Sins anyone?

heat901

Senior member
Dec 17, 2009
750
0
0
I have owned Sins of the solar empire since release as well as the expansion.... wondering if anyone still plays and wants to do some multiplayer?...... I played last night though our team sucks and we lost but it was still fun.
 

ZzZGuy

Golden Member
Nov 15, 2006
1,855
0
0
I usually play co-op with real life friends. I am not a fan of small/tiny maps or playing 2+ hours with other people I don't know.
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
I think its whippersnapper or someone who is always advertising sins multiplayer here, he will likely play online with you.
 

heat901

Senior member
Dec 17, 2009
750
0
0
I kinda like the big maps as long as people dont turtle like crazy....damn starbases!
 
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
91
<Blush>

Oh yeah, people are still playing Sins online, though sadly the player counts are lower than what the game deserves. Still, you should be able to find games during North American prime time and on weekends. It will be easier if you have Entrenchment though you might be more likely to find newer (to online) players in Regular Sins. Your best bet for finding newer players is to look for games with "Normal" speed settings and also on the weekends.

Just log onto ICO and dive in.

Do be aware that regardless of how good you are against the AI, that the online game against human opponents is much more challenging and that as a new (to online) player you will get beaten a lot while you learn how to play against other people. (Even the pros get thumped down by other pros. In a two team game, half the players are destined to lose.)

I think that as a new player, at least in the team game, it helps to try to frame your criterion for having fun a little differently. Think of your goal in the game as that of not having to defeat your immediate opponent but rather that you want to remain a factor in the game for as long as possible and to be as big of a pain-in-the-ass as possible. You just want to survive and to occupy whoever is beating you up as long as you can so that your allies can win their battles without your assailant joining his buddy for a 2v1 against your ally.

So, for example, you are not obligated to throw your fleet away when it's obvious that your opponent's fleet will wipe out your fleet. It would be better to just avoid combat and either migrate to the middle of the map (preventing easy colonizations and forcing the bad guys to have to bomb those planets out to increase their holdings) or to hit the guy who is attacking you in the back with your force so that he has to retreat his ships. Then just continue to use a hit-and-run approach. That would help your team much more than just getting wiped out completely. (After all, if your team wins, you win even if you lost your battles.)

One of the mistakes new players often make is to allow themselves to get decisively knocked out of the game completely (no planets, no colonizer frigates or colonizing capital ships) rendering themselves a non-factor. So the first strategy you're going to want to learn is simply, how to survive and buy time for the heavy hitters on your team. What can you do to climb back into the game and to remain a factor. (A guy with only 2 planets in the middle of the map and 2 capital ships and 20 long range frigates can attack someone an ally is fighting, causing a 2-on-1, remaining a factor in the game.) Do note that if you have to migrate, you will need to designate a new home planet at some point (or you'll never have a credit or resource income).

Alternatively, you could try to hole up at your home terran with a starbase and supporting defenses (repair bays, hanger bays, flak frigates, your own carriers with fighters, etc.) and buy time. (This is probably your only option for buying time for your allies in a 2v2 or 3v3 if things start going badly for you.)

If you try to think about the game that way, it might be more fun. Note that the migration strategy really only applies to larger games--4v4 and 5v5. Smaller games such as 2v2 and 3v3 are much less forgiving since there probably won't be too many planets to migrate to and if you go down, it becomes 2v1 or 3v2 against your allies.

So try to play 5v5's if you can. Just introduce yourself to the game's host and tell him that you are new (and not a smurf) and would really like to play. You'll probably end up as last pick in the player draft (aka "fat boy") so you'll try to survive and buy time for the heavy hitters. (In the 5v5's people will go to Team 10, two people will become captains, and then they'll draft-pick the players in an A-BB-AA-BB-A order so that the first captain has the first and last picks. The idea is to get balanced teams and better games.)
 

coloumb

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,069
0
81
Oh man..I thought this was about the FPS game "SIN" and a possible new release.. :)
 

heat901

Senior member
Dec 17, 2009
750
0
0
<Blush>

Oh yeah, people are still playing Sins online, though sadly the player counts are lower than what the game deserves. Still, you should be able to find games during North American prime time and on weekends. It will be easier if you have Entrenchment though you might be more likely to find newer (to online) players in Regular Sins. Your best bet for finding newer players is to look for games with "Normal" speed settings and also on the weekends.

Just log onto ICO and dive in.

Do be aware that regardless of how good you are against the AI, that the online game against human opponents is much more challenging and that as a new (to online) player you will get beaten a lot while you learn how to play against other people. (Even the pros get thumped down by other pros. In a two team game, half the players are destined to lose.)

I think that as a new player, at least in the team game, it helps to try to frame your criterion for having fun a little differently. Think of your goal in the game as that of not having to defeat your immediate opponent but rather that you want to remain a factor in the game for as long as possible and to be as big of a pain-in-the-ass as possible. You just want to survive and to occupy whoever is beating you up as long as you can so that your allies can win their battles without your assailant joining his buddy for a 2v1 against your ally.

So, for example, you are not obligated to throw your fleet away when it's obvious that your opponent's fleet will wipe out your fleet. It would be better to just avoid combat and either migrate to the middle of the map (preventing easy colonizations and forcing the bad guys to have to bomb those planets out to increase their holdings) or to hit the guy who is attacking you in the back with your force so that he has to retreat his ships. Then just continue to use a hit-and-run approach. That would help your team much more than just getting wiped out completely. (After all, if your team wins, you win even if you lost your battles.)

One of the mistakes new players often make is to allow themselves to get decisively knocked out of the game completely (no planets, no colonizer frigates or colonizing capital ships) rendering themselves a non-factor. So the first strategy you're going to want to learn is simply, how to survive and buy time for the heavy hitters on your team. What can you do to climb back into the game and to remain a factor. (A guy with only 2 planets in the middle of the map and 2 capital ships and 20 long range frigates can attack someone an ally is fighting, causing a 2-on-1, remaining a factor in the game.) Do note that if you have to migrate, you will need to designate a new home planet at some point (or you'll never have a credit or resource income).

Alternatively, you could try to hole up at your home terran with a starbase and supporting defenses (repair bays, hanger bays, flak frigates, your own carriers with fighters, etc.) and buy time. (This is probably your only option for buying time for your allies in a 2v2 or 3v3 if things start going badly for you.)

If you try to think about the game that way, it might be more fun. Note that the migration strategy really only applies to larger games--4v4 and 5v5. Smaller games such as 2v2 and 3v3 are much less forgiving since there probably won't be too many planets to migrate to and if you go down, it becomes 2v1 or 3v2 against your allies.

So try to play 5v5's if you can. Just introduce yourself to the game's host and tell him that you are new (and not a smurf) and would really like to play. You'll probably end up as last pick in the player draft (aka "fat boy") so you'll try to survive and buy time for the heavy hitters. (In the 5v5's people will go to Team 10, two people will become captains, and then they'll draft-pick the players in an A-BB-AA-BB-A order so that the first captain has the first and last picks. The idea is to get balanced teams and better games.)


So this long post means you want me on your team?? ;)
 
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
91
Uh...let me get back to you on that. :sneaky:

I play with the team I draft or get picked onto, so if we end up on the same team then I guess I'll be coachin' when I'm not fighting my own battles.

I just won a tough 4v4 as Vasari. Captain on my team was run over by a good player but another teammate ran over one of the opposing players, making it 3v3. I had a good expansion and good eco but couldn't really kill a saavy TEC smurf who was between me (and the guy who killed the other good player). It became pretty clear that we had most of the planets (24-14) around 1:25 and the other team finally called it gg (good games) and quit at 1:45. I figure that if I had been Advent I would have knocked out my nearby TEC opponent. He wasn't falling for the Vasari starbase trick though he did impale his fleet on one of my upgraded starbases that was backed up with Subverters (to paralyze his fleet) and a small fleet of Assailants and flaks.
 
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Karsten

Platinum Member
Oct 9, 1999
2,192
0
0
I never tried Sins multi player.... I guess I should reinstall and give that a shot.
 

lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
260
126
No, won't touch it till all of the "dlc" crap is included in the base game; so sometime after the third module is released.
 
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
91
No, won't touch it till all of the "dlc" crap is included in the base game; so sometime after the third module is released.

Why are you letting having to install Impulse get in your way of playing this great game? Impulse is very benign and you don't even need to run it in order to play, just to patch it or to purchase the expansions.
 

lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
260
126
Because brad is a first class schmuck with his pc gamer rights bullcrap while at the same time instituting a drm scheme on a similar level of steam.
 
Oct 30, 2004
11,442
32
91
I think I'd rather have the Impulse system than Starforce or Securom. It doesn't bother me one bit. The only time I ever have to worry about Impulse is if I want to get the latest patch or purchase an expansion.
 

heat901

Senior member
Dec 17, 2009
750
0
0
I think impulse is very nice and I have heard impulse actual does refunds if a game is buggy unlike steam... like demigod was when it was released. I think stardock makes some interesting games that are different,fun and for the most part strategy.

Sins expansions are the few I feel that are actually worth and are only $10. Unlike something like talor of valor which was 30 on release and only added a few new units. When I play sins I feel the money was worth it... sorta like a high class hooker...jk ;)