Join the Rebellion! Closed Sins Beta released!

[GoodRevrnd]

I'm having trouble getting into this. The game seems very very top level strategic and not as deep into tactics as I initially thought. It seems like the optimal way to play is fully zoomed out for empire management and fleet deployment. It also seems like unit mix isn't actually that important and that it's much more important to have overall power/numbers superiority and focus on one or two core units and upgrade them to the gills.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I'm having trouble getting into this. The game seems very very top level strategic and not as deep into tactics as I initially thought.

I think it's chock full of tactical considerations, but you need to understand the game's nuances and have experience playing it before you get to that skill level. The strategy and tactics are very important when human players are involved.

Do keep in that the Beta is far from the finished product. All sorts of balance changes are likely to occur. Right now many playtesters are concerned that the titans are very overpowered or not expensive enough.

It seems like the optimal way to play is fully zoomed out for empire management and fleet deployment.

I spend most of my time at gravity well level--having an overview of a particular gravity well where I'm positioning the ships or ordering the construction of structures. It's the tactical view level. I also spend time zooming out to look over the local area of the map and the overall map. I almost never zoom in to see the pretty graphics unless I'm really bored (that's mostly for people in single player who can slow it down and who are playing less intense games).

It also seems like unit mix isn't actually that important and that it's much more important to have overall power/numbers superiority and focus on one or two core units and upgrade them to the gills.

You have to try to counter what your opponent is building. If my opponent is focusing on one unit type, I'm going to build the counter. Support ships are also important; you really do want to have a mix. Your fleet might consist of 1 or 2 capital ships, 75% of your damage-dealing workhorse unit (probably long range frigates) and then support ships (like Hoshikos or Guardians and strikecraft carriers). You'd probably want some flak frigates too.

The strategy is actually very deep and challenging once you get into it. It's not just about fleet composition, but about making decisions about whether to invest in economic development or having a large fleet and to what extent, where and when to attack, what to defend, what technologies to research, etc. It all gets fleshed out in online multiplayer PvP.

 

[Red Storm]

So is there any way to delete an already built structure? Twice now I've miscalculated how many logi slots I have and I can't seem to find any way to delete a structure to free that space up.

 

[DeathReborn]

So is there any way to delete an already built structure? Twice now I've miscalculated how many logi slots I have and I can't seem to find any way to delete a structure to free that space up.

At the bottom of the screen is a little yellow/orange button just under the picture in the middle of the UI. Select the structure & press that button. That's the button you're looking for, initially hard to locate but you never forget once you do.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Oh ya, is the TEC the only playable race in the beta?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

So is there any way to delete an already built structure? Twice now I've miscalculated how many logi slots I have and I can't seem to find any way to delete a structure to free that space up.

As DeathReborn said, you can scuttle anything you want. Just select on the structure (or ship or planet) you want to scuttle and then click on the scuttle button below the picture at the very bottom center of the screen. A countdown should begin. You can also bind it to a key; I think the default is Shift-S. NOTE that you can cancel the scuttling before the countdown ends by selecting the unit and clicking the scuttle button again.

BUT be careful, especially if you have it bound to a key. Be careful not to accidentally scuttle a planet or a capital ship. Suddenly you'll receive a notice, "One of our capital ships has been lost," and you'll be thinking, WTF? I've accidentally scuttled capital ships and even my home planet before.

Also, note that the Vasari have a great Level 1 civic tech that almost doubles the amount of credits and resources you recover from scuttling ships and structures. I always research it early on when I play Vasari and then I feel free to scuttle structures so that I can swap them out with other stuff.

Oh ya, is the TEC the only playable race in the beta?

For now. The devs said that they plan to have have four different betas and this is only the first one. I hope that the game remains in beta for a couple months because it needs unit balancing and polishing. Right now the titans are too powerful relative to their purchase cost. Also, I think they should scrap the Corvette class ship entirely; I don't think it adds anything to the game other than potential lag.

 

[Zorander]

I might have missed this before but does Rebellion have better multi-core (CPU) support? I remember reading somewhere that the original game uses mostly single core (and it suffers from horrible lag late-game with large maps).

 

[Maximilian]

I might have missed this before but does Rebellion have better multi-core (CPU) support? I remember reading somewhere that the original game uses mostly single core (and it suffers from horrible lag late-game with large maps).

Nope, one of the stardock people stated this early on Same engine unfortunately. This kind of support wont come until they make a sins 2.

 

[Hammyton]

Nope, one of the stardock people stated this early on Same engine unfortunately. This kind of support wont come until they make a sins 2.

That was one of my biggest problems with Sins... I feel like its gameplay is at its best when you're playing epic sprawling games on huge maps, except these games will invariably bog down any computer due to no multi-core support.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I might have missed this before but does Rebellion have better multi-core (CPU) support? I remember reading somewhere that the original game uses mostly single core (and it suffers from horrible lag late-game with large maps).

That was one of my biggest problems with Sins... I feel like its gameplay is at its best when you're playing epic sprawling games on huge maps, except these games will invariably bog down any computer due to no multi-core support.

Sadly, it's still going to be single-core. However, they say that they've improved the engine so that it's more efficient.

I play a lot of 5v5 games in online multiplayer and generally the CPU-based lag isn't too bad as long as you're using Normal or Small fleet sizes. It can become a problem later on in the game if most of the 10 people have large fleets.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

An intro video for Rebellion was posted at YouTube. I'm not sure if the developers intended for it to be released or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn54lCOq6pI

 

[Zorander]

BETA 2 has been released. Has anyone got the chance to play it yet? The Advent is available for play now, which should be heaps of fun.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

BETA 2 has been released. Has anyone got the chance to play it yet? The Advent is available for play now, which should be heaps of fun.

The online player counts for both the Rebellion Beta and Diplomacy have skyrocketed in the past two weeks. I even saw over 250 people on at one time for the Rebellion Beta server and over 150 on Diplomacy.

Now is the time to come play this in online multiplayer where there are plenty of new people around!

 

[mingsoup]

Any tips that I should look out for?

I have been playing lots of Alpha Centauri lately, and have come to cherish this page:
http://spyang.com/strategy/alphaCentauri.html

Anything similar for sins of a solar empire rebellion?

Just stuff like, these techs are super useful. Making enemies surrender is another great tactic. These secret projects are the best! Mindworms rock use them. Etc.
Oh. Also which faction is best to play for a new person. I play Santiago. But I think I might take Deidre for a spin since I've been having alot of luck with mindworms.