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Thread: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
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2008-08-07, 09:06 AM (ISO 8601)
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Let's Play: Space Empires IV
It's the post that started it all: spoilered for sheer length. Posts #2 and #3 have info that's far more relevant to the LP in progress.
Spoiler
What's this? An LP thread?
That's right. Inspired by the Something Awful LP archive, boredom, and a desire to see an LP that doesn't die at conception, yours truly has decided to introduce you to this little game called Space Empires IV.
OK, time out. What's LP mean in the first place?
To quote the semi-official motto: "Let's Play - we play these games so you don't have to." The idea is for the LP author to go through the game and provide a record of his progress, usually in the form of a video (often with commentary) or screenshots (always with commentary). Typically the author takes his time with the playthrough, explaining various aspects of the game as he goes along, showing secrets, revealing easter eggs, etc. Whenever possible (as with this thread) audience participation is encouraged, with the author asking other forumites what they'd like to see him do next, which conversation option to choose, who to attack, etc. In the end fun is had by all.
A more exhaustive explanation of what an LP is can be found here. Or just read through a few in the SA archive and you'll get the idea.
Hmm... alright, so what's this game of yours again?
Developed by Malfador Machinations and published by Strategy First in 2000, Star Empires IV is a 4X game of galactic conquest. Its main characteristics are dated graphics, a somewhat unwieldy interface, and a less than stellar AI.
Er... so why are you playing this again?
Because it's still fun enough to sink a few (dozen) hours into it every now and again. And because of a feature that makes it excellent material for an LP.
And that would be...?
Enough questions! Just keep reading, and all shall be made clear.
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The Rules
1. I'm playing this vanilla - no mods.
2. Because the distributors in this country refuse to sell us anything but sub-par localizations, all I have is a Polish version of the game. So if you see strange, unreadable gibberish pop up in the screenshots, do not be afraid. I will translate if it becomes necessary. Disclaimer: some of my translation will differ from the original version.
3. Updates will happen whenever I can. I'm aiming for at least one every couple of days.
4. Voting - there's going to be a lot of it in the beginning, and none at all once we get the ball rolling. However, there will still be audience participation - read on if you want to know the details.
And so it begins.
...in a galaxy far away...
Though first we need to decide where our epic tale of conquest shall begin.
Above is the quadrant generation screen. Our options are:
Quadrant Type (Top table) - top to bottom
Moderately Old - probably contains the highest percentage of habitable systems and the lowest of weird space phenomena.
Cluster - systems are arranged into small groups with only a few connections to the "outside." In theory makes it easier to establish defense points for a fledgling empire.
Galaxy's Edge - Negative Space Wedgie country. Otherwise similar to Moderately Old, except with a more uniform distribution of systems on the map.
Spiral - except that it looks nothing like one. True, the systems are more tightly packed towards the center, with distances increasing as you move towards the edge. But as travel through warp tunnels is instantaneous regardless of distance, this only matters if you're planning on using warp tunnel generators tactically.
Grid - very uniform distribution. Every system equidistant from and connected to four others, forming a square pattern. Also, boring.
Ancient - probably the hardest to play on, as there's a high percentage of "dead" systems, not to mention navigational hazards such as black holes, unstable stars, and other weird phenomena. Definitely makes for an interesting game though.
Quadrant Size (middle table)
We'll be setting it to Large.
General Settings (bottom table)
All Systems Connected - the original translation reads "All Warp Points Connected" but once you think about it, that doesn't make much sense. Setting this to "off" makes for more interesting warp tunnel distribution throughout the systems (tactical challenges, yay) but leaves a chance that some systems will form miniclusters with no connection to the rest of the quadrant.
Without Warp Tunnels - what it says. I'll go ahead and suggest we don't vote for this one to be turned on, since it makes for a damned boring game until we research a means to open our own.
Warp Tunnels Scattered Across The Systems - the default "off" setting places warp tunnels on the edges of a system. On "on" they may pop up anywhere - even right next to your homeworld.
All Systems Visible - i.e. whole map explored. It stays "off." Let's preserve the joy of exploration, hmm?
Full System Display - i.e. no fog of war. Ditto.
Limited Resources - resource extraction facilities will slowly deplete a planet's natural resources until they hit zero. Ordinarily, the aim is to maximize your resource production so that you can pay for the upkeep of more ships as well as maintaining a large income surplus for emergencies. With this set to "on" there's the additional challenge of balancing your income against your stockpiles and your fleets, as well as forcing you to expand far more aggressively. Asteroid belts have limited resources regardless of the setting. I'd suggest we go with "off" on this one too - it'll help both me and you.
All Player's Planets Have The Same Size - irrelevant, since for this LP we'll be starting with only one planet anyway.
So, to recap, we vote on:
- Quadrant type
- General settings - either "on" or "off" for each one.
...where interesting things took place...
We also have the option of deciding the scale and frequency of random events taking place during a game (I am SO going to regret this).
Frequency
None - oh how I wish...
Low - the default. From empirical observation, this makes something happen about once every 100-200 turns.
Average - Once every 50-100 turns.
Frequent - as often as every 20-50 turns.
Degree
Low - a ship's engine blowing up for no apparent reason.
Average - a ship falls into a Negatice Space Wedgie and ends up in a system halfway across the quadrant. Planetwide epidemics.
Severe - Planetary core instability detected. Boom.
Catastrophe - Star core instability detected. Boom.
So let me tell you a story about the time I decided to, for kicks, play with Frequency and Degree set to maximum. It's a very short story, since within 100 turns all my colonies became involved in a star going nova. Yeah, that's it, really. So if you don't want to read a long and throughout LP...
...and there came a people...
Since Star Empires IV lets you create your own race using lots and lots of statistics and variables, we're going to do just that. Since it does use lots and lots statistics and variables and we'd be bickering about them for weeks, I'm going to simplify the process somewhat.
Appearance
1.
For those who really want to explore new frontiers in flying barrels.
2.
Ship design is pretty ok, I guess.
3.
Umm... ok. Very... spiky.
4.
Not only do our chosen people consist of a pair of eyestalks, their ship design is basically that, only varying in size.
5.
I'm not touching that one, and you shouldn't either.
6.
This race's default name is the Eee. Just about sums up my reaction too.
7.
The angry eyes don't go well with the bland ship design.
8.
Hands down the best ship design from those available, even if it does look a shade Trekkish.
9.
Bwah?
10.
Has potential.
11.
For some reason reminds me of Battlestar Galactica. The ships, I mean. The face reminds me of dirty laundry.
12.
Must... resists... blockhead... joke.
13.
Face full of bees.
14.
I kinda like their ships, actually. And their appearance isn't that bad compared to some of the others.
15.
Case in point.
16.
So what happened to the utalitarian and compact design that is the staple of human technology in most sci-fi?
17.
Muppets in pyramids. MUPPETS. In. PYRAMIDS.
18.
At this point, I don't even care any longer.
19.
Ok, ok, not too shabby, I could live with this.
20.
The prerequisite bug species. So, feel like joining the hivemind, drone?
Culture
Our race is defined by a set of stats that all nominally start at average, or 100%. They're things like birthrates, attack and defense in space combat or ground assault, research, trade, happiness, production efficiency, etc. etc. etc. But let's make this simple. You'll be voting on what our culture leans most strongly towards:
Warriors - while our ships may lack refinement or efficient design, our crews and armies our the best trained in the universe. Time and time again we prove that a strong will and a drive to excel bring us victory against every foe.
Technicians - We may not be the strongest race out there, and we may not be chasing off after something new and shiny in the lab, but by jove, we make do with what we have. Our mines and refineries churn out resources day and night, and our ships are paragons of efficiency. Where others would build you a fleet, we'll build you ten.
Researchers - Combat prowess? Superior numbers? Bah. They may have mattered when our ancestors still bashed each other on the head with rocks. In this day and age, the only edge that matters is the technological one. What use are your shields, if our cannons can pierce right through them? What use is your mighty fleet if they can't catch up to ours? Technology is the future, and those who embrace it are the olny ones with any future to speak of.
Colonists - That's a big ol' universe and there's plenty of room for everyone in it. We don't want trouble - just a place to settle. But if you do bring out your guns and your ships... well, there's a lot of us out there, and we won't go down quietly.
So, um, let's not start anything anyone's going to regret, okay?
Special Trait
I'll be assigning 3000 points for race generation. It's possible to spend some of them on one of the traits listed below. Or you can vote for "None" and leave me more points to play with for stat increases.
Talented mechanics 1000pt. - base upkeep costs for ships (not bases) reduced by 25% (a.k.a. larger fleets)
Mechanoids 1000pt. - planets immune to epidemics. (easily countered with some research and a single building)
Lucky 1000pt. - 50% reduction in chance for a negative random event taking place. (The wording seems to imply there's a possibility of positive random events. I have yet to encounter one).
Born traders 1000pt. - Don't need to build spaceports (you ordinarily need one per every colonized system in order to receive resource income from the planets there. Basically, this would let us expand just a little bit faster).
Engine experts 1000pt. - All ships receive one extra point of base movement (If I was going to take anything, that would be it. In SE4 mobility is a HUGE factor in a fight).
Ancient race 1000pt. - The entire quadrant map starts explored (I'm banning that one for reasons previously mentioned).
Skilled stockpilers 1000pt. - 120% base stockpile and storage capabilities of planets (larger resource stockpiles and more room for things like ground troops, fighters, ground batteries, etc.)
Industrialists 1000pt. - 125% base shipyard production speed (becomes especially valuable as we get towards the more advanced ships which can take even up to 20 turns to produce).
Psychics 1500pt. - opens access to the Parapsychology research tree. (Either use mind control on your population to make them happier, or on enemies to demoralize/convert them. A bit meh in my opinion).
Deep Believers 1500pt. - opens access to the Belief research tree. (Brainwash the masses and endow your ship crews with fanatical zeal.)
Time Travelers 1500pt. - opens access to the Temporal research tree (you gain access to alternative versions certain utility techs sooner than would otherwise be possible and get Temporal guns which rapidly age bits and pieces of enemy ships, which is a very fancy way of saying "they do damage").
Crystal Manipulators 1500pt. - opens access to the Crystalline research tree. (Weapons with fancy names and average damage)
Bioengineers 1500pt. - opens access to the Bioengineering research tree. (Worth it if only because you get missles with a better rate of fire. Also, regenerative armor plating which sounds cool until you realize most of it will end up outright destroyed by your average salvo anyway).
Stoics 3000pt. - The populace feels no emotion. (Which makes any sort of brainwashing ineffective against them. They'll never rebel either. On the other hand, you won't be getting any production bonuses due to happiness either. Either way, I'm banning it since I want something left over to make our people truly ours.
Environment
Planets in SE4 are defined (among other things) by their type and atmosphere. Our choices are:
Atmosphere:
- None - very rare and restricted exclusively to Rock planets. Yes, we could start on a Gas planet without an atmosphere. No, don't expect we'll find another one. Far as I can tell you never get a Giant planet without an atmosphere either.
- Methane
- Oxygen
- Hydrogen
- Carbon Dioxide
Type:
- Rock
- Ice
- Gas - seem to have the largest percentage of Giant planets, but also the largest diversity of atmospheres, making finding the right one a crapshoot.
We can colonize any planet as long as we research the colonization module for the appropriate type - we begin with research in the one we've chosen. We can colonize a planet with any atmosphere, but only ones appropriate for our people will reach their full potential - we can cram only so many people, facilities and complexes into atmospheric domes.
Diplomacy
How we'll approach any alien races we might encounter while exploring the galaxy.
- Cohabitation - We're all friends here. Why waste lives and resources on sensless warfare when we can learn so much from one another? (I consider this largely useless. You could be the closest of allies with half the quadrant, but at some arbitrary point - far as I can tell it has something to do with reaching a certain level of technological development - everyone will declare war on you. Everyone. And if they just happen to have their own colonies and fleets in your territory at that point...)
- Subjugation - Conquer them, but let them keep their ships and their rulers - as long as they keep paying us tribute (declare war, beat up a few colonies, then choose then make them either a client or a slave state. They're still a separate faction, but they're crippled by having to give us a significant portion of their income. Strong possibility of eventual rebellion).
- Assimilation - Conquer them, eliminate their government and make them part of our empire (Necessitates maintaining ground troops on planets and building pacification centers, cause the ungrateful bastards have this tendency to rebel against our benelovent rule).
- Extermination - Planetary bombardment, full stop. (Also, the easiest option. Alternately, I like to force them to give up as per Assimilation then load the whole population into freighters and... jettison them into orbit.)
...and they were called...
Finally, suggest a name and I'll pick the one I like best.
I will count each category separately when tallying votes. For all of them it's first item to reach three votes wins. If voting goes on for too long in a category (no verdict reached after 10+ votes) I'm going to make a judgement call based on which option is in the lead at the time. Below is a quick breakdown of categories for reference:
Map
Quadrant type:
- Moderately Old
- Cluster 4 votes
- Galaxy's Edge
- Spiral 1 vote
- Grid
- Ancient
General options:
- All systems connected 2 yes/2 no
- Warp tunnels scattered across the system 3 yes/1 no
- Limited resources2 yes/3 no
Random events
Frequency:
- None
- Low 2 votes
- Average 1 vote
- Frequent 1 vote
Degree:
- Low 1 vote
- Average
- Severe
- Catastrophe 3 votes
Race
Appearance:
1
2 - 2 votes
3 - 1 vote
4
5
6 - 2 Votes
7
8
9
10
11 - 1 vote
12
13
14
15
16 - 1 vote
17
18
19 - 2 votes
20
Culture:
Special: vote for THREE categories, listing them from most to least important. The winner gets a big boost, second place a smaller one. Third place is left at nominal, and the one to come in dead last receives a penalty.
- Warriors - 9pts. - 3rd place
- Technicians - 10pts. - 2nd place
- Researchers - 11pts. - 1st place
- Colonists - 5pts. - 4th place
Special Trait:
- Talented Mechanics
- Mechanoids
- Lucky
- Born traders
- Engine experts
- Skilled stockpilers - 1 vote
- Industrialists - 1 vote
- Psychics
- Deep believers - 1 vote
- Time travelers - 1 vote
- Crystal manipulators
- Bioengineers
Homeworld:
Atmosphere:
- None
- Methane - 2 votes
- Oxygen - 1 vote
- Hydrogen - 2 votes
- Carbon dioxide
Type:
- Rock - 3 votes
- Ice - 1 vote
- Gas - 2 votes
Diplomacy:
- Cohabitation
- Subjugation - 2 votes
- Assimilation - 2 votes
- Extermination - 2 votes
Those who stand on that wall
And finally, we get to the meat of this LP - how you're going to contribute past the voting shenanigans outlined above. It goes like this - everyone who wishes to participate, submits their request in the following format:
Name - How you wish to be identified in the LP
Fleet Designation - How you wish your fleet to be called
Flagship name/class - how your wish to name you command ship
Doctrine - What kind of warfare your fleet will specialize in
That is correct. You get to be admirals in charge of gaining new systems for and protecting our yet unnamed empire. While I'll (obviously) still handle the actual fighting, you'll get to decide what tactics I will use and what ships will make up the bulk of your fleet. I will maintain an up-to-date roster of available ship designs and, as technology advances, possibly allow you to introduce individual tweaks to existing ones.
A word of explanation is in order: SE4 allows very flexible ship design. Essentially, if there's room for it on the chassis, you can put it in. The trick often lies in finding balance between speed, shielding, and firepower - get it right and even outgunned and outnumbered you can win with minimal losses.
Now for the bad news: I am initially going to restrict the fleet roster to 10 admirals - first come, first served. This will still be the largest force I ever played with (usually I limit myself to fourtwinked outhighly specialized fleets). And even those who make the cut may have to wait some time until they're brought into play, as a starting empire can't support more than a handful of ships.
But don't despair, those who won't end up admirals can still be captains - simply submit your desired name and the name/class of the ship you wish to command, and I will do my best to bring you into the game as well.
A few final explanations:
Doctrines:
The Sledgehammer - the best tactics are the simple ones, and in your case this means unleashing a full broadside at your enemy as his salvos dance uselessly across your shields. Energy and mass drivers are your weapons of choice, and the only weapons that truly count.
The Sling - He who controls the range of engagement, controls its course as well. Some scoff at how lightly you shiled your ships, but you know that shields aren't necessary - not as long as your missles turn the enemy into radioactive dust long before his guns can even begin tracking you.
The Swarm - the bulk of your fleet will be composed of carriers loaded to the brim with interceptors and bombers. Your strategy will rely on overwhelming enemy sensors with too many contacts to keep track of. Losses will be unavoidable, but better to have a handfull of pilots die than to lose a ship crewed by hundreds.
Note: Research into fighters is fairly expensive and even though it's possible to start it immediately, there's a lot of "priority" technologies that we're going to need beforehand, so it's possible that Swarm doctrine admirals will be making a late entry.
Balanced - a merger of the three doctrines above, with the fleet designed to adapt and deploy according to the situation. For obvious reasons, this doctrine will be appearing dead last.
Ship classes: (more may be added as time goes on)
Line ship - Heavily shielded and armed primarily with mass and energy drivers. Favorites of Sledgehammer admirals.
Missle boat - poorly shielded but fast and fitted with missle launchers, almost always staying out of enemy range.
Carrier - Delivery platform for fighter craft. Usually poorly armed, but makes an excellent flagship due to heavy fighter cover. Admirals tend to outfit them with specialized sensors and EW equipment.
Gunboat - small, lightly shielded ships, armed mostly with point defense guns for taking down fighters and missles.
Specialist - diverse, often experimental platforms for unusual weapons and equipment. Expect these to show up fairly late.
Support - a catchall category for noncombat craft which nevertheless find themselves deployed alongside regular fleet vessels. These include repair ships, dropships for ground troops, and resupply freighters carrying additional fighter craft.
And that's it for now.
( Gods, I hope this doesn't bomb.)
Tyran Concordiate Territories, circa 2428.1
Props to Artanis for keeping this thing updated.
Table of Contents
Part I - Governor
Part II - Hero
Part III - Admiral
Part IV - Counterattack
Part V - Xenocide
Interlude - Expansion
Part VI - Exploration
Part VII - Old Friend
Part VIII - Pretorians
Part IX - Invasion
Part X - Amon'krie
Part XI - Advantages
Part XII - Alliance
Part XIII - Offensive
Part XIV - Turning Point
Part XV - Retreat
Part XVI - Losses
Part XVII - Technological Superiority
Part XVIII - Battle for Belfen
Part XIX - Preparations
Part XX - Defector
Part XXI - Disappearance
Interlude II - Vignettes
Part XXII - First Blood
Part XXIII - Bankrupcy
Part XXIV - Reunification
Part XXV - Heroes
Part XVI - Discord
Part XVII - Blitz
Part XVIII - Defenders
Part XIX - Volunteers
Part XX - Hidden Strike
Interlude III - Comparisons
Part XXI - Betrayal
Part XXII - Crusade
Part XXIII - Homeworld
Part XXIV - Victory
Epilogue - Consolidation
Current Participants:
Admiralty:
1. Premier - Grand Admiral Premier Baron yun Vlosterkaus
2. Twin2 - Admiral Gerald Meane
3. Twin1 - Admiral Janus
4. Lord Asmodeus - Admiral Dominus
5. Dumbledore lives- Admiral Michael Wilson
6. Talkkno - TBA
7. Kane - TBA
8. Artanis - TBA
9. AgentPaper - TBA
10. *free*
Captains
Layman Numerous - Cpt. Layman Numerous of TLC Sword of Insufferable Arrogance
Philistine - Cpt. Robert Anson of TMCS Revenge
Rockphed - Cpt. Nacern Razerthorn of TGD Bradley Prime's Revenge
That other guy - Cpt. Otto of TMCS Bismarck
Juhn - TBA
Sanzh - Cpt. Khoras Antieron of TPA Phantom Hammer
Cobalt - Cpt. Traff Disdin of TMCS Alacrity
Fanart by That other guy
Spoiler
And a piece by DrunkMonkGar
Spoiler
Last edited by Maxymiuk; 2009-08-26 at 07:01 PM.
Let's Play: Space Empires IV (complete)
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2008-08-07, 09:10 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
- Potato Country
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Fleet Roster
The Knight Peacekeepers Preemptive
NOTE: Fleet roster based on ships departing Lenoltris in 2423.6 Current status unknown.
Admiral Premier Baron yun Vlosterkaus
Ships:
TMCS Bluntness of Purpose - Victory III - Admiral Vlosterkaus (Flagship)
TMCS Warden - Victory III
TMCS Unrequited - Victory III
TMCS Starfury - Victory III
TMCS Sworn - Victory III
TMCS Trial - Victory III
TMCS Righteous - Victory III
TMCS Revenge - Victory III - Cpt. Robert Anson
TMCS Oblique - Victory III
TMCS Overrun - Victory III
TMCS Fury - Victory III
TMCS Direct - Victory III
TMCS Deterrent - Victory III
TMCS Cartagina - Victory III
TMCS Avenger - Victory III
TMCS Lodestone - Temeraine II
TMCS Fettered - Axiom III
TMDS Hustings - Axiom III
TMDS Ballot - Axiom III
TMCS Chainer - Axiom II
TMCS Hastner - Axiom III
TMCS Nemesis - Axiom III
TMCS Stalker - Axiom III
MDB Staccato - Needler III
TBI Cerberus - Hound II
TBI Rexus - Hound II
FRV Rumbler - Nanite II
SCR Aureola - Atlas I
+3 captured Pretorian colony ships
The Hand
Admiral Janus
Ships
TPB The Maw - Inferno I - Admiral Janus (Flagship)
TMCS Null - Ender I
TMCS Bismarck - Overlord I - Cpt. Otto
TMCS Candid - Victory III
TMCS Chastity - Victory III
TMCS Destruction - Victory III
TMCS Eternal - Victory III
TMCS Hoff - Victory III
TMCS Jester - Victory III
TMCS Offering - Victory III
TMCS Overture - Victory III
TMCS Turnabout - Victory III
TMCS Unusual - Victory III
TGD Bradley Prime's Revenge - Charger V - Cpt. Nacern Razerthorn
- 4 ground divisions
TMT Sweeper - Cheval I
SCR Northlight - Hercules I
The Hive
Admiral Dominus
Ships
TLC Dominus Nex - Candor III - Admiral Dominus (Flagship)
60 strike craft:
- 4 Andromeda wings
- 4 Contrail wings
- 4 Flame wings
TLC Elite Orbit - Candor III
60 strike craft:
- 4 Andromeda wings
- 4 Contrail wings
- 4 Flame wings
TLC Honeycomb - Candor III
60 strike craft:
- 4 Andromeda wings
- 4 Contrail wings
- 4 Flame wings
TIS Onager - Thunder III
TIS Trajectory - Thunder III
SCR Phenomenon - Atlas II
Lance of the Dominus
NOTE: Currently defunct
Admiral Gerald MeaneLast edited by Maxymiuk; 2009-07-17 at 09:02 PM.
Let's Play: Space Empires IV (complete)
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2008-08-07, 09:12 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
- Potato Country
- Gender
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Ship Designs
Note: Only latest designs are shown.
Sledgehammer
Spoiler
Class: Destroyer Purpose: Frontline Combat
Class: Light Cruiser Purpose: Frontline Combat
Class: Heavy Cruiser Purpose: Flagship/Frontline Combat
Sling
Spoiler
Class: Destroyer Purpose: Long Range Attack
Class: Light Cruiser Purpose: Long Range Attack
Swarm
Spoiler
Class: Light Carrier Purpose: Flagship/Fighter Lauch Platform
Spoiler
Class: Light Fighter Purpose: Interceptor
Class: Light Fighter Purpose: Interceptor/Experimental Fighter
Class: Light Fighter Purpose: Anti-Capital Ship Bomber
Class: Light Fighter Purpose: Planetary Bomber
Specialist
Spoiler
Class: Escort Purpose: Boarding Actions/Ship Capture
Class: Frigate Purpose: Missle/Fighter Defense
Class: Frigate Purpose: Planetary Bombardment
Class: Destroyer Purpose: Plaetary Bombardment
Class: Cruiser Purpose: Planetary Bombardment
Class: Frigate Purpose: Anti-engine Weaponry
Class: Light Cruiser Purpose: Anti-engine Weaponry
Support
Spoiler
Class: Light Transport Purpose: Dropship
Spoiler
Class: Small Ground Unit Purpose: Planetary Assault
Class: Medium Transport Purpose: Fighter/Ground Forces Transport
Class: Light Cruiser Purpose: Minefield Deployment
Spoiler
Class: Small Mine Purpose: Passive-Aggressive Defense System
Class: Medium Mine Purpose: Passive-Aggressive Defense System
Class: Light Cruiser Purpose: Minefield Clearing
Class: Destroyer Purpose: Battlefield Repair/Recovery
Class: Heavy Cruiser Purpose: Battlefield Repair/Mobile Shipyard
Class: Destroyer Purpose: Fleet Resupply
Colonization
Spoiler
Class: Colony Ship Purpose: Rock Planet Colonization
Class: Colony Ship Purpose: Gas Planet Colonization
Space Stations
Spoiler
Class: Small Space Station Purpose: Orbital Shipyard
Class: Small Space Station Purpose: Orbital/Warp Tunnel Defense
Class: Medium Space Station Purpose: Orbital/Warp Tunnel Defense
Last edited by Maxymiuk; 2009-04-22 at 06:11 PM.
Let's Play: Space Empires IV (complete)
-
2008-08-07, 10:12 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2004
- Location
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
My votes are the following (I won't cast votes on issues I don't have a strong preference about):
Name: Teratohalgon Omnihale
Quadrant type: Cluster (for bottleneck defenses)
General options:
- Limited resources: no
Race
Appearance: 3 or 6
Culture: In order of decreasing preference:
- Researchers
- Technicians
- Colonists
Homeworld:Wasn't there also an option for Noble Gas atmosphere (Xenon, probably)? Anyway: Gas, whatever atmosphere
Diplomacy: Extermination when provoked.
Those who stand on that wall
Name - Premier Baron yun Vlosterkaus
Fleet Designation - The Knights Peacekeepers Pre-emptive
Flagship name/class - Bluntness of Purpose / Ship of the Line
Doctrine - Sledgehammer. If possible later on, adding some long-range missile ship support, one or two Specialist ships (planetary/stellar/warp point mainpulation), and some repair craft. But I understand that's long-term.Last edited by Premier; 2008-08-08 at 10:33 AM.
"I had thought - I had been told - that a 'funny' thing is a thing of goodness. It isn't. Not ever is it funny to the person it happens to. Like that sheriff without his pants. The goodness is in the laughing. I grok it is a bravery... and a sharing... against pain and sorrow and defeat."
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2008-08-07, 11:34 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Greece
- Gender
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
An excellent game. I wish I could find some people for a multiplayer sometime.
Anyway, those are my favourite settings:
Quadrant type:
- Cluster
General options:
- All systems connected yes
- Warp tunnels scattered across the system no
- Limited resources no
Random events
Frequency:
- Low
Degree:
- Catastrophe
Race
Appearance:
16
Culture:
- Researchers
- Technicians
- Warriors
Special Trait:
- Time travelers (temporal shipyards ftw)
Homeworld:
Atmosphere:
- Oxygen
Type:
- Rock
Diplomacy:
- Extermination
Name: Terran Empire
Those who stand on that wall
Name - Admiral Von Narken
Fleet Designation - The Black Fleet
Flagship name/class - Subjugator / Ship of the Line
Doctrine - Sledgehammer. With the biggest baddest ships available.
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2008-08-07, 01:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Here are my votes:
Name: Ego-Viator
Quadrant type: Spiral
Random events
Frequency:
- Low
Degree:
- Catastrophe
General options:
- All systems connected: no
- Warp tunnels scattered across the system: yes
- Limited resources: yes
Race
Appearance: 11 or 2
Culture: In order of decreasing preference:
- Technicians
- Warriors
- Colonists
Special Trait:
-Industrialists
Homeworld:
- Hydrogen
Type:
- Ice
Diplomacy:
- Subjugation
Those who stand on that wall
Name - Admiral Gerald Meane
Fleet Designation - Lance of the Dominus
Flagship name/class - Elite Orbit / Carrier
Doctrine - Sling
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2008-08-07, 01:17 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2005
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- Mountain View, CA
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Space Empires IV is an excellent game, but as a veteran player of the original English version I think I can safely say that a few things got garbled in translation to Polish. You can buy the english version either boxed or for immediate download for a mere $9.99 USD from Strategy First. In the mean time, I'll include notes about translation errors with my comments below.
Also, there is an active web site set up to automate multiplayer Space Empires games called Play By Web.
See link above for how to get the English version.
I vote Cluster.
I like this one on.
This setting isn't just for keeping all of your initial planets the same size, it ensures that all of your opponents start with the same size as you, too. Makes for a fairer game imo.
Frequent Catastrophic, just to spice things up a bit. Even with these settings star explosions should be fairly rare, and you get a 30 turn warning for them anyway. If your empire is so small that losing a single system with that much warning is truly crippling, you're doing something wrong.
I like the Xiati, personally.
Berzerkers. Period. Yes, that +10 space combat bonus really is that valuable. I can give a detailed explanation of why if you really want me to.
Major translation error. The original name is Advanced Power Conservation, but that's not the real error here. The benefit is 25% reduced supply usage, not 25% reduced maintenance costs. This means fleets that can go a little farther between visits to a resupply depot, not larger fleets. This is very rarely a major concern in stock, so this trait is near worthless.
Not worth 1000 points. Not even close.
Even with maximum random event settings, I'm not sure this is worth very much. Especially as I'm not sure the game recognizes ownership of star systems for this, so it may not affect the chance of random supernovas at all.
Original English is Natural Merchants. Borderline valuable. Not one I normally take, but not a bad choice.
Original English is Propulsion Experts. One of the top picks. That extra movement point is very nice to have, and it stacks with literally every other source of movement speed.
Original English is Advanced Storage Techniques. This is THE ABSOLUTE TOP PICK. I cannot emphasize this enough. That 20% extra space? It applies to facility space, too. Facilities are what produce resources, research, intelligence, etc. This is like a 20% boost to virtually everything production related. At 2 or 3 times the cost it would still be worth it.
Original English is Hardy Industrialists. One of the top picks. The limit of one space yard facility per planet means construction speed is hard to boost beyond a certain point, and this helps with that.
For a human player, there is only one thing this tech tree gives that I think is significantly valuable, and it has an absolute counter that will be used by everyone late game. The Allegiance Subverter can be quite powerful, but it is useless against anyone who uses Master Computers. As Master Computers replace crew and for the bigger ships are actually cheaper than what they replace, everyone will eventually be using them anyway.
Original English is Deeply Religious. It is valuable for two things - the Nature Shrine and the Religious Talisman. The Nature Shrine is just a superior and easier to research version of Value Improvement Plants; nice, but only valuable in the long term. The Religious Talisman is so powerful it is routinely banned in multiplayer. A ship with a Religious Talisman will always hit with every single shot. This is an ENORMOUS force multiplier, cannot be countered, and if you choose your characteristics with this benefit in mind can actually have a negative cost in racial points.
Original English is Temporal Knowledge. Temporal Space Yards are the only reason I would ever pick it. Can be good, but it's not all that far up on my list.
Original English is Crystallurgy. Crystalline Armor is the only reason to get this. A ship with a sufficient amount of Crystalline Armor on it (not really feasible before Dreadnoughts) is an extremely tough target due to the mechanics of how the Shield Generation From Damage ability works. One of the better picks late game, but not one I usually take.
Original English is Organic Manipulation. Heavy use of organic technology will significantly reduce ship costs, which also means shorter build times. The tradeoff is more cost in the least used resource (organics) and that your ships will be somewhat weaker than equivalent non-organic ships. Quantity has its own quality, however, and should usually be enough to make up for the difference.
Original English is Emotionless. Even if you weren't banning it, I would advise against it in very strong terms. It is worse than worthless. I would only consider taking it if the cost were negative, that's how bad it is.
None is not actually any rarer than the other atmosphere types, as long as you only consider rock and ice planets. In fact, if you take all the moons into account (every moon always has no atmosphere in the stock game) it's relatively common. The game actually won't allow you to pick the Gas/None combination, btw. I vote Hydrogen.
Rock and Ice are virtually identical choices. Gas will get you fewer but larger planets in general. I vote Gas.
Assimilation. Ground troops are amazingly cheap, you should have tons of them everywhere anyway to make your own population happy (yay almost-free 20% production boost), and captured population retains its own atmosphere type while adopting all the rest of your racial traits. Capture some breathers for an atmosphere other than your own, spread them through your empire, and you can vastly increase your production potential.
The quick vote sheet:
Map
Quadrant type:
- Cluster
General options:
- All systems connected 0 yes
- Warp tunnels scattered across the system 0 yes
- Limited resources 0 no
Random events
Frequency:
- Frequent
Degree:
- Catastrophe
Race
Appearance:
19
Culture:
Special: vote for THREE categories, listing them from most to least important. The winner gets a big boost, second place a smaller one. Third place is left at nominal, and the one to come in dead last receives a penalty.
- Warriors, Researchers, Technicians
Special Trait:
- Advanced Storage Techniques (aka Skilled Stockpilers)
- Hardy Industrialists
- Propulsion Experts
Homeworld:
Atmosphere:
- Hydrogen
Type:
- Gas
Diplomacy:
- Assimilation
Admiral Douglas
Frontier Security Fleet
Plebiscite/Ship of the Line
The Sledgehammer (Planetary conquest)
My detailed empire recommendation, assuming 5000 racial points:
SpoilerCulture: Berzerkers. Offense and defense bonuses are the Kings of combat power, and this culture gives you +10 to each, stacking with everything.
Advanced Storage Techniques. See above comments for why.
Hardy Industrialists, Propulsion Experts.
Physical Strength: 50% - You should typically be dropping overwhelming troop strength anyway, this isn't going to make much difference. Almost free points.
Intelligence 120% - Research is powerful, and this is as high as it goes before it starts costing too much.
Cunning 80% - Intelligence operations are not very powerful in stock. You shouldn't have much trouble defending yourself with this, and the points are better spent elsewhere.
Happiness 50% - Troops easily overwhelm this penalty, and even before you get troops technology it isn't that bad. Just make sure you get troops fairly early and build a dozen or two on each planet (you don't even have to arm them if you don't want to) and every planet will be Jubilant despite this penalty. Incidentally, the ease of ensuring permanent happiness via troops is the reason Emotionless is such a worthless trait. Jubilant people give a 20% bonus to production, while emotionless people only get 10%.
Aggressiveness 120% - This is like getting a free extra level of Combat Sensors on every ship. EXTREMELY powerful. Do not ever dump unless you are taking Deeply Religious for the Talisman, which makes this characteristic irrelevant.
Defensiveness 120% - This is like getting a free extra level of ECM on every ship. EXTREMELY powerful. Never dump unless you expect virtually every other player in the game to have the Religious Talisman.
Political Savvy 50% - Trade is for the weak.
Mining Aptitude 114% - The primary resource for almost everything, and this is all I had the points left at the end to raise it to.
Farming Aptitude 80% - The least used resource. These points are better spent elsewhere.
Refining Aptitude 100% - Used more than organics, but definitely secondary to minerals. It might be a good idea to move some points from this to mining, but it's not a big deal.
Construction Aptitude 120% - Increasing that construction speed cap is a very valuable thing.
Repair 82% - Comes out to 80% with the Berzerkers penalty, which results in relatively little loss of repair capacity from rounding.
Maintenance Aptitude 120% - The base maintenance rate is 25% of construction cost per turn. This cuts that down to 5% of construction cost per turn, one fifth of normal, which allows you to maintain FIVE TIMES as many ships.Like 4X (aka Civilization-like) gaming? Know programming? Interested in game development? Take a look.
Avatar by Ceika.
Archives:
SpoilerSaberhagen's Twelve Swords, some homebrew artifacts for 3.5 (please comment)
Isstinen Tonche for ECL 74 playtesting.
Team Solars: Powergaming beyond your wildest imagining, without infinite loops or epic. Yes, the DM asked for it.
Arcane Swordsage: Making it actually work (homebrew)
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2008-08-07, 01:52 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
I'll give this a try. Here are my choices.
Quadrant type: Cluster
Random events
Frequency:
- Average
Degree:
- Low
General options:
- All systems connected: no
- Warp tunnels scattered across the system: yes
- Limited resources: yes
Race
Appearance: 6
Culture: In order of decreasing preference:
- Researchers
- Technicians
- Colonists
Special Trait:
-Time Travelers
Homeworld:
- Methane
Type:
- Rock
Diplomacy:
- Assimilation
Those who stand on that wall
Name - Admiral Janus
Fleet Designation - The Hand
Flagship name/class - The Maw / Specialist
Doctrine - SlingLast edited by Twin1; 2008-08-08 at 12:59 PM.
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2008-08-07, 02:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
- Location
- The Great Empyrean Sea
- Gender
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
I'm just going to vote on the race thing.
Appearance: 2 (I'd prefer 5, but something tells me noone else will)
Culture: Warriors, Colonists, Researchers
Special Trait: Believers, Bioengineers
Homeworld: Methane
Type: Rock
Diplomacy: Subjugation
Name: The Tyranus Concordiate
Those who stand on the wall
Name: Dominus
Fleet Designation: The Hive
Flagship name/Class: Domina Nex/Carrier
Doctrine: SwarmLast edited by Lord_Asmodeus; 2008-08-07 at 05:42 PM.
Caesar Asmodeus by Andraste
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2008-08-07, 06:39 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
About the admiral part I'm assuming we're all on the same side, or are we all on different ones going toe to toe with each other?
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2008-08-08, 12:03 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2005
- Location
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- Gender
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Updated the first post with the current votes. We're slowly getting there.
Explanation about culture: I forgot to specify how I'd tally the votes for this category. I've assigned 3 points for first choice, 2 for second, and 1 for third and whichever would break 10 points first would win. As you can see, it was a very close thing.
Special trait: To clarify, I've meant everyone to choose ONE trait. For those who've selected multiple I've only counted their first choice, but if you'd like to change that, let me know.
Diplomacy: I see about the only thing we can agree on is that we're not very friendly.
@Twin2: Yes, we're all on the same side. The idea is that you decide on the composition of your fleets, and I try and win with them.
@douglas: Thank you for the clarifications regarding translation errors.Last edited by Maxymiuk; 2008-08-08 at 12:04 PM.
Let's Play: Space Empires IV (complete)
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2008-08-08, 12:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
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- Mountain View, CA
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
You're welcome.
Just to reiterate the two most important points for those who may not have read the entirety of my long post:
1) Talented Mechanics affects how far your fleets can go before resupply, which is rarely a concern in this game. It does not affect how large a fleet you can support.
2) Skilled Stockpilers affects the limit on resource and research production on each planet. It is by far the most powerful special trait (ignoring the Religious Talisman), giving an effective 20% boost to all resources and research speed throughout the game.
Also, if you would like to play a multiplayer game, I could set one up for you on Play By Web. Settings are negotiable, and it could be cooperative vs the AIs if you don't want to play against me.Like 4X (aka Civilization-like) gaming? Know programming? Interested in game development? Take a look.
Avatar by Ceika.
Archives:
SpoilerSaberhagen's Twelve Swords, some homebrew artifacts for 3.5 (please comment)
Isstinen Tonche for ECL 74 playtesting.
Team Solars: Powergaming beyond your wildest imagining, without infinite loops or epic. Yes, the DM asked for it.
Arcane Swordsage: Making it actually work (homebrew)
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2008-08-08, 01:11 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
- Location
- Ireland
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
By the way, if anyone is having trouble finding a copy you can buy Space Empires IV Deluxe on Stream for around 10$. I'm downloading it from Stream right now.
Dub Club in the Playground
I need a new signature.
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2008-08-08, 01:14 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
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2008-08-08, 01:17 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- The Great Empyrean Sea
- Gender
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
I've noticed that on the Special Traits list you don't have Believers listedScratch that, you have Deep Believers listed, however you haven't counted it for my vote.(That was my first choice)Last edited by Lord_Asmodeus; 2008-08-08 at 01:19 PM.
Caesar Asmodeus by Andraste
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2008-08-08, 01:39 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
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2008-08-08, 01:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
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- The Great Empyrean Sea
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Can I change my fleet type and mothership type? I was thinking of switching to Sledgehammer...Scratch that, we already have like 3 Sledgehammer fleets, we need a Swarm fleet.Last edited by Lord_Asmodeus; 2008-08-08 at 01:45 PM.
Caesar Asmodeus by Andraste
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2008-08-08, 01:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
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2008-08-08, 01:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
- Location
- The Great Empyrean Sea
- Gender
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2008-08-08, 01:58 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Yea you just had to go and name yourself that didn't you.
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2008-08-08, 02:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2007
- Location
- The Great Empyrean Sea
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
I had planned to from the moment I saw the "how you will be known in the LP" thing. It harkens back to my love of playing the Zuul in Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood, because I love the way they call you (the player) Dominus, and how deliciously cruel and evil they are. I mean come on, their FTL travel relies on ships called "Rip Borers" that literally tear through the fabric of space, to open a pathway for your ships, literally ripping a (not literally bleeding) hole in the universe
Caesar Asmodeus by Andraste
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2008-08-08, 02:29 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Note to self don't get on your fleets bad side.
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2008-08-08, 03:13 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2007
- Location
- The Great Empyrean Sea
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Well, you are my Lance
Caesar Asmodeus by Andraste
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2008-08-09, 01:52 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2005
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- Potato Country
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Ok, seeing as interest isn't what I hoped it would be, I'll give things another day and then make do with what we have and start the game.
Originally Posted by Twin2
Originally Posted by Twin1Let's Play: Space Empires IV (complete)
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2008-08-10, 10:07 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2005
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
And here we go.
Final setttings:
Map
Cluster
All systems connected - yes (The map generator spat out something that may either give us a cakewalk or a splitting headache, depending on where we end up starting)
Warp tunnels scattered across the system - yes
Limited resources - no
Random Events
Frequency - Low
Degree - Catastrophe
Environment
Planet type - Rock
Atmosphere - Methane (Terrorist attacks usually consist of mixing oxygen into the ventilation of the target building and then setting off a spark)
Race
Special Trait - Industrialists (it was a tough choice, between that and Advanced Storage Techniques, but in the end I decided we're getting a massive boost to research, etc. anyway)
Statistics:
After forking over for the special trait I was left with 2000pts. I've brought it up to 3000pts. by reducing the Colonist options: (garbled in translation alert) Adaptation, Birthrate, Happiness, Political Savvy. From there I've spent 2000pts. on Researchers options - Intelligence and Cunning, and the remaining 1000pts. on Aptitudes. Warrior options remained at nominal.
Physical Strength: 100%
Intelligence: 130% (128%)
Cunning: 120% (118%)
Adaptation: 89%
Birthrate: 91% (For some reason it wouldn't let me go lower than that)
Happiness: 90%
Aggressiveness: 100% (105%)
Defensiveness: 100% (105%)
Political Savvy: 90%
Mining Aptitude: 110%
Farming Aptitude: 100%
Refining Aptitude: 105%
Construction Aptitude: 105%
Repair: 100%
Maintenance Aptitude: 110%
Diplomacy: Subjugation, followed by Assimilation in case the xenos get uppity, followed by Extermination if all else fails (another tough choice, so let's go with all three ).
Culture:
I decided to throw in Warriors for -2% to Intelligence and Cunning and +5% to Aggressiveness and Defensiveness. I've also set Attitude (probably not how it translates) to Aggressive, since that's what it seems to be from your votes. It has no mechanical effect AFAIK. However Social Tendencies do, and those I've set to Bloodthirsty - this means the more we win, the happier our population is, but we take a popularity hit if/when we take losses or sign treaties.
Other settings
Technology costs: High (we don't want to hit Black Hole Generators too quickly)
Allowed Technologies: All (I was really tempted to ban Intelligence Operations because of how stupidly the game handles that aspect of warfare. But hey, this is in part about you watching me suffer, right?)
Starting Tech Level: Low (Also, I'll be sticking to the default research method that splits points between all projects equally instead of researching one after another, since it's more in line with what I have in mind for this LP)
Starting Resources: 20000 (not like it matters that much)
Starting Planet's Value: Low (you'll see why soon enough)
AI player density: Medium
AI player skill: High
Stay tuned for the first actual game update later tonight.Let's Play: Space Empires IV (complete)
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2008-08-10, 04:46 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- Mountain View, CA
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
That should do well enough against the AI if you play well, but that gets boring after a while. Would you care for a friendly multiplayer game?
Cunning has nothing to do with research. It increases your intelligence points production, used for espionage and sabotage.
Drop this to 120% and you'd save 1000 points. Enough to buy Advanced Storage Techniques and end up with an even higher final research effective bonus, combined with bonuses to resource production as well.
Bloodthirsty has a serious problem - colonizing planets causes unhappiness.Like 4X (aka Civilization-like) gaming? Know programming? Interested in game development? Take a look.
Avatar by Ceika.
Archives:
SpoilerSaberhagen's Twelve Swords, some homebrew artifacts for 3.5 (please comment)
Isstinen Tonche for ECL 74 playtesting.
Team Solars: Powergaming beyond your wildest imagining, without infinite loops or epic. Yes, the DM asked for it.
Arcane Swordsage: Making it actually work (homebrew)
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2008-08-10, 09:30 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2005
- Location
- Potato Country
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Maybe once this LP is over, as currently my schedule is full.
Cunning has nothing to do with research. It increases your intelligence points production, used for espionage and sabotage.
Drop this to 120% and you'd save 1000 points. Enough to buy Advanced Storage Techniques and end up with an even higher final research effective bonus, combined with bonuses to resource production as well.
Bloodthirsty has a serious problem - colonizing planets causes unhappiness.Let's Play: Space Empires IV (complete)
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2008-08-11, 12:16 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2005
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Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
I get the impression that most people who joined this LP are already familiar with the game, but I decided to still stop every once in awhile and explain just what the hell we're looking at for the benefit of anyone who wanders into this thread and may decide to join in the fun.
Above is the system overview - here's where we'll be spending most of the time within the game. From here we can issue orders to ships (which we don't have yet), view detailed information about planets, and access most of the submenus for ship design, building queues, empire overview, cargo transfer, etc.
The main screen shows us that, aside from our homeworld (the small purple planet with a selection box around it) there's two more worlds we can currently settle - the blueish planet just down and to the right, and the white one up and left. The former is a primary choice in this case - the green asterix next to it means it shares both composition and atmosphere with our homeworld, which means it can support more buildings and a higher population. The planet with the red asterix shares the composition of our homeworld (we'll need to research different colonization modules for gas and ice planets), but it has a different atmosphere. This forces our colonists into domed cities, which can only support a small population and a punishingly pitiful number of buildings. Still, it's a habitable world and those are at a premium this early in the game.
The two bright blue swirly thingies are warp tunnels, which lead to other systems - we'll be exploring them very soon. In SE warp tunnels make for natural defense points, and a properly set up defense might be nearly impossible to breach - we'll discuss that in detail eventually, but for now simply consider that in combat the first turn always belongs to the defender, and that during an assault through a warp tunnel all your ships will end up in range (if not at point blank) of the enemy's fortifications.
The irregular purplish blob in the lower left of the display is a space storm. In the game these crop up in almost every standard system and can provide a number of benefits or penalties to ships within them. For example, if we were to fight inside this one, it would negate any benefits we or our opponent were gaining from any combat sensors on our ship.
For the record, I have yet to fight inside one. They're too random, too out of the way, and usually benefit the less advanced ships, which I don't plan on having.
In the lower right corner of the screen you can see the quadrant map. While it's still unexplored, you can probably already see why this map type is called "cluster."
Finally, there's our system's star. They're important for a few reasons: you pretty much need one for habitable planets to be present, some important technologies need them to function, there can be more than one, etc. Ours is special because it's a bomb waiting to happen.
"An unstable star, which might explode at any moment."
Screw you, guys.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Planet Tyranus, Vendrin System, year 2400
- Is this a joke?
- The Concordiate doesn't joke, Maxymiuk.
- I'm sorry Hevel, but this - he tapped the documents on his desk - sure looks like one to me.
- It has the official seal.
- Full executive powers, Hevel? Authority over the entire system?
- And anything through the warp tunnels, once we can afford to send in explorers again - Hevel nodded solemnly.
- I don't buy it. Hevel... have you read this? I get the say so on every ship to leave the shipyards. I'm in charge of the military, colonization, deep space mining... This isn't how the Concordiate acts. To give so much power to one person... I'm not even a politician!
- Wars change things. You should know that.
- Yes, bu-
- The way the Concordiate sees it, the Colony Wars happened because there was no one in control. Dozens of factions, hundreds of [rivate interests, thousands of offivials cutting off their own private slice of pie. They want someone at the helm this time.
- They want someone to blame once things go wrong, you mean. But why me?
- Simple answer? You're a war hero, Max. You're the reason the capital is still standing. The people trust you. And since you're not political, means you're not in anyone's pocket, so the Concordiate is prepared to trust you. For now.
- What if I refuse?
- We can't stop you. But... look, we need you. We need a functional space program. We need the colonies again - you know there's been food riots in Nevola last month. We... - Hevel lowered his tone - The Concordiate's afraid this might end in a revolt, and they're too weak to prevent it right now. And they don't trust one another enough with that kind of power.
- And yet they trust me. And... - Maxymiuk suddenly understood. - And since you're the one here telling me all this... you poor bastard.
Hevel said nothing.
- Fine. When do I start?
- The car is waiting.
A few days later, Vanadus Shipyards
- One question, Director. How long?
- Four months. For both ships, that is - he added hurriedly. - We can have the first one out of the dock in two.
- Hevel...
- We'll start colonist recruitment immediately.
- Good, but there's something else - the new Colonial Governor in Charge of Extraplanetary Affairs Maxymiuk set his jaw. What he was about to say wasn't going to go over well. - This is far too slow.
- Our engineers are working as fast as the-
- I don't doubt that, Director. Your estimate is better than I expected, to tell the truth. However, it's still too slow. We need another shipyard. And I want it up there.
Hevel's and the Director's eyes went wide.
- Max- I mean, Governor, you can't be serious. Since the war... public opinion...
- The public opinion will have to deal. We need a shipyard in orbit if we're planning on establishing a fleet by the next century. And - he cut off the next words of protest - then we're going to build another orbital base and we'll be arming it to the teeth. I am not going to repeat past mistakes. Are we clear?
What choice did they have?
- Yes, Governor.
Above, you see what a ready project looks like. It gives us the class, type, cost, etc. - if you go back up a bit, you'll see it's part of a larger management screen that lets us create and edit designs for any ships, bases, or units we currently have researched (and even alien designs if we ever manage to get our hands on one).
The most important feature I want to discuss here is the modular design that SE allows. As you can see from the above screenshot, we're using the same template - a small space station - for both Gremlin and Overwatch projects. The first five components are required for both - a bridge, two life support systems, and two crew quarter modules. From there on out, it's whatever we want to put there (and will fit).
A small space station has a Tonnage of 500kT. The aforementioned basics take up 50kT. The shipyard facility on Gremlin takes up a whopping 400kT. With 50kT left over we could fit it with a single missle launcher, but since that would at most cripple a single unshielded escort, I chose to fit it with two additional cargo modules (20kT each).
The Overwatch takes up the matle of protecting our homeworld from early attacks. Since without a shipyard we have 450kT to spare, I've fitted it with 5 missle launchers (250kT total) and 3 mass drivers (original English would be something like "ballistic cannons" but I think my version sounds better, so nyah). However, note the "L" in the top left corner in the icon - it means that I'm using a Large Base Hardpoint to mount the guns, which gives them bonuses to damage and range, increases supply consumption per shot, and increases the amount of space they take up - the tradeoff is usually well worth it. The standard version of a mass driver deals 20 damage per shot, has a range of 2, and takes up 30kT. The LBH version deals 60 damage per shot, has a range of 4, and takes up 60kT.
This leaves us with 20kT of space, which is just enough for an extra supply bay - nominally, bases have infinite supplies, however once you enter combat, you find out that there's a fixed (and rather low) number of supplies they can use. And believe me, there's nothing more embarassing than running out of ammo halfway through a fight.Let's Play: Space Empires IV (complete)
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2008-08-11, 02:31 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2005
- Location
- Mountain View, CA
- Gender
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Like 4X (aka Civilization-like) gaming? Know programming? Interested in game development? Take a look.
Avatar by Ceika.
Archives:
SpoilerSaberhagen's Twelve Swords, some homebrew artifacts for 3.5 (please comment)
Isstinen Tonche for ECL 74 playtesting.
Team Solars: Powergaming beyond your wildest imagining, without infinite loops or epic. Yes, the DM asked for it.
Arcane Swordsage: Making it actually work (homebrew)
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2008-08-11, 03:16 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2006
- Location
- Hamilton, New Zealand
- Gender
Re: Let's Play: Space Empires IV
Can I be an admiral dude, it looks like a pretty gun game.
Name Admiral Michael Wilson
Fleet Designation The Knights Templar
Flagship Name/Class Metal Wolf Chaos/Line Ship
Doctrine Sledgehammer Immense firepower FTW!Avatar by Diabhan
Shapperdash, movie reviews amongst other things.
Natural 1, a tale of critical failures