Hertston

Reply to Tomorrow War? in 1C Stardock Forums

As long as you install the fixes, it's worth getting at some stage just to appreciate what it does well. At the moment, though, IMHO the Impulse price is excessive (GG have already had on on next-to-nothing sale more than once). I'm not sure quite what you mean by 'like this', but assuming you already have the standards like X3TC and Freespace 2 (now available again at GoG) you could do a lot worse than Evochron Mercenary provided you are happy with free play rathe

Tomorrow War 1.0 ?!! in 1C Stardock Forums

Can't believe you are selling this at 1.0 Impulse folks; obviously you've never played it! Guys, as one of those who bought this puppy (English version; the original Russian is supposedly OK and even got an add on as I recall), on first release I must warn you that 1.0 is COMPLETELY BROKEN in the sense of 'unfinishable'. It was never patched, to my knowledge. There are, though, a couple of unofficial fixes you can find linked at the 1C forums at <a hr

Reply to How about giving us some discount ? in War of Magic Stardock Forums

"Us"? Who are "us", exactly? Of course that will make everyone who had enough faith in Stardock to pre-order Elemental (in quantities sufficient to actually cover the development costs) really happy, won't it?!

Reply to Why I chose Elemental over Civ 5 in War of Magic Stardock Forums

I'd had enough of vanilla Civ by the third incarnation; nothing against it but had just had enough of it. I bought the 'complete' edition of Civ 4 just for the mods, and will probably do the same with 5 a couple of years down the line.

Reply to The Big Picture -- What Was Supposed To Make Elemental Special? in War of Magic Stardock Forums

I think the impression that Elemental would be something truly special all round, particularly with regard to the 'worlds' created in each game.. the idea that games could almost be interpreted as fantasy novels or movies. The worst thing about Elemental as-is IMHO is that it's just so damned ordinary . The idea of dynasties, supposed to give so much of that feel and reduce the need to 'land grab' by forming alliances, is so woefully undeveloped it might as well not be t

Reply to Gamespot Review is Up in War of Magic Stardock Forums

[quote who="wayninja" reply="93" id="2758425"] Graphics - For some reason, some people love it. I can't understand it. I don't think I'm being unfair when I say that at the very least it's a few years behind modern standards. [/quote] Totally disagree. I think the main engine (not the tactical combat) is slick, smooth, and looks terrific. It may well be a 'style' thing rather than a 'quality' thing; as with games like Sword of the Stars a

Reply to Gamespot Review is Up in War of Magic Stardock Forums

[quote who="Tryan1981" reply="14" id="2755994"]I do place a fair amount of trust in gamespot reviews which at least for me, have been fairly on the mark the vast majority of the time. [/quote] I have no trust at all in any review site with a track record of pulling reviews and re-posting them with better scores as a result of pressure from their advertisers. Not to mention posting excessive scores in the first place to prevent that happening. Gamespot has had zero credibil

Reply to Is the Wraith Race bugged? Says +10 hp but units do not have it in War of Magic Stardock Forums

On a similar theme, I assume the 'Civilized' strength of Amarians is now irrelevant as it now doesn't cost to found a settlement?

Reply to Awesome game, thanks Stardock (: in War of Magic Stardock Forums

It's growing on me, despite unfavourable first impressions of pretty much everything except the graphics, which I think are absolutely terrific. There's also an awful lot there you don't come close to noticing at first, although I have no great sympathy towards SD in that regard as the documentation is awful and some of the core mechanics, particularly the magic system, are grossly flawed. I'm still playing the game and having some fun, rather than asking for a refund, but it stil

Reply to Subscription? in War of Magic Stardock Forums

[quote who="Wintersong" reply="6" id="2747861"]Isn't that the same wording as usual? I have no problems with it.[/quote] Not for games, no. Apps, maybe.

Reply to You fav 4X Games! in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

GalCiv 2 plus expansions, SotS: Born of Blood and Dominions 3.

Reply to I'm on the fence, should I buy the game or not? in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]Sins is a sort of odd (and IMO not entirely successful) hybrid that tries to combine RTS and 4X games and frankly doesn't result in a very good example of either. [/quote] If it had resulted in a "very good" example of either in their classic form the attempt would have been a total failure. The whole point was to combine elements of both to provide something [I]new[/I]. Whether that something is 'better' than a classic RTS or 4X game is a matter of opinion, of course, but for

Reply to Just played the demo in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

Just buy, either way (the box 'Collectors Edition' is well worth the extra) direct from Stardock. It's a good time to pay for anything in $US and even with shipping you won't be paying more than if the game had a UK publisher.

Reply to Sins vs Gal Civ II in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]I think Hertston is talking about game play more than graphics.So we're back to the gameplay vs graphics argument, which has been discussed a million times on pretty much every game forum in the universe.[/quote] In the case of TBS games (we were talking about the new Stardock fantasy TBS game, not Sins)there [I]is[/I] no gameplay vs graphics argument. Sure, in general the prettier the game looks the better but graphics have never defined a great TBS game - gameplay design does

Reply to Pirates seem impossible for me to kill in my first game in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

Just go round them. They are clearly designed [I]not[/I] to be taken out. The ever-present invincible pirate base is a poor design decision, IMHO .. and even then before the last patch you at least had the option of playing random maps without it.

Reply to Single Player Achievements?? in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]I must have colonized over a thousand planets by now across all games, I've never seen space ponies. Still have that lone achievement sitting there, keeping me from 100%. AFAIK they don't actually exist...[/quote] Hehe.. no, they certainly exist. I 'found' them in my second or third game, it's just luck of the draw I think.

Reply to Sins vs Gal Civ II in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]I hope that Stardock will not be « out of its depth » with that new type of game it is designing. Even with all its flaws, Heroes of Might & Magic 5 (version 3.0) is currently the very best in the genre. Its A.I. is mediocre, but the visuals are awesome. Stardock is confronted to a huge challenge, here.[/quote] You have to be joking. Stardock could code a better game than HoMM5 in their sleep. Decade old gameplay with some new pretty graphics (hardly essential in a str

Reply to Shortlist simple easy 1.035 suggestions (or 1.04 ;/) in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

PLEASE bring back the 'no pirates' random maps... i.e. NO pirates, not just 'inactive' pirates.

Reply to No pirates set in options, but.... in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

It doesn't require that. Perhaps I (and I assume he) didn't make it clear but the first poster and I were talking about the [I]random[/I] maps. All it needs is a generator for random maps [I]without[/I] pirates.. which it HAD prior to 1.03!

Reply to No pirates set in options, but.... in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

This has me irritated, too, and I can't see any option that sorts it either. No, they don't go on raids but with pirates set to 'inactive' the pirate base is invariably still sat in the middle of the map, ships, defences and all. It's pointless and rather annoying.. what was wrong with just 'no pirates'?

Reply to Biggest game flaw and MP breaker? in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

[quote]So what is wrong? -Simple game is MP only basically and in MP is the average game time. A good ,fast 1vs1 on small map takes anywhere from 2 to 3-4 hours. Before you even see enemy at all a good 10-15 minutes passes, and first battles do not happen until 1-1.5 hour mark. This is outrageously slow. Even on the tiniest map (e.g. point blank) it takes up to 20 -30 minutes- and that is a game with 0 development, research and expansion. With a medium map...-forget it , you not gonna fini

Reply to Just another RTS? in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

No, it's far from being "just another RTS", and hopefully the devs won't be pulled too far in that direction by those who would like it to be. That said, it does need a little speeding up at present (that from someone very much at the '4X' end of the spectrum) particularly in multiplay. The devs are on the case. As to screenshots, I think there are a lot of those featuring battles as they are just the prettiest kind. Not too much exciting about seeing a star-map or factory/asteroid a

Reply to What if research didn't cost? in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

do you ACTULLLY have 2-3 hours to play the game and still work for a living?? I may not have to support myself yet, but school and scholerships combined is plently to not have 2-3 hours to play a game I can manage it with working full time, postgraduate study AND raising child and dog, so that's hardly an issue - depending on what you are studying, of course. It's just time management, one three hour game ta

Reply to New Poll on the Front Page! - Time Poll in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

For medium , 2-3 hours. For that size map, 45 or even 90 minutes isn't the game I want to play. Would be OK for small. I think people may be overlooking that game duration will depend a lot on how well opponents are matched.. if you have two evenly matched, skilled, players your game is likely to last considerably longer than in a mis-match - and you would enjoy every minute of it!

Reply to What if research didn't cost? in Sins of a Solar Empire Sins Forums

There has to be something in between 'real'-time GalCiv and kiddie click-fest that most people would find acceptable, if not ideal? I'd hate to see the game dumbed down to the "C&C in space" that somebody wanted, but then I can't find the time for 5 hour online games either. Maybe compromise is better than a multitude of options, at least for online play? The trouble with having too many options for online games is that you spend half your time trying to agree on which to use. You