Sword of the Stars? (New 4x game apparently)

[Hunpecked]

I went to the SoTS site, read some about the game, registered on the forum, and dove into one of the threads. The game certainly has potential, and I'm eager to try the demo when/if it comes out.

I was disappointed to learn that enemy populations can only be eXterminated, not eXploited; nevertheless the game remains well within the boundaries of the 4X genre. The upside of simplifying planet management is that the programmers can spend more of their time on other aspects of the game, e.g. tactical space combat.

One thing I like about SoTS is its terraforming requirement: most (all?) worlds have to be made friendly to colonists before they can be eXploited--especially if an alien species has already modified the world to its own specs. Unlike SE IV, even if two SoTS species breathed the same atmosphere they couldn't really live side by side in the open--the ecosystems needed to sustain them would generally be incompatible. That makes sense to me; it sounds like it would be a nice option in SE V.

[Edited 12/16 for grammar]