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Publisher: Strategy First
Developer: Malfador Machinations
Home page: http://www.malfador.com/Se5.html
Genre: 4X Turn Based Strategy
Date of Release: October 16, 2006
Demo: available
Patch: available
   
Space Empires V (SE5) is the latest game in the Space Empires series.
SE5 will be a turn based strategy game in which you serve as the leader of a starfaring race, controlling every facet of the development of your empire from a single small homeworld to a vast interstellar empire. Unlike the previous games, the combat engine will be real time rendered in 3D graphics. The main game itself will still be in the turn based format we all know and love.
SE5 features even more powerful modding capabilities than SE4. The data files are parsable for formulas, allowing modders to create very complex lines of components and facilities in a very compact, easy to maintain manner. The AI is configurable through a scripting engine open to modders via text files, unlike the SE4 system where only a few data entry points were open to modifications.
Research in SE5 returned to the SE3 percentage based model, as opposed to the SE4 queue based model. More fine-grained control is given to the player, and there is no hard coded limit of working on 12 projects in a turn. This can hurt in the later stages of the game where your empire produces many hundreds of thousands or millions of research points.
Intelligence (espionage and sabotage) will be similar in some ways to SE3. Points will be allocated to focus areas, rather than specific projects. Less micromanagement will be involved, but also possibly less control over just what your agents do.
The game is getting a major graphics update, as evidenced by the growing number of publically available screen shots of SE5. Many are available in the SpaceEmpires.net Image Gallery. All of the 3D models for the game are in the .X format, as with Starfury. The game engine will support JPG as well as BMP file format, for reduced installation size.
The system maps use a hex based grid, rather than the old square based grid. Hexes eliminate the absurdity of moving 1.4 units in diagonal directions in the same time it takes to move 1 unit horizontally or vertically. Also, the systems have 3d rendered objects, rather than just static bitmaps. The view can be rotated, zoomed, and set to a top-down angle instead of the angle shown in the system screenshot. There was supposed to be more object types in systems, such as ship wreckage and debris, but this has not been realized yet in the game.
The political system received a revamping. Treaties are no longer be statically defined. Instead, you can customize all aspects of the treaties you sign with other empires. Also, each empire now has a Government and Society type. Unfortunately, these are just as boring as SE4's Cultures, with a few production, happines, loyalty, etc. modifiers. So much more could have been done... Depressingly, some jackass complained about unbalanced racial characteristics in SE4, so Malfador responded by destroying the system and leaving us with only the Advanced Traits, rather than simply balancing the costs as many, many SE4 mods were able to do successfully.
Potential System Requirements:
- Pentium 500MHz or better class machine
- Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP
- 64 megabytes RAM or better
- 1024x768 or better screen resolution
- 16 bit color display or better
- DirectX 7.0 (or better)
- A video card with 3D acceleration
- 500 megs hard drive space
- A sound card capable of supporting MP3 and DirectSound playback. Sound card must be DirectX 7.0 (or better) compatible.
Design / Programming:
- Aaron Hall
Lead Artist:
- David Gervais
Artwork:
- Tim Spanjer - Ship Models
- Zeke Mass - Ship Models
- John Beech - Facility Models
- Dean Hu - Components
- Kevin Arisa - Components
- Tim McElwain - Components
- Shane Watson - Race Portraits
Sound Effects:
- Christopher DeLaurenti
All of the information on this page was gathered from publically available IRC chat logs, reviews, screen shots, and official web sites.
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