Some questions about the game

from Stardock Forums
Hello guys!
I've seen the ultra-mega high definition in-game videos posted by Multianna. The game is interesting but there is a hight risk of become chaotic, isn't it? I mean I saw all the continuous zoom in and zoom out to the various planets of a single star system to manage the ships accordingly to the situation. In a galaxy there are billions of star systems and in the universe there are billions of galaxies: I think most of you already know where I'm getting too... If I have to do the same thing in evrey planet of evrey star system of evrey galaxy I'll become crazy! Is there an auto-management system? One that functions, not a retarded one I mean...

Another thing: I read around that the minimum requirements have a direct x 9.0c card: is the radeon 9600 xt a direct x 9.0c card? I know it's directx 9, but there isn't the damn c!
16,433 views 16 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
I think you are getting this wrong. sins will not feature billions of planets. in fact you can mod it for as much as you like, but you will not find any computer on this planet that will be able to do it. maybe with all computers' calculating power put together it might work, but I doubt it.

besides that as you correctly point out you wouldnt be able to manage it. just to give you a scope of this game. medium gaves have about 30 planets in a single star system, the largest maps now have 6 star systems and about 60 planets. that's actually fun and can be played without getting crazy or it being an organisational nightmare. I heard ppl who tried a few hundred planets across a few dozen star systems. probably gameplay will be broken at this point, but it has been done and it can be done, but this is usually the point where computer power becomes a limiting item.

hope this answered some of your points. and remember that in sins every planet is essentially a (very) small rts map of its own. like the empire of war battle maps, but without transition and interconnected.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Hello Shadowhal,
thanks for the reply!


I think you are getting this wrong. sins will not feature billions of planets. in fact you can mod it for as much as you like, but you will not find any computer on this planet that will be able to do it. maybe with all computers' calculating power put together it might work, but I doubt it.

Yes there is the computing power issue too, I failed to mention it.


besides that as you correctly point out you wouldnt be able to manage it. just to give you a scope of this game. medium gaves have about 30 planets in a single star system, the largest maps now have 6 star systems and about 60 planets. that's actually fun and can be played without getting crazy or it being an organisational nightmare. I heard ppl who tried a few hundred planets across a few dozen star systems. probably gameplay will be broken at this point, but it has been done and it can be done, but this is usually the point where computer power becomes a limiting item.

Uhm it's quite different from what I imagined. Now I don't remember where (trailer or review) but I understood that you enter in a star system with your fleet, you conquer all the planets annihilating all resistance, and then you make them producing what you need and then you move to another star system. Somewhere I read that the games makes jumps through different galaxies even ten minutes long.
So I imagined something muhc bigger than you mentioned. Well I bet it will be a nice and complex game anyway!


hope this answered some of your points. and remember that in sins every planet is essentially a (very) small rts map of its own. like the empire of war battle maps, but without transition and interconnected.

Is it like Imperium Galactica 2 without the planet surface, right?
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
So I imagined something muhc bigger than you mentioned
End of quote


It can be, if you want it to be. The release will come with a randomish galaxy generator where in theory you would be able to create 10 star systems with 100 planets each if you wanted. But most of the default maps that we have in beta are more limited.

In Multiplayer, single star maps with more planets are most popular, since it makes games end in a reasonable amount of time
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
He dies have some point though. Currently there is no any help to manage many planets. For example there is no way to see where I can build that research center i.e. which planet has available slots. Or which Planet I can upgrade and so on... Something like empire management screen would be great.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Uhm it's quite different from what I imagined. Now I don't remember where (trailer or review) but I understood that you enter in a star system with your fleet, you conquer all the planets annihilating all resistance, and then you make them producing what you need and then you move to another star system. Somewhere I read that the games makes jumps through different galaxies even ten minutes long.
So I imagined something muhc bigger than you mentioned. Well I bet it will be a nice and complex game anyway!
End of quote


Thats... not really a good description. Each star system is a series of battles, not just one. And while interstellar flights take forever, I don't think they actually take 10 minutes.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

We already have a solution for that on that way

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

We already have a solution for that on that way


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Solution? Solution for what? The unwieldiness of large empires?
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Hello guys!

@Ron Lugge

Thats... not really a good description. Each star system is a series of battles, not just one. And while interstellar flights take forever, I don't think they actually take 10 minutes.

Ok so there is no intergalactic flight... I guess the guy who wrote the review I read was on crack then!

@Annatar11

It can be, if you want it to be. The release will come with a randomish galaxy generator where in theory you would be able to create 10 star systems with 100 planets each if you wanted. But most of the default maps that we have in beta are more limited.

In Multiplayer, single star maps with more planets are most popular, since it makes games end in a reasonable amount of time

Cannot the multiplayer games be saved? It would be very useful IMHO...

Anyway I think large galaxies would be awesome, I mean something with 100 or more star systems... but there should be some sort of planetary defense which allows the player to go to the specific planet with his fleet and to counter-attack an invader. A panel where the player can have the situations of all the planets under complete control would be cool too I think.
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
Cannot the multiplayer games be saved? It would be very useful IMHO...
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It can be, but with random matches people still usually want them to be over fairly quickly If you gather some friends and say 'hey let's have one huge game running on weekends' you can do that, too.

but there should be some sort of planetary defense which allows the player to go to the specific planet with his fleet and to counter-attack an invader.
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*drum roll for Vasari*

A panel where the player can have the situations of all the planets under complete control would be cool too I think.
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Already exists The default panel shows every planer you've explored. So it shows all your colonies, all the scouted enemy planets, pirate bases, anomalies, etc etc. The other way to display the panel shows what you want it to show. You can hotkey key planets to throw them on it, for example.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
Its not a 100 planets per star by the way, its 10 stars total and 100 planets total.

The reviewer probablly had his terminology screwed up, the way sins works each star might as well be a galaxy and each planet a solar system, in terms of importantance and scale relative to most 4X games.

At any rate, a good way to simulate the kind of scale you might want is to mod in say 20-50 stars, but limit each to only 0-5 Planets... keeping yourself to say 75-100 planets isnt too taxing for todays state of the art gaming rigs. The advantage is the sense of scale with so many stars.

Oh and Blair, you should quote what your referring to... as I don't think we have any idea what your solution solves now... maybe you meant it that way you sly dev you.   
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
maybe you meant it that way you sly dev you
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Of course he did. You know how they love torturing us and letting just the tiniest hints and nudges slip through
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
jumps that take awhile add some epicness to this game. A parsec is an unfathomable distance.
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top

jumps that take awhile add some epicness to this game. A parsec is an unfathomable distance.
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Wow, way to jump in out of the blue and make what could have been a meaningful, if silly, statement just plain confusing.

Jumps don't need to have their timeframe increased, they already take forever as-is.
Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
Especially between distant stars
Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top
A parsec is an unfathomable distance.
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try 3.26 lightyears

(as a little bonus, last time i checked, Galciv II DA had an error with their tech description on one of their engine techs, they mix up parsecs and the speed of light or something like that)
Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top
Ron i think he was just saying a map where stars are as commonly traversed as planets would make the experience more epic for him.

IE like the map I suggested- 20 or 30 stars, 2-3 planets a piece. (notably the last time I did that was with phase connections between stars... without them that might be really unfun. SIGH)