Vasari Rebel's Kultorask titan which lasts forever since its skills allows it to restore its hull and antimatter. But the TEC's ragnarov has crazy ass firepower (one shot from its rail gun can take down the shield of my capital ships). That thing took down 4 of my capital ships in no time. It took it down twice already. But the problem now is that he's weakened me pretty badly and I assume the AI somehow fielded like 500,000 credits or something cuz he rebuilds those titans almost instantly (which I already took down his titan factory around 4 times). And the only penalty for losing a titan is the cost in rebuilding it since it's built back at the same level you lost it. Bullshit.
I got in a stalemate with my loaded star bases vs enemy titans. It seemed like the ai was pumping those titans out a little too fast but they never got past my bases. I rocked on defense but never got a good offense together. I finally gave up and started a new battle.
I think that's the issue so far with the game. Looking at the forums, alot of people are agreeing. The titans are too overpowered by their nature. Late game, titans start hitting level 10 and are almost like a raid boss in an mmo. You can destroy their entire fleet, but the titan itself will sit there and destroy you while laughing at your weapons. A dev chimed in on one of the threads and mentioned they are thinking of ways to balance it out. They stated the reason it is how it is now is because if you destroy a player's/AI's titan and it starts back at level 1, it's already game over and there is no reason why the player shouldn't just drop out of the game. They're thinking of making the cost of building the titan scale with its level, which is not a bad choice. I'm thinking of starting over with a 2v2 game with no pirates.