Space Empires IV

DEVELOPER : Malfador Machinations
PUBLISHER : Shrapnelgames

System Requirements Pentium 133, Win 95/98, 30MB HDD space, 24MB RAM, 16-bit color 800x600 res.

Recommended Pentium 200MHz, 48+ MB RAM

Ratings
Code Issues Graphics: 7 - they are functiional and pleasing, but by no means state of the art. Audio: 6.5 - the music is rather bland. Interface: 8 - Well thought out and easy to navigate, once you learn what ALL the icons do.	Play Issues Solo Gameplay: 9 - The AI is very good and gives you a challenge everytime. Multiplayer: 8 - this score would be up a notch with LAN implementation because as it is, it's a long game to play by email. Replayability: 10 - With the options you have and the ability to create races, not to mention the mods soon to come, you can play this one for a long time to come. Learning Curve: 6 - With so much at your control, it's a bit daunting when you first begin. Luckily you can turn all the ministers on and SLOWLY switch them off as you get the hang of things.
Other/Notes Documentation: 6 - The manual is thin and constantly refers to the CD manual which in and of itself is not nealry complete as a game of this magnitude requires. Pros: You can play the game the way you want to. Cons: The sci-fi world of SEIV is very general and bland. Overall: 8.7

The space faring versions of the 4X-strategy genre have met with mixed results. Most fans agree that the best one so far has been the MOO series (Master of Orion I & II). There have been other success', and failures, as well. Malfador Machinations (MM) has been working on and improving their Space Empires series in an attempt to give fans the type of game they want. MM is a very small game company (the driving force behind the game is comprised of two main people, an artist and a programmer) who, without the backing of a large company, has created a very respectable and well-polished 4x game. But is it the best?

SEIV is a game created by fans for fans. MM listened very closely to what people liked and disliked about SEIII and went ahead to refine the game. What we end up with is a game with many options so that you, the game player, can set up and play the game the way you want to. Even before the game begins, you will have several choices to make in order to play. This means there is a lot of customisation that is put into your hands, the way it should be. You will decide the galaxy size, starting resources, number of AI opponents, etc. You can choose a predefined race or create one of your own.

The goal in SEIV is to conquer the universe. To begin this task, you start on your home planet. Within your system you will see other planets (some habitable, others not), moons, perhaps some sort of nebulae and warp points that lead to neighboring systems. You'll want to construct colony ships with which to expand to these planets and scout ships to see what 'treasures' the neighboring systems hold. To do this you will design your ship. MM has done an excellent job with this system. It is icon based, you drag and drop from the list of available components to slots that represent your ship. Each component takes up a certain amount of space. Components include a Bridge, Crew Quarters, Ship Drives, weapons, storage bays, etc. The beauty is just how much control you have. If you want a faster ship, just add more ship engines. The system for ship construction is elegant and easy to use, so the interface does not get in the way of your imagination.

You will be able to construct these ships by using raw materials mined on your home planet (and eventually others as you colonize them). The three main resources are a mineral type element, radioactives (for advanced material construction) and Organics (food and bio-matter used in components). By building the proper mining equipment, you add more to your treasury. Each planet is allowed a certain amount of buildings, so construct carefully. You will need storage buildings to hold your excess materials. If need be, you also have the ability to toggle ministers on and off. You can customize these ministers to control a planet the way you want them to so they can build it up without you having to worry about it. The ministers work very well within the game and are a wonderful way of cutting down on the micromanagement, of which there is a lot of in this game (if you want it that is). Make sure to keep your morale up or your colonies will not construct as fast as you need them to (and may even revolt and/or defect to another emipre).

Research is a major factor in any 4X-space game and here it shines. The tech tree is very extensive, allowing you to research all of your favorite sci-fi goodies like cloaking shields, organic ships, etc. With such an extensive tree, it is very important to decide what your race needs ahead of time and than research to get to that level. By researching anything and everything you will find yourself unfocused and without the ability to mix and match the right set of ship components or buildings that you need. Research is conducted by research facilities that you construct on a planet. The more facilities you build the more points you have. Just remember that each planet can only hold a certain amount of buildings (yes, even planetside constructing becomes a strategy in SEIV. Too much of one type leaves not enough of another).

Originally SEIV was not going to include an espionage type system. The beta players cried out and MM listened. With the new system, you need to research the appropriate facility and than build it. Again, the more facilities you create the more intelligence points you have. You can create sabotage missions, espionage or defense. You can even specify a specific planet/ship to target. The system is a little tough to learn at fast, but works well within the game.

Politics are well fleshed out in the game. In playing MOO2 I felt I was limited in my choices (like times when I wanted an 'ally' not to be floating around my systems). SEIV again allows the game player to get as specific as desired. Besides the usual treaties, you can ask/order other races to leave a particular system, or attack an empire with a system, etc.

The AI is very respectable in SEIV. They understand the best systems to colonize; they know how to optimize construction and are pretty good at finding your weak spots. On the otherhand, this is accomplished by one of the damaging things about SEIV. Sometimes the game feels more like a spreadsheet type of experience with flashy graphics. This is further compounded by the differing AI races acting relatively similar to each other. In MOO, the races acted to you differently, more in the lines of who and what they were. Some races even had different political message options depending on who they were. In SEIV, the races seem lifeless in this regard. There really isn't much of the 'RPG' like quality that MOO had, and this will definitely turn some people off. Let's face it, Sci Fi is all about personality. This will be corrected in time as 'unofficial' mods are released that use the SEIV engine to mimick popular sci fi franchises like Star Trek, Babylon 5 and Star Wars. But as the game stands, the races are unimaginative. The designers tried their best it seems with nice extensive backgrounds to each race, but is just doesn't seem to come off well.

A typical turn starts off with the Event Log screen that informs you of completed constructions, messages from other empires, new research discoveries, etc. After you have visited your planets and set up their construction queus, you'll send ships out to explore other systems and attempt to colonize new planets. You'll order shipyards to build your fleet with a new ship design that you created. You'll need supply depots dotted around so your ships are always fresh. If they run out of steam they move REAL slow and are not effective in combat. Next it'll be time to research a new weapon or building or even a type of science like psychology and the like (the research tree would be a manual in and of itself). After altering your intelligence points into new projects and sending off messages to other empires, it'll be time to end the turn.

Combat can be either strategic or tactical. Luckily you do not have to choose the option before you start playing (like MOO2), instead you make the decision with each combat. If you think it's an easy win, let the computer autocalc. If you want to battle it out, than it's time to see if your design decisions are effective. You will find that some weapons are useless against certain enemies. It is very important to learn each races weakness in order to design a useful ship. You can create fast missile ships that dart in fire and leave, or bull-like gunboats that get in close and pound away. But be warned, even the biggest ship may be useless against a weaker ship that was designed with the right counter technology.

The interface is confusing at first simply because there are so many icons to learn. The interface is clean and icons are grouped well together and once you learn what they all do you will be zipping around in no time. The screen is laid out with four different windows. The top window is really a control panel where all the icons lie. On the left hand side is the main galactic window where the currently selected system is displayed. The right hand side is split into two different windows. The top is an information window that can detail a ship, planet or whatever is selected. Below that is the galaxy window that displays all the systems and their links.

SEIV is a very well designed strategy game that gives the player the ability to play the game whatever way they want. This is so important in a game nowadays because fans are becoming more and more pickey about a games design features. SEIV is equiped with hotseat or an email type system where you transfer files. This unfortunately has bothered some who have LAN setups where they play, but word is MM is working on a patch to add this. Besides it's costumization options, good AI and great gameplay, what SEIV has going for it that other 4X games don't is its level of support. With MM such a small company they are more than willing to listen to fans and alter the game as needed. Combine this with mods and you have a great game that will last you a long time to come. As I've mentioned before, the only real downfall is the atmosphere and personality of the game, or the lak thereof. This will be a real detriment to fans. Also missing is the option of how to win the game. It is set up as one conquers all, a step back from past achievements (this bar was raised with Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri). But for those who love a good 4X space strategy game, they don't get much better than this.

Note: Space Empires IV is only available for purchase over the internet. You can buy it from the games publisher Shrapnel Games.

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Reviewed by A. Sage