'Space Empires Universe' (spaceempires5.com) News

[Wade]

-----(A quote from the home page of www.spaceempires5.com (http://www.spaceempires5.com))

"Official Space Empires Universe Website Launch!

Submitted by jgoyer on Thu, 2006-09-21 09:48. SFI News

Montreal, Canada. September 21th, 2006. -- Software Publisher Strategy First Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstar Holdings, Ltd. (Nasdaq: SSTR), is proud to announce the official home of the Space Empires franchise. A website dedicated to its fans, Space Empires new site is loaded with forums, blogs, special groups, exclusive content, and links to a fantastic array of 3rd-party contributions. www.spaceempires5.com (http://www.spaceempires5.com) is the new home of Space Empires!"


-----There is new SEV concept art in the "image galleries" at www.spaceempires5.com. (http://www.spaceempires5.com.)

[Fyron]

Hey, where are these links to a fantastic array of 3rd party contributions on the site?

[Atrocities]

I was promised a fantastic array of 3rd-party contributions, but I don't see them. Where are they. DO you see them?

[Wade]

No. Sorry. I do not see them either...I was just quoting. Perhaps in time.

(Such sarcasm...I know that considering change is difficult but it can open new possibilities.)

[Fyron]

Sarcasm? Eh? I was using their wording precisely. Maybe I should have added quote marks?

[Wade]

-----There is new SEV concept art posted on 9-29-06 in the "image galleries" at www.spaceempires5.com. (http://www.spaceempires5.com.)

Some of them include wallpaper that shows 14 race portraits and ships. The portraits are detailed and provoke imagination.
Particularly interesting to me at the moment are the Xi Chung, Ukra-Tal, and the Drushocka.

[bearclaw]

I am very unimpressed with this new Space Empires Universe. I created a new account, logged in no problems and checked things out.

The next time I came back, my user name was no longer recognized. Like it never existed. I've sent emails to those who deal with the site and no one has bothered getting back to me and it's been close to 2 weeks now.

Not impressed. I'll stick with Shrapnel and SE.net, thanks. At least I know these guys are interested in the fans.

[Wade]

Some thing similiar happened to me but it was my password that did not work. I had a new one e-mailed to me then changed it back to my original password. It seems that the site is a work in progress, similiar to the SEV demo/game.

[Q]

And the server is quite slow, much slower than the one here.
May be Wade we better not shut down this place here, what do you think?
(Sorry but I could not resist a little teasing
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif )

[Captain Kwok]

Bearclaw - early on there was a site crash that erased a day's worth of posts/registrations. You probably just need to re-register.

[Wade]

-----There are new SEV art/images posted on 10-3-06 in the "image galleries" at www.spaceempires5.com. (http://www.spaceempires5.com.)

They are five new wallpapers.

[dogscoff]

Those concept pics are great. They aren't very close to the se4 race descriptions (the Cue Cappa don't look at all squid-like, for instance) but never mind.

[Wade]

On page 70 of the Space Empires IV manual it states: "The Cappa are large squid-like creatures, and the Cue are parasites that inhabit their bodies."

[Wenin]

I hate how my cursor changes when I go to that website.

[Captain Kwok]

Wenin said:
I hate how my cursor changes when I go to that website.

I never knew it did that... silly IE. It doesn't with Firefox. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[dmm]

Wade said:
On page 70 of the Space Empires IV manual it states: "The Cappa are large squid-like creatures, and the Cue are parasites that inhabit their bodies."


Yeah, somebody here wrote a whole story about a Terran detective investigating a murder on a CueCappa world (or something like that), and the CueCappa were just like Wade says.

[Captain Kwok]

Dogscoff was the author.

[PvK]

I don't know who noticed this too or not, but the top picture on cueman-shakka-copy.jpg (http://www.spaceempires5.com./en-US/node/108) actually does show the parasite, though ya it doesn't look very squid-like there.

PvK

[Ed Kolis]

The parasite is not described as squid-like - only the Cappa host.

[dmm]

Yeah, the Cue are smart, telepathic, and weak. The Cappa are borderline sentient but strong. The Cue control the Cappa but feel protective and emotionally attached. The Cappa sort-of know they are being controlled but don't seem to mind, because they also feel protective and emotionally attached to their host. (At least that's how Dogscoff portrayed them.) Imagine if humans were the size of pgymy marmosets and psychic, and they used elephants as hosts. Kind of like that, but even more alien.

[Thermodyne]

Hey I have a spaceempires5 news flash for you. Your db server sucks. 90 seconds to start loading a page………what is that thing running on? If I had an hour I might sign up, but it's just too slow for my attention span at this time.

[Spectarofdeath]

And have you noticed how you try to read a post, then go back to the same post several days later and it seems like theres new comments mixed all over in the post, rather then following order it just shoves them in there somewhere, no thanks, I'll stay here till it gets better. k thnx

[Fyron]

The post ordering has been set to flat view by default now, at least for the forums. Dunno about the news comments...

[tmcc]

I hate that too

[Atrocities]

I really think that if they can improve their forum system then the whole site will gel together and become very popular amoung the SE community in general.

[Wade]

An artwork picture and slogan have been added to the top of the page. Also a link to pre-order Space Empires V and download StarFury for free.

[Wade]

*This is a quoted post that might be of interest.*
-Wade
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mass Retrofit - It can be done!!!

Submitted by LordHavoc on Sat, 2006-10-28 09:34. Space Empires V General
Right now I've got you attention i'm going to tell you this is bo***ocks...Nah i'm only joking. It's for real!

Now i'm not sure about stock because I was playing balance mod at the time. But it's a hard coded thing so it should work with stock as well.

Get all your outdated ships of the same old design and stick them in a fleet. Now go to the ships screen and select one of those ships (it might help to rename one of them so you can find it).

NOTE:It will let you select that individual ship inside of the fleet. Now refit that ship, and it'll try to refit all the other ships in the fleet as well.
WARNING: Be careful because it tries to refit everything in the fleet whether it's the same ship hull or not.
-----

That is good to know Thanks
Submitted by carlosjuero on Sat, 2006-10-28 09:36.
That is good to know Thanks LordHavoc

-Currently subjecting multiple galaxies to the doom of conquer or blackholes
-----
» reply | quote
The same above applies to
Submitted by LordHavoc on Sat, 2006-10-28 10:18.
The same above applies to mass scrapping too.

I made this easier to do by creating a custom layout in the ships window with: ship picture, ship name, coords, ship class, fleet name.

Your lord and master (below Foamy) LordHavoc
-----
» reply | quote
Third and final test. This
Submitted by LordHavoc on Sat, 2006-10-28 10:31.
Third and final test.

This also works for ships of different designs but same ship hull

Say your best design is "Frigate X"

And you have a fleet full of "Frigate I, Frigate II, Frigate III, and some Frigate V's" all same hull size but different versions.

You can retrofit all of them in ONE GO! to "Frigate X" Using the above!!!

It seems MM have partially implemented fleet refits, but hasn't quite finished it off yet.

Once this orinance bug is fixed, omg fleets will be such a time-saver!

Your lord and master (below Foamy) LordHavoc

[Spoo]

Sounds more like a bug than a feature.

[aegisx]

I'm trying to like spaceempires5.com, but the forum is just awful. There are loads of other portal systems out there with nice forums, why use that one?

[Combat Wombat]

I have been using se5.com more and more even though it has been against my better judgement and I am trying to like the site but I agree the froums are just unacceptable. They are gonna need a huge revamp befire they become even half as useful as a free proboards setup...

[Fyron]

What, specifically, makes a free proboards setup more than twice as useful?

[Wade]

SpaceEmpires5.com is still waiting filled with information, stories, and people needing wisdom from emperors such as all of you. Stop in more often and lend a Depleted Uranium Cannon to future allies.

-Wade

[mrscrogg]

it looks like this site has bombed out - most of us want to stay where we are

[capnq]

mrscrogg said: it looks like this site has bombed out

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif I am only mildly curious about what you're basing this unneccesarily snarky opinion on. It's as if people want that site to fail.

I check both here and there regularly, and find that both are producing about an equal volume of on-topic posts that I'm interested in reading. I probably post more here, but that's mainly because I'm following several of the off-topic threads here.

[mrscrogg]

you've answered your own question - this site is more relevant to you for whatever thread your into - it's more comprehensive to you

[Fyron]

mrscrogg, you seem to have read what you wanted to read into capnq's statements, rather than what he actually wrote.

[Kamog]

I check that site every so often and I've posted a few times too. There's been a lot of improvements to it.

[AgentZero]

I check the site relatively often, but find the lack of silly OT posts a bit of a turn off. It's the silliness that keeps me coming back here. And when people do go off topic, it tends to be long tirades on the 'science' of SE, and without Fyron to set people straight, they just go on and on ad nauseum.




Kinda like me. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Fyron]

When I was reading AZ's post, I kept thinking to myself, "self, this post just keeps going on and on and on! When will it ever end?"

[narf poit chez BOOM]

I was going to write out a long, pointless and repeating poem before I realized that doing so would drive me crazy(er).

(No, it wasn't The Song That Never Ends.)

[capnq]

Imperator Fyron said: mrscrogg, you seem to have read what you wanted to read into capnq's statements, rather than what he actually wrote.

He answered why he prefers this site, but my question was why he considers that site more dead than this one.

[AgentZero]

Imperator Fyron said:
When I was reading AZ's post, I kept thinking to myself, "self, this post just keeps going on and on and on! When will it ever end?"



Conciseness is not my forte.


Wait... That was rather concise, wasn't it? Oh, but now I've ruined it.

[Wade]

Captain Kwok has posted the SEV 1.34 Changelog!
----------
I hope that these are addressed soon:

Priorities that would be appreciated in a patch:
-the following features implemented for the AI:
Planet creators/destroyers
Star creators/destroyers
Nebula creators/destroyers
Black Hole creators/destroyers
Storm creators/destroyers
Warp point creators/destroyers
Ringworld and Sphereworld creation
-better AI
-"the fog of war" issue fixed/implemented(Opponent planets, ships, fleets, bases, etc. shown faded out with the date that information was last seen.)
-option at the begining of an encounter to not fight; the AI use this often; and let the choice affect relations
-an alliance victory
-tone down Mega Evil Empire; relations should gradually decline; alliances that MEE has should decline even more gradually; empires further away should be less affected towards the MEE
-scrapping population causes unrest and lowers relations with others; mass destroying opponent population lowers relations with others

[Q]

Wade said:
-tone down Mega Evil Empire; relations should gradually decline; alliances that MEE has should decline even more gradually; empires further away should be less affected towards the MEE



Have you seen the MEE working??
I never did so far.

[Wade]

These also please:

-Show the ship class(along with the ship name) in the "retofit button list" and the "Fleet Transfer list" and other places that ship name is displayed. This is so that deciding which ships to upgrade will not be so tedious. Currently only the ship list button allows ship name and class side by side.


-only have the non-breathers of a planet domed incurring a penalty to production, research, etc. Still keep the term "Domed" for the games tradition sake: example: "10% Domed incurring a (??)% penalty to all types of planetary production." (Perhaps Domed population could work at 50% capacity (or what a currently Domed planet does). Thus it could read:"10% Domed incurring a 5% penalty...")
The non-breathers left on a planet will have a higher emigration rate to a breathable planet.

-The production of a planet will be divided amongst the number of ground and orbital ship yards. (Thus it might be best to build more shipyards only when production of ships approaches one or two turns.) More than one ground based ship yard allowed for planets so that more than one production at a time can take place. (If a tiny or small planet currently allow one ship yard then larger planets should allow more; especially Ringworlds and Sphereworlds.)

[Wade]

Captain Kwok has posted the SEV 1.35 Changelog!

[Ed Kolis]

For some reason that brings this to mind...

We love you Kwokky, oh yes we do...
We love you Kwokky, and we'll be true
When you don't post updates, we're blue
Oh, Kwokky, we love you!

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Wade]

The SEV 1.36 Changelog has been posted in the Space Empires V General forum by Captain Kwok.

[Wade]

The SEV 1.37 Changelog has been posted in the Space Empires V General forum.

[Fyron]

Wouldn't it be far more useful to copy it here than just post that?

Version 1.37:
1. Fixed - Sometimes processing of a turn would halt when a deconstruct & analyze order was executed.
2. Added - Script function "Give_Space_Object_Order_Any" to give orders not covered by other script functions.
3. Fixed - In a turn based game, a retrofit of multiple ships will now result in only one report window.
4. Fixed - Retrofit order will be available now even if multiple ships are selected.
5. Changed - Display of resources and points over a million will show as #,### kT.
6. Fixed - Fighters with no supply remaining will now move at 25% of their normal speed.
7. Fixed - If a strategy has a target type damage amount for a planet as "All Weapons Gone", then
when the planet has no weapons left in combat, no ships will fire on it. The behavior for other targets
with this damage amount setting is that they will be targeted last after all other targets are destroyed.
8. Removed - Strategy selection "Retreat Immediately". This can now be done through the "Retreat When" section.
9. Removed - Strategy selection "Retreat When All Weapons Damaged". This can now be done through the "Retreat When" section.
10. Fixed - The "Retreat When" section is now working better.
11. Fixed - The "Retreat Settings" section is now working better.

[Q]

Great fixes!

[capnq]

Imperator Fyron said: Wouldn't it be far more useful to copy it here than just post that?

No, because reposting it here doesn't advance Wade's goal of attracting more readers to that site.

[Azselendor]

It's a very subtle form of advertising - but it doesn't work very well because wade is forgetting to include the most important thing in his posts.

What is it? I'm not telling!

[Suicide Junkie]

Well, it is just crickets and tumbleweeds:
http://www.spaceempires5.com/en-US/forum/8

[Fyron]

That's not a very representative link, SJ. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

capnq:
That's exactly the point... se5.com has already reached critical mass. Anyone that wants to go there goes there already. Not posting the actual information, or even a link to a thread (which is less preferable than actual information), does little good to the users of this forum.

[Azselendor]

sweet zombie jesus, one look at that forum color pallet and my nose started bleeding. Warn me next time you do that. lol

[Suicide Junkie]

Imperator Fyron said:
That's not a very representative link, SJ. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif


Yes, I know, but all the rest of the SE4 forums are even deader.

[capnq]

Azselendor said: one look at that forum color pallet and my nose started bleeding.

Believe it or not, the place looks better now (IMO) than it did before the last update of the site design.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Posting has slowed down here, sadly.

[Azselendor]

That's the nature of Space Empires communities. A lot of it two is that traffic is flowing to spaceempires5.com, but very little is flowing back out to the fan sites and community. As a result, most new players don't realize the larger community. Hell, malfador.com doesn't even link here anymore.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

The solution is obvious: Hype this place.

[Fyron]

Perhaps a better solution might be threads like this (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=524539)?

[Wade]

Please. I don't have a hidden agenda. I read there and here. I'm sure there are many lurkers. I believe though that most prefer official sites and are not modders. Some polls at places have shown that. With many other games too.

I'm just trying to be helpful, informative, and a part of this site. I wasn't even thinking of posting the entire list of updates. Some people get bothered by seeing too much copy and pasting; but I suppose it's okay then.

As for not linking...I just figured that most of us have already added to favorites list spaceempires5.com and checked there some times. Also I already gave the link on the first page. I don't care to keep providing it.

Many people seem assuming and negative on forums often.
Cheers!

-Wade

[Captain Kwok]

Imperator Fyron said:
Perhaps a better solution might be threads like this (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=524539)?

I agree. I'm finding very little on the modding front in these forums - which considering the past is unfortunate.

[Wade]

Under 'Who's Online'(chart at left) at spaceempires5.com the number of "users" is some times low but the number of "guests" is often quite high.

[Mudshark]

i have not posted in forever, I do think it is says a lot for Shrapnel to allow a game they do not even have anything to do with to to have have a forum for this game. Wade you have to admit to this. They have bee great about this....

[Fyron]

Wade:
I wasn't talking about a link to the site, but a link to the relevant thread. Making people do a search for it isn't very efficient.

[Wade]

Imperator Fyron said:
Wade:
I wasn't talking about a link to the site, but a link to the relevant thread.



Okay. That sounds reasonable.

[Wade]

Some of you that I believe have played more than me may want to answer this new guy. I think there are similiar threads around but opinions, attitudes, and versions change.

(Quote)"Hey everyone,

I'm new to these games, but now have both. Are there people who prefer IV to V?. If so why.

Thanks,"(End Quote)

http://www.spaceempires5.com/en-US/node/3431

[Wade]

Also, I'm trying to add other posts to this thread other than just the version update posts.

[aegisx]

Captain Kwok said:

Imperator Fyron said:
Perhaps a better solution might be threads like this (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=524539)?

I agree. I'm finding very little on the modding front in these forums - which considering the past is unfortunate.



Kwok, you need to be less productive with your modding. Since yours is a great base, its tough to mod for it when you just go on improving things and release new versions http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Wade]

The SEV 1.38 Changelog has been posted in the Space Empires V General forum.

Captain Kwok states,"A big fix to the combat logs. You'll really like the new format. It was designed by long-time SE community member SuicideJunkie and has a ton of info at a glance while not taking up a 100 pages."


http://www.spaceempires5.com/en-US/node/3479

[Atrocities]

Ya some nice changes to be sure.

[BlueTemplar]

Is it me or there is a BIG problem with the website?

[Ed Kolis]

Not you...

[Santiago]

Definitely not you. I'm also having problems with that site.

[Q]

I am locked out. Access denied even for reading!

[Captain Kwok]

It appears to be back up and running.

[Q]

It may be the official forum but this forum here on Shrapnel is the functioning forum. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif
I can't still login there.

[Romulus68]

Can anyone else not log in on Spaceempires5.com?

It doesn't recognize my user id and even if i try to register again it keeps saying my math problem answer in incorrect. I know that I barely passed "Calculus with analytic geometry" in college, but 8 + 10 I can do!! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[Ragnarok]

All those problems are even more reasons for me not to visit that site.

When they actually get a competent website developer/good forum software then maybe, just maybe, I'll find it worthy of my time to visit.

Until that time Shrapnel is still the home for SE to me.

Again, thanks to Shrapnel for keeping this forum active, you truly are good people!

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Yaay for Shrapnel!

(But not the other shrapnel)

[capnq]

It looks like their database got fried (again). It doesn't recognize my username when I try to request a password.

I had a problem with the math question, too. My first suspicion was that it was looking for keypad numbers (which are different codes than the top row of the keyboard), but I didn't test that.

Another possibilty that just occurred to me is that the problem is in reading the input fields rather than in the database.

[Thy_Reaper]

The site seems to have returned again.

Their server isn't the most unreliable. Garrysmod.com used to go down on a weekly basis for days at a time. At least spaceempires5.com only rarely goes down.

[Fyron]

The top row numbers and keypad numbers might be different keyboard codes, but the characters put into the form fields and sent to the server are identical.

The site claims that there is no Fyron account when I try to request a new password, as well.

[Captain Kwok]

The site appears to be functioning normally again. They better get a handle on these issues though.

[Atrocities]

Perhaps they are trying and that is what is causing these issues. ??

[Azselendor]

They are using Drupal as a CMS, while it's a very good and robust program, it's very touchy. If their webhost doesn't properly support it, Drupal will break if you give it a funny look. There are also popular drupal mods that don't work together well

[Atrocities]

Well they have come a long ways since they first opened the site. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Guderian21]

dunno what happens with these sites i mean how can it be so difficult to get a stable site?

The Lost Empire site was down as well like the same day it came out - but they redid it pretty much meanwhile at least. I followed this game a bit, it hasnt got that much attention yet - but it looks promising - a bit like se4.
You can see for yourself at: www.polluxgamelabs.com/lostempire (http://www.polluxgamelabs.com/lostempire)

[Wade]

Cool. 'Lost Empire' looks interesting. I'll look a little closer at it.

[aegisx]

Always nice to see another 4x game. If anyone tries it out let us know http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif There really isn't too much info on the page though. It does not look as complex/detailed as SE though.

[Santiago]

Tak ah Lah gave a quick report on it at SpaceEmpires V

[Santiago]

Under the topic " Worth Getting"

His final sentence sums it up

"All in all after about an hour playing I was bored...something that has never happened with SEV...I may have been frustrated & angry with the bugs in the early days, happy when playing PBW or against myself, and many other feelings, but NEVER bored!"

[Wade]

Check out this thread about an ongoing epic war in an ongoing game of Space Empires V. It's awesome! The game is over 250 turns in. In the beginning of the tale it focuses on a system being called "no mans land" where each of the two opponents controls a warp point. There is a sort of stalemate in the start of the tale until...

http://www.spaceempires5.com/en-US/node/4538#comment-30676