Before going any further, I would like to say that this game has the makings of a great game - keep trying to improve it. My following comments are attempting to be constructive, but I don't necessarily have answers or suggestions for all of the situations.

I also still have Stars! but have not played it in a while - yes, it is a very good game with some very good game play ideas.

Phaselanes/space lanes - I completely understand everyone's arguments both for and against them. However, as stated in other posts, singles lanes tend to cause choke points and stalemate situations. I'm really not sure what a solution would be to this problem, but Space Empires really suffers from it. I have read various ideas to solve this from slowing down travel time to implementing a fuel range restiction. Would it be possible to leave it the player to decide which planets he wants to connect to each other in a direct path? These lanes would be in addition to the ones in place at the start of the game and only within a system. This way, a player can opt to travel quickly between his own planets, but also run the risk of allowing an opponent to use them!!!

Reasearch - I'm assuming that the reasearch tree will grow throughout the beta cycles. As it stands, it is way too small for an "epic" game. I like the idea that someone had where improvements would be incremental by say 2% per tech level researched. Additionally, slow down the research time from seconds to "space time" - for instance, make "1 unit of space time" equal to real 10 or 20 seconds. After all, a 90 second research time is much too abstract, even for Sci-Fi.

Game Time - the game currently moves too quickly and income gradually runs amock such that anything can be built in seconds. Maybe the timer can be slowed to reflect the "space time" referenced above ?

Income & metal/crystal - this stuff comes in way too fast after the first couple of minutes. Mining rate should be adjusted to the "space time" rate. Income can be slowed by doing the same thing. Also, income can be slowed by removing the Home Planet Bonus - unless this is a unique thing for TEC. This will force everything to take more time and the player will have to consider his options more carefully.

Fleets - I agree with others that there should be a fleet management system where fleets can be given both defensive and offensive tactics and formations. This is a nice feature of Space Empires. This would help reduce micro-management in battles because each fleet could have it's own stance. Fleets can be depicted with an icon and also added to groups.

Constructors - I do not like the idea of having a constructor for each planet level. If a player wants them, let them build them. Constructors should not be given for free when a planet is colonized. Allow the colonizer to build one in time - a build box as part of the colonizer functions so a player has the choice to build or not (but only on a pure colonizer). Constructors should also be allowed to travel between planets - maybe slower than a frigate, and it must refuel at the next colony on the way - unless it's the destination (constructor travel has been suggested by others).

Fighters/Bombers - as the game stands I agree with others that think fighters and bombers are currently too powerful.

Planets - How about varying planets by atmosphere. This way, you may have to do research to fully utilize domed planets by improving the atmosphere and/or lowering sea level. Such planets would have reduced population/income capacity until the planetary conditions are improved.


Feel free to pick at and shoot down the above list. I am however, very impressed with the quality of this beta - my machine is an AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (2.1GHz); 1GB memory; 250GB hard drive; Windows XP SP2 (up to date); 256MB GeForce Fx5500 video using a Viewsonic 22" monitor; and it runs pretty good. The initial load of popups is slow the first time an option is selected, but response improves after that.

Yorkie43