SEIV Fans Please Read

Slick · #1 March 1st, 2003, 02:30 AM

I think one of the aspects is that there is the perfect "rate" of new & different things added during a game. You can expect a new weapon, facility, ship, technology, or some such thing every couple of turns that you have just GOT to start using. You are also continuously expanding, building, conducting diplomatic relations, conducting military operations, etc. Like I said, it is the rate that makes the game great. If you quickly got all the techs, met all the empires, built a huge fleet and conquered the empire, it wouldn't be fun and the game would be easily mastered. If it took too long to do these things, your interest wouldn't hold long enough to have fun. The "excitement rate" is perfectly tweaked to keep people wanting "just one more turn".

Slick.

Gandalph · #2 March 1st, 2003, 04:05 AM

SEIV is the only game I have owned that stayed on my hard drive from day 1. It is also the only game, in my long gaming history, to have 4 Versions, with at least 3 mods each, installed at the same time. It is also the only game, perhaps regrettably, that has me addicted to Online gaming. It is also the only game that has induced me to pull even more money out of my pocket after game purchase (to support PBW). It has the only game forum that I visit regularly, or should I say daily. My hat is off to the game, the community, the PBW admins, Aaron and Malfador for bringing it to life, Shrapnel for publishing it and hosting this forum, and all the great players I meet on PBW.

Fyron · #3 March 1st, 2003, 04:39 AM

I've had Civ2 installed much longer than SE4 has been around. I think I have 2 Versions currently, Gold and Test of Time. I lost count of the huge number of mods I have for it long ago.

Of course, it also had a much larger following than SE4, so it makes sense that there are more mods for it.

oleg · #4 March 1st, 2003, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
I've had Civ2 installed much longer than SE4 has been around. I think I have 2 Versions currently, Gold and Test of Time. I lost count of the huge number of mods I have for it long ago. Of course, it also had a much larger following than SE4, so it makes sense that there are more mods for it.

Frankly, If you count ToT as CIV2 variant, you should also include SEIII in SEIV list.

I too have Civ2 on my computer and consider some Civ2:fantastic_worlds scenarios (behold the maddening perfection of Midgard !) as true artistic masterpices.

mac5732 · #5 March 1st, 2003, 06:41 AM

I have played many games over my years and I must confess SE4 is the one I always come back to and play the most. There are a lot of reasons that make this game IMHO the best on the market, The game itself, the mods, but even more important the game support MM and Sharpnel give to the game and the community. No other company that I know of has ever given one of their games this type of support let alone listen to its players and actually incorporate a lot of their ideas and recommendations. Then there is the community/forum itself. I've been on a number of game forums but this one is by far the friendlist, and the most helpful,and No flame wars, Everyone always try to help those in need especially us older gamer geezers who are in constant duress and need help with these infernal contraptions and the "essance".

In pure honesty, I check this forum everyday at least once if I can. I can't say that for the other forums...

In plain words... The game and the community are fun.... and thats what a game is supposed to be and to make new friends..

I tend to ramble Mac

Fyron · #6 March 1st, 2003, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by oleg:

quote:
Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
I've had Civ2 installed much longer than SE4 has been around. I think I have 2 Versions currently, Gold and Test of Time. I lost count of the huge number of mods I have for it long ago. Of course, it also had a much larger following than SE4, so it makes sense that there are more mods for it.

Frankly, If you count ToT as CIV2 variant, you should also include SEIII in SEIV list.

I too have Civ2 on my computer and consider some Civ2:fantastic_worlds scenarios (behold the maddening perfection of Midgard !) as true artistic masterpices.

The Midgard scenerio of ToT is much better than the Fantastic Worlds one (not that the FW is bad, but the ToT one is soo cool

).

ToT is definitely a Civ2 variant. It is the same game, just with lots of tweaks, and some newer features. It is maybe Civ 2.5, but not enough to be a different game.

Talenn · #7 March 1st, 2003, 10:18 AM

Well, I've already commented on MOO3 in another thread, but suffice it to say that I agree...it has NOTHING on SE4. It is a nightmare of fighting the AI and UI to try and get what you want done. In the end, I think the touted 'macromanagement' is every bit as tedious as 'micromanagement', with the added complication of needing to learn a completely different way to fight the UI.

By contrast, SE4 feels very clean. Everything is laid out intelligently and clearly. There are obviously things I would change, but SE4 feels 'done', unlike MOO3 which feels very much like its still in Beta, even after all of the delays.

SE4 keeps me coming back because, through modding, it can be the game *I* want it to be. I've taken Proportions as a base, and tweaked it to feel the way I like it. This is such a HUGE feather in SE4's cap. I would have stopped playing with the default data long ago...it just left me feeling a little bland. But with modding, its a game and a mad scientist's workshop all in one!

I'm not sure if I have more fun modding or playing, but its all coming from the same product.

My biggest gripes about SE4 are the AI and dipomacy. The AI is fair, but has a lot of holes. The diplomacy just feels 'off'. There are tons of options, but most of them just dont seem to do much. I receive threat after threat with no follow-through. I ask for things that are agreed to, but I never see the result...(ie, "Break your treaty with the 'X'"..."ok"...and it never does it).

But, in the realm of multiplayer, SE4 really shines. Since Gold, I've been able to play TCP/IP and that is where the game is really at. All the AI and diplomacy faults fall away when playing with other folks, leaving us to enjoy what is probably the best 4x game ever made.

Long, rambling...but its my story and I'm sticking too it!

Talenn