Need newer game, please recommend.

[Kekvit Irae]

It was a good game but missing something IMO.

Like a campaign? Or a story?

[Martok]

*Sins of a Solar Empire (Install limit)

Sins doesn't have an install limit. Unless you're referring to the fact that you can "only" install it on two different machines at any one time (which is more than what you can say for most PC games)?

Like a campaign? Or a story?

Yeah, I do think Ironclad/Stardock messed up in that regard. I understand their reasons for not including a proper campaign, but I still think it was a mistake nonetheless.

Personally, however, the major reason Sins just isn't my cup of tea is because it lacks the depth I crave in 4x games. Yes the combat is great, but otherwise it's a rather shallow experience for me -- it doesn't *feel* like a true empire-builder, and that's what I need.

[CrossLOPER]

Sins appears to have a transcendental type of limit/DRM. I don't mind the two per machine install as much as I mind the fact that if I resell it, that person will not be able to patch it. Correct me if I am wrong.

[Martok]

Now that, I honestly don't know. You may well be right, although I don't remember how it works with Stardock (re: reselling). I guess it never occurred to me since I've no intention of ever reselling my copy of GalCiv 2 anyway.

[frogbeastegg]

Like a campaign?

Yes, though it's not what I'd consider to be the big lack. Games like Civ4 and Galciv2 don't have campaigns and work well without them. Sins doesn't have the variety to be replayed as many times as those games, so it needs to have something else to bring variety to play.

Or a story?

You can see that the developers have cooked up some backstory, and then their choice of game modes left them without any way to pass it along. It's impossible to tell a story with an endless series of random map games. I'm not so bothered about storylines in my strategy games though; many of my favourites make no effort at all to have one and are better for it.

The big lack IMO was that indefinable something. On all technical levels it was a fine game, and it played very well. There were certain things it did very well indeed, and I was impressed with aspects such as the fleet AI being good enough to handle your smaller battles without any player guidance. What it failed to do was catch my imagination and keep me playing. Sins is still on my HD. I patch it when Impulse prompts me, and keep saying that I will load it up again one day. Truth is I haven't touched it since before the first big patch.

The second big lack is easier to quantify. Sins was designed with a strong lean towards the MP community. That rarely makes for a good SP game - all that's there is a sandbox for training future MP players. I don't do MP, don't want to, and never will.

Sins appears to have a transcendental type of limit/DRM. I don't mind the two per machine install as much as I mind the fact that if I resell it, that person will not be able to patch it. Correct me if I am wrong.

You would have to give that person your entire stardock account and stop using it yourself. That means you would lose access to any other games you had registered, and the other person would gain them.