Space Empires V Demo released

[ausonny]

I haven't seen this announced here and I know some people here are fans. Linky:

hxxp://www.strategyfirst.com/downloads/ListFiles.asp?sLanguageCode=EN&iGameID=144&iFileTypeID=1&btnSubmit=Search

[Brillig]

Interesting - I'd totally forgotten about this, thanks for the heads-up!

[Peregrine]

Ooh I'm all over this, I hadn't been checking recently since the status hadn't been updated.

[sachmo71]

Why do I feel like this will be the same game except now with late 90's graphics?

Not that this is a bad thing for me...

[WSUCougar]

I had set the over/under at 5 posts for Sachmo's appearance in this thread. :D

[sachmo71]

What did you win?

[WSUCougar]

An autographed copy of your Hemorhez (sp?) Dynasty?

[sachmo71]

An autographed copy of your Hemorhez (sp?) Dynasty?

Oh man...I wouldn't do that to you, Coug. Yikes.

[hukarez]

Seems like it's due for release 10/16!

http://www.strategyfirst.com/en/games/SpaceEmpiresV/

[Eaglesfan27]

So many potentially good games coming out in the next few weeks...

I really enjoyed SEIV even though I was very late to that party. Looking forward to trying the demo sometime closer to the release date.

[Greyroofoo]

anyone have any opinions on the demo?

[aran]

Ooo! Downloading it now.

I loved SEIV and III. If they mess up V I'll be quite pissed.

[aran]

dola,

the demo won't start. I get a range check error.

[hukarez]

I'm presuming the game's been released -- at least, according to GameStop's website (as well as Strategy First's). Oddly, the Malfador link doesn't seem to say that it's been released. Has anyone snagged it up yet? I wonder if I can get this to run on my linux box...

[ausonny]

Hmm. It's not supposed to be released for a few more days, but the SF website does have it for sale. However, when I try to buy it will not go into my cart. I guess digital river is having a problem. Shock!

[ausonny]

dola

Now it's working. The picture link works, but not the text. Nice job fellas.

[ausonny]

double dola

Now it's not working at all.

Oh well, guess I'll wait a few days.

[Greyroofoo]

I saw the game in stores today, has anyone picked it up yet to give impressions?

[hukarez]

Hmm.

I checked EB/GS's website, and there's one nearby that might have a copy in stock. Everywhere else for me, they don't have it yet. I'll have to go drop by during lunch and see for myself!

[SunDevil]

Now granted, Space Empires IV came out six years ago in 2000, but for anyone that did not remember that game when first released it had bugs galore. I loved Space Empires IV and it was a great game, but just a warning to people, that version V will also be a great game, just realize that ONE guy did most of the development, and it will take time for the game to reach and surpass the higher level mark that version IV set.

[twothree]

Now granted, Space Empires IV came out six years ago in 2000, but for anyone that did not remember that game when first released it had bugs galore. I loved Space Empires IV and it was a great game, but just a warning to people, that version V will also be a great game, just realize that ONE guy did most of the development, and it will take time for the game to reach and surpass the higher level mark that version IV set.

And while your waiting for Space Empires V to be patched, you can play Space Empires IV. Don't have Space Empires IV? Well, I bought Space Empires V off the store shelf and it includes both Space Empire V and Space Empires IV Deluxe on one CD. It actually installs as Space Empires Compilation and Space Empires IV Deluxe is patched up to the latest version.

I skipped over buying IV when it came out. And then got into Gal Civ, so I never got around to buying IV. So getting a copy of IV and V for $40 was a good deal I couldn't pass up this time.

[lighthousekeeper]

I tried playing the demo last night but was *completely* lost as to what to do, how to get started, or even what my objective was. (Probably because I've never played a game in this genre before.) Guess I'll actually have to read the help files. It's actually refreshing to have a game where you don't know what the script is.

[aran]

I finally got the demo to work by upgrading my graphics drivers. Apparently a new version of forceware came out recently.

SEV is awesome. I preordered it a few days before release. It is officially out on tuesday according to Strategy First. I got starfury for free as a part of the package (but I'd so much prefer getting SEIV and SEV for $40. I bought SEIV before the "Gold" edition came out, meaning that my version is no longer supported), but it's giving me so many range check errors that it's unplayable. I sent malfador an e-mail but haven't gotten a response back in a couple of days.

[hukarez]

I stopped into GameStop for some reason today, I think it was for the Dark Crusade expansion, but then I realized that I never picked up the Winter Assault expansion for Dawn of War. (Man, I'm going to have to find a place to grab a boxed copy for this, especially since I've the original and I'm really not looking forward to snagging the Gold Edition).

In any case, they were completely sold out -- but just out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Space Empires V, and just picked it up. I haven't had much time to start anything yet (I'll probably do a tutorial, especially since that initial 3D, rotating-like grid popped up), but I noticed I can't run this in Windowed mode for some reason.

I'm natively running 1280x800, however, 1024x768 seems to encompass my entire LCD screen, but the 1280x800 video mode seems to have vertical bars on the side.. :confused:

No big deal, I suppose, since I'll just revert back to 1024x768 for the game. Oh, and I'm also running on patch v1.08 right now, which apparently got released just yesterday!

EDIT: Re-started my laptop, and re-enabled the 1280x800 resolution - seems the main screen is setup that way, but the rest of the game plays out fine!

[hukarez]

Looks like SE5 gets a patch released today!

http://www.strategyfirst.ca/downloads/patches/se5patch_v113.exe



Version 1.13:
1. Fixed - Sometimes the TCP/IP Host would not send the first turn game file to the players.
2. Fixed - Planet structure points were too high.
3. Fixed - "Propulsion Experts" racial trait was giving movement to bases.
4. Fixed - Some designs would lose racial trait effects on load of game.
5. Fixed - Text was overruning the side of the Set Construction Queue lists.
6. Fixed - A ship constructing a vehicle cannot retreat from combat.
7. Added - Whether a vehicle can retreat from combat to the Combat Piece Report.
8. Fixed - Repulser beams will not knock a ship past the retreat border.
9. Fixed - A ship cannot retreat into a blocked sector (such as a star).
10. Fixed - If all retreat locations are blocked, no retreat is possible.
11. Fixed - In the Construction Queues window, the On Hold and Repeat filters were switched.
12. Fixed - "Upgrade Facilities" action on the Construction Queues window would not work correctly
if upgrades were already present in the queue.
13. Changed - Some weapon balancing.
14. Fixed - More than one Emergency Resupply or Emergency Reordnance pod could be put on a ship.
15. Fixed - AI was sending multiple colonizers to the same planet.
16. Fixed - AI was trying to retrofit ships that had cargo.
17. Fixed - Sometimes ships which could drop troops or capture ships would just sit still.
18. Fixed - Crew were too strong in defense of a ship during ship capture.
19. Added - "Space Combat Crew Boarding Strength" in Settings.txt which sets the base race combat strength.
20. Fixed - Sometimes finding ruins would cause a crash.


FYI, complete patch history:

http://www.strategyfirst.ca/downloads/patches/se5patch_v113.txt

[SunDevil]

That is one of the things that I like what Aaron does. You get to see the revision history for each version. It is amazing the amount of fixes that he has made since the game was released. At the sametime it is also amazing the amount of bugs released in the game, but it does give you an appreciation of the development and QA process.

[hukarez]

Downloading that 18 meg file right now...yikes! It's going pretty slow for me.

[hukarez]

Looks like Aaron's released Patch v1.17! Hopefully I can continue my game since I've been freezing after the turn processing screen.

Patch:
http://www.spaceempires5.com/files/se5patch_v117.exe

Since the official Patch 1.13, the following changes have been made:



Version 1.17:
1. Fixed - Memory Leak in Game Setup - Generate Map function.
2. Fixed - Tweak to increase numbers of AI Attack ships with size of empire.
3. Fixed - You could add more than 1 Space Yard to a planet using the Build # setting.
4. Fixed - Ground combat was not occuring in Simultaneous Games.
5. Fixed - Ground combat now takes place at the end of all player's turns but before
the end of all player's turns processing.
6. Fixed - In Turn Based, only one ground combat was occuring per turn.
7. Fixed - You could launch the Sector View on sectors you couldn't currently see.



Version 1.16:
1. Fixed - StellarAbilityTypes.txt now checks each ability for inclusion instead of just picking one.
2. Changed - Increased the combat map retreat radius to 1500.
3. Fixed - Solar Sails had stopped working.
4. Fixed - The tech area "Stellar Manipulation" should have a maximum level of 100.
5. Fixed - Requirement text for "Emergency Propulsion" was wrong.
6. Fixed - More than one Emergency pod could be put on a ship.
7. Fixed - Crew was always being set to maximum.
8. Fixed - Ship capture would never succeed.
9. Fixed - Combat piece list for multiple items would not show ownership changes.
10. Fixed - You were unable to place vehicles in Simulated Combat.
11. Fixed - AI was not getting items after an Accept Gift message.
12. Fixed - AI was switching items in an Accept Trade message.
13. Fixed - TCP/IP Host would not allow players to connect when reloading a saved game.
14. Fixed - "Naturally Happy" and "Naturally Depressed" racial traits were working in reverse.
15. Fixed - Space Yards on vehicles were not getting the correct resource rate.
16. Fixed - Shield Regeneration was not getting the correct value.
17. Fixed - The Ram order in Tactical Space Combat was causing the ship to move to the location and not
seek and ram.



Version 1.15:
1. Fixed - The Launch/Recover window was not showing the correct units in space during a combat
simulation.
2. Fixed - The Launch/Recover window would sometimes not launch a unit and show an empty unit
group in space.
3. Fixed - Drones were not dying when they impacted their targets.
4. Fixed - Empires were getting research in areas they didn't have access to via treaties.
5. Fixed - Messages from treaty elements were going to the wrong player.
6. Fixed - Autosave Turns are now saved on the machine and not per game. You'll need to turn
this on if you had it on in an old savegame.
7. Fixed - The intelligence event which kills research progress was setting the progress to
a giant negative number. This would result in some research areas showing hundreds
of turns to complete.
8. Fixed - Speed up for computer player combat.
9. Added - Added progress bars to computer player turns. Green is ship movement, red is combat,
blue is the end of all player turns.
10. Fixed - Sometimes combat between AI players would crash and end turn processing would never complete.
11. Fixed - Ground combat between AI players was never ending.
12. Fixed - Some ministers would not work unless the "Vehicle Design" minister was selected.
13. Fixed - Right-clicking on the Victory Conditions would cause an error.
13. Fixed - Warp points should never be placed within 2 sectors of a black hole center.
14. Fixed - The Intelligence button should be disabled in games where intelligence projects are not
allowed (the Construction Queues button was being disabled instead).
15. Fixed - A stellar manipulation would only destroy the first stellar manip component on use even
if it was already destroyed.
16. Fixed - You can't start a new stellar manipulation while the animation for one is going on.
17. Fixed - Alliances were causing a crash during end turn processing.
18. Fixed - Alliances might cause a crash when the game was shutdown.
19. Fixed - AI messages about alliances sometimes contained unreplaced flags.
20. Fixed - The AI would sometimes tell you to remove your colonies from a system you were not in.
21. Fixed - Some speedups for Game Load and statistics.
22. Fixed - The game now stores each empires specific screen layout and restores it on their turn.
23. Fixed - In a Simultaneous Same Machine Game with only 1 human player, there's no need to show
the Login window.
24. Fixed - Atmospheric conversion was not firing off when it should.
25. Fixed - Your vehicle does not get any bonus movement unless it has at least 1 standard movement.
26. Added - Icon over a planet in Tactical Combat if the attacker cannot bombard the planet because of treaties.



Version 1.14:
1. Added - Field "Empire Name" to the [Empire Name]_AI_Main.txt data files.
2. Fixed - Troops were not moving in ground combat because VehicleSizes.txt had
Engines Per Move for troops set to zero.
3. Fixed - The ownership flag for ringworlds and sphereworlds was not next to the planet.
4. Fixed - You had to click on the border of a ringworld or sphereworld to colonize it.
5. Fixed - Ringworlds and Sphereworlds were not centered around their star.
6. Fixed - Sometimes ships starting combat would be outside the retreat ring.
7. Fixed - Fleet members would stop moving after their leader retreated. They should instead
move to the same retreat location.
8. Fixed - The "Massive Planetary Shield Generator" was showing the wrong number of shields in
its ability description.
9. Fixed - Any ships which retreat from combat will have their orders cleared.
10. Fixed - After a retreat, ships were not facing the correct direction on the System Map.
11. Fixed - Any ship which has been in a sector for a phase, should be considered to be in the
middle of that sector for combat placement.
12. Fixed - Sometimes ships would come out of the wrong warp point.
13. Fixed - The Explore order would sometimes give the correct location to move to but the wrong warp point id to warp through.

[SFL Cat]

Holy crap...maybe I'm finally growing up. Game releases just don't excite me much anymore.

[Galaril]

I see this thing is up to 1.20 version. How is this worth $30? Is it better than Galactica Civ 2?

[hukarez]

It's actually up to 1.25 right now. I still play this, and thankfully the crashes that I was running into seem to have been resolved for the most part.

[sachmo71]

I was looking into it, and just looked at the bug report. This game has a way to go before I'll invest in it. SEIV still runs like a charm.

[Peregrine]

Yeah I have to say SE V was a huge disappointment for me. There's a lot to like but the game still has a long way to go and was obviously released way, way too early.

[sachmo71]

Yeah I have to say SE V was a huge disappointment for me. There's a lot to like but the game still has a long way to go and was obviously released way, way too early.

Waiting for the obligitory "lone developer did the best he could" comment.

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah I have to say SE V was a huge disappointment for me. There's a lot to like but the game still has a long way to go and was obviously released way, way too early.

Ditto. Played two games and enjoyed them until I realized the AI is very deficient which killed it for me. I'll probably give this a try again once another patch or two comes out.

[sabotai]

bump

What's the word on the game now? I see it's up to version 1.35 now. I've seen it on Steam and was wondering if it's worth the purchase yet.

[SunDevil]

this thread kind of sums it up

http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=528810&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1