A few questions b4 I buy....

from Sins Forums
Here are a few questions I sorta would like to know before I buy the game. I'll probably buy it anyway (I am weak-willed for strategy games.)

1) Is the economic model a reserve/spend method or a Income/outgo method? Is it like *craft where you harvest resources from finite areas and that contributes to a large pool of resources to buy units/buildings/upgrades? Is it more like Kohan/Total Annihilation/SupCom where you have an income/outgo and can run a deficit spending for say metal by draining straight cash?

2) How long do the games take to play? I like GalCiv but, I don't have the time to invest in a game that lasts 20+hours for a small map these days. As an aside, enjoying the heck out of the 4C beta of TA (playing as the Yor but, after 2 hours, I just finished meeting the neighbors and a quarter of the map.) What is a Tiny map and how does it compare to a Large scale map in terms of time?

3) Do you explore the full range of the tech tree on a tiny map? I loved hearing about the distinct tech paths but, on a Multiple star system map does the endgame become a stalemate of large fleets trying to raize planets as everyone still in the game has max tech?

4) As this is a RTS, is the rate of the game adjustable? Is the rate of resources adjustable or fixed? Is there a discrete "hidden-turn" structure? One of the worst games ever created was a Star Wars Strategy game with "real time strategy." By that they meant you had about each day was about 1 minute on slow speed. You had to complete your orders within that minute or lose the rest of your turn. You could speed that up though to a turn per 6 secs though. Add in a broken Hero system where you had to send ambassadors to systems to influence them to your side, EXTREMELY limited tech ability, and a deeply flawed interface and I just couldn't play the game. It still haunts me though the name has apparently been lost to time.
25,611 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Oh man... I think that was called Star Wars Rebellion... So, so terrible. And the worst part is that I blamed myself for not being able to interpret the interface. Even bought the Prima Guide.

What a sad nightmare that was.
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
1. Resources are technically infinite. But as you increase fleet size there is an upkeep cost, so you still must plan puirchases carefully or the enemy could out-econ you. You can trade between any of the three resources (metal/crystal/cash) with the black market feature if you find yourself with way too much of one over another.

2. 1-2 hours for the smallest maps, days and days of playtime for the largest.

3. I highly doubt you would max all your tech on a small map.

4. There are different game speeds, like in a RTS. Based on some of the recent screenshots it seems you can adjust some things before the game starts, like speed of research. Not sure what you mean about the hidden days, all income/mining seems to be done per sec so the cutoffs you describe aren't really an issue.

And your "heroes" in this game are your cap ships. They don't need to be sent for influence, you build propaganda stations for those (which slowly spread to affect neighboring systems).
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Ah Kohan. Now that is a game!

Looking forward to Sins too though.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
I play on the fastest speed and would like even to see that increased :) Cant imagine playing this on slow :P
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
i was just playing rebellion for old times sake the other day :P
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
man I LOVED rebellion wasted a good few months with that game i think i t was on of the first pseudo retime space games there was interface took allot of getting used to though  :d  ahhh good memories  :) 
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
I have to say, I loved Rebellion too. Maybe if my experience in 4X at the time had extended beyond VGA Planets I might not have, but as it was I played it for quite some time.
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
But I'm pretty sure my hatred for C3PO comes from Rebellion. I tuned off all of his audio alerts and he still wouldn't shut up.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
i must say he pissed me off too. i much preferred the empires guy but even he was annoying. :p
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
hehe the closest thing to sins i got right now is good ol' Empire Earth and its expansion pack (the first one i mean, the 2nd was a big helping of crap)

but all that changes in 2 days when i get sins AND my new graphix card to make it all shiny :)