Join the Rebellion! Closed Sins Beta released!

[WhipperSnapper]

It sounds like the beta of the stand-alone update to Sins of a Solar Empire--Rebellion--may be released in March:

http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/418041

Sins is a fantastic RTS that offers great online multiplayer but without the APM-based clickfest aspect of Starcraft and most other RTS's. Sadly, it seems to have been overlooked by traditional online multiplayer RTS fans. Rebellion will be a stand-alone product that includes all of the prior Sins content and the new Rebellion content.

Can't wait!

Join the Rebellion against PC gaming consolization and APM-based clickfestyness!

 

[Nintendesert]

I hope they release this version on Steam from the start.

 

[Maximilian]

I am excited :thumbsup:

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I hope they release this version on Steam from the start.

I think they're going to use Steamworks for the online multiplayer part, so I'm guessing that it will be available via Steam. If not then you would just directly download it from Stardock. (No more Gamestop.)

 

[Nintendesert]

Ohh, directly from Stardock is nice too. After Gamestop bought Impulse I haven't bought anymore games through them that I can recall.

 

[JamesV]

Figures I buy Sins on Steam when it comes out, and am literally so busy with other games it gets no play atm... and now a sequel.

Do the right thing video gods. I own the original game on retail and on Steam now. Give me the new game free or for $5, and I won't sell my physical copy on Ebay.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

Figures I buy Sins on Steam when it comes out, and am literally so busy with other games it gets no play atm... and now a sequel.

Do the right thing video gods. I own the original game on retail and on Steam now. Give me the new game free or for $5, and I won't sell my physical copy on Ebay.

What? You bought the previous game so now you want them to give you this new one, a huge $40 stand alone game, for free? Why? How do you expect them to make money exactly?

Anyway. I loved sins and have not played nearly as much as I should have. Too scared by my lack of skills, and practice, to jump into multiplayer. But the single player AI is more than enough for me.

 

[Red Storm]

Thanks to OP, I now always associate the character in your avatar with SoSE.

Will definitely check this out, thanks!

 

[Rhezuss]

I always wanted to try these kind of games but never did.

Rebellion might just be the one that finally get me into this genre.

Hows the learning curve on SoSE and is it newb friendly?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Hows the learning curve on SoSE and is it newb friendly?

For online multiplayer PvP? No, it isn't noob friendly.

It is a very deep and complex strategy game, and there's a lot to learn and it has a learning curve. Rebellion is basically a 3rd expansion on the original game that will include all of the previous content, so there's going to be a lot of content and detail.

Ideally, the way to learn this game would be to start off with the original Sins game and go through the built-in tutorial several times and then play the original ("Vanilla") in single player. There you will learn the basics of the game--the mechanics and most of the different ship types, the races and their counters.

Entrenchment added starbases and other defensive fortifications which proved to add many new strategic elements to the game.

Diplomacy didn't really add too much for the multiplayer PvP game, and those games pretty much feel like Entrenchment.

Rebellion will add a significant amount of new content.

I'm guessing that someone who is brand new to the series and who is purchasing Rebellion would want to spend a couple months playing it offline in single player or maybe playing it online in comp stomps.

Over time you'll become very comfortable with the mechanics and you will have learned about all of the units and structures, unit and racial strengths and weaknesses, etc. You'll start to be able to destroy the Hard difficulty level AI easily and you'll be able to beat the Unfair level AI without too much of a problem. That's when you're ready to start with online multiplayer PvP.

However, the good news is that, presumably, tons of new people will be playing it online, so you'll be similarly situated to them and you could play against them. Also, supposedly the new online system will prevent smurfing! I think that means that you'll be able to see players' actual records and tell who is new and who is a pro. It might also include a player matching system.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Anyway. I loved sins and have not played nearly as much as I should have. Too scared by my lack of skills, and practice, to jump into multiplayer. But the single player AI is more than enough for me.

A good way to measure whether or not you are ready to play against other people online is how well you do against the AI. Can you destroy the Hard difficulty level AI easily? Can you beat the Unfair level AI without too much of a problem?

If so, then you're probably ready to start learning how to play against human players (who don't do silly suicidal things like the AI does and who might actually try to outsmart you).

Of course, as I said in my last post, when Rebellion is released, there could be tons of new people online and there might be a player skill matching system through Steamworks. Alternatively you could seek out players who don't have many games played online and avoid playing against the pros.

Here are links to three recent game replays in case any of you are wondering what a multiplayer PvP game looks like. You need Diplomacy v1.34 to watch them. (Single Player ---> Watch Game ---> Record-Multiplayer.) You have to find your Sins Application Data folder and then add the files to your "Record-Multiplayer" folder. I played in these games under the name "Servalan".

http://www.mediafire.com/?1mpkm01pxbj88b4
http://www.mediafire.com/?18pw88014zhhb7d
http://www.gamefront.com/files/21346443/4+on+4+Feb+2012.record

Read this post for help in finding your Sins Application Data folder:

http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/363325/page/1/#2366750

 

[WhipperSnapper]

It's out! I'm downloading the Beta as I type this. I guess only the TEC Rebels and Loyalists are available at this point.

 

[Maximilian]

Is this a closed beta?

 

[stevty2889]

Playing the beta right now, have been looking forward to this for a while.

 

[zinfamous]

how does one get into this beta?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

You need to have done a pre-order to get the Beta. I'm pretty sure that if you order it now you're entitled to play the Beta.

http://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/store#rebellion

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I spent about two hours screwing around with it in single player. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I like the addition of the Titan ships and the new (optional) victory conditions.

So far it looks like each of the six races/subraces gets one Titan, one new capital ship class that can capture and take over enemy frigates (I dunno if it works on capital ships), and an annoying little gnat of a ship called the Corsair.

A new type of colonizable asteroid was added. It's a "Moon" and it's basically the same as an asteroid except it looks like a tiny spherical planet and it hosts up to 30 planet population.

The new victory conditions are the other large addition. There's a Research victory condition, an "Occupy a special planet" condition, a "Last flagship standing" condition, and a "just kill your opponent's home planets" condition. They can all be turned off or turned on in any combination from what I can tell.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

In other news, now that we're going to be forced to use Steam to play Rebellion online, I figure that we might as well start using the chat room--which can be used even when you don't have Sins up and running, like an IRC channel but for Sins. (Personally, I like IRC, but it's so old school at this point and so few newer gamers know what it is, that it's no longer very viable.)

The chat channel is associated with my Sins group;

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/SinsOnline

 

[obidamnkenobi]

A good way to measure whether or not you are ready to play against other people online is how well you do against the AI. Can you destroy the Hard difficulty level AI easily? Can you beat the Unfair level AI without too much of a problem?

If so, then you're probably ready to start learning how to play against human players (who don't do silly suicidal things like the AI does and who might actually try to outsmart you).

Of course, as I said in my last post, when Rebellion is released, there could be tons of new people online and there might be a player skill matching system through Steamworks. Alternatively you could seek out players who don't have many games played online and avoid playing against the pros.

Here are links to three recent game replays in case any of you are wondering what a multiplayer PvP game looks like. You need Diplomacy v1.34 to watch them. (Single Player ---> Watch Game ---> Record-Multiplayer.) You have to find your Sins Application Data folder and then add the files to your "Record-Multiplayer" folder. I played in these games under the name "Servalan".

http://www.mediafire.com/?1mpkm01pxbj88b4
http://www.mediafire.com/?18pw88014zhhb7d
http://www.gamefront.com/files/21346443/4+on+4+Feb+2012.record

Read this post for help in finding your Sins Application Data folder:

http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/363325/page/1/#2366750

cool! I'll check those out. Even just to see how MP sins is played, and how it should be played

Pretty sure I'd need more practice to beat hard AI, since I haven't played sins much in the last year. I quickly feel behind in starcraft 2 so kinda gave up on that. Played several games against AI in company of heroes too, but got beat there so decided going online wasn't a good idea..

I like to get into some MP strategy games, since I always prefer RTS over FPS, but it just takes more work than I have time for. I never really seem to have enough time to set aside for one game to get good at RTSes. Maybe Rebellion will be it, we'll see.. lol

When is release for this, fall?

 

[Red Storm]

Pre-ordered, downloading now.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Can I preorder this on steam somehow or do I have to do it on their site?

 

[SLU Aequitas]

Le sigh, paying full price for it is kinda meh, they offer a $10 discount if I own Diplomacy, but I only own SoSE + Entrenchment. If I ordered Diplomacy then I basically get it for free, but I won't really be playing it as far as I can tell, Rebellion basically has everything + it's own features. I'm not really convinced Rebellion is more than a large expansion.

 

[Nintendesert]

Maybe I missed it, but how does this preorder and activate on Steam work? Are we getting a download and then for release a CD key to activate on steam?

 

[rpanic]

Maybe I missed it, but how does this preorder and activate on Steam work? Are we getting a download and then for release a CD key to activate on steam?

They email key for steam.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Le sigh, paying full price for it is kinda meh, they offer a $10 discount if I own Diplomacy, but I only own SoSE + Entrenchment. If I ordered Diplomacy then I basically get it for free, but I won't really be playing it as far as I can tell, Rebellion basically has everything + it's own features. I'm not really convinced Rebellion is more than a large expansion.

If you own Entrenchment and you're planning to get Rebellion then you might as well just order Diplomacy while the $10 pre-order discount is still available. Rebellion won't include .exe's for the earlier versions of the game, so it would be worth it to have Diplomacy.

IMHO Rebellion really doesn't add that much. The benefit of it is being able to play the game in online multiplayer against human opponents. Right now Diplomacy is the place to be, but once Rebellion is released, then the action will probably be for Rebellion.

If you only play offline single player and have no interest in playing vs. people and don't get bored with the AI then I'm not sure I see the point of buying Rebellion when lots of great mods are available. (I think some even have their own titan-like ships.)