Sword of the Stars 2: Electric Boogaloo

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So, SotS 2 is apparently launching in this month, (the 28th). I had fun with the first game, the first time I played it, but afterwards it was banal, shit, boring. I can't seem to get any detailed info on II. Mostly just the usual marketing spin and screenshots from Paradox, and what looks like some very early alpha stage previews. Very little information for a game launching in 3.5 weeks. All I've been able to figure out so far is:

-All new AWESUM 2 graphics engine that looks exactly like the first one
-Interface that looks exactly like the first one
-There is now more than 1 planet in each system (finally)
-Tech tree looks exactly the same, but with hopefully a lot more techs
-It has a Civilopedia
-You can play 6 races
-Extra details in battles
-Plot, missions and other stuff that reveals plot points from the first game (did the first game even have a plot?)
-Other assorted stuff no-one cares about

What I really want to know is, will it be a proper 4X game this time, or just a continuation of the first one?

-Will there actually be more focus on building stuff (hell, will you be able to build anything at all)?
-Will there be any non-combat technologies to research (and a decent number of techs)?
-When you do fight, will combat be different?
-Will the late game be more interesting than a scramble to destroy everyone else before they invent AI that revolts and assimilates everything in like 20 turns?

This quote from IGN doesn't fill me with hope:

Am I wrong? Any hope of this being more interesting than the first game?
Anyone plan on getting this, if it even releases on time? Will it be any good?

From what I read in the dev journals planet development still consists of changing sliders.

So no, I don't expect MoO2 successor.

What the hell, how could it possibly be more streamlined than it already was?

Maybe just one slider? For ALL planets? Dunno really, the economic aspect of the game was stripped bare anyway.

I had a lot of fun with the first one, but since I'm not upgrading my machine anytime soon, I'm not that excited about this one.

Hopefully it'll be good, so I can play it in a couple of years.

My thoughts exactly... The fact that there's so little information available is usually not a good sign. Planet development doesn't necessarily have to be as in-depth as IG2 or Galciv 2, but come on, sticking with just sliders? Fuck that.

I didn't like the first one, but I'm still willing to give this one a benefit of the doubt.

First game pretty much showed they don't have the right idea for a 4x game. Recently tried it again with all the expansion stuff, but it was still just as boring as I remembered.

shit, the UI of this game was terrible.. and the technology interface was the worst thing that i saw in a 4x game if you can call SOTS a 4x but its good to know that some people are still trys to make decent MOO successor

Screw MOO, someone should make a decent IG2 successor.

SotS wasn't really a 4X, more like SPCX. (Sliders, Pie Charts, eXterminate)

IG2 wasn't really that good though. The campaign stuff was fun the first time, with how the story events triggered dynamically and whatnot, but the game itself was little more than average as far as 4x goes. Micromanaging hell with the colony development and ground combat, rather boring tech tree and ship design, unimpressive space combat( unless you were Kra'hen, in which case everything exploded in a dazzling display immediately), etc. It's been a decade or so since I last played it, but I can't remember it shining in any particular area except maybe the spy stuff.

That said, I'm still kinda sad that they turned IG3 into Nexus, even if Nexus turned out to be an okay game too. The Nexus engine could really have been excellent for a 4x game.

I wouldn't expect a new moo2, rather a new 4x game I would enjoy like I enjoyed moo2. The first sots sucked balls and from what I've read the sequel is more of the same but shinier. A polished turd is still a turd, I think this applies perfectly for sots 2.

Well, in 4X games, "average in all areas" is actually pretty good, since most of them have at least one area in which they are completely abysmal. SotS had pretty much zero colony planning and management, GalCiv 2 has the worst tech tree ever and just misses something, MoO2 had crappy combat where 95% of the weapons were completely useless, you could as well throw sticks at the enemy. Sins of a Solar Empire is more RTS than 4X, etc. etc.

Something that plays like MoO2 with real time combat would be great, like Pax Imperia: Eminent Domain was (although most will probably disagree). I actually had high hopes for Hegemonia: Legions of Iron. Was a fun game but also lacking in scope and the colony management was alslo very light. If SotS 2 just left everything as is, but added a good empire building side, it might have been one of the best. It does have a lot going for it but it gets let down by only being about combat.

Aren't those conflicting statements though? I mean, combat is just a tiny part of 4x games. It's missing countless elements; proper colony system and management is just one important thing. There's also no real "empire" management in it, ship design is rather uninteresting( then again, I've always preferred 'free space' rather than the locked hardpoints model), no real spy system, etc. There are some good things about it, like how they've done different warp systems for the races for instance, but it never really comes together as a game.

Anyway, looking back I think that the best 4x I played is probably MoO3. It just has something that none of the other 4x games have, be it MoO1&2, Pax, Ascendancy, Space Empires, IG1&2, etc. It's the feeling of actually being in control of an empire, and not just being a guy who pushes a lot of buttons to get things done. It's the only 4x game I'd go as far as call 'epic', and not in the next-gen sense.

There are a lot of not-so-good things about it, certainly, but it also does so many things right; it has an amazingly complex and detailed colony/planet/population/production/tax system, countless times better than anything else out there, it has an excellent tech tree with plenty of non-combat stuff and a great research system in general, it has many and varied races, it allows for truly long games, etc.

Its faults were mostly due to poor planning by the dev team, making the game end up with many unfinished/unpolished features( space and ground combat, diplomacy, AI, etc.) as well as several that never made it into the game. Add a ridiculous amount of bugs, some game-breaking, and it's no wonder it failed hard before the modders made it playable. Still, if there's one game 4x game I'd like to see a direct and proper sequel to, it's MoO3.

I'm looking forward to this game, and all of you haters / assholes who wants MoO2 but with better graphics can just fuck right off.

Raapys, you're right about MoO3, I loved it too. The Codex and almost everyone else seems to hate it (see all the herpa derp comments on GOG), but I loved the grand scale, being able (but not forced to) micromanage planets, having different races in your empire (paradise worlds mean different things to each etc). It did obviously have big flaws like you mentioned, and I also hated the AI's pathological obsession with building a million scout ships no matter what you do.

Yes, SotS is missing a lot of things, which is why I say it's not great. The combat though is better than most 4X games (it has to be after all), it has the epic scale of MoO3, there's actually a huge difference in gameplay based on your race, something which for example MoO2 severely lacks, but 3 does rather well. That's why I say it has good things, they just need to fix up the lacking elements. Which admittedly are huge.

when does it gets out .. i mean sots 2???

End of this month.

From the games' official Forums:

From what I gather the game is already finished and actually ready to be released. But they wanted to avoid loosing possible sales because other big boys that are coming out and/or did come out during this time of year.

Worried about being squashed by the next AAA blockbuster scifi 4x game.

I'm glad I'm not the only who kinda-liked moo3.
With a few extra months of development it could have been easily one of the best 4x games ever.

Which is the best 4x realtime space battle game? The only one I've played is Imperium Galactica II.

well the only one that i can think off is space empires V but thats just me

MoO2 of course.

Yeah, I just remember how awesome it was taking down the Antarans in real-time, waiting for the right moment to strike. Good times.






















Oh, no wait, you're talking shit. MoO2 is turn-based, campaign and combat.

The best 4X games with real-time combat (although the combat isn't necessarily great), probably IG2, Pax, Moo3 (with tons of patches and mods). Best real-time combat (although the 4X part is very lacking), probably Sword of the Stars. Or Star Wars: Empire at War. If you consider that a 4X. Probably has the best (space) combat.