SoaSE versus X3?

Post Reply New Topic

I currently only have experience with the game Sins of a Solar Empire (in regard to space-strategy type games) and I was wondering what people think of X3: Terran Conflict in contrast/comparison to Sins of a Solar Empire. From what I could glean from the box at GameStop and what information there is online, it sounds as if you can play lots of roles although in the screenshots it appears more like a surprisingly more detailed version of Starlancer. But what do people here know who have played either X3 or both X3 and SoaSE?

blimey they are both set in space but really there completly differnt games.

X3 is more like Starlancers Sequal Freelancer.

It's more focused on creating a vast trade empire. You can pilot just about any ship in the game from small scout ships to huge carriers that can carry 40+ships. Once you aquire the funds you can build your own stations and create vast complex's

It's more of a spiritual successor to the Elite series then a real time 4x strategy game. Though there are story lines (about 15 or so in Terran Conflict) The original X3 Reunion's story line was like a tutorial on how the game mechanics worked. Terran Conflict tends to throw you into the fray straight away.

You have about 60 sectors or so plus the solar system divided up into various sectors. The entire game world is alive, so you can be the otherside of the map doing things while a xenon invasion is taking place in another sector. The interface allows you to manage multiple numbers of ships at once who can be in differnt locations throughout the universe.

The game does have its limitations. Though there are tons of user made mods for the game. The various empires in the game don't really interact with each other so you never really see intentional attacks or conflict along borders. You never really feel you ever have competition out there once you get to a certain stage in the game

X3 I guess is a much more simple solo play version of the Eve Online MMO game. Now that is quite a hardcore space strategy with a free market economy. It does require that you don't have a life to play it though.

Dunno. I haven't played SoaSE but I have played X3 and I was disappointed by it.

It looks nice, It has a nice economic model. But it does lack atmosphere and the feeling that you are interacting with a living world. It also has a steap learning curve to get into the more complex side of it. The space combat can be quite unforgiving especially if missiles are involved.

As I kinda alluded to before. X3 is far outstripped in terms of scope and ambition by the MMO Eve Online which has a far superior living free market system, player interaction in corporations in unclaimed space and the kind of politics, intrigue you would expect of competing factions in deep space.

The only down side is you need the time and the dedication to get anywhere in it. If you have any form of a social life eve online might not be worth the monthly subsription. I never went beyond my 3 month trial because of this. I could easily see myself becoming an addict to that kind of game

Sins of a solar empire on the other hand I would say brought some fresh ideas to the 4x strategy game genre.

Although it is played out in real time it's at a convenient pace (unlike your typical RTS) theres lots of strategy and its really built for online play. Playing solo against the AI can be a challenge but really the game is setup for online action. Both for quick and fast paced games and for slow long term games stretched out over several star systems.

I think were it falls short is despite its two add ons (Entrenchment which added more defensive tactics and depth to the game, and the more recent addon which expanded on the diplomatic options)
It's never really quite reached its full potential. If you find it going for a budget price i'd still pick it up its a good game with a strong online community. Just don't expect a master peice like Master of Orion 2 or your typical real time strategy game

X3 is an Elite clone. A sandbox space trading game, in which you play as a single pilot and are given the freedom to do whatever you want. It has an extremely non-intuitive interface and a learning curve that's practically vertical. However, if you get past that, it's pretty deep and it can be a lot of fun, with its full simulated economy and the freedoms it provides to the player. It's a very stark game, though. Very dry. I found the story pretty pointless, but that's not the focus of the game. It's mainly just a sandbox.

In my opinion, X3 was a good effort but it still has a few problems with its game design. However, considering barely any developers are making Elite clones these days, it's really all there is, unless you want to invest a lot of time and money into an MMO like EVE Online (which is probably the best successor to Elite that there is out there right now).

---------------------

Sins of a Solar Empire is an unorthadox 4X game. It's like a cross between the old turn-based 4X strategy games and RTSs. If you enjoyed games like Homeworld, or other 4X games like Galactic Civilisations, then give it a try. It's a good game, especially if you like strategy games.

INCOMING MESSAGE FROM MAD HATTER'S TEA PARTY

EvE IS NO SUCCESSOR TO ELITE. SADLY.

MESSAGE ENDS

Regards,

Cmdr Jameson, Retd., Elite (BBC, M128, ArcElite, PC, FE2, FFE)


I have my eye on Infinity, but it's a long shot. Though a shorter shot than Elite 4.

Well, I liked X3, but not until I got rid of the starforce s**t it installs.

And yeah, I think you can command up to a whole entire fleet in it. Really steep learning curve though, which sucks when I decide not to play it for a long while and have to relearn everything.


SoaSE I havent tried yet, but from what I have heard and seen, it reminds me a lot of Nexus: The Jupiter incident.

Nexus: The jupiter incident Was a decent game IMO, but it did have its issues, mainly story/dialogue related. It was purely RTS style space combat though with some exploration aspects. The actual scale of the systems in game you fly through are definately impressive but it can take forever to get from point a to point b. Battles have plenty of eye candy. From being able to see and zoom in upon every individual detail of every ship, including fighters (to the point of even seeing tiny directional thrusters in use and docking bays on ships open and close, as well as the many turrets moving on capital and cruiser sized vessels among many other things. There are plenty of mods out there (Includeing a stargate one i am addicted to.) As for other stuff pertaining to combat it is very strategic, you can just focus on blowing up the main part of the ship itself (which will get you killed), to targetting individual subsystems of the space vessels and just leaving them completely disabled while you tear it apart or capture it for your own use. You can even assign officers to individual ships (on a capital class Ive had around 20 officers doing individual tasks such as sensors, med bay and whatnot.)

Then there is my favorite, which is freelancer.

There's also one coming up called Black Prophecy - looks like it has a decent chance of getting started.

Interesting comparing Sins to Nexus. Nexus is a more in depth with ship tactics. Considering its a game forged out of an abandoned imperium galactica 3 engine (black hole I think the engine was called?) it's a cracking good game. I would say its more like the single player campaign of the Homeworld series then Sins of a solar empire. Though instead of a mothership and fleet you are managing a squadron of capital ships in terms of scale. There seems to be a trend towards smaller scale games where the focus is on tactical level not a strategic theatre level of managing a war effort, building bases etc

Sins of a solar empire is definatly a 4x game with economics and infrastructure building whereas nexus has a linear storyline with the strategy being in the deep tactical combat. Nexus: The jupiter incident is a criminally under rated game if you've never played it before.

I do feel somewhat sad when playing Nexus though because I can't help but think how awesome imperium galactica III would have been on this engine before digital reality went bust.

Infinity is something to look foward too.

I ran into this game awhile back. This seems to be more similair to sins of a solar empire/homeworld. Theres a demo of a fleet combat, it looks quite chaotic to me but we shall see how it turns out

Star Ruler Website Link

If you guys like Elite clones, you should give Escape Velocity: Nova a try. It was originally a Mac game (wow!) but it was converted to PC. It's faux-isometric 2D, and it's really fun.

They are two completely different games. X3 is a space trading and combat simulator, it's not like Starlancer which is just a space combat simulator. X3 is a game were the player starts in a relatively small, outdated ship (that said, the ship the player controls is generally larger than that in pure space combat simulators) with little money and status and for the player to work his way up, gaining in status and power through trading, exploration, combat or a mix of different methods. There are other games similar to X3, including Elite, Wing Commander: Privateer, and Freelancer.