Stars! comparison

[Adastra]

Muliplayer turn-based strategy games are my choice. I have been playing Empire (Deluxe) for over 15 years. I have been playing Stars! for 4 years. I have recently found a few features in Stars that I think can destroy a game, so even though I believe in sticking with and mastering a game, I want to consider trying something new.

How does SE4 compare to Stars for multiplayer?
Any other games I should consider?

[Suicide Junkie]

Play By Web is probably the biggest multiplayer feature for SE4.

You can upload and download your order and turn files right from the web interface, or you can have the server email your turns to you and you can reply with your order file attached.
You can of course do it manually if you want, but PBW automates all the busywork of collecting and distributing game files.

Hotseat play is great fun if you can find a partner or organize an SE4 night with your friends.
Sequential turn with tactical combat vs your buddies can be quite entertaining. The ability to control all your pieces during combat head to head with another human is great

The demo should give you a good idea of the interface and some gameplay action. Definitely try it out, and stop by to visit the PBW site

[narf poit chez BOOM]

hi, welcome to the forums.

cheese? according to a tally i did, cheese makes better curency than gold!

in hotseat, you can fight tactical against another human? neat!

[Merry Jolkar]

I played Stars! for ages (VGA Planets before that -- even wrote C code to create special maps etc.!), and really loved it. In fact, I even a three-way team game against the Jason Cawley and his friends, and won! I think it was because our slow start out of the gate led him to underestimate us -- I doubt I could win again.

I now play SEIV gold exclusively. One big difference is that in Stars! you simply move through space. In SEIV, systems are connected by wormholes, which has major strategic consequences. Also, I think SEIV is better balanced (though I would rule out the use of the Talisman).

John

[Hugh Manatee]

*points to sig*

I've played 1000s of hours solo play, and I'm about to get my first *** whupin' in stars multiplayer this weekend. Stars!, SE4 SE3, SE2, and Alpha Centauri are the coolest space scifi strategy games IMO, only beatem out by the crown champions MoO and MoO2.

[SpaceBadger]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
Sequential turn with tactical combat vs your buddies can be quite entertaining. The ability to control all your pieces during combat head to head with another human is great

How do you do tactical combat in multiplayer? Is that in a hotseat game?

SpaceBadger

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Neither have we

However, if nobody's working on Stars! anymore, wouldn't it be easy, or at least possible, for Shrapnel to acquire both the rights and everything already done, stick a new studio onto it and voila?

[Hugh Manatee]

Isn't that what happenned to MoO3? And that turned out well.....