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Here are the enhancements from the 1.03 update on their web site - in their own words:

The new version adds dozens of new features into the game including:

  • Many new game setup options such as fleet size, pirate options, income rate speeds, build speeds and more
  • Players can use the + and – keys in single player to control the game speed
  • Improved black market provides a more volatile market
  • Players who drop can now be placed by cunning computer AI players
  • Vastly improved computer AI
  • New difficulty level “Unfair” for really hard core players
  • Computer players will surrender
  • Improvements to Ironclad Online
  • Lots of tweaking and balancing based on feedback
  • MUCH more…

And this was on the bottom of the update changelog:

Ironclad and Stardock will be working on v1.04 with even more new features and enhancements.

That's how you get more paying customers!

Oh yeah -- and you don't need a Core 2 Quad at 3GHz with an SLI 8800GTX setup to play Sins with an acceptable framerate.

Draginol correctly points out that there are very few top of the line gaming rigs out there. Spending millions on producing a game like Crysis that may have a target audience - if we are generous - of 100,000 systems that can run it with all features on at very high resolution is a priori a losing proposition. If your target market is too small to return a profit assuming reasonable market penetration, you don't cry crocodile tears about "piracy" - you make a different game! You write one where you can turn a profit with reasonable market penetration, and reasonable sales.

Frankly, I like Draginol's attitude.

And I like what I've read of the game. As soon as I can find one on the shelf, I'll buy one - because guess what - I like how they treat customers. I HATE DRM.

Buying a copy might be a bit more difficult than I thought though. Not because of DRM, but because my local stores are out of copies. My local FutureShop is also sold out on their website. I guess I am not the only one who will pay for a quaility, DRM-hell-less game. And if I like the game after playing it... I have two teenage relatives with birthdays coming up. Guess what they might get?

Frankly, based on what I've read of the game I will like it a lot - although my wife might not, if I play it too much. Unless of course she gets addicted to it too.

If you haven't heard about this RTS-4x hybrid game, basically, the game consists of playing as one of three space faring empires - a human mainstream empire, a telepathic off-shoot empire, and a race of aliens who are fleeing a mysterious race bent on conquest - in a sort-of cross between Masters of Orion / Galactic Civilizations and Homeworld. You explore, colonize planets and asteroids; build up your civilian and military infrastructure, make choices of what to build and when; fight of pirates, make temporary alliances, trade, and fight fleet-level battles.

Sounds good to me :-)

You can download map editors to create your own game maps. You can play solo or on-line with up to eight players. The game sounds great, and the reviewers say its great, so I can't wait to try it out. And after I install it, I won't even have to worry about misplacing the DVD.

Here are a couple of screen shots from their web site to whet your appetite:

Links:

• Draginol - "Piracy and PC Gaming"
• Wikipedia - "Sins of a Solar Empire"