Hello all... new poster here.
First of all, I have been playing SE since its 3rd iteration, and I have to say that it's going to be hard to top 4.
A few observations about the SW-II beta...
Andres, this is officer work here. When completed, this is going to be an exceptional mod/game (why the hell couldn't Star Wars: Rebellion play like this??) Anyway, the ships and graphics are top-notch. Those SSD's look great!!!
Game balance: I find that overall, generally, the Empire has far superior technology (at least in my games) I think having the Heavy Command Vessel and the Death Star make it too easy for the Empire to insure late-game domination. Granted, it's HARD to build a DS (or even a PDS) but still... I think the minerals it should take to build should be absolutely momentous, both to reflect the immensity of the task and the maintainence it would take to keep it operational. (Oh, and you should give X-wings Ability: Destroy Death Star)
I agree with Fyron... it is odd that the superlaser tech is right there at the beginning (and cheap!) It was the first thing I researched, and then imagine my frustation at not having the requisite 15MT ship to stick it on...
I love the fighters. The fact the the TIEs are small, but hard to hit, and the Rebels are much bigger, but can have more weapons and shields, are excellent. Plus, the graphics are wonderful.
It's funny how the neutral races are always kowtowing towards the Empire when they first meet them. Don't know if this is wired in or just the fact that the Empire is so much stronger... but it's still funny!!
You might want to put a note somewhere in a Readme or something about the % scale mods. I had a frantic first few moments while I was trying to figure out what the hell to do with a bridge that was 6 times the size of my ship... but the idea itself is great.
I think Stormtroopers should be a little harder to build. As it stands, you can easily build 200-300 a turn. Are these supposed to be squads? Armies? Individual troopers?? The scale is nice, though. On a larger note, it took me a few games to get used to the various scales. I am sorry to say that the Eee, with their 'standard' SEIV weapons, chewed up my Frigates pretty nicely. The balance within the Empire and Rebels are nice, but having 'neutral races' that throw off the balance hurts it until the endgame, where the stuff the Empire can throw out can chew up anybody.
Great events. More of them, too. I lost 2 planets in 1 year alone Last game! Also, something I thought might be cool for an event is something along the lines of "The Emperor/Mon Mothma has requested several of your front line ships for reinforcements in an important sector." and then you lose a random # of ships. Just a thought...
I think having something like Kwok's captains would be awesome... kind of like 'Rebellion' where each person had different powers and gave an area/planet/ship bonuses, but were fragile. You could have Darth, Thrall, Luke, Han, etc... but a) is it possible to have only one of a 'component' at a time in play and b) would Kwok give you permission? This is actually an idea I had before I started reading the Posts and his ST conVersion, but still...
I like the damaging warp points, but I think hyperdrive is somewhat limited. The higher levels are worth it, but early on (.1, .2) it's not worth the space.
The Targeting computer is too powerful, IMO. 50 units at a time? I realize fighters play a much greater role in this mod but still... that should be something to work for, because that's a powerful ability especially on the Rebel side where you can have 50+ weapons on each battlecruiser....
Anyway, just some thoughts/suggestions. I really, really, really love where this mod is going and I can't wait to test each iteration for ya, Andres!!! Awesome, awesome stuff!!!
Steve