Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

[Sepiche]

I thought my first game would be easier while I learned the ropes if I tuned the pirates off, so I did. Should they still be there?

Yup, the ships around the planets are just small unaggressive groups. If you turn on the pirate option then there will be a pirate faction that will occasionally raid systems, but you can bribe them to attack other players. Definitely best to keep them off while you're still learning the game, but they do keep things interesting once you get the hang of everything. In fact there's still probably going to be a pirate base somewhere on the map you can attack, but with pirates turned off they will just stay there doing nothing.

[tgb]

I thought I understood the new diplomacy system, but apparently not. My understanding of the way to get a diplomatic victory is to send out envoy ships until you amass 50 diplomacy points.

So I set up a game on a small map against 2 A.I. players set to Easy and no pirates. I played the Avanti(?) loyalists. Everything went just peachy until shortly after I founded my third colony and advanced my way far enough up the Harmony tree to build Envoys. I built two, set them to Friendship Mission (or something like that), and sent each to the capitol of the A.I. factions.

Well, after the diplomatic immunity cooldown period ended, they were both blown from the sky, and shortly after I was invaded and it was game over.

I certainly enjoyed it more than my previous attempts to play, but what am I doing wrong?

[Debris]

I thought I understood the new diplomacy system, but apparently not. My understanding of the way to get a diplomatic victory is to send out envoy ships until you amass 50 diplomacy points.

So I set up a game on a small map against 2 A.I. players set to Easy and no pirates. I played the Avanti(?) loyalists. Everything went just peachy until shortly after I founded my third colony and advanced my way far enough up the Harmony tree to build Envoys. I built two, set them to Friendship Mission (or something like that), and sent each to the capitol of the A.I. factions.

Well, after the diplomatic immunity cooldown period ended, they were both blown from the sky, and shortly after I was invaded and it was game over.

I certainly enjoyed it more than my previous attempts to play, but what am I doing wrong?

I'm a beginner too, but I think envoys work only on a faction that you have a treaty with.

[Doomboy]

I never really played with diplomacy in Sins. From what I remember, those diplomatic envoy ships are actually trying to turn his planets against him. So I don't think it is a surprise he got ticked off.

The way to get someone happy with you is to fulfill the missions he sends you, and for him to perform missions you tell them to do. The problem, at least as I remember it, is that the missions they send are really annoying things, like destroy ## of someone you are at peace with's ships or buildings. Which means, I am not going to do it.

That was how it was when they first released the diplomacy expansion. I have never even looked at it since then. Just all war, all the time in my games.

[Pyperkub]

I'm not sure, but I also think that the AI below normal doesn't do much advanced diplomacy - I played a game with 2 easy AI and one normal, and I had a number of pacts with the normal one while the two easy ones pretty much only offered missions.

I've only finished three or four smallish games tho, so it's a small sample size.

[Pyperkub]

Finally got a game of Rebellion going, medium map, 1 medium, 2 easy AI. After about 10 hours I'm in a pretty good battle with the medium AI in the endgame. It has the best Titan at level 7,.as well as an artifact fun targeting my planets but I think it's only a matter of time.

I did all random, but it seems like everyone is Advent. It's my first time playing the Advent and I've been a little lost in the tech tree.

It's fun, and a change from having only played Trinity with the Distant Stars mod.

[Pyperkub]

Well, I thought I would be able to wear down and kill that damn Titan, but no - the AI managed to whittle me all the way down with it, and after 14 hours, took my capital planet and my last surviving asteroid. I almost killed the Titan a couple of times in an epic battle with my own lvl 10 Titan, but it was able to retreat and get reinforcements in on multiple occasions when I had whittled its Shields all the way down, and 90% of it's Hull. Even at high speed this battle took hours before the AI's lvl 10 titan took my lvl 10 titan with some Repair bays in range out.

Falling behind by not knowing how to build a titan (it's in the Tactical build zone?? Really?) and hunting for it up and down the Tech tree, as well as being unfamiliar with the Advent tech tree in general killed me, but I did pretty well. Of course, the next Titan I kill will be my first, as I never caught up.

I don't even know if I was playing the loyalist or rebellious Advent - but I was the opposite of the AI (played the Convergence map).

[Pyperkub]

Fired this up again this weekend, playing a large, three-star map with a hard AI thrown into the mix as well.

Ended up neighbors with the hard AI, but as the TEC, I managed to get a Titan out first and wiped him and another of the seven AI out while dominating my star system.

Then I liked my head through a wormhole and managed to get a foothold while my titan was cleaning up the first system. I built a nice force up and warped into the second Vasari system I'd seen. This one had a Starbase, but I figured I could clean up around it before going after it.

Then it came after me. WTF??!! Oh crap! Run away, run away!

So I retreated back to my foothold system to regroup.

Then the Starbase warped in with a Titan backup.

Oh crap, now I'm in trouble... this is gonna be interesting.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

[Pyperkub]

Well, it took me awhile to get back to this game, but I finally figured out how to take those guys out - use the non-autofiring Capital Ship abilities - specifically the nuclear attack of the Kol battleships. Once I figured that out, my Titan and a supporting fleet was able to easily dice up the other titans and those damn mobile starbases with 27k hull points.

Fun!

[Island Dog]

The v1.1 update was released today. New maps, balance fixes, and various other updates and tweaks.

Full changelog:

Spoiler:

[ Gameplay ]

New Maps! We've added dozens of new maps, including competitive multiplayer variants which normalize resources, militia and other factors (thanks to Pbhead and GoaFan77 for these). New maps include:
The Art of War Competitive
Battle Lines / Battle Lines Competitive
Blitz / Blitz Competitive
Close Encounters Competitive
Crystal Storm / Crystal Storm Competitive
Double Cross Competitive
Empires at War
Foreign Invasion Competitive
Fractured Lands / Fractured Lands Competitive
Gemini / Gemini Competitive
Hostile Orbits / Hostile Orbits Competitive
Kabel Competitive
Maelstrom Competitive
Melting Point Competitive
New Dawn / New Dawn Competitive
Pandemonium Competitive
Quick Strike Competitive
Random - Huge Multi-Star Competitive
Random - Huge Ring Competitive
Random - Huge Single-Star Competitive
Random - Large Multi-Star Competitive
Random - Large Single-Star Competitive
Random - Medium Competitive
Random - Mini / Random - Mini Competitive
Random - Small Competitive
Random - Vast / Random - Vast Competitive
Razor's Edge Competitive
Storm Front Competitive
Tempest Competitive
The Void
Triple Entente Competitive
Twin Empires Competitive
Typhoon Competitive
Unstable Alliance Competitive
Whirlwind Competitive
All corvettes are now unaffected by most harmful Titan abilitiesExceptions are Explosive Shot, which will still knockback corvettes in the AoE, and The Maw, which will still potentially draw in corvettes in the AoE (but won't specifically target them).
Ships should no longer try to use abilities on invulnerable targets.
Corvettes will no longer be explicitly targeted by Cleansing Brilliance or Reverie abilities (but may still be affected by them).
Corvettes are no longer affected by Magnetic Clouds.
Adjusted relationship bonuses per Pact with allies to grant a 0.2 Diplomatic Actions bonus per unique Pact (to a maximum of 2.4).
Adjusted relationship penalties per Pact with enemies to grant a -0.5 Diplomatic Actions penalty per unique Pact (to a maximum of -6.0).
TEC Loyalists
Titan: Can now cast Group Shield on itself.
Titan: Increased started HP from 5400 to 5500; increased starting Armor from 11 to 12.
TEC Rebels
Titan: AutoCannon damage increased from 110.5 to 121.52; Missile damage increased from 127.5 to 140.25.
Advent (General)
Deliverance Engine Balance Changes:
Cannonshell speed increased from 12000 to 36000 (moving at the speed of thought!).
Culture Spread effect increased from 5 to 15.
The 25% damage buff to Advent player owned ships will now affect incoming ships as well as those already in the gravity well when the shot hits.
Deliverance Engine shots will now reduce an enemy planet's Allegiance by 10% (stacks 3 times).
Advent Loyalists
Global Unity now adds a 5% bonus to max. planet allegiance in addition to its other effects.
Advent Rebels
Wail of the Sacrificed has been changed to affect all adjacent planets, ships and structures regardless of ownership.
Titan: Chastic Burst antimatter cost increased from 70 to 80; cooldown increased from 20 to 30.
Titan: Side Beam damage reduced from 130 to 117.
Fixed Expulsion tech to properly give its 20% culture spread bonus.
Vasari Loyalists
Titan: The Maw will no longer explicitly target corvettes (though they may still be affected if caught in the ability AoE).
Titan: Increased the cooldown on The Maw from 175 to 210.
Titan: Starting HP increased from 4802 to 5042; HP per level decreased from 459 to 436; starting Shields increased from 2567 to 2696; Shields per level decreased from 533 to 507.
Vasari Rebels
Titan: HP per level increased from 405 to 445; Shields per level increased from 529 to 582; Armor per level increased from 0.58 to 0.64.
Rebel Starbases will now suffer from additional debuffs after a phase jump: Passive shield regeneration is decreased by 50%, Armor is reduced by 1.5 and weapon damage received is increased by 25%. Negative effects after phase jumping a Starbase now stack 3 times; debuff duration of all effects increased to 600 seconds from 60.
Armor Restoration technology bonus reduced from +25% HP / +5 Armor to +15% HP / +3 Armor.
Pirates
Ships spawned from bounty raids made less random and weaker earlier in the game.
Pirate raids spawned via Diplomatic mission costs adjusted for revised raid levels above (i.e., much cheaper).
[ Misc. ]

Fixed reported null pointer crash related to buff spawning (thanks ezeltje299).
Fixed reported null check on first spawner buffs (thanks ateague1987).
Fixed broken Pirate Exterminator Steam Achievement.
Fixed broken Outstanding Resume Steam Achievement.
Steam Cloud Saves re-enabled and should now work as intended in multiplayer games.
Checksum detection added on multiplayer saves to validate that saves aren't corrupted.
Fixed Pact related crash that would occur if a player had more than six unique Pacts established.
Fixed null pointer crash related to Wail of the Sacrificed.
[ Modding ]

Added new icons to Galaxy Forge for competitive map types.

[Island Dog]

Ok, some news to give a heads up on.

For current Sins: Rebellion players there's a new 1.5 beta patch up. You have to opt-in on Steam, but the info is in the full changelog here.

Also, new DLC announced, available June 5th.

• Four new planet types to colonize and exploit (Barren, Ferrus, Greenhouse, Oceanic), each created with beautiful high-res textures.
• New Planet Specialization System: Dedicate your worlds to either social or industrial output. Devoting your planet to social improvements will increase its population and culture, at the cost of trade income and ship production. Choosing an industrial path will limit your growth and culture, but make your planet a trading and ship building powerhouse.
• 15 new research subjects allow the races to conquer and expand onto the forbidden worlds.
• Discover 40 new planet bonuses during your exploration of the galaxy, unlocking the dark past of the Sins’ universe.
• Unlock five new Steam Achievements and display your mastery of forbidden space!

[Island Dog]

Just another note, you can catch Stardock's Brad Wardell on the Geeks with Wives podcast. Lots of good game talk.

http://geekswithwives.com/geeks-with-wi ... pisode-83/

[hepcat]

I need to start up a game of Rebellion. It got pushed to the side with all the other releases I'm not playing currently, but I really do miss playing the series.

[Pyperkub]

I fired up another last week after a long hiatus - whirlwind with 3 Hard AI. I'm starting to mop up one, and have treaties with the others. Enjoying it, but I think I'll need to start ramping up the AI even more.

[Island Dog]

The Forbidden Worlds DLC was released today. New planet types, more Steam achievements, new planet bonuses, and more.

Full release info here - http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/445357/

[hepcat]

Damn, why you gotta drag a man from his Distant Worlds and Crusader Kings 2?

...sigh...it's bought.

quick question: do the "planetary bonuses" act as sort of a mini-campaign in that they fill in some backstory about the universe we're playing in, and/or give us an incentive to explore/expand (beyond the previous reasons, that is)?

[Island Dog]

Not sure I would call it any type of campaign, but it's designed to "unlock the dark past".

Oh, and v1.5 is also out.

[hepcat]

I know there's been talk of future DLC too. Any chance we might see a full campaign mode included in any upcoming DLC or expansions?

(and sorry if this is a question you get all the time)

[Rip]

Haven't played this before but with the 80% off($7.99) steam sale my finger hovers over the trigger.

Sounds like I will want the two non-soundtrack DLC as well?

[Sepiche]

Haven't played this before but with the 80% off($7.99) steam sale my finger hovers over the trigger.

Sounds like I will want the two non-soundtrack DLC as well?

If you like RTS in general then Sins is a great game.

Yeah, the DLC add some nice variety to the game... not required, but enjoyable.

[Rip]

Haven't played this before but with the 80% off($7.99) steam sale my finger hovers over the trigger.

Sounds like I will want the two non-soundtrack DLC as well?

If you like RTS in general then Sins is a great game.

Yeah, the DLC add some nice variety to the game... not required, but enjoyable.

More interested in 4X than RTS but as long as it isn't a frantic button clicking exercise I figure it will be worth a shot.

Just need some type of a CIV like fix and Tropico 5 didn't really scratch it. Might as well give space a try.

[Sepiche]

More interested in 4X than RTS but as long as it isn't a frantic button clicking exercise I figure it will be worth a shot.

It's not too bad as RTS go IMHO... generally slow paced and pausible.

[raydude]

I just got this game last week myself. I'm pretty impressed with the UI, once I figured it out. The tutorials help a bit but if you're like me then you'll promptly forget some important things after finishing the tutorial and starting up a real game. I would say that the most useful part of the UI is the tree in the upper left corner. Being able to double click on the planets I own in the tree and managing them that way is great. Then there will be two groups of pips to the right of the planet. The first grouping is for structures that are around that planet. The second grouping is for the ships in that planet's gravity well. Click on that and it will cycle through groups of the ship types - or eventually select all of the ships.

The nice thing about clicking through the groups of ships is that the UI tree will also highlight the ship symbols representing the ships around that planet while the ship type name is displayed in the lower right portion of the screen. That was how I eventually came to recognize certain ship types that were important to me. Such as the Vasari Migrator for example - a frigate class ship that lets me colonize neutral planets and also lets me build starbases.

The pace of the game is nice and slow - especially when you place the ships on "auto-combat" and set them to always attack anything in the planet's gravity well. That way I just focus on sending them to enemy held planets or to repel invaders and as long as I know my fleet outnumbers them I can somewhat concentrate on other things. I also set my colonizer frigates on "auto-colonize" so I don't have to micromanage them when they are sent to a neutral planet. They will just head straight for the planet and colonize it when they are able to do so.

I'm looking at two mods that seem to have been received very well by Sins players. One is the Star Trek Armada 3 mod which converts the UI, ship models, and tech trees to the Star Trek universe. Another is the Star Wars conversion mod - Sins of a Galactic Empire. I'm gonna try the Star Trek one first and see how it goes.

[Rip]

Played the first tutorial and quickly read the beginners guide on the stardock forums.

Probably spend all my time through the weekend reading and toying till I feel comfortable with it and then start a serious game.

Surprised I remembered my Stardock password. Kinda cool seeing my CalCiv2 registration there and thinking about playing that long ago.

[Rip]

How do I pause? I tried hitting the - speed key over and over but it never pauses.

[Sepiche]

How do I pause? I tried hitting the - speed key over and over but it never pauses.

IIRC It's the pause/break button.

[Rip]

How do I pause? I tried hitting the - speed key over and over but it never pauses.

IIRC It's the pause/break button.

Thx, that worked. Seems there would be one on the interface. So much going on and I want to micromanage too much.

[Lorini]

Played the first tutorial and quickly read the beginners guide on the stardock forums.

Probably spend all my time through the weekend reading and toying till I feel comfortable with it and then start a serious game.

Surprised I remembered my Stardock password. Kinda cool seeing my CalCiv2 registration there and thinking about playing that long ago.

Can you link the beginner's guide? Thanks!

[Rip]

Played the first tutorial and quickly read the beginners guide on the stardock forums.

Probably spend all my time through the weekend reading and toying till I feel comfortable with it and then start a serious game.

Surprised I remembered my Stardock password. Kinda cool seeing my CalCiv2 registration there and thinking about playing that long ago.

Can you link the beginner's guide? Thanks!

http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/374670

[Island Dog]

Outlaw Sectors DLC is available today for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. This includes new gameplay options and new maps. A variety of map sizes and designs will let you enjoy any kind of match you want, from intimate 1v1 duels all the way to epic 10-player brawls.

More info: http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/477959/

Outlaw Sectors Gameplay

Smuggling Specialization: Choose this planetary development to grab a cut of everyone's trade
income - but at a cost. The increased corruption from this black market activity will reduce that planet's tax income.

Rampant Militias: Autonomous planetary militias will grow, raid nearby systems, and repopulate over time. Use them to help defend your worlds, or coordinate your attacks with their strikes for maximum impact.

Pirate Turf: Vicious when in their home sector, pirates can now raid multiple players simultaneously, drastically changing the art of the bidding war. And, just to make sure they are fully motivated to do what they do best, all credits spent on bounties will receive an automatic bonus.

[Pyperkub]

Think I may have to fire this one up again, as I really enjoyed it,but it had some limitations (maybe fixed?). Haven't tried any mods however - has anyone?

Sins: Rebellion gets a face lift in v1.9! The improvements to the memory system have allowed for a new "Extreme" texture setting that makes the game look better than ever. The difference is noticeable in everything from the ships and the planets all the way to shadow rendering. The UI will look incredible on 4K monitors now thanks to user interface scaling...

...Concern yourself with space battles instead of space restrictions! Previously, Sins: Rebellion's 32-bit process was unable to exceed 2 GB of RAM usage. New adjustments in v1.9 allows the game to use up to 4 GB of RAM, which reduces crashes and lets modders focus on their creations instead of worrying about hitting the 32-bit limit.

[Redfive]

Does anyone have experience with the Star Wars / Star Trek mods for this?

[Daehawk]

Free on Steam for 2 days