MikeJ
2683
They do have a very fast update cycle! The battle manager bug for Loa can’t be long for this earth.
Worth playing through SotS 1 first or should I go right to 2?
I’m kind of glad to see that Steam removed the SotS2 metacritic score from the enhanced edition (at least on the website), as at first they had it connected to the listing. Perhaps that will give the game a chance to pick up a little more of a following.
They’re very different games in terms of depth, so I’d say it more depends upon your tastes. I still play both, fwiw.
edit - there is no campaign, so the only actual story you’re missing out on if you just skip to 2 would be found in the intro videos in SotS1 (there are three of them in the “complete” edition, iirc).
KevinC
2687
Their Lore forum has mountains of literature about the races and universe as well.
As much as I love the scope of SOTS 2 and the new graphics, I think it will be a while before the AIs will give us single players a challenge. Therefore, I’d recommend playing SOTS 1 or Prime as it’s called just to get an idea of how the game really plays when you’re in a massive battle with multiple reasonably competent AIs.
MikeJ
2689
The SotS2 AI is definitely not up to the standards of the SotS1 AI after all the upgrades. It is improving though. I think especially if you are starting out in SotS2, it can give you a pretty good game if you give it advantages (hard level difficulty, a couple of extra systems).
If you’ve been playing for a while, you have have to stack the deck in their favour quite a bit. Try a slow-expanding race against a fast-expanding race (like the Tarka or Morrigi) on a map where the AI has lots of open territory it can grab (and give them a lead in initial planets and tech).
It still does a lot of boneheaded things, but it can put some pressure on. I get the sense that if a couple of the boneheaded things were fixed, the rest of it would work so much better. Colonizing high-hazard worlds, for instance, can often drain the treasury of an AI player. Or keeping a lot of unused construction or colonization fleets around in it’s backwater areas.
KevinC
2690
Yea, as someone who waited until the All Clear to really play, it gave me a good amount of trouble to start. I was playing Morrigi on the SOTSVerse map, which means the Zuul start out right next to me and I had no idea where I had to go to get Point Defense weaponry. Their boarding pods and missile barrages gave me fits, not to mention all the pirates and other stuff!
The good news is the AI seems to get work every patch, so it’s steadily improving. That’s more than I can say for the vast majority of 4X games out there today - I still have the AI charge me with unescorted Generals and leading with ranged units in Civ5, sigh.
Yep, it’s definitely getting better but it took SOTS Prime a few expansions before the AI really began to shine as well.
I still play Prime and think it’s one of the best space 4x games I’ve ever played. If I’m saying the same about SOTS 2 in a few years I’ll be a happy man.
KevinC
2692
Yea I hear you there. SOTS2 is quite a bit more complex than SOTS1 so I’m fairly happy with where the AI is now. I’m excited to see where it is by the time the next expansion rolls around.
Thanks, All. I think I’ll start with the fully expanded prime. S2 seems a bit overwhelming to just launch into. I don’t have the gaming time right now for a massive learning curve.
Prime is still a bit of a learning curve, even if you have previous 4x experience. However, it’s definitely worth the investment. The Tarka race are the easiest and simplest one to get into. Humans (which most people would go straight for) have a limited method of travel that can cause beginners a bit of trouble.
Also, flatter maps will be easier to handle when you first start out.
Yep as Dan says. The 2d disc or ring maps make it much easier to get spatially orientated within the game. The 3d maps can get quite confusing.
Janster
2697
Played tons of SOTS 1 and 2, I don’t like the 3d maps no matter how much I play, they are just too difficult to wrap my head around.
I’ll get at least one more up this weekend.
I now both SoTS Prime and II thanks to a recent Paradox bundle. Have poked around in II but actually I have decided for now to give the original a try.
This is the Complete Edition. What’s the best way to start? Where are the best tutorials/videos (by Rorsach?)? Thanks.
Apologies if this was answered already in this thread. Didn’t read through it all.
Best/easiest way to start out (imo):
[ul]
[li]Tarka as your race (tough ships, good armor, heavy ballistics - make sure you get armor piercing, btw)[/li][li]give yourself some bonuses (done from where you select your race, colors, badge, etc.)[/li][li]flat maps (2D or disc)[/li][li]set grand menaces and random events to zero[/li][/ul]
Here’s the excellent wiki
Here’s a nifty map of the tech tree
A few somewhat unusual and potentially very important techs to consider (aside from armor piercing, which is more important to ballistics-based races than energy-bases races):
[ul]
[li]Point Defense (there are four types of defensive weaponry used against small targets, but you at least need some basic anti-missile armament or you’ll be in a world of hurt)[/li][li]AI (huge boost to research rate once completed, but you have an ongoing chance of an AI rebellion while you’re researching the tech - it’s as bad as it sounds, if not worse)[/li][li]Biological Transfer (enables Biome Colonizers to be made, which are essentially super colonizers.[/li][li]Integrated Sensors and Advanced Sensors (the first allows a cohesive view of the battle map, and the second massively increases your viewing range from each planet and allows for a portable “deep scan” vessel to go with your fleets)[/li][li]Salvage Technology (allows you to build repair & salvage ships, which will both repair your fleets as well as steal techs used against you)[/li][li]Xenotechs (allows you to speak with your opponents, make peace, become allies, demand surrenders, and steal techs more easily)[/li][li]FTL Economics (not only can you build freighters, but you can make police ships which will help keep morale up at whatever planet you stick one at)[/li][/ul]
Some important things to note:
[ul]
[li]The tech tree is randomized for each game, with each race having a different percentage chance of any given tech eventually becoming available.[/li][li]Ships don’t get upgrades. Instead they become obsolete and you can either stash them in the back lines, use them as cannon fodder, or even trash the ships at a friendly port for a very small boost in resources at that planet[/li][li]Ships have a small upkeep cost which increases with their size[/li][li]Use multiple colonizer ships to establish colonies whenever you can[/li][li]command points are a fleet’s lifeblood, as they determine how many ships you can field at a time (the rest wait as reinforcements to come in by your command ship as others get destroyed or sent back)[/li][/ul]
