Space Empires V PBW game?

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-15 10:19am

Still waiting for someone with the Steam version to tell us whether...

1) It forced the upgrade. No big deal if it did, since we'll all just update and resubmit our turns.

2) Whether the upgrade breaks the savegame. This would be a pretty big deal, requiring some drastic measures, so let's all cross our fingers.

Frankly, I'm a little sick of the static, so if I haven't heard anything from the Steam players in the next 8 hours or so, we'll just run using 1.35 at normal time today, and if that leaves them out of this turn, then they should have said something.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-15 10:53am

Game loads fine for me with the updated version, so it doesn't seem that we should have any problems. I kept a copy of v1.35 too, of course. Unless someone speaks up and says they've been forced to update, we'll play this turn with 1.35 and next turn with 1.44. This turn will be executed at 9 PM PDT tonight.

If you're a Steam player, and you haven't opened SEV since we churned this turn, disable your internet connection before you take the turn. And don't forget to make an image of SE V with the current version before you update.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-15 04:20pm

Just so we're all on the same page: The turn will be run at normal time today using v 1.35. Submit the next turn with v 1.44.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2007-07-15 11:26pm

I'm back.

So... we're playing with 1.44 now? Of what? Balance mod?

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-16 12:22am

Covenant wrote:I'm back.

So... we're playing with 1.44 now? Of what? Balance mod?

Of SE V. It's actually quite a nice update. My favorite change is the color coded map like in SE IV, so you can tell at a glance what the hell's going on and not have to guess which systems you have colonies in.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-16 10:37am

New turn is up. This one will be run with v 1.44, so upgrade before submitting turns.

ColonialAdmiral · Post by **ColonialAdmiral** » 2007-07-16 07:44pm

I'm going to be gone for 3 weeks on vacation. I will have access to the internet only sporadicaly, so I need somebody to watch it for me. Would anybody care to step forward? I'll e-mail my pass, and what I would like done while I'm gone.

Thanks.

Luke Starkiller · Post by **Luke Starkiller** » 2007-07-17 07:29am

I'm going to be missing 1-3 of the next three turns as I will be at my wife's family reunion.

I really like the way they changed to Combat report to a summary in the News screen.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-17 09:29pm

ColonialAdmiral wrote:I'm going to be gone for 3 weeks on vacation. I will have access to the internet only sporadicaly, so I need somebody to watch it for me. Would anybody care to step forward? I'll e-mail my pass, and what I would like done while I'm gone.

Thanks.

When are you leaving?

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-18 12:11am

Couldn't load Kingside's (or whoever's playing him, can't remember) turn, probably because it was submitted with v 1.35. Remember to update, folks.

ColonialAdmiral · Post by **ColonialAdmiral** » 2007-07-18 12:25am

This thrusday. If nobody steps up by the time I'm gone, I'll just PM it to you tux, and my empire can run on auto-pilot till it gets figured out. Then you can just Pm the pass to whoever takes over. I could probably get by untill friday morning, assuming that the hotel has WI-FI.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2007-07-18 02:55pm

I did upgrade! Bah. I'm gettin' really bored with this! Not because I'm controlling Kingside's forces, but just because it feels like a constant annoyance to do my turn and get it into the server in time.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-18 09:09pm

The best cure for boredom is to start a war.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2007-07-18 10:06pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:The best cure for boredom is to start a war.

I'm mostly bored with the interface, the way things are done, handled, etc. A war right now would just feel like another hassle.

ColonialAdmiral · Post by **ColonialAdmiral** » 2007-07-19 12:09am

Nobody wants to take my turn?

Well if anyone does, I've pm'd the pass to Tux if anyone needs it.

Thanks alot guys, I'll see ya in three weeks.

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2007-07-22 03:16pm

Who is playing the Eris now?

He on SDN?

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-22 04:16pm

I don't remember seeing him post, but he e-mailed me.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-24 12:23am

Something's going on with your install, Covenant. Both the turns you submitted (I assume you played the Rhak'Thallians) returned the "Could not load player empire" error. Try repatching and / or redownloading the Balance Mod.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2007-07-24 03:13pm

Ugh. This is taking my already minimal commitment and desire to play and squeezing it. Alright, I'll give it a look eventually. At this point, I barely even care. Does anyone want to take over for my guys? I could email Kingside's friend if he's not already doing Eris.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2007-07-24 05:34pm

I realized last night that there is something horribly wrong with my economy. I'm generating a net positive in the hundreds of thousands and yet 3/4ths of my shipyards are reporting a 'lack of resources'. What is going on?

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2007-07-24 05:47pm

Same problem in SEIV, the problem is with storage.

Check your trade. Trade comes in after your construction and has to be stored somewhere.

So if you have 100k of mineral storage, you can only produce 100k worth of shit a turn. If you want more, you need more storage. Trade that isn't stored is entirely wasted. There is no "instant" use of resources with trade. You have to store the trade from the previous turn, and use it next turn.

Resources generated by your empire natively can be "instantly" used without storage however.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-07-24 08:57pm

I ran into that problem, as well, and am now frantically building storage facilities.

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2007-07-24 09:31pm

Of course it's not really a problem but a whoooooooa slow down in my opinion.

Depend too much on foreign investment and all a coalition has to do is get six empires together, cut off trade and cripple your fleet.

People who have maxed out their domestic production should just live with a smaller fleet and mothball a huge reserve. What, do you think you're the Federation now?

If you just have to have a big enough fleet to kick Starfleet's ass I would suggest huge storage worlds to keep extra around, a million of each, just so even if people cut off trade with you you've got a buffer so your fleet doesn't instantly disintegrate.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2007-07-25 10:03pm

I really want to pull out of this game. My life is really busy right now, and this game is like a splinter under my fingernail. It's an annoyance that crops up every so often, and having missed a few turns, and needing to go patch it, and then dealing with the game's own idiocies... I just don't want to bother. I haven't been having fun for a really long time now, and without anything good to look forwards to (A war sounds like a perfect way to make this frustration ten times as bad) I really just want to get out before it sours me to the concept of ever playing SEV again.

I don't know what it is, really, but I just don't enjoy a second of the game and even thinking about it gets me angry. It's a chore. I've been hoping someone would say "Hey, I'd take over," but barring that, I just want to be as clear as possible. And no, it's not the extra work of running the Exiles, even if it is annoying. Losing my shipset just sucked the drive out of me, and without that, the game really doesn't have much to offer me.

I'm really sorry to say so, but I just want out now. My empire is extremely potent for anyone who wants to take it over for me, but I just don't see myself ever having fun with this game. And once the turns take longer... or we go another month of playing, I just won't be able to put up with it.

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2007-07-25 10:13pm

Yeah personally I think this incarnation of SE was too buggy for its own good. There might be long time fans of the series who will put up with it, but they did a poll on Shrapnel Games asking who was still playing SEV just a few months later and I think the results turned to near zero. And these are people going as far back as SEIII.

I think it's a problem with modern programming. Back when there was less programming, a single programmer could debug. Now there's whole departments of code monkey going through code, and this game was supposed to be beta tested too and still it's bugged. Sadly I think it was too much for one independent game developer to handle.

The game really needs accessible multiplayer, fully supported modification tools (including a native ship set designer and native data modification tools) and story line for single player. Lack of story line usually means incredible multiplayer, but we've had to go through so many different hoops. I don't think many modern gamers have the patience for SE, and it's not an indictment on modern gamers at all. Either SEVI has to move with the times, or it'll die. If SEV hasn't killed the series already.

All that said, there's enough incentive for me to keep playing, but only because I'm not even seriously looking at every tiny facet of my empire. There is no surprise: I know exactly what I need to research, exactly what I need to do to crush the galaxy. But strange that even though I know all the tricks, my only reaction is meh.