Space empires V demo out

tkobo · Post by **tkobo** » Sep 19 2006

Its kinda buggy,but its pretty good also.

Out of 5 games, ive had 1 crash and 1 freeze.Also theres a wierd facility upgrade bug.

The new space combat is pretty good,at least for ship counts of under 10 per side.I havent had a larger battle yet.

Intel was cut back severely.Not sure i like it,but i havent given it a real hard look yet.I might be missing some things that could make me like it.

AI is pretty bad, but i dont know what difficulty the demo is set at, so this could be a non-issue.

But overall the demo is fun.Tons of techs and the system has been made open ended now.

Draken · Post by **Draken** » Sep 20 2006

Funny... Before I came here to check the forum, I thought about checking malfaldor (sp?) site to see if there were any updates on Space Empires V...

Thank you tkobo...

Its kinda buggy,but its pretty good also.

What??? You finding bugs???? That's weird!!

tkobo · Post by **tkobo** » Sep 23 2006

Intel is not so bad,I had overlooked a intel feature called "focus" that lets you target specific things.Which was soemthing i really had liked in past SEs

Research seems abit out of hand though.In the demo i can get to about 400,000+ research points.I think my best high in research points is like 480k so far.And i know i can do even better.
And tech means almost everything in a battle.

For instance:
1 of my colony ships can now defeat 2+ enemy light cruisers.
1 of my frigates can defeat 3+ enemy light cruisers.
1 of my dreadnoughts can defeat 15+ enemy light cruisers.

tkobo · Post by **tkobo** » Sep 24 2006

Well, the lock-ups,crashes and unending turns are holding at about 1/2 the games tried.

Thats FAR too high for me.

So though i like the game, i wont be buying TIL i see some concrete proof this has all been fixed.

I usually have do my research ,play the demo and end up buying the SE series games.

I find it very interesting that the first time they are under the Strat First banner is the first time the game quality is low enough to make me NOT buy the game.

Just more proof Publishers are harmful? Looks that way.

Draken · Post by **Draken** » Sep 24 2006

I downloaded the demo, but haven't had time to really play it...

How is the diplomacy? Have you tested it? Does allies helps you now?

tkobo · Post by **tkobo** » Sep 24 2006

Diplomacy looks okay.But i havent really given it a hard look yet.

Though most of the offers you will get from the AI(as fas as my exp goes) have hidden traps in them.
A common trap is "NO research allowed" ,another is "NO other alliances allowed".

You REALLY have to read thru the entire treaty and some of them are fairly large (like 20+ stipulations)

As that suggests, you can really make a lot of treaty choices.There really is alot of options that can be included in a treaty.

Now all of that said.I havent gotten the AI to accept a treaty of mine yet.But this could well be something im doing ,other than an issue, as i havent really put much effort into diplo yet.

tkobo · Post by **tkobo** » Oct 07 2006

Word is certain online game sites and EB of Australia have already released the retail version.

Word is also, its pretty buggy

Draken · Post by **Draken** » Oct 08 2006

That is bad news...

Seydlitz · Post by **Seydlitz** » Oct 08 2006

I assume whatever is being shipped is the same version as the demo. Hopefully the patch will be released by the time Amazon ships my copy on the 17th (or whenever).

All the crashes I've run into in the demo were really quite surprising to me. SEIII and SEIV are some of the most stable games I have ever played. Hopefully they fix them soon, until then I'll just save before I end every turn.

That said, I think it's a huge leap forward from IV. Not only graphically, but gameplay-wise as well. The 100 or so tech levels for each area make it feel more like an "arms race" than the 5 or so levels that you got in previous titles.

The AI is better too. I've seen it retreat from a planetary assualt when most of the fleet got taken out early on. I was pleasantly surprised.

tkobo · Post by **tkobo** » Oct 08 2006

To me the game has become a wait and see possible purchase.

Ill keep watching it and keep reading the forums for it, and when/if i see concrete proof that things have been fixed,ill again seriously consider buying it.

I also think that many of the improvements made are very good.

Although some of them ,like tech research need a serious rebalancing.Before i stopped playing the demo, i was able to get my research points up to over 700k each game.The AI's best performance in tech research points was like 40k in those same games.

Khorne · Post by **Khorne** » Oct 09 2006

I like it so far and i like the custom race idea but it gets kind of laggy during the AI turns.

tkobo · Post by **tkobo** » Mar 02 2007

K, i played the updated demo and i think they made enough fixes to get my cash.

I didnt have one crash, and the bugs that bothered me the most seem to be gone.

Draken · Post by **Draken** » Mar 02 2007

That is good news...

tkobo · Post by **tkobo** » Mar 03 2007

Bought it, playing it, enjoying it.

Its too early for me to reccomend it though,i might still come across a game breaker.
And the condition it started out in, makes one worry a tad.