I enjoy Space Empires because...

[tesco samoa]

To capt_spoogy. I think he lives on Kennedy somewhere. Just know he goes against the traffic ( and in the process of moving ).

The reason I like SEIV. One game ( about 100 turns into the game) a fellow PBEM decided to sneak attack me by sending in a fleet of 10 minelayers, 20 battleships and 6 carriers all cloaked at level 3. For scanners I had.... nothing. The only reason I knew he was their was because the player did not put a cloak on his repair destroyer. So here I am looking at the screen seeing the triange of despair ( I had not even met anyone yet ). Thinking if he has repair ships here what is he repairing? So I start to research scanner level 1 ( yep only 6 levels of research to go before I can detect ecm level 4 ) Next turn I lose about 12 ships to mines, and 4 planets in one system and I start building sweepers.
So now I get to see what I am up against (and no sweepers on the enemy ships!!!) So I built mines on every planet and send a warp closer to close off the warp point to his system. Oh yea level 2 scanners.

Next turn About half my planets build mines. I lose 6 more planets. ( one system cleaned out ) Warp point to system closed off and a message of war being declared on me.

Next turn level 3 scanners and the rest of my planets have mines on them. The enemy losses 4 ships to mines. I send a message stating that I can afford to lose a planet for 4 ships. Only 2 turns to level 4 scanners.

Next turn nothing happens.

Next turn the enemy attacks another planet with two moons. 4 more ships gone.
I close of the warp point for that sytem area limiting the access to about 6 systems.

3 turns to level 5 scanners.

nothing happens but it was the longest weekend of my life. a turn a day in these moments is distracting. ( nothing like going to a party and figuring out if you want the tac scanners level 3 on escort ships or on sat's one per system. ( yep the tape between the glasses just got a little thicker)) and the sweepers arive ( I clean out all the mines in my system) Next turn my new baby dreads start pumping out about 50 of them.

Ahh 4 turns to level 6 scanners.

level 6 scanners have arrived. now to build the sat's

Next turn I release the sat's and attack his fleet's with figters and dreads. 2 turns later no more ships in my area.

Now for the offence. I like to name my ships like this DF-1-Drea-1 -0001 ( Direct Fire 1 weapon dreadnaught Version 1 with comuter build number at the end)
So I take ships 40 to 60 and re number them as 140 to 160.

I then attack his systems with all my fleet. The enemy natually assumes that I have 160 ships ( half on attack and half on defence )

The outcome. Don't know yet. It is only 5 turns into the attack. I held back the point defence ships so the enemy will build missle ships. A small price to pay in ships while I get the next fleets of missle , armour and pd ships going.

The fun thing was talking about it at work for the 3 weeks of these turns.

Out of all my gaming experiences that was the most intense moments... I figured I was dead ( spent the whole game working on infa sturcture )...................

[Taqwus]

I like SE4 for its depth and flexibility.

If I want to play a horde of ravaging scientists (the usual militarist technology-for-war hive Civ II strategy, or especially the self-sufficient Creative/Repulsive combo in MOO2), I can.

If I want to play a shadowy spymaster race with a sneakiness obsession, that can be done too.

Likewise, it's possible -- albeit quite (realistically, one suspects...) frustrating -- to try to be a benevolent, honorable race striving for peace.

Peace or war? Assimilation or genocide? "Special" tech, or merely specialists in the normal ones? The standard SE4 universe, or a heavily modded one -- and if modded, which one? Plenty of choices...

And it works well when each turn seems to bring *some* progress... but little enough to leave you wanting more (the "just one more turn" phenom; just like in CM:BO, where 60th-second cliffhangers seem incredibly common). It also definitely helps that the developer and publisher provide darn good support for their product.

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[capnq]

I haven't replied to this before because I couldn't summarize what I like. I agree with everybody's reasons.

I think my favorite part is the variety. In my oldest solo game, my Serene Scientists, the Tictsin, have Partnerships with three races, and have spread all over the map while holding their own in a protracted war with the Xi-Chung. In my first PBW game, my Honorable Warriors, the Rrurrr, fight on to certain death rather than surrender to a technologically superior alliance. (Hi, Askan & Spoo) In my other PBW game, my Psychotic Engineers, the Mi-Go, have cultivated numerous alliances as they prepare for their next wave of expansion.

I enjoy writing in-character diplomacy with human players, too. The Rrurrr often speak of Honor. the Mi-Go have buzzing rrazpy whizperring voicez...they do not uze capital letterrz...prroperr namez excepted...no conjunctionz...theirr only punctuation iz the ellipziz...

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Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

[Instar]

I enjoy SE4 because Im in command, I rule the empire. I have always wanted to conquer the universe, and now I can. I am the ultimate potentiate, the ultrapowerful leader. I am in command.
Plus the fact that the game is customizable is fun too.
Strategy and tactics are my favorite parts though.

[Quikngruvn]

I love SEIV because it exercises my brain. I also love that it's so customizable and addictive that it has created a group of modders who can take the game to places that MM would not be able to go alone.

Quikngruvn

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"That which does not kill you will make you stronger." -- Nietzsche