A few questions from someone who has never played this game

Welcome to SE5 community

1. There is several Star Trek ship sets available for SE5, but there is no complete MOD yet. Note that there is a very good ST mod for SE4.

2. A simple answer ... YES. I do play most of the games you've listed and I alway come back to SE5.

3. MOO3, Sword of the Stars, GC2.

4. I don't play multiplayer, but SE5 is supposed to be at its best when you play again other human players since the AI cannot compete against a human mind in single player mode. Still some mods AI will give you a fair challenge.

Have fun,
Frank

SpaceEmpires.net | Space Empires Wiki

Each title is only 10$, so you might as well get both. Some players like SE:IV better, while others prefer SE:V. The mechanics of SE:V are generally much better, but SE:IV has an edge in usability and has faster turn times for solo games.

Space Empires Depot | SE:V Balance Mod

As for multiplayer on a LAN... the game might take too long for that and perhaps is better when done via PBW.
The first turns go quick... but later on turns can get lenghty.

As for the game itself... if you like CIV etc... and don't like the stuff like GalCIV then you should have a look at this. It's the possibilities to play how you like that make this game so great :0

And don't be afraid of the learning curve! You know CIV too don't yah? Just start with the tutorial and colonize your first world... design your first ship and go step by step

~Myrath

I own all the games u mentioned and my 3 fav games are..SE5/4...MTW2K...CIV 3, in that order. GC2 is more of a build ships and graphics game to me. To me SE5 is what all S&T games want to be. It can take a little time to learn it, but with your expirence in games u mentioned it wont take u long, and u will love this game, and it will become one of your most favs, without a doubt. Your first few games just play to learn not to win, and u will master it. Either SE4 or SE5 are both awesome, but 5 has the best graphics by far.

I currently have downloaded the startrek shipsets myself and am running the feds right now, the roms are in too but we have not met yet he he. The guys who did these sets are definately artists and do good work, and i must admit i had to have them after all the years i played SFB,F&E,SFC 1,2&3. I'm sure someone will make a full blown mod eventually on the starfleet universe.I also have the empire and rebel shipsets as well.

I havent played anyone online yet (still learning this game more) but it can only be a blast, always better than an A.I. player. When i gain more confidence in my play ability i'll try online. I'm sure in the long run there will be plenty of slow periods in game play but to be honest this game is so cool it will be worth it.

Honestly, i am surprised you have not played this yet, but once you do you'll be hooked like most of us "my precious" lol. There are so many options to play style and tech directions to follow, as well as ship building, well...buy it and see for yourself...the "precious" is calling me so i must go now...buy the game!!! 8D

Personally I prefer PBEM (Play by Email) than PBW (Play by Web), since I'll often have my own modifications we want to play with. That and the lack of sequential turns on PBW (for a small number of human players in different timezones, sequential turns don't bring much time advantage)...

Essentially if you want to explore multiplayer, set your expectations right - it's going to be a long-term project even if you play a 1v1 in a small galaxy. Add AI (Team Mode, aka "Comp Stomp") and it gets longer. Add more players and it gets even longer. That is... you'll need weeks of LAN sessions if you insist on avoiding PBW or PBEM.

---Sig---
Playing Touhou games (Go to this Wiki if interested. No, nobody else is that good/insane as that replay). No rush for SE

Hi and welcome to our ever-growing community!

I have to mirror Kwoks comments regarding SEIV and SEV. I'm into SEV now but still have 5 PBW SEIV games going because they are still going strong. The advantage of SEIV is that it has gone through 6 years of patchwork and fixes. I have no doubt that SEV will end up that way too.

If they are not being worked on yet, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before ST and SW mods become available. IIRC, it was almost 2 years after SEIV came out that I began playing mods.

Nick (bearclaw)

"You don't know the Power of the Dark Side. I must obey my Master"

SpaceEmpires.net | Space Empires Wiki

Check out the SE5 Wiki (http://wiki.spaceempires.net/index.php/Space_Empires_V) for information about how to play SE5. There are one or two strategy guides helping you through the first couple of moves, explaining why you should do this and that - useful stuff. Moreover, do visit the SE5 FAQ sub-forum here, and have a look at the thread "Any advice setting up a good game vs AI?" on this very forum (maybe not before you have played a few SE5 matches).
I remember my first SE5 matches - I felt completely lost. But the guides mentioned above helped me a great deal. You'll notice that there are not so many different things to do: you have to look after research, colonies, ships, and the aliens, that's all (more or less). Although the work itself can be quite cumbersome and tedious at times, and you'll probably lose the big picture and feel overwhelmed occasionally.
Have fun!

But even in that case, you could process the turns on the host's computer, and just use PBW to automate collecting and distributing the turn files.

capnq
PBW admin

"Good morning, Pooh Bear," said Eeyore gloomily. "If it /is/ a good morning," he said. "Which I doubt," said he.

Well... at present our 2-player game hasn't even started yet - we've been busy and were waiting on BM v1.12

---Sig---
Playing Touhou games (Go to this Wiki if interested. No, nobody else is that good/insane as that replay). No rush for SE

First: SEV is complicated, but awesome. IMHO it would not be such a good choice for direct LAN play beyond the early stages of the game. PBW is the best multiplayer solution, IMHO.

As far as a good 4X game for full-on 100% direct connect LAN play, Master of Orion 2 is excellent IMHO. Though it's over 10 years old now, there is still a dedicated community of players, which speaks of the game's quality. In recent years an "unofficial" patch (1.40) has been released that addresses many of the bugs and playability concerns that exist in multiplayer MOO2. This game still keeps me up all night on some weekends, playing against human opponents.

We play the DOS version of the game due to its superior network stability, using the DOSbox simulator. This setup is usable over a LAN or over the internet.

Here is the website of the guy who wrote the 1.4 patch. It has links to info on the game, how to set it up to play via dosbox on XP, etc.

http://lordbrazen.blogspot.com/

There's also usually a few players on this IRC channel (Europeans or Americans, depending on what time it is)...great place to go if you have questions regarding setup or to find opponents.

irc://irc.quakenet.org/moo2

Whatever game you decide to get, have fun!

I got addicted to this game by try trying out the free demo which gives you a hundred turns... then you got by it to get your fix... if you know what I mean. I paid $20 for my copy direct from Strategy First...
Its' been the most used $20 I've ever spent. It is the only game I play now... especially when I mod my ships a little larger and a little faster for faster game play... and of course... there are shipset mods that you can blend into your game... including Star Wars and Star Trek.
With the modding... possibilities are endless.

Oh Yeah... I forgot to mention... there is a tutorial scenario that will walk you through the basics of gameplay.

Why is it that the older games are soo much better then new ones? Like seriously I have seen the demos of star craft 2 and it looses the feel and they made it more cartoony...the first star craft was just ment to be hardcore ya know

Also game mechanics and plot/development dont add to the graphic wow ness so it seems they take a back seat to it all...like morrowind vs oblivion if anyone plays it, morrowind was very complex, oblivion was strait forward hack-n-slash...

I love older games, I wish "they" would re make them with better graphics and not touch a thing els...

Oh and same with HL and HL2, HL2 your just running away all the time...HL had that great I have to escape and smometimes I have to RUN! and then I will ATTACK YOU!!...the new games just lacks the feel of HL, its like it deserves another title

also tv shows, the old ones kick ass, new ones are soo stupid...beast wars for example sure, some times its cheesy like all things, but look at what followed it, gaw just nasty...

on the up side I can just use an old computer and never have to upgrade it... and watch a lot of dvds and be happy as a clam =p

Well, pyroman, this seems to be a very general principle: At first, you want to get somewhere, so you are (have to be!) creative, imaginative, aggressive and take risks. Once you are there, you turn conservative, protective, risk-avert, etc. And while you are prepared to invest (and possibly) lose money at your first attempt, you focus on payback and cost avoidance later on. I guess this applies not only to business but also to private and social life, in a way.
Never forget that the guys who sell computer games (or music CDs, or books or TV shows, ...) want your money. What makes YOU buy something? Either you are looking for something new, or you are looking for more of what you know and like. Thus YOU, the customer, determines the product strategy of the vendors. YOU buy the sequels, the mass market castrations of great concepts (excuse my language). Love it or leave it!

By the way, it's not always true that successors are worse than their predecessors. GC2 is definitely better than GC1, Civ2 is better than Civ1, and most people would agree that MOO2 is better than MOO1. Oblivion does have its advantages over Morrowind (I'm not talking about graphics), and while you CAN play Oblivion, just like Morrowind, as a hack'n'slay game - you don't have to: both games support lots of different playing styles without getting less exciting (for role players, not for hack'n'slayers). HoMM3 is better than HoMM2, which in turn is better than HoMM1.
Nevertheless, I do agree with your observation in principle. And I would also appreciate TRUE remakes of older games (easier said than done!) - my personal favourite would be Daggerfall (TES2), by the way.

ok there are a few exceptions, not many, but they are out there...and I never did play daggerfall so morrowind would be cool enough for me =p

I agree with greywolf and his observations. I find that most gamers react first to flashy graphics (ooo, look at the pretty colors....) and then to game playability and longevity.

Sadly, the end result is playing a game for 2-3 months and then abandoning it to your shelf where it becomes a duct collector... But then, for the software developers, this is a good thing, right? They hook you on the next game they release which you play, lose interest in, and then shelve...

I took a long hiatus away from gaming for a while because I become disgusted with the garbage being released out there... Then I came across Space Empires V in the store one day and bam! I'm back into happy playing... I'm sort of sad that I missed out on SE IV, but that doesn't matter now.

SE V has longevity and requires you to be creative and not just push buttons as fast as you can... Not to mention an awesome support network from the community... But then, you already know this since you've taken the time to write into this forum!

If only other developers would learn a lesson from this...

Heh, many people who have played SE4 say that with SE5, Malfador has fallen into the trap of "too much attention on graphics, too little on gameplay" - but I guess compared to most developers, Malfador tends to lean away from glitzy graphics and toward engaging gameplay to begin with, so he's really just approaching what "mainstream" games were like a few years ago!

And who knows what the future may bring... assuming there is a SE6, Malfador might decide to go even more mainstream to attract more market share, but then again, he might decide to go back and make SE6 more "old-school" to keep his longtime fans around...

I guess it just depends on whether SE5 winds up outselling SE4... for niche games, both seem to be pretty popular!

Then again, maybe he's going to retire and move to Hawaii, or start work on a brand new series... Dungeon Odyssey was, umm, not so great, and neither was Starfury... but maybe he can come up with a better idea, or even just remake one of those two now that he's got more experience with DirectX...

~~~
The power of the ancients is now yours to command. You are truly the Master... of the obvious

Whats annoying is the first game in a series puts a good focus on game mechanics and people will either love or hate it...(people really only remember if it is really good or really horrid) They come up with a good one lets say and when it comes time for a second game in the series they have to change things or people will say "You didnt change the game!" So they futs with it, and add more ooo ahhh factor in graphics, also in hopes of getting more people to buy the game and not just the followers to buy their game again

and as a note on mor/ob morrowind to advance you had to like gain exp to progress in factions and what not, in ob you just can coast right through it, morrowind had a lot of fun features that oblivion just lacks, but tries to make up for it with eye catching graphics...its sad...

What game makes need to do, is have a new interface for the sequel that is different, but not gay. The game needs to have new elements, but keep some of the old that gave the game depth, and new elements so people cant say "you didnt change the game! you just sold me the game again in a new box" If you can pull that together you can make a great sequel