Additional Info
Fantasy Violence
Hard drive space
Full download: 0.81 GB
Initial download: 0.81 GB
Download time
| Kb/s | 20 MB | 8 MB | 512 KB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | 2mn | 6mn | 1h 39mn |
System Requirements
- Operating System: 2000/XP,
currently Vista testing - Processor: 500MHz
- OS: Windows
- RAM: 64MB
Copyright
© 2006 Malfador Machinations.
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Overview
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Instructions & Tips
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Screenshots & Video
Tutorial
Space Empires V comes with a lengthy tutorial, and you're gonna need it. The menu-driven, mouse-based controls are relatively straightforward, but the game itself is so massive in scale that simply learning how to do everything is a serious undertaking. You're literally in control of every aspect of your civilization's growth, so you have to manage a lot of information and be ready to make decisions based on it. The tutorial teaches you the menu system and introduces the basics of play.
Management
Domestic issues will occupy a lot of your time: money management, and allocation of resources to research and manufacturing, are arguably the key to victory in the game. Colonization is your other main task early in the game; the galaxy is a big place, but there's an interstellar land grab going on and the empire that bags the most planets early on gets a huge advantage. You must strike a balance between economics and expansion, so plan your moves carefully.
Diplomacy
"Little green men" actually come in all shapes and sizes, and sooner or later you'll find some on your stellar doorstep. Space Empires V's diplomacy has been hailed as among the best in the genre, allowing a vast number of tweaks and provisos in any conversation with alien species. Even the most warlike races will likely have friendly dealings with someone, and even the most peaceful will probably have enemies. Explore the diplomacy tool and use it to your advantage.
Research
A healthy empire thrives on advancement -- if you dawdle in the race to research new technologies, you'll soon get squashed by aggressive enemies with far better rayguns than yours. Research costs money and takes time, of course, and what avenues of research you choose to pursue are up to you. You must also manage production of facilities and ships. This can be especially tricky early on, when money is very tight and you don't have much manpower.
War
It's hard to build an empire without crushing someone under your boot. So while it is theoretically possible to win the game without engaging in warfare, sometimes violence really does solve things. Use spies to determine the relative power of neighboring civilizations and be careful that you don't wind up in a war with someone you can't possibly beat. Space battles and planetary invasions are part of the great thrill of the game, requiring a good strategic mind and lots of planning.
Ship Design
From colonizers to carriers, one of Space Empires V's crowning achievements is its ship design interface, which allows you to build essentially anything that your imagination can dream up...provided, of course, that you have the technology to do it. It's a lot of fun to experiment with different kinds of hulls and ship components, so have some fun with it while you're building your fleet. You can save designs for future use, and upgrade old standbys as R&D invents new technologies.
Tip: Ground Combat
Winning big naval battles in space is only part of the equation in wartime. If you hope to achieve victory through conquest, you'll have to excel at planetary invasions as well. Though expertise in this field isn't a necessity early in the game, it's a huge advantage later on.
Tip: Alliances
The diplomacy system in Space Empires V is a lot more advanced than any other game out there. Take advantage of it to assemble complicated peace treaties, mutual defense pacts and other agreements between empires.
Tip: Government Types
Space Empires V offers a variety of government types to choose from, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Changing governments at strategic times can be a very effective way to deal with unhappiness, low production or other problems.
Tip: Fleets
Assemble fleets that work well together in order to coordinate operations in space. For combat, carrier groups -- a carrier, some destroyers and corvettes, maybe a few heavy cruisers -- can be an unstoppable force.
Tip: Intelligence
Your spies can be your most valuable asset in the turns leading up to war -- and, frankly, the rest of the time too. Intelligence reports give you a window into the operation of other empires, and proper use of what you learn can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
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