STAR WARS™ Empire at War: Gold Pack

STAR WARS™ Empire at War: Gold Pack

Empire at War: Remake 4.0 – [OFFICIAL]
Einhander 23 Sep, 2024 @ 12:03am
Some thoughts on the mod
I like a lot of the concepts the mod presents players, however I think this mod still needs a lot more work for it to be balanced. I've played maybe around seven different GC campaigns (Kolto, spice, and death sticks) and I have to admit either I'm doing something horribly wrong, or something isn't working as intended.

Kolto isn't balanced for new players to the mod at all. Whomever thinks that it is, is very much wrong. Spice and death sticks play in much the same fashion as Kolto accept the AI is incrementally more responsive.

Forcing the player to buy an upgrade that techs everyone up to the next level is beyond counter productive (I actually had to re-write this statement so it wasn't offensive so you can tell how little I think of that addition). I think the tech upgrade is tied into the AI progression? Which I can understand from a certain perspective; However at least don't tell the player that flat out, it makes the strategically minded never want to tech up. Perhaps instead of tying the AI progression to a player tech advancement it could be scripted in to advance for them based on the number of planets controlled, or in game time.

I've noticed the AI LOVES to spam one specific vessel in space combat particularly the criminal element. The AI also really enjoys sending their entire fleets to the player in a vein attempt to break their defenses. I think I spent maybe six hours in one campaign constantly batting away rebel and criminal fleets attacking the same two systems near the core.

The AI isn't playing with the same rule book as the player is that's for darn sure. The AI has the capacity to field massive fleets without requiring the logistics or time to facilitate their construction. I know this because I literally decimated multiple AI super fleets, for them to pop back up in a couple of months to attack me again when they don't have the planets or economy to support them. So an attrition strategy is off the table.

Expansion early on as Imperials is basically sell everything but anything near Kuat and Corusant, then hope for the best (woe be unto whomever plays the Empire, for you will never have enough money).

Whomever thought adding the star forge into the mod, it looks cool, but is honestly a huge waste of time plus there isn't a hard point for the star forge missile launchers so RIP ships. It needs something to make it mechanically relevant basically.

The economy is an interesting mechanic, however it's employed absolutely terribly. To be honest the only time something like that works is if and I mean IF there is a budget system in place for the player to manipulate. Otherwise its a massive crap shoot of just building one or two things at a time forcing the player to micromanage their purchases more than the vanilla game. Honestly its doesn't improve the game at all, it detracts. Don't get me wrong I like the idea, it just isn't functionally viable for what's currently in place.

I really liked the ground combat overhaul. I find the regiments to be super cool and I wish the vanilla game had such a system, plus I found that the path finding on the ground wasn't nearly as janky as the vanilla game so I was very much pleased with that.

Overall this mod focuses far too much on micromanagement, if that was the intended purpose then I guess job well done? To anyone wanting to try the mod I say give it a shot, just because I had some issues with it doesn't mean its a bad mod by any means. Just be prepared for a steep learning curve.
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Whitehaven 25 Sep, 2024 @ 1:29am 
I agree, the AI economy is only affected when you position capital ships in their orbits(it bankrupts them) while you the player can amass armadas of capital ships without suffering the economy penalty.. I do not know if there is anywhere we can check for development info(if the mod is still in progress), but i hope they implement AI missions in galactic conquest like people have done in other big mods.
Einhander 25 Sep, 2024 @ 1:54am 
Mmmhmm, I'm currently generating a list of issues and will be providing additional input for the creators of the mod. While I'm not affiliated with this mod, I have helped other mod makers in the past with identifying issues with their passion projects, or even lent a hand. It is my hope that once I complete my own due diligence and present my findings to the developers of this mod that they will consider my input, and address the issues I point out.

I know from personal experience that reading reviews from people relating to my own projects that dispassion is required to sift through the "shot from the hip emotional responses" and constructive criticism that doesn't really address the issue at hand. I've noticed that the developers don't seem to react all that well to those taking issue with the mod. Since many (players) have brought up the "get gud" argument; Which is a very precarious philosophy in game design that requires at the minimum a perfectly balanced game in the first place. A trait this mod lacks, quite obviously.

Once I post my findings and if my input is ignored then, I will know that there is no future for this mod, or any others related from those that developed this one. Therefore I honestly hope for the best, and I will see what will come to pass.
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