Sword of the Stars

**Navaros** · 08-01-2006, 12:58

I was interested in Nexus until I noticed that the devs forever abandoned the game whilst it still bug-ridden after only 1 patch, which of course ensured that hardly anyone ever played the multiplayer of it. As a result, I never bought or played Nexus. No doubt many others were in the same boat.

Hopefully Sword of the Stars won't fall into that same "one patch then we abandon the game" mindset. If it does not, I will buy it.

Haven't really followed Sword of the Stars at all. Has anyone ever asked the devs if they are planning to "pull a Nexus" on the fanbase?

**Crandaeolon** · 08-01-2006, 22:29

Has anyone ever asked the devs if they are planning to "pull a Nexus" on the fanbase?

Probably not, these devs are rather fanatic about their game. They play it too, I already squared off against who i think was the lead designer (!) of Kerberos.

This fanaticism is for good and ill both. The devs are very active on their forums, and are sometimes a bit... undiplomatic.

I got to watch a friend get flamed to a crisp for some criticism, and the thread deleted shortly afterwards without a word. Parts of the criticism were somewhat unwarranted, but it was nevertheless kinda ham-handed.

**Navaros** · 08-02-2006, 02:10

I browsed their boards a bit after reading this thread. Saw (who it seems is) the head dev actually flame back a poster who called a part of the game stupid, then the poster submitted to the dev's flaming. That was truly hilarious!

I've never seen a dev flame someone before that.

I bet it would be funny if one of you guys started a thread "Do you devs plan to 'pull a Nexus on us'"? on their boards just to see what they have to say about it.

I might do it myself eventually if no one else who already posts on that board wants to.

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 08-02-2006, 02:36

Crandaeolon - I'm pretty sure (basic) Gausses are shorter range than (basic) lasers. I've watched some scout duels and the lasers always open up first, though I wouldn't call it conclusive.

There are some wonderful little things in this game, like how you have to manage (or just deal with) how guns can be obstructed by the ship and can only fire in certain angles.

I haven't really looked at their boards much at all, but CA peeps have been a bit terse occassionally. No flames, but then CA's a large company and a much better established one.

I didn't really like Nexus, although it was pretty. I had the demo, and it just seemed to be luck (and the difficulty setting) determining if I won or not. Too complex for me, I guess.

There aren't cruisers in the demo, right?

**Martok** · 08-11-2006, 04:58

This looks like such a promising game, but there's just no way I'll be able to enjoy it with only 4 races and no ability to conquer planets (the only way to take out an enemy race is to exterminate it). I don't consider wiping out an enemy planet's population and then recolonizing it as "conquering". That's my own problem, I know, and I'm happy that at least the rest of you seem to be enjoying it (the demo).

[Sigh]

**Crandaeolon** · 08-21-2006, 00:15

SotS is out (at least there across the pond), and ign has published the first review, rating the game at a mediocre 7.7. http://pc.ign.com/articles/726/726551p1.html

Apparently, the full release suffers from some of the same problems as the demo, most of those relating to the interface of the game. Kerberos has addressed some of those issues in a release patch, but as most game sites tend to review retail versions only, the interface and gameplay issues will most likely impact review scores negatively.

Generally, large release day patches (like this one which adds or modifies several dozen items) are a bad sign. It can mean a half-finished game, nevermind the publisher advertising an early release. Iirc, the game was already pushed back at least once, so... an "early release" but one that was previously pushed back? I'm confused.

My Sloppy Game Design Sense (tm) is tingling, which is a shame since I really hope this game to succeed. But, there might be deeper issues about the gameplay such as pacing and information accessibility. Even in the demo, the most fun multiplayer battles had a minimum number of stars and accelerated technology & economy. It would be wonderful to have fast paced epic scale games, but somehow the pacing of turns felt off for epic scale empire management.

Any first-hand impressions about the game would be most appreciated.

**CBR** · 08-21-2006, 04:45

Hm Im tempted to get it as I liked the demo. But somehow I cant order it at GamersGate. I saw in the forum that others had same problem with VISA cards.

CBR