Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy Released

Sins of a Solar Empire released its second and final micro-expansion yesterday, Diplomacy. Unlike the previous Entrenchment, which put in new units like starbases and artillery cruisers and mines, Diplomacy adds more subtle changes to the game in the form of differences in player relationships. Probably the most exciting feature is the ability to issue missions to pirates and other player factions in the hopes to deliver a feint or put pressure on another opponent. Also added is a diplomatic victory option for those particularly suited to owning a quadrant without all the annoying rebuilding after planetary bombardment. More information is available in a guided tour from an Ironclad developer.

Although I've been in the beta program, I'm eager to try the 1.0 version. We'll have to get some multi-player set up!

Updates to Prepare for Coming of Diplomacy

Updates just went out for Sins of a Solar Empire and the first expansion Entrenchment. The updates are in preparation of the imminent second and final expansion Diplomacy, which I preordered and have been playing since October because the nice folks at Ironclad Games decided to let pre-orders in early. Diplomacy is scheduled out in 1.0 form this month, and with this update as its harbinger, we should see it imminently.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Diplomacy

The last micro-expansion for Sins of a Solar Empire, Diplomacy, has been announced for some time, but it's recently become available for pre-order. And, as a reward, anyone who pre-orders can play the beta. Which certainly makes the deal sweeter. The expansion is supposed to expand upon the relationships one can create with other players, CPU and human players alike. A new envoy ship provides special abilities that affect your standing with one faction or another. Should prove to add interesting options for those less inclined to total war.

Impulse sale on Sins of a Solar Empire

For anyone interested in picking up Sins of a Solar Empire, Impulse is running a sale now. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Sins is only $9.99. Quite a steal for a fantastic strategy game.

Massive Sins of a Solar Empire Balance Changes

Ironclad released today a crazy-huge set of balance changes for Sins of a Solar Empire and the Entrenchment expansion, viewable in the forum announcement. I think it's great that they've listened to the community and addressed game balance, now a year and a half from initial release. Real service to their customers.

Still reading over the changes, and while many of them seem beneficial (in that they just generally increase abilities or ship damage) a lot of the changes address shortcomings to ships in relation to abilities and starbases found in Entrenchment. Specifically, the siege vessels have all been increased in power and reduced in cost due to their difficulty in operating against starbases or other defensive installations.

The most exciting change I see is the update to the Halcyon Carrier of the Advent faction. The note from Ironclad reads: "Halcyon Carrier:
Adept Drone Anima reworked - now grants 1/2/3 extra squadrons instead of 1/2/3 extra strikecraft per squadron." More squadrons = goodness! Now it can be a serious carrier.

Gonna have to try these options out in multiplay soon.

Enforcers Enforce Like They Do

Something I don't typically see is a huge group of Vasari Enforcer cruisers smacking around a couple capital ships, but that's just what the screens below depict. We had a good 3v3 game last night in Sins of a Solar Empire. Mike was getting his assault on by throwing a huge fleet around, and he managed to corner a couple of TEC capital ships near their home world. Against roughly twenty Enforcers, the TEC had no chance.

Great Battles in Our Solar Empire

Played a great and challenging game of Sins of a Solar Empire last night with Mike and Greg. We haven't done a whole lot of multiplayer, but it's a lot of fun. We all each prefer one of the races, so we have a lot of variety when we play.

Greg had an interesting strategy. Expand quickly, but once he encountered enemy opposition he turtled up, going to starbases and economic improvements rather than building a fleet. By not researching his fleet requisitioning, he focused on his economy and was earning far more credits than the rest of us due to his low overhead. As a result, he shunted those credits to me and Mike, allowing us to buy ships with abandon. At one point later in the game I queued four capital ships at once, while their crew research was being done.

In the end, the enemy was no match for the Vasari and Advent fleets backed by TEC capital. But we had some great fights with enemy fleets and starbases before they went down. Some pics below:



Above: The Vasari fleet under Admiral Mike with their front-line Enforcers take the brunt of the attack from the Orkulus Starbase as the legion Advent Fleet commanded by Lord Nick brings their beam weaponry to bear. Below: Advent Transcencia Star Base and TEC Argonev Star Base support one another to defend a system from the remnants of the escaping enemy Vasari fleet.

Starbase Beats in Sins

Entrenchment is fun. I just finished up a multi-day game with eight players in a 2v2v2v2 arrangement. Pictures below of an epic battle against an offending starbase. It was no match for my long-range torpedo boats with front-line escorts.


Above: Kol Battleship and escorts draw the installation's attention. Below: Incoming! Torpedo salvo, see it in scale with the light ship (Cobalt Frigate) to the left.


Above: The Kol flagship blasts the starbase while the Dunov Battlecruiser supports as a torpedo salvo explodes. Below: The starbase erupts in the flames of defeat.

War in Spaaaaaace

Yeah I'm playing Sins of a Solar Empire again. I got the Entrenchment DLC a while ago, but hadn't had a chance to do much with it. But I've since played a couple really big games and really used the starbases and newer units to great advantage. I especially like the long-range installation bombardier vessels, like the Advent Solanus Adjucator. The new upgrades makes for even sexier screens:



Above you can see the Deliverance Engine in action. Below just a shot of my fleet hanging out on a border world, letting my culture do the talking as the enemy lost their worlds because I managed to sway their population to my way of thinking.

Fun with Starbases!

Yeah I got Entrenchment, the new Sins of a Solar Empire micro-expansion, and I flipping love it.  The new game options really add a lot to the game.  The AI uses them very well, especially the starbases -- maybe too well!  It seems like every other enemy system I enter has a starbase.  Whew.

On to the new features.  

Starbases are essentially capital ship emplacements.  They have properties similar to capital ships, in that they have upgrades that are possible.  Only instead of adding them when they gain experience, you just pay for them.  And wow are they powerful.  For example, the Advent starbase begins with two drone squadrons.  Three upgrades later, the can have fourteen.  Another upgrade increase hitpoints, shields, and regeneration rates.  I fought a starbase with nearly 14,000 hull strength alone.  It's just nuts.  Starbases are just an incredible way to lock down a given gravity well, including suns!

Another new addition is mines.  Although a small addition, this is another good one.  Although you have to do a little bit of manual action, you can fill a whole gravity well up with mines, blunting a possible attack or completely eliminating small ships moving through your territory.

I'm still getting into more of the changes, but I have a pretty positive view on the entire expansion.  Really adds some new content where there were options lacking before.  For $10, it adds a good deal more to an already deep game.

Open Letter to Stardock

Dear Stardock Corporation,

I wanted to write to you regarding my recent experience with your new ImpulseDriven storefront.

When I first learned about Impulse, I was a little skeptical.  I didn't think the world needed another Steam.  I was wrong.

I was a customer of yours before the launch of Impulse.  I purchased a boxed copy of Sins of a Solar Empire at retail, and was happy to see a smaller publisher and smaller game development company join forces to release an incredible game that I could install and play without DRM or other hoops to jump through.

Now, with Impulse, that install process is even simpler.  Although I bought my boxed copy at a retail store, my registration was pulled directly into Impulse, where I easily updated my game quickly and painlessly.  I decided to try my first purchase through Impulse, and I bought Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment.  The process could not have been simpler.  I entered my information and Impulse downloaded, installed, and patched my game without requesting additional information or even my game CD.  I was up and playing the brand-new game in minutes.  I was excited to purchase Entrenchment, and I look forward to the release of Braid and other titles through Impulse.

So thank you Stardock.  Thank you for being a trusted publisher.  Thank you for teaming up with development companies like Ironclad Games and independent developer Jonathan Blow of the highly acclaimed Braid to expand its audience beyond XBox Live Arcade.  And thank you for trusting your customers enough to not bog us down with costly, buggy, and punishing Digital Rights Management.  I hope gamers like myself and others have provent that you don't need to protect your products with DRM to make money -- you simply have to make them good.

I look forward to using Impulse in the future, and implore you to continue proving to your peers in the video game entertainment industry to value their customers, rather than exploit them.

Your fan,

Milden Gaming

Braid for PC

The much-lauded Braid, an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive, will now be coming to the PC!  Wooo!  Gonna have to break out my gamepad for this one.  Funnily enough, it will be released through Impulse, the digital software distribution service of a publisher called Stardock, who published a game I really like called Sins of a Solar Empire.  I hope them teaming up with Braid will give the innovative platformer a new audience, and pimp out Impulse's stable of releases.  Also coming on Impulse is the previously-announced Entrenchment, the Sins of a Solar Empire micro-expansion.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment

I'd read about this proposed expansion some days ago on the offical site, but more details have emerged. Not a traditional expansion, the Entrenchement "micro-expansion" as they're labelling it will contain new defensive turrets and a super-unit called a star base. This massive unit should be incredibly powerful but likely tied to one system. Make sure it's one worth protecting!

X-Play also covers some of the information in this video from last week:

Advent Lights Up The Sky

I've been playing a large match as the Advent, who is increasingly becoming my favorite faction. They are specialists in beam weapons, and they are something to watch when in action. See the video below as my beam frigates and capital ships cut through a Vasari faction and pirate raiders.

Returning Armada

The Vasari faction in Sins of a Solar Empire can research an ability called Returning Armada. This grants a new ability to the Phase Stabilizier tactical structure -- a sort of artificial phase lane jump gate that can link your systems. The new ability is also called Returning Armada, and it will summon five to eight frigates of various types every five minutes.

It doesn't seem like a lot, and it's a serious chore to research. The Phase Stabilizer isn't cheap, either. But the ships quickly gets ridiculous. If you have five planets each summoning the Returning Armada, you get new ships every minute. Double that, it's every thirty seconds, without cost to you.

I'm currently running a game as the Vasari. I'm playing against three random mediums, in 2v2 mode. I rushed straight for Returning Armada, and didn't do a thing to help my teammate, who actually turned on me! I wiped him off the map for his insolence. I then easily defeated one other opponent with my free ships, and now I'm simultaneously destroying a pirate base and the remaining opponent as well.

The bad thing about the Returning Armada is that you only get certain kinds of ships. There are no planetary bombadiers, so you're forced to scuttle some of the endless waves of light carriers or heavy cruisers that come your way. It's also a way to jump-start your economy, since by scuttling you gain additional resources that are reclaimed.

Returning Armada is a powerful ability but one difficult to pull off, especially in a free-for-all game -- or where your backstabbing teammate turns on you.

Online Multiplay System for Stardock Games

This may be old news to some, but coinciding with the information regarding Demigod, there was what appears to be a developer announcement regarding the possibility of a ladder/account system for online multiplay with various Stardock titles, including Sins of a Solar Empire and Demigod. I envision this to be a lot like the Company of Heroes system, that tracks your stats, wins and losses, etc. If so, this will be a welcome improvement on the game. I'd love to do some matches online.

Sins of a Solar Empire Achievements

I've been playing some more Solar Empire and just plain loving it. I've been checking out the Vasari, they're a ton of fun. Although everything is pretty advanced, their units just feel high tech and alien, as they should. The research trees are very different. It's a different style than TEC.

I built my own little map. I much prefer hand-built maps to the ones in the game. I always feel like the phase lanes are way to long, and I spend too much time jumping ships around. I love to have things up close and personal. The stock maps also have way too much empty space. I don't think there's much compelling about space jump, gas giants, or asteroid belts you can't colonize. So I typically configure my space to contain solely colonizable worlds.

The most fun I've had with Solar Empire relates to achievements. Within the game, there are all sorts of little mini-quests it seems, by trying to do some basic or outlandish tasks. One achievement is to simply build a custom map and preview it. Another goes so far as to require the player to win the game without building any capital ships. Or vice-versa, only build capital ships! The achievements make you think about different ways of playing the game, and how taking one element out, such as never building planetary defenses, changes the game in a big way.

EA On and Off Strict DRM

Reports came in last week that EA planned to include strong Digital Rights Management controls within the upcoming PC releases Spore and Mass Effect. The controls required the game to contact a central service for validation every ten days, making it impossible to play the games on systems without reliable Internet connections.

Following public outcry, EA has since retracted their statements, saying that a one-time authentication would be sufficient. Of course, you still have to use the CD to play the game, bringing to bear the specter of copy protection. I suppose it's better than behind-the-scenes spying.

Games publishers just can't seem to get it right. Statements made by Crytek, makers of beloved Crysis, say they will likely abandon PC exclusivity to develop future games on consoles as well, because of piracy concerns. I don't buy that excuse. More likely they understand that by putting games out on more platforms equals more sales which equals more dollars.

Two great examples of reasonable copy protections are present in two of my favorite PC games: Sins of a Solar Empire and Company of Heroes. Solar Empire simply doesn't have any copy protections. You just put your serial in when the software installs. You don't need the CD to play. You do, however, have to register your serial number if you wish to have support, including game updates.

Similarly for Company of Heroes, you must register your key, but you do so online. Whenever you launch the game, similar to a MMO like Guild Wars or WoW, you just auth to the service with account credentials and then you're free to play your game, also without CD. When you auth, you're also "online" and available for messages from your friends. Because you the communications to home base are understood as the multi-player component of the game, the publisher is very upfront about what central authentication is. Of course, you can skip all that and just play off the CD, and the CD is available as a secondary authentication method when you cannot connect to the Internet.

EA would do well to take a page out of Stardock or THQ's book in understanding how to treat customers. I understand piracy is a real concern, and all the people who work hard on these games deserve our support and our money for making great games, but punishing legitimate customers because of the bad behavior of pirates is a poor business decision.

Sins of a Solar Empire -- Ships in the Night

Midway through a game of Sins of a Solar Empire, I'm about to launch an attack on an enemy faction who shares a star system with me. I've assembled a fleet of a quartet of capital ships and a balanced accompanying fleet consisting of robotics cruisers for repair duty, Krosov planetary bombardment frigates, along with anti-fighter and long-range missle frigates for support. I have a decent idea of where the enemy homeworld is, and I send my fleet out to feel them out.

Unfortunately, so do they.

The two fleets pass on the way to one another's space, and the scene is set for conflict.



I quickly build up another force at the volcanic world I departed from in order to meet the enemy force and hopefully redirect them back towards my main force. It works, and they bail out.

I then manage to hop two more planets towards their homeworld and set up another colony to trap their main force. I set up phase lane inhibitors to slow down their retreat if they attempt to bounce back again and summon additional reinforcing gauss guns and frigates.

They don't get away this time.



I wipe out their force to the last ship while losing only a handful of frigates. What the video doesn't show is me taking the fight to their homeworld, now nearly lacking in protection aside from a single capital ship and a handful of defensive emplacements. With this world gone, I will have the sole presence in this star system and can then take the fight beyond.

Solar Empire -- Aerolian 4v4 Part 2

Turns out the Vasari faction I pinned back came after me quite soon. My main fleet was away defending another system, but I had time to pull back to the new terran world and meet their fleet. Their forces consisted of a superior number of light frigates as well as two capital ships to my one, but I had home field territory consisting of a pair of gauss cannons and a reinforcing frigate factory.

They didn't stand a chance, and lost an all-important capital ship in the process. They tried to retreat, but to no avail, as the video demonstrates.