Just bought SotS complete collection on Steam.

[Count Casimir]

It's 5 bucks 'cause there's a sale. Anyone else get it?

Also, I have no idea how to play this game. I only bought it because, as I recall, you guys said it was good.

Therefore, how do I play this?

[junk]

like most other 4x games. Expand, get an eco base and steamroll everyone. Keep in mind that research is cirtical.
Also a lot might help you here - has the backstory as well as gaming aids
http://sots.rorschach.net/

[Karst45]

Yeah nice game. tough wayyyy tooo long.

wish there was some Single mission like in other RTS.

[Overkill Engine]

Last time I played it was years ago, but: Pay very close attention to the differences in how each race travels between the stars- that will be one of the major things that determines if your fleets are on time or hopelessly outmaneuvered.

Especially the damn Hivers. Let them get a gate up and they'll ram swarms of reinforcements down your throat.

[Nemo]

Therefore, how do I play this?

Recommend starting with the installer, then using the included .exe file.

ahem

Pick a race based on their fluff, it would be easier to guide you once we have an idea of where you're standing (or not, as the case may be).

Depending on how you setup your game, your first researches should be waldo units, cybernetic interface, and suspended animation. That is, if you rolled sa. The random tech tree is the cause of so many gleeful headaches.

http://sots.rorschach.net/Tactical_Combat

^^^And watch the video.

[Count Casimir]

Heh I just kinda zerg-rushed for tutorial combat. It's fun though! I've been playing mount & blade too, so I've kinda been in the mood for the "research and deploy" style gameplay.

It's fun!

[TrashMan]

For a beginner, tarka might be the simplest ones. They are very streightforward in their travel and combat. They use a warp drive. Just point and go.
Their starships have heavy forwards firepower, but weak mission sections. Keep that in mind.
Also, they are average researchers.


Humans are the fastest race at the start. The node drive they use makes it impossible for other races to intercept their fleets. But - they are dependant on the node-line placement, so they are somewhat at the mercy of the Random Number God. Their ships have decent fire coverage and good braodsides.
They are very good researchers to boot.


Liir are...fragile, but deadly. Their use a stutter-warp drives that literaly teleports their ships a tiny distance million times a second. Inertia? What's that. Tehy are agile as hell. Tehy are the best researchers in game. But the bbreed SLOOOWLY. Guard your colonies well. Biotech is important for you - and Liir excell at biotech. Bio-Warfare FTW.
Stratigicly, their drive is simialr to the tarka - expect the speed depends on the distance to a gravity well. They are fastest in deep space, slowest near a planet.

Hivers are...the steamroller of the stars. Slow to reach a star, as they crawl slowly at STL. But once they reahc a system and plce a teleport gate, they are a b*** to dislodge.
Their ships are heavily armed and armored, their industrial output can be massive.
Not very good researchers

The Zuul are the worst researchs..they don't have trade. They dont' have civilian population. They overharvest their worlds by default. But they have the output and breeding of insane proprtions. If a Zuul is not at war, he's stagnating. Your'e gonna be trashing your planets and stripping htem bare of resources. You need to expand. You need slaves to fuel your expansion and research.
Zuul have an ungodly amount of guns and their ships are fast. They can also field a lot of them.
They are immune to bio-weapons, as they ARE a bioweapon gone wild.
Their drive is similar to the human one. A bit slower, and they have to creat their own nodes and mantain them.


Morrigi...they can match the Liir in terms of research. They start with drone tech. Their DN's are awesome. They also rely heavily on trade for their income.
Strategicly, their flock drive means the more ships you have in the fleet, the faster the fleet goes.


Take your pick and have fun.

Do check the forums for for some keyboard shortcuts and some tips and tricks.
And keep an eye out for grand Menaces.

[Count Casimir]

And keep an eye out for grand Menaces.

Please tell me that's a Space Monster.


Thanks for the list man! That's most helpful. I started humans just 'cause, but I'll look into the others now.

[Nemo]

Its worse than a Space Monster. Its many Space Monsters.

[Count Casimir]

Its worse than a Space Monster. Its many Space Monsters.

THAT SOUNDS AWESOME!

[Karst45]

Well i hear that SOTS 2 is supposed to come out soon.

if the one was awesome. the 2 should be jizztastic!

[Nemo]

I guess that depends on whether we can reskin the Umiak into the game:



Sadly, it still doesn't have true 3d tactical combat a la Homeworld, but then again, what does? They're going to have combat take place across prefixed planes, but everything else is looking up.

[TrashMan]

http://angryjoeshow.com/2011/09/sots-ii ... ring-2011/

[uthilian]

WTB Homeworld 3 :p

[Karst45]

are they still thinking about this?

[Nathan_]

Start out with humans, I find them the easiest because nodes direct where you can and cannot travel to. Tarka have freedom of movement, and I personally like them the best, but it can be daunting.
The zuul are the hardest, because they are a pure momentum race. We could probably arrange some kind of MP game here, that is one of the major selling points, you can just jump right in.

[elorran]

I would have said tarka were the easiest tutorial race to begin with.

If you're a research freak, liir.
A trader, moragi.
But humans are a nice experience, and the node transport system is brilliant for most of the game. Can bite you occasionally with random placement but node travel is insanely fast and nearly undetectable. A small fleet can be moved around and used to look like 5 times it actual number.

I do plan on getting SotS 2 this evening. Anyone else playing?

[AndrejaKo]

I'm tempted to get it, but I'll most likely wait until they put the real version online and maybe even until the first patch. The beta fiasco made me a bit concerned.

[elorran]

Agreed. As I was downloading it I was doing about of mooching about the internet for info and ran across the threads on paradox forums about the snafu. I did test the waters with the initial download but put it down after it crashed while I was playing with the ship design and weapons testing screens.

When the updated version downloaded I played with it again for about 30 minutes and got a couple of turns into the game. There is still a lot of unpolished areas to the game. I think come monday I'll delete the whole game and redownload it. See if that clears any of the junk possibly left from the first time download.

Its playable at the moment which isn't bad all things considered though.

[Gudo]

Just SotS complete myself, I've been wanting to try this one for a long time. Pretty fun game so far, but I've still got a bit of learning to do. What do you say next weekend or maybe the one after we see about getting a multiplayer game going? That would give me and Casimir (assuming he wants to join) a bit of time to learn.

I'm USA West Coast, probably wouldn't be able to host, but I've got a vent server we can all crash.