Any One Still Playing This Game?

[Xrati]

I appreciate the post Fyron. I know that you have been here on this board for a long time. I just read the early reports about modding SE5 and felt that it was “Start from Scratch”, but as you just explained there were some parts that made it through. Maybe I just miss the old discussions like this and feel that just a little more than a game was lost when they moved to SE5.

AT, that’s still a lot of work to re-texture all those ship sets that you did. You did a great job on them and many others out there, did too! I hope you decide to keep going on the STM and maybe someday they’ll come out with a program to reduce the polygon count for DoGA models.

[Gandalf Parker]

I think the general feel is still "Was the shift to higher level formats in SEV worth it?"

I know (as stupid as it seems to some of us) that sales are made and lost based on look and feel. There is a sizeable crowd which refuses to pay "new game prices" for games that look to them like its from a decade ago.

On the other hand, its not SEIV which impressed me. Try loading it and playing it vanilla from the CD. Feels like a demo with such a small galaxy and only 8 races. Its the SEIV as it become with player mods. Huge galaxies, many aditonal images, over 300 races, better AI, a great online signup site for multiplayer games, etc etc etc.

As far as I can see, the shift is still hanging up the modding. SEV is not becoming what SEIV is. I own both and Im still waiting for SEV to become what I consider playable. Now, whether or not the sales was able to prove the shift worth it I would love to know. Im often in discussions with other games developers. Also the shift from a great publicity/online-purchase/support publisher to a marketing/DD/buy-out publisher.

So far, if there is an SEVI Id like to see Aaron take the newly gained player base and pull it back to the old arrangment (altho I understand he has sold the ability to do that)

Gandalf Parker

[Xrati]

Gandalf, some of the best games I've ever played were low end graphics, BUT I played them into the wee hours of the night. Empire Deluxe was one of them along with games by Avalon Hill like Midway, Dreadnaughts and many others. They were good games and provoked an interest without glamour or glitz! SE4 was that type of game. The modding and patches made it that much better. I do not believe SE5 is in the same category as SE4. BUT it does have Glitz and Glamour!

[Fyron]

I think SE5 is in the same category... its got a graphics engine rivaling tech from 1998. The actual gameplay is more or less identical to SE4. Its just the clunky interface holding it back, for the most part. Games like GalCiv, Sword of the Stars, MOO3, have lots of glitz and glamor. SE5 is pretty basic in comparison (which is a good thing). There is a fair amount of mod work and discussion going on for the game, but much of it takes place on the official site these days, rather than here. :-\

[Xrati]

Fyron said:

"There is a fair amount of mod work and discussion going on for the game, but much of it takes place on the official site these days, rather than here. :-\ "

Maybe that's it Fyron, I just miss the activity here!

[Atrocities]

The official site has a lot of traffic these days. I still like the format of this site over that of the official site and perhaps thats why I seldom if ever post on the official site. We all knew that this would happen as new people joined the ranks of SE fans that they would gravitate toward the official site thus taking along with them the more seasoned veterans of the game.

Some vets however just wanted to be top dawg at the new site so they pretty much said good bye to this site the moment that site opened.

[Xrati]

You're right AT, some gratitude shown toward the site that actually helped make SE5 what it is by making a thread to Aaron, about what people wanted to see in the next version. While the faithful remain here at one of the best sites I've ever had the privilege of being on. I never had any problems getting help here and after a while I found myself in a position to help other. I this site!!!

[Fyron]

Atrocities said:
Some vets however just wanted to be top dawg at the new site so they pretty much said good bye to this site the moment that site opened.

Such unbounded pessimism...