Sword of the Stars! I think I just cut myself.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-09-01 03:41am

Who's got this game besides me and White Haven right now? I'm enjoying the mix of a kinda lite 4x with very accessable multiplayer, and simplified Homeworld tactical.

Who wants to game?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-09-01 03:57am

As soon as Tycho sends me the game, I'm up for a free for all.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2006-09-01 07:39am

I'll think about it, most of my ot checks are going to that evil dependant of mine. (the car)

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-09-04 04:26am

Ace Pace wrote:As soon as Tycho sends me the game, I'm up for a free for all.

Grr. I'll crush you, I will!

I'm messing with it now. The races are awfully fun and play so differently. It's a refreshing sight seeing a Liir Dreadnaught chasing down a pack of Hiver destroyers, and gaining on them.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-04 04:31am

Oh ho, so when Stark makes a thread about a game nobody cares, but a webcomic av makes all the difference...

I'll kick all your asses. Of course, I will only play on random race.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2006-09-04 09:58am

Well, it's simple, really. It's not the avatar, it's that we hate you.

That said, I'm generally up to a game, just haven't been lately on account of being sick as a dog. The mental overdrive of multiplayer strategy does not sound appealing right now.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-09-04 01:24pm

Stark wrote:Oh ho, so when Stark makes a thread about a game nobody cares, but a webcomic av makes all the difference...

I'll kick all your asses. Of course, I will only play on random race.

I'm just that much better than you, Stark. I think you must get over it.

Plus, I made it after the game came out and threw down my glove. But now that you've slighted me, I demand satisfaction! We will have Assault/Barrage/Antimatters in the town square, ten seconds of thrust, turn and fire.

xammer99 · Post by **xammer99** » 2006-09-06 09:30am

Glad y'all recommended this game. I picked it up the other day and so far it's a damn lotta fun. At first it was suckin pretty hard core, then I got the patch and that made a damn world of difference with the extra short cuts and such.

Pros:
- Tactical combat is freakin beautiful. Stand off missile duels ftw.
- Ship design is awesome. I love the customization.
- Build queue is very nice.

Cons:
- Tactical combat is a serious PITA to maneuver with. I'd like more control over each unit if possible to position them so that they maintain distance from the enemy.
- It's a serious PITA to get your units from your industrial planets to a front if you encounter someone.
- Despite the seeming free form tech tree, there are definately some must haves. Notably engine upgrades.
- There REALLY needs to be a way to issue mass production orders to planets.

I think my biggest problem is I've started off in too big a galaxy (150 planet). The game is just...overwhelming in it's scope, but so much fun.

Graeme Dice · Post by **Graeme Dice** » 2006-09-06 10:29am

xammer99 wrote:- Build queue is very nice.

This is probably the weakest part in my opinion. There really is no such thing as a build queue, since you pay up front for anything you put into it.

- It's a serious PITA to get your units from your industrial planets to a front if you encounter someone.

This is why you play the Hivers.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2006-09-06 11:43am

As for mass production, in the patched version (already out), you can shift-click a ship class to queue up five at a time. Also, with regards to maneuvering and extended range combat...are you running pre or post-patch? Now, I always manually order my ships anyways, but there's a bug with ship range calculation pre-patch that causes the desired 'stand-off' range for ships told to stand off to be far too close. Again, fixed in the patch.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-09-06 12:03pm

Use manual control unless you're pursuing a single ship with a detatchment, which close and attack is good for. Industrial worlds back home really aren't that big a deal, as usually a frontier planet is only 70 percent as good, but that's good enough.

Most races are fast enough to reinforce anyway once you're upgraded. FP-Antimatter Node Drive is the fastest thing in the universe, Antimatter flicker and warp are also fast.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-09-06 01:27pm

The Shiny

purrrrrrdy.

(Buy this game now, people, so I can fight you)

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-06 05:02pm

Is it only available online? I mean, I know I'm in Australia...

[/i]

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2006-09-06 05:25pm

Boxed copies are in various states of 'available' or 'will be available' most everwhere around the world, as far as I know. Australia's a major enough market that I highly doubt it'll be left out in the cold. If it does come down to it, Gamer's Gate is quite decent for online distro, if you have to.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-06 05:42pm

Yeah, I've just been struck lately by how few titles EB really stocks. I don't feel like waiting for it to bother showing up here, so I'll just buy it online.

And then school Nephtys.

Graeme Dice · Post by **Graeme Dice** » 2006-09-06 05:56pm

Nephtys wrote:The Shiny

purrrrrrdy.

(Buy this game now, people, so I can fight you)

I'll fight you tonight as long as we play in a fairly small galaxy.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-09-06 06:13pm

Graeme Dice wrote:
Nephtys wrote:The Shiny

purrrrrrdy.

(Buy this game now, people, so I can fight you)
I'll fight you tonight as long as we play in a fairly small galaxy.

You're on. How about in 1 hour (4 PST, 7 EST) sound to start? Be on then?

Graeme Dice · Post by **Graeme Dice** » 2006-09-06 06:42pm

Nephtys wrote:
Graeme Dice wrote:
Nephtys wrote:The Shiny

purrrrrrdy.

(Buy this game now, people, so I can fight you)
I'll fight you tonight as long as we play in a fairly small galaxy.
You're on. How about in 1 hour (4 PST, 7 EST) sound to start? Be on then?

I'll be on in about 15 minutes from 4:38 p.m. MST.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-09-06 07:01pm

Graeme Dice wrote:
Nephtys wrote:
Graeme Dice wrote: I'll fight you tonight as long as we play in a fairly small galaxy.
You're on. How about in 1 hour (4 PST, 7 EST) sound to start? Be on then?
I'll be on in about 15 minutes from 4:38 p.m. MST.

Alright. I'll make a game, password is 'SDN'.

Room name is Nephtys: Pointed Stick of the Stars.

Graeme Dice · Post by **Graeme Dice** » 2006-09-06 07:13pm

Nephtys wrote:Alright. I'll make a game, password is 'SDN'.

Room name is Nephtys: Pointed Stick of the Stars.

Do you happen to know which ports you need to open on a NAT router? I get stuck at the connecting screen.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-09-06 07:24pm

Graeme Dice wrote:
Nephtys wrote:Alright. I'll make a game, password is 'SDN'.

Room name is Nephtys: Pointed Stick of the Stars.
Do you happen to know which ports you need to open on a NAT router? I get stuck at the connecting screen.

No clue at all. I don't have much experience in screwing with firewalls and routers. I just let my copy run no restrictions.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2006-09-06 07:24pm

Should be ports 3369 and 3370, if memory serves. You may or may not have to port-foreward them to your IP, not sure on that score.

Vanas · Post by **Vanas** » 2006-09-09 03:46pm

Just got the game, tried out the Liir (of Omicron Persei 8?) and their magic drives.
Couple of little battles got underway with the Little Otters, First two of their Destroyers flattened an ER destroyer of mine. Annoyed, my second couting fleet was twice the size and rather better armoured, and supported by a Tanker and coloniser. The Tarka were there and were crushed.

Then, my only colony world (with 5 ship anti-tarka defenses) met up with three Von Neumann thingies. The Von Neumann thingies vapourised the entire fleet in about 2 seconds but were eventually driven off by planet-based missiles. Hmm.

I'll consider it online, but first I need to work out what I'm doing.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2006-09-09 03:56pm

Vanas wrote:Just got the game, tried out the Liir (of Omicron Persei 8?) and their magic drives.
Couple of little battles got underway with the Little Otters, First two of their Destroyers flattened an ER destroyer of mine. Annoyed, my second couting fleet was twice the size and rather better armoured, and supported by a Tanker and coloniser. The Tarka were there and were crushed.

Then, my only colony world (with 5 ship anti-tarka defenses) met up with three Von Neumann thingies. The Von Neumann thingies vapourised the entire fleet in about 2 seconds but were eventually driven off by planet-based missiles. Hmm.

I'll consider it online, but first I need to work out what I'm doing.

Random Encounters can be bad sometimes but are usually fun.

The Liir are a bit challenging to play. Their ships are fragile but have a lot of small turrets, and they tend to get a lot of the rarer technologies. They also are signifigantly more maneuverable in deep space than in orbit.

Vanas · Post by **Vanas** » 2006-09-09 04:04pm

If the Von Neumann thingies were playable, I know what I'd be using. That's all I'm saying.

The fragility of my ships was noticeable, as is my piss-poor aiming. I also swear half my death-rays didn't fire. Perhaps next time I'll go for the massively exposed drives GTA. Smooth, guys.