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Space Empires V

Started by Jarhead0331, January 28, 2018, 12:06:40 PM

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Jarhead0331

Anybody still play this? If so, what are you running it on? It seems to really dislike Win10. Also, are you using any mods? Which ones?
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


bbmike

Ha! I've been playing it all weekend. Runs fine on Windows 10 for me (Steam version). I'm using Balance Mod 1.20. I'm currently playing a solo game (running 4 empires). I also found a Star Trek mod called Warp 10 2.2 but haven't tried it yet. And I just started a game against one AI opponent. One thing I remember that I didn't like from this game was you have to colonize a LOT and there are a LOT of places to colonize.
"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplace of existence."
-Sherlock Holmes

"You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets."
-Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

"There's a horror movie called Alien? That's really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!"
-The Doctor

"Before Man goes to the stars he should learn how to live on Earth."
-Clifford D. Simak

bbmike

"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplace of existence."
-Sherlock Holmes

"You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets."
-Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

"There's a horror movie called Alien? That's really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!"
-The Doctor

"Before Man goes to the stars he should learn how to live on Earth."
-Clifford D. Simak

Jarhead0331

Thanks bbmike. How would you say the experience compares with Polaris Sector or the MOO titles? Is it worth investing time into?
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Millipede

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on January 28, 2018, 12:06:40 PM
Anybody still play this? If so, what are you running it on? It seems to really dislike Win10. Also, are you using any mods? Which ones?

I used to play it a lot, but it's been years. As a solo game it eventually evolves into a bit of a grind. I found it intriguing while learning the nuances but once you've got it down, the AI is no competition. You know you're going to win eventually, it's just a matter of grinding out the turns. On the other hand... I really enjoyed playing on the play-by-web site (http://pbw.spaceempires.net/) but I never finished a game because once the various fleets got really large, the game couldn't handle the combat and crashed. I've often thought that if you limited the size of the fleets (possible in the game setup) many of the problems might be avoided but I never found a game with those restrictions. Of course, the other problem with any on-line game is dealing with the jerks but private games are possible. If anyone is interested, I'd be willing to host a private game where we could try it with limited fleet size. Let me know.

One other thing... like bbmike, I like The Balance Mod (http://www.captainkwok.net/balancemod.php) quite a bit.

OJsDad

Wasn't SE IV considered better than V
'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

bbmike

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on January 28, 2018, 03:31:58 PM
Thanks bbmike. How would you say the experience compares with Polaris Sector or the MOO titles? Is it worth investing time into?

Closer to the classic MOO experience. I don't have enough time invested in playing against the AI to recommend it. My gut feeling is Polaris Sector is superior. Everything I've read says don't play without the Balance mod.

Quote from: OJsDad on January 28, 2018, 06:11:08 PM
Wasn't SE IV considered better than V

Yeah, most people say that. Not 100% certain why.
"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplace of existence."
-Sherlock Holmes

"You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets."
-Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

"There's a horror movie called Alien? That's really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!"
-The Doctor

"Before Man goes to the stars he should learn how to live on Earth."
-Clifford D. Simak

Millipede

Quote from: OJsDad on January 28, 2018, 06:11:08 PM
Wasn't SE IV considered better than V

I'm aware that many Space Empires fans prefer IV to V but I'm not exactly sure why. I've played both but my time with V was .... 10 yrs. ago? and, obviously, my time with IV was prior to that. It's been so long that I can't remember specifics but I do recall that after noticing that some preferred IV, I went back to IV to see why and it didn't work for me. I found that I missed the additions to V and the only thing that IV had going for it was that it was more stable. As noted in my previous post, V is subject to crashes once you get into the late game with massive fleets.

Does anyone have any other info regarding a preference for IV over V?   

OJsDad

Perhaps it was the late game crashes and some AI issues. 
'Here at NASA we all pee the same color.'  Al Harrison from the movie Hidden Figures.

bbmike

Quote from: Millipede on January 28, 2018, 06:42:06 PM
Quote from: OJsDad on January 28, 2018, 06:11:08 PM
Wasn't SE IV considered better than V

I'm aware that many Space Empires fans prefer IV to V but I'm not exactly sure why. I've played both but my time with V was .... 10 yrs. ago? and, obviously, my time with IV was prior to that. It's been so long that I can't remember specifics but I do recall that after noticing that some preferred IV, I went back to IV to see why and it didn't work for me. I found that I missed the additions to V and the only thing that IV had going for it was that it was more stable. As noted in my previous post, V is subject to crashes once you get into the late game with massive fleets.

Does anyone have any other info regarding a preference for IV over V?

Millipede, looking at the data files in SEV, it looks like you can set the number of ships. Wouldn't that avoid the problem with massive fleets (which I could never stand in any 4x game)? In fact, it looks like there is a lot you can mod.
"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplace of existence."
-Sherlock Holmes

"You know, just once I'd like to meet an alien menace that wasn't immune to bullets."
-Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

"There's a horror movie called Alien? That's really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you!"
-The Doctor

"Before Man goes to the stars he should learn how to live on Earth."
-Clifford D. Simak

Millipede


Millipede, looking at the data files in SEV, it looks like you can set the number of ships. Wouldn't that avoid the problem with massive fleets (which I could never stand in any 4x game)? In fact, it looks like there is a lot you can mod.
[/quote]

Absolutely! I just never found a game that anyone had specified fleet limits and I never got around to hosting one myself (terminally lazy ::)).

Jarhead0331

The game runs very poorly for me. Even menus in the game creation mode cause the FPS to plummet. Most of the advice I've found online does not help.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


Yskonyn

If you guys get around to setting up a pbem for this I'd like to join in.
"Pilots do not get paid for what they do daily, but they get paid for what they are capable of doing.
However, if pilots would need to do daily what they are capable of doing, nobody would dare to fly anymore."

Millipede

Quote from: Yskonyn on January 29, 2018, 12:53:46 AM
If you guys get around to setting up a pbem for this I'd like to join in.
This thread inspired me to dig out my disk and install it and once I play around with it a bit, to refresh my memory, I'll post an invite here and see who else is interested. 4 or 5 would be ideal.

Jarhead... It's running fine on Windows 10 Pro for me and I doubt that I did anything that you haven't tried but, for whatever it's worth, I did run the installer with XP (service pack 3) compatibility and as an administrator. I'm also running the game as an admin. but not in any particular compatibility mode. Once I got it installed, I ran through the setup and the 1st turn in vanilla and then patched up to version 1.79 (http://spaceempires.net/article396.html) and I highly recommend installing the Balance Mod v. 1.20 (http://www.captainkwok.net/balancemod.php). When you're on Capt. Kwok's web page, make sure to download Balance Mod v1.20 Tech Chart. Kwok's instructions for installing the mod are to extract it to the "Game Types" folder in your SE 5 install but that didn't work for me. I had to extract the file to another location (your choice) and than copy/paste the "Balance Mod v120+" folder to the "Game Types" folder. Patching up to v1.79 also gives the option of modern screen resolutions but, after trying 1920 x 1080 I returned to 1024 x 768 as it ran better and in full screen.

Uberhaus

I'd be willing to play 4 or 5, once everyone is up and running.