SOTS II: Enhanced Edition Impressions

[Jarhead0331]

I've played around with the new "Enhanced Edition" for a couple of hours and I thought some of you guys would appreciate some impressions.  First, let me say that the game feels, once again, as with every "patch" released before this, more polished overall.  The dots just seem to be better connected with more art and interface enhancements that seem to have been left out or had been "disconnected" during the patching process.  From a technical standpoint, I have noticed some delay in turn resolution and in changing from screen to screen, but nothing aggravating or upsetting.  Some people are actually reporting less of a delay, but I am noticing a little more of one.  YMMV.  I have not experienced any CTDs as of yet.

Second, I'd like to say that the new race is extremely interesting.  The "Loa" are a "cyber-sapient" race of former slaves that have broken free from the chains imposed by their carbon-based creators.  Think the machines from the Matrix franchise. However, the Loa are far from just a race of AI robots.  First, when colonizing worlds, and they can colonize pretty much any rock in space, they do not grow traditional populations.  Each colony is essentially one consciousness, or one Loa being that grows and adapts to the environment.  This way, building stations and fleets are more akin to equipping a solider with weapons and armor.  When the Loa colonize a world, they strip it of bio material that would support life for the carbon-based species and maximize energy producing potential.  As a Loa colony grows, it does not increase in population, it increases in energy production.  Energy is the resource used by the Loa to build new ships, research new tech and expand.  the cool thing is that when the Loa arrive on a world, it can be lush and teaming with life.  However, the Loa, over time, will turn every planet they colonize into a barren rock.  Therefore, if a Loa colony is ever destroyed by an invading enemy, there will be little left for the carbon-based invader to salvage or exploit.

Second, the Loa, like the other races, has its own unique mode of FTL space travel.  The Loa move through space using a "Neutrino Pulse Drive" that propels Loa vessels through space very quickly. However, although Loa ships move quickly, the NPD technology is fleeting and in order to maintain its velocity, the Loa vessel must pass through periodic structures called "Neutrino Pulse Gates," which can be built at colonies, surveyed systems and I believe at various points in deep space.  Finally, and perhaps most striking, Loa vessels are constructed from modular megalithic cubes.  These cubes are shaped into mission specific vessels on the fly, as needed by the player.  So, by example, a Loa megalith can be traveling through space.  The player decides that he wants the megalith to survey a nearby star systyem, so the megalith releases cubes that form into various vessels capable of surveying the system.  upon arriving in the system, the survey fleet is attacked by an alien force.  The survey fleet is then able to reconfigure itself into combat focused ships in order to defend against the alien attack.  After the threat is dealt with, the cubes can reform into the survey fleet, conduct the survey, then, if colonizable worlds are located, the survey fleet can morph into a colonization fleet and colonize the planet, etc. etc.  This is a very unique aspect of the new race that presents very interesting strategic possibilities. 

There are several other things that make the Loa unique, as well, but you get the point.  Its critical to read the new manual in order to learn about the Loa, or else you'll have little idea what you're doing because they are just so different from any other race in the game.

Another big addition is the option to order fleet specific missions, as opposed to just target specific missions.  In vanilla SOTSII, in order to have a fleet take action, you had to select a target, and then pick a viable mission.  Now you can select the fleet that you want to act, and then pick a mission.  This adds a pleasing layer of flexibility to fleet operations that the old system lacked.

There are, of course, new technologies, including an entirely new cybernetic technology tree, which is available only to the original carbon-based races, and has been added the help them meet the threat of the new cyber-sentient race.  There are also a number of new techs available to all players and races, which is meant to represent advancements in technology over the 40 years spanning in the timeline between vanilla SOTSII and the Enhanced Edition.

Finally, the menu screens have changed a little bit too, and although some of them are a bit more cluttered, they seem to present a lot more information that was left out of the pre-enhanced edition, especially with respect to finance and economics.

So, if you didn't like the game before, you probably won't like it now...its really just more of the same...but in my opinion it adds more content and more polish to what I believe is already a great title.  I will post screenshots of the Loa, as well as the new menu screens over the next few days.

[Yskonyn]

Great writeup, thanks for sharing.

[Nefaro]

Thanks Jarhead!

I'll pick this up eventually.  While SOTS doesn't have a terribly deep grand strategy side, I certainly think other 4X games could take a lesson from the way each of it's races have a different game mechanic of some kind and how each one's available tech tree 'nodes' are somewhat randomized from game-to-game.  It looks pretty cool, for sure.

I'm still hoping they do a bit more polishing before I get in the mood for a sci-fi grand strat again.  But if Enhanced edition gets a Christmas sale I'll probably buckle like a belt, mood or no.   :D

[TheCommandTent]

As a total newbie to this game, which faction would you recommend playing as to learn it?

[Jarhead0331]

As a total newbie to this game, which faction would you recommend playing as to learn it?

Good question...outside of the new Loa race, Human is the only other race I have played.  They do strike me as the most traditional of the bunch.

[Yskonyn]

Actually no.
The Humans are pretty complicated with their FTL lanes.
I would recommend either Tarka or Morrigi as a starter race with Tarka being the most straight forward.

[Jarhead0331]

^Why do you think FTL lanes complicate the game for the human player?  It may be a disadvantage under some circumstances, but "complicated?"

[Anguille]

I usually recommend to start with the Tarka as they play like in most 4x games.

[Yskonyn]

^Why do you think FTL lanes complicate the game for the human player?  It may be a disadvantage under some circumstances, but "complicated?"

Because many people get confused about them as Humans only being able to travel to certain worlds via their lanes which are pretty obvious on the starmap, while the other races can go to the human player's worlds willy nilly.
At least in the perception of the human player.
The FTL lanes give the false impression of protection because many people tend to gauge chokepoints and tactical positions from the FTL lanes rather than proximity of (enemy) worlds.
Hence they are not as straight forward to play as they initially seem. Much less so than Tarka.

[Jarhead0331]

^Why do you think FTL lanes complicate the game for the human player?  It may be a disadvantage under some circumstances, but "complicated?"

Because many people get confused about them as Humans only being able to travel to certain worlds via their lanes which are pretty obvious on the starmap, while the other races can go to the human player's worlds willy nilly.
At least in the perception of the human player.
The FTL lanes give the impression of a false sense of protection because many people tend to gauge chokepoints and tactical positions from the FLT lanes rather than proximity of (enemy) worlds.
Hence they are not as straight forward to play as they initially seem. Much less so than Tarka.

Ah.  All good points.  TCT...listen to this guy, he knows what he is talking about!  :D

[Zulu1966]

As a total newbie to this game, which faction would you recommend playing as to learn it?

There is actually some advice about this in the manual.

[sandman2575]

The FTL lanes give the impression of a false sense of protection because many people tend to gauge chokepoints and tactical positions from the FLT lanes rather than proximity of (enemy) worlds.

I am constantly making this mistake !   As someone who plays a lot of Sins of a Solar Empire, where the phase lanes work this way, I'm usually not fully conscious of the fact that I'm playing SOTS the way I play Sins -- which is to say, the wrong way. 

Thanks for clarifying one of the particular bits of stupidity I am prone to in this game...   8)

[Nefaro]

As a total newbie to this game, which faction would you recommend playing as to learn it?

There is actually some advice about this in the manual.

I believe Tarka was usually the first suggestion, in the original.

[Martok]

Welcome back to the States, Jarhead!  Hope you enjoyed your vacation.  :) 

Finally, and perhaps most striking, Loa vessels are constructed from modular megalithic cubes.  These cubes are shaped into mission specific vessels on the fly, as needed by the player.  So, by example, a Loa megalith can be traveling through space.  The player decides that he wants the megalith to survey a nearby star systyem, so the megalith releases cubes that form into various vessels capable of surveying the system.  upon arriving in the system, the survey fleet is attacked by an alien force.  The survey fleet is then able to reconfigure itself into combat focused ships in order to defend against the alien attack.  After the threat is dealt with, the cubes can reform into the survey fleet, conduct the survey, then, if colonizable worlds are located, the survey fleet can morph into a colonization fleet and colonize the planet, etc. etc.  This is a very unique aspect of the new race that presents very interesting strategic possibilities. 

Wow, that sounds pretty frickin' sweet.  This alone almost makes me want to get the game. 

However, I have to ask:  How is this ability balanced?  Because if it's not, it seems like it'd be rather overpowered...? 

[Jarhead0331]

Welcome back to the States, Jarhead!  Hope you enjoyed your vacation.  :) 

Finally, and perhaps most striking, Loa vessels are constructed from modular megalithic cubes.  These cubes are shaped into mission specific vessels on the fly, as needed by the player.  So, by example, a Loa megalith can be traveling through space.  The player decides that he wants the megalith to survey a nearby star systyem, so the megalith releases cubes that form into various vessels capable of surveying the system.  upon arriving in the system, the survey fleet is attacked by an alien force.  The survey fleet is then able to reconfigure itself into combat focused ships in order to defend against the alien attack.  After the threat is dealt with, the cubes can reform into the survey fleet, conduct the survey, then, if colonizable worlds are located, the survey fleet can morph into a colonization fleet and colonize the planet, etc. etc.  This is a very unique aspect of the new race that presents very interesting strategic possibilities. 

Wow, that sounds pretty frickin' sweet.  This alone almost makes me want to get the game. 

However, I have to ask:  How is this ability balanced?  Because if it's not, it seems like it'd be rather overpowered...?

Thanks Martok...its good to be back.

Well, each "fleet" of module cubes has a set number of "construction points."  The construction points are calculated based upon the number of modular cubes you have built.  So, its similar to buying ships for a more traditional fleet.  The more hulls you purchase, the larger your fleet.  Likewise, the more cubes you build, the higher its construction points will be.  Construction points are then used to form the various Loa vessels you will want to have in your fleet.  Before each engagement, or before sending your Loa fleet on a mission, you get an option to configure the fleet into a set profile, such as "basic construction," "basic colonization," "basic survey," etc. etc.  Or, you can design and save your own custom made profile.  Each profile has a set number and type of ships that the cubes will form.  However, you have to have enough "construction points" to form all the ships in the profile, or else some of the ships will be highlighted in red and will not be formed.  You can frequently still go with the profile if you do not have enough points, but some of the vessels will be left out.

Hope this makes sense.  Its not as complicated as it sounds.