For a long time I've been thinking of buying Sins of a Solar Empire, the 4X RTS that came out earlier this year. I like the premise of the game and I feel like it would be fun to break into the 4X genre (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate). But that's the problem, see, I have not played many (if any) 4X games.

So I'm asking you, humble Escapee, if Sins of a Solar Empire is a game that people new to the 4X genre could easily pick up and play. It doesn't have to necesarily be easy (I do expect a bit of challenge) but I don't want a game that I'll find impossible to get into because I have not played similar games before it.

If Sins of a Solar Empire is not the sort of game for newcomers to the Genre, what other games could you recomend?

It is a definite buy. I absolutly love that game and it is so easy to pick up and play. Get up and buy it now sir!

have they fixed the problem with games taking 4hours + to complete?

hattifnatt:
have they fixed the problem with games taking 4hours + to complete?

That's really not a problem, that's just the pacing of the larger scale games. If you don't want 4+ hr games then don't start a large map.

As for the game itself, I definitely enjoy it! Do beware that some of the larger maps can take ages to complete.

There is a demo isn't there?

Either way, there's no campaigns or anything, so just start practicing and then get online.

Saphire:

hattifnatt:
have they fixed the problem with games taking 4hours + to complete?

That's really not a problem, that's just the pacing of the larger scale games. If you don't want 4+ hr games then don't start a large map.

As for the game itself, I definitely enjoy it! Do beware that some of the larger maps can take ages to complete.

Tell me about it. I recently played through an epic match with three other friends. It took us near a week to complete. Granted, we only played for a few hours in each play session and saved our progress after each, but the fact that it took at least seven days to finish still surprised me. Still, was one hell of a fun week.

Then just play a 10 planet map. I love those giant maps though because some of the battles are epic. and DLC makes it even better.

Great game. If you dig the Civ series this is definitely for you.

I would start out with Warcraft 3... Best RTS to date, It is simple enough for newcomers to the genre to understand, and it is old enough so it is dirt cheap... If you like it and want somthing more in depth then go for Sins of a Solar Empire.

Powerhelix:
I would start out with Warcraft 3... Best RTS to date, It is simple enough for newcomers to the genre to understand, and it is old enough so it is dirt cheap... If you like it and want somthing more in depth then go for Sins of a Solar Empire.

I've played plenty of RTS to date, it was the 4X that worried me.

Very well then, I shall buy this game.

Thanks guys.

I've been considering buying it myself, because I'm a huge sci-fi nerd and epic space battles are practically a turn on. Still, I'm not made of money, but squishy meat and organs that I can't fence for fear of dropping dead, so I'm waiting for a slight price drop.

I'm not trying to discourage you from buying, but if you're new to the style, you may want to give FreeCiv a try:
http://freeciv.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

It is, well, free.

What I really wish for Sins of a Solar Empire is a campaign mode.

Otherwise, it is an awesome game, and with some maps, there might even be battles between you and your enemy you don't know about. That's how largescale it is.

Defiantly a buy. The learning curve is high (at least it was for me). They games are long, but the massive fleets you get by the end are amazing

Well, plenty of people are praising the game, so I might as well point out a few of its flaws:

1. Visually pathetic. Yeah, the game has a good looking 3D enigne. Unfortunately, you'll spend 99% of your game time zoomed out and watching ugly little icons crawl their way across the screen. If you zoom in to get some eyecandy, you'll be effectively out of the game until you zoom back out.

2. Not quite a 4X game, but rather a 4X/RTS hybrid. For a true 4X game try Galactic Civilizations 2 (and the expansions). Granted, this isn't a bad thing, but OP stated he's looking to get into 4X games...

3. Total lack of a campaign mode. You get multiplayer and skirmishes. And belive me, skirmishes get boring FAST.

4. Games take long. If you play on smaller maps, then you don't get to play with the fun toys. If you want the advanced techs you need bigger maps (which take longer), or you need to play longer. Duration isn't normally an issue in turn-based games, but to me playing SoaSE always felt like a bit of a chore and the game's pacing is bad.

It's an interesting experiment and is innovative, but I can't help but feel that it falls short of the mark.

Fire Daemon:

Powerhelix:
I would start out with Warcraft 3... Best RTS to date, It is simple enough for newcomers to the genre to understand, and it is old enough so it is dirt cheap... If you like it and want somthing more in depth then go for Sins of a Solar Empire.

I've played plenty of RTS to date, it was the 4X that worried me.

Very well then, I shall buy this game.

Thanks guys.

I'm not sure I'd say WC3 is the best RTS to date. It's a fine game, but I'm not sure it's the best. Homeworld, on the other hand, was and still is one of the finest games ever developed. In my opinion anyway. Sins is basically a 4X-ified version of it, without true 3D movement and an amazing narrative. For anyone that's played Homeworld, that's reason enough to get Sins. Also, if you're looking to get into 4X games, also try X3. It's the best in the X series and it offers pretty much everything you'd expect in a 4X game.

Honestly, after awhile, it gets kinda...eehhhh. Mostly due to the lack of a real campaign On longer games, it definitly seems to drag a bit, and the AI Pirate Raid bid-sniping WILL get on your nerves. But other than that, it was pretty deep, and in spite of the massive scale some of my empires got, I never seemed over-whelmed, which is a testament to the UI designers.

Might I also suggest Civ 4? I dont care what genre you're a fan of, that game makes entire days noticeable chunks of your life disappear. ;)

It kinda reminds me of the old days of M.O.O.

I was thinking of getting it too just because when I saw my buddy play it, I got a bit of nostalgia.

Jandau:
Snip.

I don't have that great of a graphics card so I'll be playing on low graphic quality anyway.

I am looking to get into 4X games but I also want to play SoaSE, I'll look into those games.

The lack of a campaign does sound kind of lame. Are there any mods that add one?

I don't mind games taking a long time. You can walk away and come back at any time. Playing a huge skirmish sounds rather fun in my opinion.

I have to wait a few days until I have enough money to get this game. I should be picking it up on Friday. If anyone knows of any good mods or maps that would be great.

Fire Daemon:

Jandau:
Snip.

I have to wait a few days until I have enough money to get this game. I should be picking it up on Friday. If anyone knows of any good mods or maps that would be great.

I cant remember the name of it, but there was a map of a pretty decent representation of the local stars, including Sol, and Alpha Centauri A and B. I also remember a while back where someone was trying to map the majority of the major stars in the night sky.

That game had me at naming capital ships, any game that lets me name my ships rocks and gives me an enormous amount of attachment to this itty bitty units.

I played TEC. I named by battleships after soliders and generals, Julius Caesar, Roger Young, Horatio, Swamp Fox etc. Named my support ships and carriers after battlegrounds and military locations Ypres, Galipoli, Tobruk, Valley Forge. Named my planet wreakers after biblical characters, Samsom, Goliath.

Naming planets became harder (once I started I felt I couldn't stop), So I had trends terran worlds were named Peace/utopia/heaven/paradise. Fiery planets ember/pyre/vulcan. Small galaxies I'd theme, like one named with nordic gods.

I suggest buying it just because its made by stardock, and they are fervently against DRM.

I bought it, but was more interested in single player, which was rather nonexistant. Oh well, i might pick it up and play with my brother down the road.

Im also interested in Demigod when that comes out,
looks sick

A good game for beginners, certainly. It's fairly shallow, so you don't have so many tricks and counter-counters to try and figure out, there's effectively no terrain, your ships more or less take care of themselves. The tech tree is simple and more-or-less explains itself.

On the downside, there's no campaign mode, for some reason, so you'll have to learn by jumping right into the main game, it's hard to tell what's going on both when zoomed in and zoomed out, mostly because neither the symbols nor the 3D models tell you what a particular ship is for. Also, the AI seems to be very passive aggressive, sending ships into your system, noting the defenses, turning around, leaving, turning around again, and coming back. Over and over again.

Fire Daemon:

Jandau:
Snip.

I don't have that great of a graphics card so I'll be playing on low graphic quality anyway.

I am looking to get into 4X games but I also want to play SoaSE, I'll look into those games.

The lack of a campaign does sound kind of lame. Are there any mods that add one?

I don't mind games taking a long time. You can walk away and come back at any time. Playing a huge skirmish sounds rather fun in my opinion.

I have to wait a few days until I have enough money to get this game. I should be picking it up on Friday. If anyone knows of any good mods or maps that would be great.

While I can understand you're not too worried about the graphics, I'm still afraid you might get a bit disappointed. I've taken a look at the screenshots around Gamespot to see if I can find a good example, but everything there is false advertising. You might see one such sequence in an hour or two of gameplay. The rest of the time you'll be looking at 8-bit monocolour icons of slightly varying shapes. And when you do zoom in, you have to pray your ship catches the light just right, or it'll be a black ship on the black background.

There are no mods to add a campaign. Singleplayer is basically picking a map to Skirmish on. Gets a wee bit dull soon...

As for the duration, it's not so much a problem of time. GalCiv2 games can take me a few days, but they never get boring. There is so much to do every turn: Managing shifting ecenomic trends, military and social production, diplomacy, expansion (militaristic and/or peaceful), etc. In SoaSE the pace tends to drop down dramatically. There are large stretches of game where you're stuck staring at the screen (full of nothing but ugly icons) waiting for anything to happen.

Personally, I think it's too slow for an RTS and lacks options for a 4X game...

I have played it. it is a good way to sink about 6 days of your life. in one skirmish. yeah... going up against 4 opponents, and suddenly realizing. "Oh... shit. None of them have contacted me in a while." and you start building a VERY big fleet.it annoyed me how slow the pacing was at times, and also the limits on planets and asteroids was somewhat constricting. (It did however, make you attached to your planets, as losing one means losing a good chunk of your production.)

Sins is kinda crap I hate to say it. I am a big fan of the genre. Make sure you have played Master of Magic and X-Com: UFO Defense, and also to a lesser extent, Civilization. Those are the good 4x games.

You're better off with Master of Orion than the Stardock game. Although Stardock's new game Elemental looks pretty cool.