Where is the potential ?

[unmerged(357263)]

Since I haven't played SotS 1 I have a question for vets of the series: where is the potential ?

I know the release is bugged and all, but after trying to play it for 3 hours I just fail to see any form of fun in it.

Combat ? From what I've read SotS is a combat oriented game. Yet, all of my ten combat attempts either all ended up after 4 minutes of flying my ship towards the target or just ended up instantly (bug perhabs). None shots fired whatsoever... Yawn...

Complexity ? This must be the most simplified 4X game ever. Where's the trade ? Why there are so few possibilities to tweak my "empire" ? You can "overharvest" or you can build a station. Is that really it ?

Graphics ? IMO Nexus The Jupiter Incident (a seven year old game!) looks way better than this.

So where is it ? What am I failing to see ?

 

[Zaku]

Where is what?
It's a 4x game, if the bugs get fixed the game will have everything a good 4x title needs.
Combat: Combat is good in the game, i don't know hat are you talking about since I had epic battles in mine.
Complexity: And you can design your ships, research hudreds of unique techs(all randomized on every playthrough), there is diplomacy, colonisation, spying, fleet managements, random encounters, budget sliders...
Graphics: This is bullshit. Nexus has good graphics of its age but comes nowhere near this.

Mind it, I'm not talking about the game now, Im talking about WHEN the game will be finished .

 

[ashbery76]

Indeed the finished manual when it's out should show you the systems,and then we have to wait unti the game has them included

I think the graphics are great I do not recall any 4X strategy games looking this good.The human leviathan is fantastic.

 

[Sowilo]

Since I haven't played SotS 1 I have a question for vets of the series: where is the potential ?

I know the release is bugged and all, but after trying to play it for 3 hours I just fail to see any form of fun in it.

Combat ? From what I've read SotS is a combat oriented game. Yet, all of my ten combat attempts either all ended up after 4 minutes of flying my ship towards the target or just ended up instantly (bug perhabs). None shots fired whatsoever... Yawn...

Complexity ? This must be the most simplified 4X game ever. Where's the trade ? Why there are so few possibilities to tweak my "empire" ? You can "overharvest" or you can build a station. Is that really it ?

Graphics ? IMO Nexus The Jupiter Incident (a seven year old game!) looks way better than this.

So where is it ? What am I failing to see ?

I am really enjoying it even in its current state I just wish I could migate the crashes. maybe this game isnt for you I bought many a game that I was a little fuzlled out on. Like fallout 3 wasnt that great to me. so Sue me beacuse I loved Oblivion and am looking forward to skyrim. but you know thats the way life goes I dont post on there fourm saying i have this game. Its the game they made get over it if you dont like it. o well move on

 

[ChinpoUK]

Combat ? From what I've read SotS is a combat oriented game. Yet, all of my ten combat attempts either all ended up after 4 minutes of flying my ship towards the target or just ended up instantly (bug perhaps). None shots fired whatsoever... Yawn...

You can change the combat timer when you create a game.

Complexity ? This must be the most simplified 4X game ever. Where's the trade ? Why there are so few possibilities to tweak my "empire" ? You can "overharvest" or you can build a station. Is that really it ?

I think your mixing up needless micromanagement with complexity. Think of the new features, you can assign admirals to fleets, fleets now perform missions. You can choose from a wide variety of missions. Think of ship design, the complexity in that alone is astounding.

Combat is now alot more complex than in SotS 1, formations have been added, planes have been added. Battleriders now present new tactics to use.

Oh yes, decisions you make while leading your Empire affect it's government type. Much more complex than just choosing a government based on advantages and disadvantages.

Graphics ? IMO Nexus The Jupiter Incident (a seven year old game!) looks way better than this.

Last time I checked Nexus wasn't a 4x game, it's a real time strategy game. So you can't really compare SotS II with Nexus. SotS II is clearly the best looking 4x game released by far.

 

[unmerged(255294)]

Obvious troll is obvious.

 

[unmerged(357263)]

Obvious troll is obvious.

No troll here. I'm just looking for series veteran's perspective. You know, people that put 200+ hours in the game, because after 3 hours of playtime I personally fail to see any fun in it. Granted that it's a 4x and a supposedly complex game I just thought that 3 hours is nearly not enough to judge the game. Hence I asked for other's opinion.

 

[Wintermist]

Wow, I see lots of potential in this game. Honestly. I love SotS 1 but I really like what they did to SotS 2. Once it's fixed up I believe it will be my absolute favourite.

 

[ashbery76]

No troll here. I'm just looking for series veteran's perspective. You know, people that put 200+ hours in the game, because after 3 hours of playtime I personally fail to see any fun in it. Granted that it's a 4x and a supposedly complex game I just thought that 3 hours is nearly not enough to judge the game. Hence I asked for other's opinion.

Dude the game is busted, it is nothing more than a tech demo in its present state.You can not judge the game that is early beta.

 

[unmerged(400937)]

The mission-based system means the base unit of naval organisation is the fleet base, not the ship. This creates a layer of strategy with regards to managing port facilities, protecting key star systems, spatial control of provinces (another key mechanic) and allows for resupply and extended operations of the much more complicated carrier groups.

Carrier groups are what this age of warfare is about; it's all about finding your opponent using battleriders and drones, dispatching swift strikes from system edges; force projection, the modern carrier warfare tactics. If you are flying your ships towards the enemy, expecting to finish a combat in one round, you're playing the wrong game; grab SOTS 1 and have fun. SOTS 2 is about multiple turn combats - there's a mechanic revolving around spatial control within the star system, allowing you to occupy territory and deploy further forward after each turn, or split your fleet into groups to conduct multiple-turn harassment missions within the combat map.

Trade is in the game. the management of provinces, organisation of local governments, positioning of police ships, propaganda vessels, proper use of spin, the complex morale mechanic, the overall government type of a civilization and the levels of corruption, security and counter-intel you have allotted are just a few of the things that affect your decisions on Provinces. In just that one mechanic, there's already a half-dozen elements, all of which have knock-on effects.

 

[Torgrim]

Graphics: This is bullshit. Nexus has good graphics of its age but comes nowhere near this.

Are you sure?, Nexus IMO have a lot better ship,effects,background, planet graphics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBbH914rmh8

But of course it all comes down to taste, some think WOW has better graphics than LOTRO.

 

[Tairneanach]

Combat ? From what I've read SotS is a combat oriented game. Yet, all of my ten combat attempts either all ended up after 4 minutes of flying my ship towards the target or just ended up instantly (bug perhabs). None shots fired whatsoever... Yawn...

There are a few quirks to combat that aren't readily apparent, what with missing tooltips and no real manual.

First of all, the bug: There is a workaround in order to avoid combat ending immediately, and that is to make all the decisions you need to make (mainly: manual combat and peace/fight), then selecting your fleet, and only then pressing ok. If you don't select your fleet last, even if it's already selected, you may run into this bug.

Second: Flying around with no enemies: They're out there, somewhere, and it is your job to find them. While flying through neutral or enemy systems, you'll notice that you turn sectors you've visited green. After the battle phase ends and before you end your next turn, right-click the system you were fighting in and select "defence manager". This allows you to place your fleet in any of the green sectors. If you've done everything right, you start combat much closer to your enemies, leading to more dakka. BUT! In order for your ships to actually shoot the enemy, you either have to declare war before combat (I think you might need a diplomacy station for that, which is kinda weird, but whatever), or force your ships to fire by holding Alt when clicking on a target.

Complexity ? This must be the most simplified 4X game ever. Where's the trade ? Why there are so few possibilities to tweak my "empire" ? You can "overharvest" or you can build a station. Is that really it ?

As you've noted, this game is more about combat - although much less so than SotS Prime. You don't manage individual planets all that much, but you do build stations and you can upgrade them in various ways. Myself, I'd like it if you couldn't build all that many modules before upgrading, forcing you to make more choices, but at least it's there.
Trade and diplomacy aren't fully implemented yet.
Others have already talked about the complex tech forest and the ship designer. Seeing as most 4X games don't let you customise your army, but have more options for cities, I'd say in the end SotS 2 is just as complex as other games.

Graphics ? IMO Nexus The Jupiter Incident (a seven year old game!) looks way better than this.

Keep in mind that the options menu is disabled at the moment and that more graphics options are likely to pop up once it's properly implemented - like anti-aliasing, the lack of which makes beams look astoundingly ugly.

 

[DeveronMagi]

i didnt have any fun after 3 hours also...

but like everybody has said the game is broken now...if you are not going for the refund. stick with it try playing again after each update...and you will see how fun sots 2 will be. also try starting on small maps....you will get in the action a lot sooner...

 

[unmerged(357263)]

Are you sure?, Nexus IMO have a lot better ship,effects,background, planet graphics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBbH914rmh8

But of course it all comes down to taste, some think WOW has better graphics than LOTRO.

^This. Nexus not being a 4X game does not matter, since it also has a tactical rts portion.

@Tairneanach

Thank you for your informative post.

 

[SchLoTTi]

Nexus looking better than SotS II? hö?
When the current build can somthing than its good looking:
Nexus:
http://www.51mag.com/picfiles/GamesPic/EditorImage/2010-6/10/201061017352246865.jpg
SotS:
http://www.kerberos-productions.com/wp-content/gallery/sots2/sots2_human01.jpg

 

[unmerged(357263)]

Nexus looking better than SotS II? hö?
When the current build can somthing than its good looking:
Nexus:
http://www.51mag.com/picfiles/GamesPic/EditorImage/2010-6/10/201061017352246865.jpg
SotS:
http://www.kerberos-productions.com/wp-content/gallery/sots2/sots2_human01.jpg

Ships models are not everything there is about graphics. They are only 'ok' by today's standards. Yet the backdrops and planet textures are terrible. Nexus is 7 years old (that's the point of the whole comparison). Also, what's up with the posting screens from chineese (I guess) version ?

 

[Zaku]

This is what they had done more than 5 years ago:
Nexus 2: tech demo

SotS 2 looks really great but is still not right there.

You do realize that this is not an actual graphical engine right? It's a cinematic, not a tech demo.

 

[unmerged(401816)]

In that comparison you need to factor in 2 things.

1. you dont know the hardware showing nexus, i remember much better graphics than that picture you post. ex:

2. Sots2 shows different on different systems. On my friends 560GTX it looks great, on my 8800GT its riddled with graphical errors and looks like the ships are oiled at places. Surely they will fix that in time as its likely a DX10 vs 11 problem.

In regards to combat, i have had 1 succesfull engagement where i managed to shoot at anything. This i can do as Tarkas, as Human either the ships doesnt show up or they stand still or move at an extremely slow pace even at speed3. Again surely a bug that will be fixed.

 

[Tairneanach]

@Tairneanach

Thank you for your informative post.

Ever your servant. I'd really like people enjoying the game, because in the case of communities, bigger is often better, although (and this is in no way pointed at anyone here, but rather at larger communities) larger communities always have more idiots.

 

[s1234567890m]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n8Rt205Fn8