Space Empire games ?

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

Yes, in my opinion you have named the best one. SE4 Gold. But you'll
have trouble finding it. It appears to be out of print. SE5 is in
beta-testing right now.

For an excellent single-player only game (no multiplayer of any kind),
I'd recommend Galactic Civilizations.

For a very good PBEM game (can be played solo, but it's boring and
tedious that way) I'd recommend the old game Stars!

VGA Planets version 4 is in perpetual beta-test but appears to be
pretty close to finalized. It's multiplayer only -- no AI -- and it
looks very complex with an interface that might not be the easiest to
use.

Matrix Games just patched and rereleased Reach For the Stars, and I've
been having fun with it. Single and multiplayer support, but no PBEM.

An older game that was underappreciated and can be downloaded from
theunderdogs.org was Emperor of the Fading Suns. Single-player,
hotseat, and PBEM. Get the Nova or Hyperion fan mods for best
gameplay.

Another really good older game, more of a light strategy game, was
Spaceward Ho! Don't expect great depth from this one -- it's more like
Risk in space. Well, a little more complex than that. It's a lot of
fun to play.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

"ReconRyan" <lyincryin@aol.com> wrote in news:1116205510.041166.110490
@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> Ok, maybee this topic has been covered a million times before but...
> What are some of the best Space Empire games; ex: Space Empires IV

That one is the best as far as Im concerned. And I think Ive played every
one that gets mentioned here.

You can try to order one at www.gamersfront.com but its on sell down. Once
the present are sold, thats it. SEV will hopefully be out soon.

And be sure to visit the user forums at shrapnelgames.com to get all the
mods. The game is only as good as everyone says because of all the player-
made mods.

Gandalf Parker

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

"Mother Farquhar" <fake@ddress.com> wrote in
news:BnXhe.12240$he1.4553@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net:

>> And be sure to visit the user forums at shrapnelgames.com to get all
>> the mods. The game is only as good as everyone says because of all
>> the player- made mods.
>
> What are the must-have mods?

Well I took it from 8 races to a couple hundred, added the mod that makes
the galaxy 5-10 times bigger, the one that adds space monsters is pretty
cool.

You can always start with the basic game and add mods as you get feeling
restricted. Everything in the game seems to have an expansion mod for
later. Planet types, technologies, improving the AI, space pirates and
nomads, etc etc. I think of the basic game as almost a "demo" now compared
to what it becomes with mods.

Gandalf Parker

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

On 16 May 2005 07:33:33 -0700, "ReconRyan" <lyincryin@aol.com> wrote:

>Can the regular SEIV be upgraded to gold

IIRC, the Gold pack is disjuncted from the original. You can't patch from
the older version to the new one, unless you go through underground
channels.

> or at least all the mods work

Not sure, but there are plenty of mods that work under Gold. If you have
compatability problems, it shouldn't be too hard to modify the mods to get
them working.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

<<I just bought three copies from Shrapnel a few weeks ago. >>

Congrats, but what's your point?. Their website currently lists it as
out of print.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

"ReconRyan" <lyincryin@aol.com> wrote in
news:1116205510.041166.110490@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> Ok, maybee this topic has been covered a million times before but...
> What are some of the best Space Empire games; ex: Space Empires IV

Best Space Empires games:

Space Empires
Space Empires II
Space Empires III
Space Empires IV

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

"Gandalf Parker" <gandalf@most.of.my.favorite.sites> wrote in message
news:Xns965834F98EA1Fgandalfparker@208.201.224.154...
> "Mother Farquhar" <fake@ddress.com> wrote in
> news:BnXhe.12240$he1.4553@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net:
>
>>> And be sure to visit the user forums at shrapnelgames.com to get all
>>> the mods. The game is only as good as everyone says because of all
>>> the player- made mods.
>>
>> What are the must-have mods?
>
> Well I took it from 8 races to a couple hundred, added the mod that makes
> the galaxy 5-10 times bigger, the one that adds space monsters is pretty
> cool.
>

Could you name those mods or give links to them - I havent played SEIV gold
for ages and they might be fun to try.

Thanks.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

"Gandalf Parker" <gandalf@most.of.my.favorite.sites> wrote in message
news:Xns965A57916B57gandalfparker@208.201.224.154...

>
> Usually I would but Im no longer getting paid for it and I should really
> be working on what I am supposed to be doing. It would involve me going
> to shrapnelgames.com, in the SEIV forums, and asking for the latest links
> since many of these are ongoing updates by the people making them.
> Maybe someone else will before I get around to it, here is the
> location....
> http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/t [...] hreads.php

OK, that gives me a starting point.

Thanks.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

"ReconRyan" <lyincryin@aol.com> wrote in news:1116468500.211081.201470
@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> Gold is no where to be found. I do see IV regular still available in a
> few places is it worth it to get that or should I wait for V ???

Hmmmm feels like a tossup to me. Get regular and you will have problems
figuring out which mods will run with it. And if you wait till V you will
have a gap while the IV mods are being upgraded

Gandalf Parker

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

ReconRyan <lyincryin@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1116205510.041166.110490@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Ok, maybee this topic has been covered a million times before but...
> What are some of the best Space Empire games; ex: Space Empires IV
>
Regarding Space Empires IV, it appears that Shrapnel is dropping the Space
Empires franchise but that it is being taken up by Strategy First, which is
reissuing Star Fury and also Space Empires IV Deluxe, which apparently is
essentially Space Empires IV Gold but with additional add-ons or mods. It
appears that they will also be releasing Space Empires V eventually but that
is not explicitly stated at the Strategy First web site.

At the same time Strategy First itself has been gobbled up by a larger
corporate entity. Go to the Strategy First website for more information.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

I really liked the SE4 game - pretty much the best 4X game I ever played.
Only problem with it was the hex type movement and the use of wormholes to
get into systems which resulted in those being mined and blockaded all the
time. I preferred the Stars! type gameplay myself. Why the makers of Stars!
have not managed to find a publisher for their sequel alludes me - I would
have thought the market for a great 4X strategy game is quite large at the
moment. Cetainly stratey games are all the rage.
Nats

"Gandalf Parker" <gandalf@most.of.my.favorite.sites> wrote in message
news:Xns965BA704C1BFDgandalfparker@208.201.224.154...
> "Scott Kurtz" <kurtz.s@worldnet.att.net> wrote in
> news:lJ8je.792886$w62.230439@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:
>
>>
>> ReconRyan <lyincryin@aol.com> wrote in message
>> news:1116205510.041166.110490@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>>> Ok, maybee this topic has been covered a million times before but...
>>> What are some of the best Space Empire games; ex: Space Empires IV
>>>
>> Regarding Space Empires IV, it appears that Shrapnel is dropping the
>> Space Empires franchise but that it is being taken up by Strategy
>> First,
>
> Not actually. Shrapnel was quite willing to continue but Malfador decided
> that they could gamble on a shelfware publishing company. I wish him luck
> with it.
>
>> which is reissuing Star Fury and also Space Empires IV Deluxe,
>> which apparently is essentially Space Empires IV Gold but with
>> additional add-ons or mods.
>
> GOOD NEWS! It took abit to find the info but yes you are correct. The
> StarFury release I knew about but I didnt realize we would get some new
> releases of SEIV. Thanks for the info!
>
>> It appears that they will also be
>> releasing Space Empires V eventually but that is not explicitly stated
>> at the Strategy First web site.
>
> Yes, that was actually the move,that SEV would be a Strat-1st product. The
> StarFury and SEIV thing seems to have been tacked onto the deal later.
>
>> At the same time Strategy First itself has been gobbled up by a larger
>> corporate entity. Go to the Strategy First website for more
>> information.
>
> Interesting. Wow, I can buy stock in SEV
>
> Gandalf Parker

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

Gandalf Parker <gandalf@most.of.my.favorite.sites> wrote in
news:Xns9659C117297CDgandalfparker@208.201.224.154:

> Dweeb <dbohnenberger@yahoo.com> wrote in
> news:Xns9659CB2E9266Adbohnenberger@216.196.97.142:
>
>> "ReconRyan" <lyincryin@aol.com> wrote in
>> news:1116205510.041166.110490@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
>>
>>> Ok, maybee this topic has been covered a million times before but...
>>> What are some of the best Space Empire games; ex: Space Empires IV
>>
>> Best Space Empires games:
>>
>> Space Empires
>> Space Empires II
>> Space Empires III
>> Space Empires IV
>
>
> LOL
> and soon, Space Empires V
> Gandalf Parker

Believe it or not, I played SEII. It was kind of amusing to an old Starfire
player but the AI was REALLY bad. Aaron actually mailed out new floppies
when he patched it. I am amazed and impressed at how far it has some.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

On Fri, 20 May 2005 18:58:35 +0100, "Nats" <nstutt@nstutt.freeserve.co.uk>
wrote:

>I really liked the SE4 game - pretty much the best 4X game I ever played.
>Only problem with it was the hex type movement and the use of wormholes to
>get into systems which resulted in those being mined and blockaded all the
>time.

True, most of the game's tactics involved plugging warp points with
blockades to prevent the enemy from inflicting too much damage in your
system. If there wasn't any activity on warp points, it would instead be
shifted over to planets, where there can easily be a massive number of
mines deployed to take out almost any strike force. (Or weapon platforms,
or the dreaded "Swiss Cheeser Station" )

Mines can be taken care of with minesweepers. If you have a ship with
enough minesweeper components, it can take out a lot of mines without
problem, clearing the way for the rest of your attack force. (I doubt
there'll be more than 200 at a given location - but if that's the case,
just attack around the Maginot line.)

When it comes to ship blockades - just send a large attack force, mixed
Null-space Projectors (preferably massive) to take out space stations, and
your standard set of preferred weaponry for anything else. You might even
have fun with boarding parties, as warp-point blockades are point-blank
encounters.