Sword of the Stars 2 (EN digital version) has been released today and is now available for download. Check here for the full list of retailers where you can buy and download the game.
[Edit 29/10/11]: Apparently there were some problems with the release. The word was that it was something to do with wrong versions uploaded to Steam by the devs and the publisher. Checkout the state of the game post done by Fredrik Wester, Paradox Interactive’s CEO. It’s appreciated the way Fredrik admits the mistakes. Hope they fix this soon.
[Edit 30/10/11]: Martin Cirulis, Kerberos Productions’ CEO/Creative Director also made a statement about SotS2’s current state and what’s expected to be done in order to fix the problem.
For more information check Paradox Interactive’s website.
System Requirements
(as in the publisher – Paradox Interactive – website)
Operating system: Windows 7 64-bit
Processor: Core2 Duo or equivalent
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard disk space: 2 GB free space
Video: 512 MB DirectX 10
Sound: Any Windows Vista compatible sound device, stereo speakers or head phones
DirectX®: February 2010 or newer (DX10)
Controller support: 3-button mouse, keyboard and speakers
Internet required for online play.
LAN required for local multiplayer. 8 player multiplayer.
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The title of this thread should be “Sword of the Stars 2 Released broken game by accident (hopefully)”.
The crap they released on steam is hopefully some beta release, since it looks like an alpha more or less…but after peoples comments it doesn’t look good.
More info here: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2206834
Yes, it’s a bit unfortunate (don’t know for sure but I guess this only happened on steam?). @SolForce was stating on twitter a few minutes ago that the situation should be fixed soon.
@SolForce (Kerberos Productions)
«Upload almost complete, short test, then live. Big thanks for being patient. You’ll understand our caution we hope.»
Are you going to do a review?
I will, but probably it will not come out in the next few days. Part of the site’s philosophy is not to rush reviews and put as much detail as possible (https://www.spacesector.com/blog/spacesector-review-score/). I will write a first impressions though, as soon as possible.
The beta version on steam was not playable. Even the release build that is now out on Steam is terrible, though (somewhat) playable. This is *really* shocking.
* In-game options menu is completely disabled
* Some screens crash to desktop
* Switching between some screens lags considerably
* Some information in budget screen is inconsistent or downright wrong
* Fleet ETAs are sometimes wrong
* Can be difficult to know fleet ETA until mission is assigned
* NO CUSTOM/RANDOM MAPS!?!
* (minor) Starter ship names give little clue to what they do
* Manner of issuing orders is at the least hard to get used to, and probably awful design for this type of game.
* UI feels like it crowds out the screen too much (SotS1 did so much better here!)
… and many other gripes.
On one hand, I’d urge you to wait for a week or two to review to give the game a fair shot in its intended form… on the other, I suppose there’s value in reviewing what is out at release.
There’s no rush in the review, there never is. It’s part of the site’s philosophy to not rush reviews (https://www.spacesector.com/blog/spacesector-review-score) but to look at the game with care in order to put attention to details.
I’ll start working on a first impressions though, as soon as I can.
Your report looks dreadful :( I hope they fix this soon. Word is that Paradox and Kerberos are working 24/7 on this: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?567065-State-of-the-Game
This is really saddening news, the last thing this genre needs.
On the other hand I can’t even afford another game right now, so I am in no rush to pick this up yet.
To all the guys who bought it, despite the negatives and once it gets patched, how much of an improvement over original SOTS is it?
So far it feels like instead of giving us more of what was so good about SotS1, they added fluff, took away some nice things, and added detail in a way that makes the game harder to play. Some of this may get better with patches and getting used to the game. However, while I’m playing, I am continually having the urge to quit and play SotS1.
More frustration:
No details about what ship components do, or the attributes of weapons. Ship design might as well be done with a blindfold on, as you need to guess at what things do.
Lots of convenient keyboard shortcuts are missing, such as esc to exit dialogs, enter to submit a dialog, etc.
Update: Recently-patched version shows weapon details now (or I had missed them before).
Yes, it’s a complete disaster. I have no idea how they could confidently release this. There was talk in the developers forum before release, about cutting a feature(terrain), because it didn’t work as expected. The devs apologized for this and reasoned, that they would rather put out a functioning game than a flawed one. They got complete support for this decisions form the community, understandably.
However, as it turns it, the game is far from functioning. It feels more like a framework, with many pieces there, but they don’t work quite together and can’t be accessed as they are supposed to be.
I haven’t played the first game and I can see the depth and potential of SotS2. In fact exploring the release version was quite fun. I didn’t even have a single crash in 4 hours(4 started games).
But the goal of course is to enjoy playing the game, not just exploring it.
Here’s a list about all the issues I’m experiencing as well: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?s=f0232dcb9af74b8c1fb5397381b63655&t=2208346
Knowing Kerberos’ mindset in regards to updates, I’m confident they get this handled, but it will take some weeks IMO.
Well, let’s give these guys some slack shall we. They already recognized that they’ve made a mistake with the versions and that they’re working around the clock on it. I don’t see the point of rushing into conclusions when it’s clear that the game is in a state of flux at the moment. But that is not the same as saying that we should not point out what’s wrong and what needs fix of course.
Sadly, I think it’s very clear by now, why we didn’t get to see any actual game play footage before, just ship closeups.
Are you sure about that? I remember watching at least one SotS2 gameplay trailer where other aspects of the game were focused besides combat, although the large majority of the footage was indeed showing off ships. Let me try to find that trailer.
Here they are:
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-sword-of-the/716288 and http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-2011-sword-of-the/716286
We discussed SotS2 trailers on this post by the way: https://www.spacesector.com/blog/2011/08/sword-of-the-stars-2-opening-cinematic-sneak-peak/#comments
Well, in terms of combat they didn’t show us how ships are moved around or are ordered to do certain things. You know, the mechanics and tactics of combat.
At this point, ships are just floating next to each other and shoot once in a while. Combat being such a large part of the game A LOT has to happen here.
What I also meant with gameplay footage is actuallly going through a few turns, doing something, playing the game. Instead, we just have been shown a couple of screens.
Anyway, let’s see how this looks in 4 weeks.
Right, Got into what I believe is the most excited aspect of the game, the supposed new damage system regarding decks and what not. got through all the crap involving crashing, bugs, bad displays etc. only to find that the new cutting edge programming they had in the game
DIDN’T EVEN FLIPPING WORK.
my Ships flew up close to there’s (after numerous attempts to get close in the recommended 5 minutes for strategic combat almost completely disallowed the possibility of any kind of combat) and FINALLY got into range… ONLY TO FIND BOTH SIDES SITTING THERE DOING NOTHING.
NO peace mode, it was set to combat, and they sat there. this game is absolutely brutal. how could ANYONE release it like this? it’s disgusting. Releases like this truly scare me. If they expect us to take this with a smile and ask for more really speaks about the developers and the investors. they’re completely out of contact with the world.
The first time in combat you need to Alt + Left Click the enemy to initiate firing. Extremely intuitive, I know.
A post made by one of the devs (or at least someone who is part of the Kerberos’ team) explaining the status of the game from an insider perspective: http://arinndembo.com/?p=743
Looks like everybody (at least the devs) knew that the game would have many problems still at release. Sentences in the post like “if a birth does not go well, it is dangerous to the child and the mother” and “there are times when the baby just has to come out or die” are illustrative.
I’m personally sad about all this but at the same time I sympathise for the devs. There would be a lot to say but I’ll be brief.
I’m sad for the genre that this happens, that many people were bought into the game hopping to have fun and now apparently they need to wait a while longer (who knows how long). Regarding people who buy now they’re warned but all the people who pre-ordered the game are understandably angry to say the least.
I sympathise because I know by experience how development projects work these days. The sentences “if you can’t make it then you have to cut corners” or “it will go as at is” or “it must go on day X no matter what” are very common these days. All that matters is the quick money no matter what and for some reason this is becoming standard, even accepted by customers more and more.
So, my hopes is that the devs and the publisher are able to sort out the game quick (people are talking about horrible flaws and bugs). There’s word for a big monday (31st Oct) patch, let’s wait for that and hope it will fix the game substantially.
This sort of thing is not so uncommon however. Who remembers a game these days that was “finished” and “fully playable” at release day? And this is what worries me.
That blog post gives the distinct impression that Kerberos was in need of money in the worst way, which is why they had to release when they did. I even saw a developer post on the Paradox forums that implied Kerberos wanted to release a month earlier, and Paradox pushed it back.
I think we all assume their decision was: release a finished game later, or release an unfinished game now. However, I’m increasingly getting the feeling that their decision was: release an unfinished game now, or don’t release one at all.
Certainly, given that decision, I’d tell them to release the unfinished game. I think all the fans would say the same thing. It’s just such a shame they ended up in a corner.
The “big monday patch” will just fix major bugs and CTD issues. It won’t add anything. Don’t get your hopes up too soon.
Martin Cirulis, Kerberos Productions’ CEO made a statement about SotS2’s current state and what’s expected to be done in order to fix the problem: http://www.kerberos-productions.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=342722#p342722
SotS2 Monday 31st Oct patch notes: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?567753-Official-info-IV-%28Monday-Oct-31%29
The game seems promising, despite the insanely crap launch.
We set up a community wiki for it which you could check out to get an impression for what it’s about.
http://sotsii.wikia.com/wiki/Sword_of_the_Stars_2_Wiki