Thanks for the heads up regarding the diplomatic events. I haven't had any pop up yet but I'll keep an eye out for them as I continue with my game. I'm strong enough that no one sees me as easy picking so hopefully I attract some allies naturally since I've managed to lock myself out of normal ...

So I've recently returned to this game because I got an email about helping out with beta testing as the new DLC is approaching. I've been enjoying myself playing SiS as always, but I ran across a scenario that I've never encountered before which is causing me problems.

To start off the game I ...

Nice looking small craft! Looking forward to seeing those in the game. I also like the concept of independent star fighter squadrons that can travel on their own for raiding and quick strikes on unsuspecting targets.

As far as small craft roles go I think each should have their strengths and ...

By garrisons I'm thinking he meant what we see in Total War and also Endless Legend. It would be a force of ships that spawn to defend planets that never leave orbit. Think of system defense ships without FTL drives. Offers a mechanic to prevent "rushing" victories and force an aggressor to build up ...

Honestly I don't feel like I need a tech tree in every game. For those who yearn to min-max and such they obviously want to see what tech path they plan to follow, but sometimes its nice not to immediately know where everything will lead. SiS already tells you upfront what techs will be unlocked and ...

Very nice indeed. This will go a long way to helping the galaxy feel alive rather than just a bunch of empty planets to colonize.

I generally prefer systems where I can't switch between techs and carry over my progress, due to reasons already stated by others including realism and a welcomed increased focus on important decision making when picking techs. However, I do think that being able to keep the progress you've made on ...

My guess is Iceberg. Slitherine just released Polaris Sector but besides that their only other interest in space 4x has been Distant Worlds to my knowledge. I suppose they could be trying to expand into the genre more by acquiring SiS but the game feels more like Iceberg's specialty.

Looks great!

One thing that has always seemed odd/bugged me in certain games is my ability to see exactly how much resources and money an alien species has. I suppose this makes sense with allies, but I would think my enemies wouldn't want to openly share that info with me. It lets me assess their ...

Turbolasers eventually lead to Primary Beams, so it's not exactly a dead end; but the choice is whether to invest in cheaper and more incremental laser upgrades, or to take a bigger plunge into ion beams.

I've gone both ways and had success. I like it when games offer this kind of tech ...

I've always assumed it was just showing how many moves everything had made in the battle. Every time I or the enemy makes a move it makes a little mark on the bar. Gives me an idea of how epic a battle as been when I see a ton of marks and movement

If you're not an aquatic race, Threshers are extremely useful to have, since they can exploit habitats that your colonists can't and increase the population caps on worlds all throughout your empire. If you are an aquatic race, the Threshers are just low-tech natives. I do think it would be ...

Enpi's ideas are pretty much dead on what I would be looking for. I don't think he means the battles just happen in the background. Maybe that can be the case if freighters run into raiders unprotected where you randomly lose some and you just get a report. But the idea would be if escorts are ...

The way I see it there is a nice big warning sign right there on the race selection screen when you pick humans so if people ignore that and rush to pick humans assuming they'll be pretty standard that is on them

I always assumed the targets would be freighters engaged in internal trade as no trading between empires occurs in the game using freighters. I don't see why raiders wouldn't have access to those areas of space. SOTS handled this well by allowing you to assign freighters/raiders/escorts to different ...