Space Empires IV vs Space Empires V? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

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Astrella

2013-02-20, 10:15 AM

Cristo Meyers

2013-02-20, 11:23 AM

A couple of years ago I played some very enjoyable play by email games of Space Empires IV on these very boards, and lately I've been sorta itching to get something similar going again.

However, I can't find my copy of the game anymore, so I'd have to buy it again. I'm just a bit unsure which one of the two to go for though this time around, so I'd like to hear some thoughts on the differences between both games and how they compare.

Thanks in advance~

V left me cold. Yeah, it's 3d instead of 2d, but that's about all it has going for it. There wasn't much in the way of new tech, just a whole lot of added generations of the old, combat felt like a mess, and it just felt like there was a lot of bloat rather than anything really new. It would've felt so much better if they'd just taken IV and given it a graphics upgrade rather than changing it so much.

Go with IV, it's the better game by far.

SapereAude1490

2013-02-20, 11:42 AM

I would say go with Space Empires V + mods, but that would be unfair, as I haven't even played SE IV.

Sharoth

2013-02-20, 02:57 PM

I have both but have not played either yet. They are on my "To Be Played Sometime in the Future" list.

Gnoman

2013-02-20, 07:51 PM

First, V usually includes IV.

Second, V is the better game by far. The damage system is semi-directional, meaning that shots damage components based on the angle they hit from (however, layers trump this). This translates into a much better ship design system. Most importantly, the real-time combat eliminates the main drawback of IV, mainly the extreme amount of time a fleet action takes to resolve in turn-based mode.

Under the hood, modding is far easier for most purposes (While IV had each iteration of a technology as a seperate tech, V simply uses formulas to advance components), although shipsets are much harder to make due to the need for textured 3D models.

Martok

2013-02-28, 10:56 AM

I've only ever played SEIV, and that was just the demo (although I did just purchase the full game from Steam yesterday for $2.49 - yay!), so I cannot personally comment on which is better.

However...

Second, V is the better game by far.
Ironically, my impression has long been the exact opposite. Of the folks I know who've played both, most have said they prefer Space Empires IV.

As I understand it, SEIV has a lot more mods available, as well as a better AI (which many of the mods further improve). Moreover, Space Empires V is notorious for being very hit-and-miss regarding how well it plays on machines with more recent OS's (particularly Windows 7) -- I've seen a fair few people report being unable to run the game on newer PC's.

There may be more arguments to be made for why most people I know like IV over V, but those are the ones I've been made aware of (and remember).

Gnoman

2013-02-28, 05:06 PM

IV has more mods due to a much longer existence cycle, and any improvements to the AI are beyond my ability to detect, as it's still quite easy to game them.
Further, many of the best mods are human-only anyway.

The main thing I've heard people use to claim that IV is better usually seem to boil down to the simpler ship design interface (which I loathe), and the addition of ordanance bays (which I find to still be too great an abstraction, but an improvement.)

Dragonfire

2013-02-28, 08:15 PM

I think it comes down to preference. Personally I've always enjoyed IV better than V but I never really played V to the same extent as IV.

I liked IV better than V because I could easily run it while doing other things. I dislike the way they did research in V and found the ship design confusing. (Though it makes a lot more sense now that I know placement effects what takes damage)

zombie

2013-03-02, 06:28 AM

there is currently a promo running on steam, both space empires games are 75% off and you can get both bundled for 3.49 GBP