Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

[Zaydin]

Anyone else looking forward to Rebellion? I preordred it the other day. Looks like it'll b e pretty awesome; I enjoyed the original Sins and more than got my moneys worth out of it. Might be what ends up eating up my time between raids and waiting on Mists to finally come out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9FECUHN5go the trailer for Rebellion if anyone hasn't heard of the game. The trailer also pretty much tells all the story Sins has; the games lack a campaign. Rebellion was originally going to have one, but it got cut. Sins of a Solar Empire could definitely use a good story campaign; would help push it over the top if you ask me. On the other hand, given I can find myself spending all day (or several days) playing a single map in Sins, the lack of a story campaign isn't a huge deal for me.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Got into the beta and I've been loving it. The updated shaders make the ships look downright gorgeous, and I've been having fun rolling with the Ankylon Titan. Despite being a defensive ship, that thing is incredible on the offensive. While the Ragnarok beats it shot for shot, the TEC loyalists extra starbases allow them to commit more ships to an offensive.

With an Ankylon forming the base of your fleet, backed up by a pair of Akkans, two Dunovs, and a collection of Marzas or Kols, and whatever frigates you've decided to spam, it's an incredible sight to behold.

 

[Zaydin]

Got into the beta and I've been loving it. The updated shaders make the ships look downright gorgeous, and I've been having fun rolling with the Ankylon Titan. Despite being a defensive ship, that thing is incredible on the offensive. While the Ragnarok beats it shot for shot, the TEC loyalists extra starbases allow them to commit more ships to an offensive.

With an Ankylon forming the base of your fleet, backed up by a pair of Akkans, two Dunovs, and a collection of Marzas or Kols, and whatever frigates you've decided to spam, it's an incredible sight to behold.

I haven't installed the beta yet, and I'm not sure if there's a point since Rebellion comes out on Tuesday.

That said, what I have seen about the game has me really excited. Being able to play with the various Loyalist and Rebel factions should give me a lot to do in the coming weeks, especially since I'm still not sure what the 'unique' abilities the Advent factions get are, or the Vasari Rebels. Thankfully, my desktop meets the minimum requiremnets for the game. I need to get a newer video card to meet the recommended settings, though, but that's another matter. It's a shame the series isn't that well known, though, compared to others; it really deserves more praise than it's gotten, I think.

 

[Fisher321]

I haven't looked it up yet, but I certainly loved the Original Sins.

Only problem I had was I could never properly turtle up. Defenses it seems were there just to by time, not to actually defend anything,

(Except Hangers, I LOVE HANGERS)

 

[Zaydin]

I haven't looked it up yet, but I certainly loved the Original Sins.

Only problem I had was I could never properly turtle up. Defenses it seems were there just to by time, not to actually defend anything,

(Except Hangers, I LOVE HANGERS)

Defensive structures got a bit more useful with Entrenchment, if you never got that. Like the TEC could research flak cannons that were mounted on hangar defenses, and could research some extra weapons for Gauss platforms; burst missiles that targeted nearby ships, and a meson cannon that reduced the armor of ships that got hit by it. The addition of space mines in Entrenchment made defenses more potent, too, along with the starbases. I'm looking forward to seeing the new additions aside from the big ones to Rebellion.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The main problem with defenses is that they're static, so you either have to be very smart with your placements or make sure you have a defense picket ready to intercept the fleet before your main force can swing back.

 

[Zaydin]

The main problem with defenses is that they're static, so you either have to be very smart with your placements or make sure you have a defense picket ready to intercept the fleet before your main force can swing back.

Later in the game, I usually had a smaller fleet built up I kept in my home territory for the purpose of being a response force for that very reason. I usually only heavily fortified important planets, though, like ones with an artifact, or a mineral rich planet with tons of metal or crystal asteroids, or was a planet I had multiple research labs built at. Or if it was my foothold in a new star system so I didn't lose that location to build ships directly in that system. The Vasari Loyalists might be fun to play around with in that regard, since they can evidently develop to operate without planets according to what I've read, so they don't have to worry about defensive structures.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

The main problem with defenses is that they're static, so you either have to be very smart with your placements or make sure you have a defense picket ready to intercept the fleet before your main force can swing back.

Later in the game, I usually had a smaller fleet built up I kept in my home territory for the purpose of being a response force; defensive structures bought time for the fleet to arrive. I usually only heavily fortified important planets, though, like ones with an artifact, or a mineral rich planet with tons of metal or crystal asteroids, or was a planet I had multiple research labs built at. Or if it was my foothold in a new star system so I didn't lose that location to build ships directly in that system. The Vasari Loyalists might be fun to play around with in that regard, since they can evidently develop to operate without planets according to what I've read, so they don't have to worry about defensive structures.

I think that the loyalist Vasari are the ones who get the ability to scuttle planets, pillaging whole worlds for a massive windfall all at once.

 

[Zaydin]

I think that the loyalist Vasari are the ones who get the ability to scuttle planets, pillaging whole worlds for a massive windfall all at once.

I knew that part, but I also had heard in the Beta 3 preview video Stardock put on Youtube that the Vasari Loyalists can develop without planets, I think, with their Titan serving as their homeworld for certain victory conditions. How that would work, I'm not sure, though. Might prefer the Vasari Rebels, since they can research an ability to allow their starbases to make phase jumps to new systems.

(Also, on an unrelated note, I finally realized who your avatar is. Blackadder ftw)

 

[Zaydin]

No one else wants to chat about the game? Shame.

 

[Ziame]

i am looking forward to this so much! star wars mod!!

i played the hell outta SW requiem.

 

[Zaydin]

i am looking forward to this so much! star wars mod!!

i played the hell outta SW requiem.

I never did download any mods for Sins, personally. Just generally not a huge fans of mods, unless you count the Unofficial Fan patch for Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines a mod. Though in my case, I need to install the fan patch to get V:tM:BL running.

I remember seeing videos people put online of Star Trek mods and the like for Sins, and thought some of them looked fairly well done.

 

[LetalisK]

Got into the beta and I've been loving it. The updated shaders make the ships look downright gorgeous, and I've been having fun rolling with the Ankylon Titan. Despite being a defensive ship, that thing is incredible on the offensive. While the Ragnarok beats it shot for shot, the TEC loyalists extra starbases allow them to commit more ships to an offensive.

With an Ankylon forming the base of your fleet, backed up by a pair of Akkans, two Dunovs, and a collection of Marzas or Kols, and whatever frigates you've decided to spam, it's an incredible sight to behold.

I'm in my second game of Diplomacy and jesus it's taking forever. Might have something to do with doing the largest setting across 5 solar systems. >.>

I know it's not exactly the most balanced fleet, but I generally just run around as TEC with nothing but long range missile frigates, Marzas, and a few Kols to take the heat out in front.

Edit: Oh, and fuck pirates. I love the mechanic, but its scaling is out of control.

Edit2: On the "up-side" I'm so filthy rich now that I can destroy any faction of my choosing just by siccing the pirates on them until they're wiped out.

 

[Zaydin]

Got into the beta and I've been loving it. The updated shaders make the ships look downright gorgeous, and I've been having fun rolling with the Ankylon Titan. Despite being a defensive ship, that thing is incredible on the offensive. While the Ragnarok beats it shot for shot, the TEC loyalists extra starbases allow them to commit more ships to an offensive.

With an Ankylon forming the base of your fleet, backed up by a pair of Akkans, two Dunovs, and a collection of Marzas or Kols, and whatever frigates you've decided to spam, it's an incredible sight to behold.

I'm in my second game of Diplomacy and jesus it's taking forever. Might have something to do with doing the largest setting across 5 solar systems. >.>

I know it's not exactly the most balanced fleet, but I generally just run around as TEC with nothing but long range missile frigates, Marzas, and a few Kols to take the heat out in front.

Edit: Oh, and fuck pirates. I love the mechanic, but its scaling is out of control.

I usually try to strike a balance in my fleet composition, personally. A few Hoshikos for repairs, a few Cielos, maybe a dozen or so flak frigates, maybe two dozen LRFs, a bunch of cobalts, etc.

Oh, and I hate pirates in Diplomacy, too. Those bastards get so unbalanced later in the game; I can only hope Rebellion reigns them in.

 

[yaydod]

Well i do really like playing the advent, those mini ships, also they have so many annoying ability's
But the real problem i have is that i cant decide witch technologies tree to upgrade first AARGH

 

[Fisher321]

The main problem with defenses is that they're static, so you either have to be very smart with your placements or make sure you have a defense picket ready to intercept the fleet before your main force can swing back.

I usually try to clump all my buildings together, so therefore, i can clump my defenses and with concentrated fire their actually quite effective..

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Got into the beta and I've been loving it. The updated shaders make the ships look downright gorgeous, and I've been having fun rolling with the Ankylon Titan. Despite being a defensive ship, that thing is incredible on the offensive. While the Ragnarok beats it shot for shot, the TEC loyalists extra starbases allow them to commit more ships to an offensive.

With an Ankylon forming the base of your fleet, backed up by a pair of Akkans, two Dunovs, and a collection of Marzas or Kols, and whatever frigates you've decided to spam, it's an incredible sight to behold.

I'm in my second game of Diplomacy and jesus it's taking forever. Might have something to do with doing the largest setting across 5 solar systems. >.>

I know it's not exactly the most balanced fleet, but I generally just run around as TEC with nothing but long range missile frigates, Marzas, and a few Kols to take the heat out in front.

Edit: Oh, and fuck pirates. I love the mechanic, but its scaling is out of control.

Edit2: On the "up-side" I'm so filthy rich now that I can destroy any faction of my choosing just by siccing the pirates on them until they're wiped out.

Kols are at their best fighting Vasari ships, thanks to how strong their shields are. A maxed out shield upgrade can pretty much nullify any threat that Vasari missiles pose.

Fighting pirates is easy if you know what you're doing. I usually take around three hangars full of bombers and sic them on the siege frigates first, and let starbases and gauss cannons take out the larger ships.

As for fleet compositions, you need to get some Dunovs and Akkans in there. The Akkans are great for mobile capturing of planets, but their biggest advantage is their advanced targeting uplinks, which increase the range of all ships inside the radius by a huge margin. It lets Javelin frigates outrange almost anything.

The Dunovs are meatshields. Grab their Shield Recharge ability, and your caps will never die. Take a pair of them, both with maxed out shield, then take one with the emp charge, and the other with the magnetic disruptor thingy that fucks up strike craft.

I don't usually use Sovas until late game, and by then I probably have around twenty carriers giving me forty bomber wings to wreck defenses.

Lastly, take around ten Hoshikos for repair, maybe a cielo or two to focus on taking out enemy caps quickly, and a vanguard of a dozen or so flak frigates.

Then, spam the shit outta your javelins and scouts to tear through minefields.

 

[A_Parked_Car]

I have been curious about Sins of a Solar Empire, but I have never actually tried it myself. I'm an avid RTS and grand strategy gamer (with a few shooters mixed in occasionally), so I'm guessing I would like it? How is the single player skirmish aspect? I can't stand playing RTS games online with random people.

 

[shrekfan246]

I never did download any mods for Sins, personally. Just generally not a huge fans of mods, unless you count the Unofficial Fan patch for Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines a mod. Though in my case, I need to install the fan patch to get V:tM:BL running.

I remember seeing videos people put online of Star Trek mods and the like for Sins, and thought some of them looked fairly well done.

I use this Star Trek mod [http://www.moddb.com/mods/star-trek-sacrifice-of-angels-2] every now and then. It's pretty excellent, though it's really just more of a re-skin because since they can't really alter the base structure of the mechanics of the game... it's neat how they managed to implement planet names from the television shows into the randomly generated planets, though, and use Picard's voice for the sound clips when you select a Sovereign class battleship.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to Rebellion. Haven't really kept up with any of the information on it, but Sins of a Solar Empire is just about the only 4X/Strategy game I've ever been able to really get into and enjoy. I like the sheer scale that a user-created galaxy can reach, and the length of the individual games can be staggering sometimes. I think my shortest completed game was something like eight hours long, when it was just me against one AI opponent.

 

[Dryk]

The new addition I'm enjoying the most is the rebalancing of capital ship levels. Previously you could get level 3,3,3,1 in their abilities, and the level cap was 10. Now the level cap is still 10 but the available levels are 4,4,4,2. It introduces choice that wasn't there before and I love it.

If anyone's wondering the level 3 abilities were nerfed and the new level 4s are slightly better than the old level 3s as far as I remember.

I knew that part, but I also had heard in the Beta 3 preview video Stardock put on Youtube that the Vasari Loyalists can develop without planets, I think, with their Titan serving as their homeworld for certain victory conditions. How that would work, I'm not sure, though. Might prefer the Vasari Rebels, since they can research an ability to allow their starbases to make phase jumps to new systems.

(Also, on an unrelated note, I finally realized who your avatar is. Blackadder ftw)

The research tree has a line that goes:

"Capital ships generate tax income"
"Titans count as a second homeworld"
"Capital ships count as 1 of each (upgrade again for 2) research station"
"When you scuttle planets they're converted to dead asteroids and you get ludicrous amounts of money"

It's as fun as it sounds. I fired a Kostura shot at their homeworld while their fleet was away, jumped in, conquered it, stripped it for parts and ran away again.

The downside is that their other unique techs are just minor weapon buffs, a supply increase that only works if all your allies are also Vasari loyalists and a decrease to destabilization damage.

Also their Titan can teleport halfway across a gravity well and their new capital is really interesting.


I'm finding the differences in the Advent a lot more difficult to gauge. TEC divide is easy (offence/defence) as well as Vasari (mobile/diplomatic), but the Advent changes are more subtle.