Not Sure of a Solar Empire

Get a real copy

If you do get impulse and update, and find mods on the fourms and see if you sins in the same light again, if so, ...

I do indeed have a real copy, sir. I would not worry about the game's value-for-money if I did not in fact pay money for it.

Your suggestion of downloading mods seems like a good one, however. Which mods would you suggest (i.e. the most popular)?

J.

Research and abilities are where the racial differences are. If you don't take advantage of them, there's little wonder you think everything's pretty much the same.

it can get boring from time to time.. especially with the current carrier spamming  always building the same ships to counter them.... every game get's the same....

only a few mods are worth having imho,

bailknights graphic mod really restores some fun with laggy battles >.>

others are fun in single player or with friend games....  but not nearly as great as sins vanilla (but perhaps thats just becuase it's near impossible to find oponents with mods at a random time...)

It is difficult to compare Sins and GC2.  One's a RTS, the other's a TBS.

Sins is the sort of game that has a lot of different levels to it.  The basic strategies aren't very deep, but the abilities and techs can lead to all sorts of complicated strategies and tactics.  Large games can often turn into games of chess.

The major differences between the races are subtle: for example, the TEC tend toward cheap units and brute force which is reflected in the abilities of their cap ships which tend toward either damage dealing or weapons/abilitiy boosts.  The Advent have fleet synergy to the extreme which is to say that their abililties lend themselves to having particular ships with you and using the abilitites correctly.  The Advent are also culture masters which, while wins thru culture are not actually in the victory conditions they can happen if you play right (against the AI mostly).  The Vasari are somewhat specialized, requiring a bit more micro than the other races and being a bit on the ecclectic side as far as abilities.  Playing as the Vasari requires a thorough knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses.  Another thing, GC2 (yes I have it) has all the races with pretty much identical ships if I remember correctly.  I didnt like it much so I only played for a while but it seemed to me that I always had one set of ships while the AI always had another but there was never any variation.  Sins is totally different and is worth getting into more so you can appreciate the differences.  Also try out the Star Wars mod

Sins is...bigger than an RTS and smaller than a 4X. its a hybrid of the two.

Sins has a more involved and detailed civilian and tech research element to it than any RTS i've played but it doesn't approach the scope of detail on those things that you find in Galactic Civilization. you're wrong about the techology system, by the way. it has major game changing technology in it for all 3 factions. the special abilities for the frigates and cruisers come from research and have incredibly dramatic effects on the game. the late game civilian technologies have a totally transformative effect on the objectives and playstyles of all 3 factions. 

Sins has a more dynamic and fast paced combat than anything i've ever found in a 4X game which is usually turn based plodding snooze-ville combat where 5 beats 4 automatically, because 5 is a bigger number. Sins combat requires maneuvering and timing and clever usage of units special abilities. and yet its a bit slower paced than most RTS games so you have more time to react and the overall strategic considerations (reinforcements, costs of deployment, etc.) become much more significant. 

if you want to really enjoy the depth that IS present in Sins you should focus on the things that Sins does well. its not as detailed as a 4X but its alot more dynamic. its not as varied as an RTS but its alot more strategic. (especially compared to something like DoW2 which has no strategy left at all, and is basically an action-RPG arcade game with some nods to having once been in the RTS genre). 

Sins is a very rewarding game in alot of ways. it disposes of alot of the tedium and "spreadsheet manager" features of a 4X game in order to focus on a more dynamic combat system. but it doesn't shift too far in the direction of fast-paced action, its deliberately slowed down compared to other games so that your large scale strategic choices become amplified in importance relative to the immediate tactical situation. 

Two good ones I see and use are distant stars and mad scientist. they are all over the forums.

check out the dynamic battle mod by mansh00ter.  it gives frigates and cruisers more fighter like movement, it makes the battles look more like ships flying around fighting instead of revolutionary war soldiers standing and shooting at 50 paces.

Did you try playing it in online multiplayer against real human opponents?  You might find it to be much more challenging and intense that way.

Yes, indeed. That's the only way I can enjoy this game. CPU just isnt challenging.

When I first played Sins, I thought it was ok, but the more I play it, the more I like it. I love it now.

I tried playing Galactic Civilisations 2 and I found it to be ALOT less rewarding then Sins.

I don't understand why you were expecting Sins to be like GC. Sins is advertised as an RTS and RT4X. It is in a different genre to GC2.

I agree.  GalCiv2 is a fine game, but it comes across as...quaint compared to Sins.  GalCiv is more of a board game while Sins is like a cinematic experience that just sweeps you along with non-stop action.  What is more, GalCiv is much more of a "you are an emperor!" type of game while Sins is more of a "you are an admiral!" type of game.  By that, I mean GalCiv has you focusing on tax rates and manufacturing and even ship design - the type of stuff an emperor might do.  Sins is much more tightly focused on putting together a war effort to conquer a solar system (or two...or three).  As such, your purview is one of forming fleets, preparing defenses, directing military research and general strategizing. 

Each has it charms.  For me, I much rather conquer than govern. 

So would I.

Yes, you DEFINATELY missed something. You clearly have no understanding of the uniqueness and strategic importance of the tech trees or races or ships.

They are big differences in the ships, technologies and styles of play between the races.

Sins has a lot of variety because they are so many different strategies, synergies and tactics that you can use.

On the contrary, I'd say it simply shifts it. Rather than looking at the economy or industrial complexity you're looking at ship fire arcs and turning speeds.

The races are quite different, but it's subtle rather than being obvious (for the most part anyway). Special abilities available to capital ships, for example TEC ships usually boost their own capabilities, while the Advent tends to assist others; abilities of ships as a whole, i.e. whether your scouts or colonisers have the ability to take over neutral outposts makes a difference; how ships behave, even though all three races have carriers they are not identical; even something as simple as how many labs you need to build before the first shield upgrade can be researched can make a difference in how the race plays out.