To SEIV Gold or Not?

[Enigma]

O.k. I have SEIV and after a one week bout with MOO3 I was reminded about what a great game it was. I had not played it for about a year, but Last night I went back loaded it up and wow! A great strategy game that is over two years old, great game play, better graphics than the paperweight (ahem MOO3) that i just got.

The real question though, does the GOLD edition really have anything extra that it is worth getting. I am not going to have time to play PBEM or PBW (?). I do have the latest MOD for SEIV (not gold)? I am happy with the game right now, but I am alittle reluctant to shell another $40 for essentially the same game.

Well any assistance would be appreciated. When is SEV coming?

[oleg]

Absolutely ! There are several mods developed specifically for Gold, like proportions and AI Compain Mod, Mounts mod, etc. Gold AI is much better as well !

SEV is planned for summer 04

[Puke]

did you say se4 has better graphics than moo3? oh dear.

on topic though, gold has alot of good features. drones are the most prominant new additions, and are fun to use.. but they do not warant purchasing gold on their own. There are several new system types, but again, are great, but not that hot by them selves. SEIVG also adds alot of features that enhance the modding capabilities, such as the functionality of mounts. these dont show up in the stock game, but are present in alot of good mods.

the biggest reason to go Gold, is for the mods. The newest and best AIs are written for Gold. the latest Mods are exclusive to Gold. Porportions is one of the best, and will totally change your game play experience. The latest eye-candy stuff (FQM-D) is written for gold. Space Monsters, in the new Version of the Devnull Mod, are a great addition to the game. There are non-gold Versions of Pirates & Nomads, but the Gold edition brings in some good stuff. Of course, the latest StarTrek and Bab-5 stuff is for gold..

So to me, the Mods are what makes it very worthwhile to upgrade to Gold.

[Fyron]

Of course, the latest StarTrek and Bab-5 stuff is for gold..<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Actually, the Babylon 5 Mod is still being developed in non-Gold se4. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Enigma]

Thanks for the response! Maybe I should have said more "functional graphics" instead of "better":-) Graphics are not that important to me, but these (MOO3) make me feel I am playing an old DOS game.

I think at this point the most important factor to me would be better AI since my games are going to be single player. I have the TDM modpack for SEIV. Are the AI's more challenging in Gold?

I am not trying to bag out of supporting the game, I just want to make sure it is actually a different game.

[oleg]

Originally posted by Enigma:
.. I have the TDM modpack for SEIV. Are the AI's more challenging in Gold?

.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Just one example: Suppose you choose "low AI bonus". It gives AI 2X resources it generates. But, before the latest Gold patch (1.84) AI did not "know" it and keeps its books to stay in the line with pre-bonus budget, building far less ships than it actually should. Now it is a new ball game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[PvK]

Even if I didn't play and make mods, I think Gold really makes a big difference, for all of the improvements to the game mechanics! There are big improvements to important basic ways things work, such as defenders firing first in a battle (instead of player #1 - makes a big difference in warp-point defense!), and heaps of other stuff. Just look at the changes log for the latest Gold patch, reading down to the pre-Gold, and it should be pretty convincing!

PvK

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Of course, the latest StarTrek and Bab-5 stuff is for gold..<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Actually, the Babylon 5 Mod is still being developed in non-Gold se4. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Really? I thought they were using a lot of Proportions mod stuff, which would be really hard without Gold.

PvK

[capnq]

Gold and the Gold patches also have a progressive series of minor improvements to the UI. Cumulatively, the improvements make the Classic UI feel a little tedious in comparison, at least to me.

[raynor]

Originally posted by capnq:
Gold and the Gold patches also have a progressive series of minor improvements to the UI. Cumulatively, the improvements make the Classic UI feel a little tedious in comparison, at least to me.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I will second that. There are some really nice UI improvements introduced in Gold and the Last set of Gold patches. For that reason alone, I would go ahead and upgrade.

[rdouglass]

I agree w/ all those comments about the patches. Also, the mods (at least most of them) seem to focus towards more current Versions of the game/patches.

That IMO is a worthwhile reason....