The Gaming News Thread

[Crandaeolon]

Sword of the Stars II is out and the launch was a complete screw-up. Martin Cirulis (Kerberos CEO) went from arrogant and dismissive to arrogant and moderately apologetic with a few old excuses. I guess this is not really "news" per se, but rather a word of warning.

Past experience indicates that the game should be somewhat playable in 6 to 12 months or after the first expansion.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Sword of the Stars II is out and the launch was a complete screw-up. Martin Cirulis (Kerberos CEO) went from arrogant and dismissive to arrogant and moderately apologetic with a few old excuses. I guess this is not really "news" per se, but rather a word of warning.

Past experience indicates that the game should be somewhat playable in 6 to 12 months or after the first expansion.

I made the mistake of pre-ordering. A mistake I shall never make again (except for Hegemony: Rome and Crusader Kings 2).

Pretty disappointing, but I think the game will be playable in three weeks. Feature complete in 2-3 months, and they'll start adding really good stuff with expansions in 6-12 months.

[Martok]

Sword of the Stars II is out and the launch was a complete screw-up. Martin Cirulis (Kerberos CEO) went from arrogant and dismissive to arrogant and moderately apologetic with a few old excuses. I guess this is not really "news" per se, but rather a word of warning.

Past experience indicates that the game should be somewhat playable in 6 to 12 months or after the first expansion.

I'm suddenly having flashbacks to when the first SotS was released. People were complaining then about how arrogant Kerberos was, but I'd kind of forgotten about that until now.

A pity to hear the sequel has been released in such a sorry state (that's about all I've been hearing on the various gaming forums I've visited the last several days), though. I've never been particularly enthralled with Sword of the Stars, but I can see its appeal, and I feel bad for all those who were waiting for SotS II with such obvious anticipation. As someone who suffered similarly through the debacle that was Master of Orion III, I certainly sympathize.

[Major Robert Dump]

HAHA MOO3 may have had the most disappointing ending ever. I slaved away on the hardest difficulty on the most enormous map, and when it was all said and done it was terrible, just terrible

[Crandaeolon]

Pretty disappointing, but I think the game will be playable in three weeks. Feature complete in 2-3 months, and they'll start adding really good stuff with expansions in 6-12 months.

Yeah, sorry for adding a bit of hyperbole there. Of course, it all depends on what one considers playable... perhaps "worth playing" would've been a better expression.

I'm suddenly having flashbacks to when the first SotS was released. People were complaining then about how arrogant Kerberos was, but I'd kind of forgotten about that until now.

Not sure if I've told the story already, but Kerberos's forum is the only one where I've ever received a perma-ban - or any ban, for that matter. IIRC, my first post there was some pretty tame criticism about the interface and some suggestions to make it better. Some of it was reiterated from other complaints, but I did my best to find something new to say, to make it constructive and to offer new suggestions. After a brief exchange, I was banned without warning or explanation. What's even funnier, they ended up implementing some of those suggestions by me and others later on.

As someone who suffered similarly through the debacle that was Master of Orion III, I certainly sympathize.

I still have the MoO3 box. I'm gonna burn it when a worthy successor to MoO2 comes along.

[drone]

HAHA MOO3 may have had the most disappointing ending ever. I slaved away on the hardest difficulty on the most enormous map, and when it was all said and done it was terrible, just terrible

You actually finished it? I gave up when I realized that I was not actually playing a video game, but was suddenly working a second job.

[naut]

Steam Hacked.

[Martok]

Have you tried Armada 2526 and its' expansion, Supernova? Pretty cheap on Steam and Impulse, I believe. On top of feeling like MoO2, the game was also designed by a former memeber of the Total War team.. similarities abound!

While I very much second GC's endorsement of Armada, I would add a word of caution: The game lacks ship design, and the combat is IMHO pretty "meh".

I don't miss the former myself, but for those who absolutely have to have ship design as a feature in their 4x games, then this is one to skip. My main complaint with combat is that it moves a little too quickly and is over far too soon for my tastes. (Battles last no longer 5 minutes, after which it's declared a victory, defeat, or draw, depending on the circumstances.)


Otherwise, though, it is indeed a most excellent space strategy game -- it's finally tied with my beloved Birth of the Federation for my favorite 4x title...and for me, that's no mean feat!

[Crandaeolon]

Have you tried Armada 2526 and its' expansion, Supernova?

Uhm, I think I played the demo some time ago and wasn't impressed. Ship design and, particularly, combat are important to me, so perhaps that's why Armada didn't grab me, whereas SotS is right up my alley.