Yay! Space Empires V under development.

[Lemmy]

For those who don't know it:
Space Empires is a 4x game, like MoO2, or Civ in space if you will.
The series are made by Malfador Machination (www.malfador.com) and published by Shrapnel Games (www.shrapnelgames.com)

Once in a while i browse their official SE4 forum (used to be a regular poster) and came across this little gem of a post here:

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=008344;p=2

Hi All!

Too optimistic? No, its true, we're shooting for a summer 2004 release date for SE5. That may be unduly optimistic at this point, but what the hell. We have begun design of the game and are working out the UI as we speak.

Starfury should be out by July!

Aaron

There where several threads on the forum about SE5 which hinted to the development, but it wasn't really confirmed by Shrapnel of Malfador that they were really working on it.

Since the game is still being designed, good ideas can probably still be implemented if they are posted on the forums here:

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=23

[Kassiopeia]

:dance:

[General Ludd]

God, i forgot how annoying those reversed forums are.

[Datajack Franit]

screenshots?

[Lemmy]

ehm..none available yet AFAIK..
I think they *just recently* started working on it, and since they are now still working on the UI, i doubt any screenshots will be released soon.
Though you could probably take a look at Starfury (somewhere on www.malfador.com) to see how space combat in SE5 might look like.

I personally doubt it will be released in Summer 2004 though, maybe Spring 2005..

[Spaced Cowboy]

Well, I did not consider the upgrade from SEIV to the gold version to be worth the effort. Not much had changed, but this is indeed good news. Thanks Lemmy!

[DrSpike]

Not bad timing I guess........they didn't want it to compete with MOO3 head on.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by DrSpike
Not bad timing I guess........they didn't want it to compete with MOO3 head on.

Given MOO3's disaster, they shouldn't have worried!

[Sarxis]

SEV!! Wonderbar!

I hope its just as good as its predecessors, and then some.

[Urban Ranger]

You people actually like SE 4? I downloaded the demo, played with it a bit, and could find absolutely no attraction.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You people actually like SE 4? I downloaded the demo, played with it a bit, and could find absolutely no attraction.

When I first played the demo, I was underwhelmed and didn't quite get the interface.

Once I got used to it, however, I became engrossed, and before I knew it 4 hours had gone by and I had hit the 100 turn limit, and I was most upset I couldn't continue.

[MariOne]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You people actually like SE 4? I downloaded the demo, played with it a bit, and could find absolutely no attraction.

Well, it definitely is a MicroManager's game.
And despite the many windows and tabs, the UI is not completely streamlined, some operations lack the necessary grouping, templating, automating...

Also, many features and design decisions bear a rather goofy feeling...

I had played the demo for a while, when it came out, and wasn't *impressed*, although it didn't stink, and I *AM* a MM freak.

Now, on a whim, I decided to go a carve 60$ from my credit card (40 for the game + 20 for overseas shipping...), and ordered the Gold version online.

Well, I still have to complete the first game, and am not even halfway the techtree, probably.
It might be the first run "discovery" feeling, but the game *definitely* gives the feel of complex handling of interdependent resources. Thus, strategic production, allocation, research choices...
The tech tree might look like a hapazardous amass of sevferal unrelated options. But... after a quick overview, I decided my best initial investment was to beeline for higher "projectile weapons" level, granting myself a sensible edge on weapons range, with which I oculd easily dominate the local neighborhood, matching Light Cruisers with my Frigates.
After first expansion though, I found that this trick was no more enough to take on
- fighters
- 6-ranged beam weapons
- level III (range 12) missiles
- shields
- combat stats enhancing accessories
....
That is, the simple fact that there are several different weapons or devices type to choose from (and sooner or later some opponent WILL use them as they see you outgun their current outfit), forces you to differentiate too your research, desing & build approach...

Sorry for the digression
What I wanted to say, is that liking or not liking a game does not actually tell about whether the game is good.
It just tells which kind of player YOU are, and which kind of games you like...

Since receiving SE IV Gold (4 days from order!) last week, I must have to report 3 sleepless nights already.
It *definitely* has the JOMT quality I wasn't feeling since a LONG time, to me.

for instance, Civ3 gave me a DISTINCT feeling of "Oh, NO, please NOT another darn slow useless turn to wait for!"

[Urban Ranger]

Hmm, thanks for your review.

[General Ludd]

Don't forget that it is an awsome game to play in PBEM, and there is a website and community dedicated to doing just that.


Personally, I don't the the AI is good enough to make the game interesting in single player.