Wait no, I have DX10, it's just no one says you need only DX10, they skip to DX11. Phew, I can play it. Holy shit I want the Liir DLC let me have it I'm so excited!
Do what you can to elect Harris/Walz and downticket Dem candidates in your area by doorknocking, phonebanking, or postcarding: https://www.mobilize.us/
Launch Price is $39.95
Game is available for Preorder on Steam, Gamersgate and several other digital distributors.
The Game requires DX10 as their new engine was written with NO DX9 code!
The game will be using steam as its main platform but will not require steam to run the executable, only requiring it for installation and updates.
Game DLC pack are cosmetic and include Alternate ship texture set by race, as well as alternate voice acting, music, avatars and extra lore. Packs are toggle-able by race and are not required in anyway for multiplayer.( A player without the DLC will see the standard textures)
DLC is currently available as pre-order perk and is set to be on general sale after release. Packs are said to be priced at $3.99
I know everyone here has been trawling through the websites looking for images, and some questions have been posted about the user interface and the strategic map in Sword of the Stars ][.
I can't speak about any details, or the surprises in store for everyone once they have installed the game and hit the play button. What I can give you is my feelings and general impressions.
The strategic, or star map, has changed, as you will have seen from the PAX demonstartion. What you wont experience until your sitting in front of it at home is just how the universe your looking at now seems so fluid and alive. As the original Sword of the Stars changed the look and feel of the turn by turn 4x game into an entirely new and fitting direction, SOTS ][ takes the developments and pushes them lightyears into the future.
The strategic map feels alive, its fluid and it reacts. Its a real evolution. Screenshots and any static images do not do it justice, and every time I look I'm noticing some little touch I haven't seen before, which shows that this is more than just another project for Kerberos, but rather a labour of love.
There's too many little touches to mention, and I suspect many more waiting for me to notice them. But all these little touches build up into a living picture, and the one word that seems to describe it is "immersive".
You really feel like you are the emperor/queen/director when your making decisions and weighing up options within the game, and on the strategic level this gives the game a feeling of epic grandure, both with a sense of stately progress and frantic weighing up of options.
I strongly suspect that his game could be responsible for quite a few wrecked marriages, its just so immersive, you don't want to step away from a game, or the universe the game is part of.
**** additional impressions added 07/10/11 ****
Further Beta Impressions.
Well I've recently got to play with a later build, and I thought it's time to give you guys some more impressions, it's taken a bit longer than I would have liked where I've been working and playing
Technology Forest.
The old favorites are back, as well as some new friends. The user interface for the tech forest is nice, and retains the look and feel of the original interface while developing it. There are a lot of new technologies to develop, and thankfully Kerberos haven't stuck them all at the top of the tree. There are new techs found at almost all levels, and some of the old technologies have been re-imagined into new techs which will quickly become new favorites. I know I've now got a new early combat tech thats one of my favorites which I wouldn't have normally researched in SOTS prime.
Design Screen.
I suspect that a lot of us are going to be spending considerable time in here. It's beautiful to behold, simple and yet almost infinitely adaptable, and a real evolution of the original ship design system. The ability to goto the weapons test battleview and try out the setup does add quite a lot of excitement to the process, and gives you a real visual kick . Considering that the ships and weapon hardpoints are much more detailed, even on the cruiser level, the new design process allows you the infiinite choices were used to with SOTS while avoiding going down the route of taking forever to design a single ship.
Voices.
The voices for each race are now in place, and are simply aural beauty. They have taken the overall theme of the voices from the original and evolved them. The first time I heard the Liir voices in concert I had a little shiver run down my spine. The voices in the original were the marmite element of the game, you either loved or hated them. These have been further developed, and sound much more "rounded" for SOTS ][.
Combat.
This is what I have no doubt everyone has been waiting for. A quick learning lesson from me first - remember it helps to get into combat if you declare war - thanks Mecron for that handy hint
The combat engine is a delight, and its true that it feels on a whole larger scale than SOTS prime. The new graphics are incredible and the damage to ships really helps with the feel of immersion - something of a theme running throughout SOTS ][. The effects make you love to zoom in, and it feels a much more stately dance compared to SOTS prime, achieving the aim of fewer ships but more important ships which Kerberos had set out to achieve.
Its smooth, and in the intial stages you get the feel of submarine combat in WW2, where your looking for the enemy fleet and searching around the system for them.
Diplomacy.
Well this is a lot more developed that SOTS prime, and certainly light years ahead of the original game at release I haven't had too much of a play around with the options but its much more fleshed out compared to the ANY release of SOTS prime, and if you like your diplomacy there's going to be plenty for you to do.
Stations.
A very nicely realised addition, they make a real difference and aren't something tagged into the game for the sake of it. They are fully realised within the game mechanics and range from essential to useful. They give a real feeling of size in combat and as an essential part of your empire in the strategic view.Visually I bet everyones jaws drop when you see the hiver gate stations, I know mine did
Agent.Nihilist on
<rintaro> Maybe "Coke" doesn't like postings about "Pepsi" on their website?
<--- Is not Moe
So if I order SotS ][ on a service other than steam I'll still be able to register it on steam? Once I've done so, will I be able to re-download and install it using steam? A big reason that I haven't reinstalled SotS I very much is because It's a hassle to install everything from gamer's gate. I really want the Morrigi & liir DLC, but I want the convenience of steam more.
I'm just a tad worried it's gonna slip the ship date, I mean this game is a week away and we have seen effectively zero press about it. Even Kerberos seems pretty mum on the game lately.
Game is available for Preorder on Steam, Gamersgate and several other digital distributors.
The Game requires DX10 as their new engine was written with NO DX9 code!
The game will be using steam as its main platform but will not require steam to run the executable, only requiring it for installation and updates.
Game DLC pack are cosmetic and include Alternate ship texture set by race, as well as alternate voice acting, music, avatars and extra lore. Packs are toggle-able by race and are not required in anyway for multiplayer.( A player without the DLC will see the standard textures)
So all of these pre-order sites that are telling me I'll get Liir and Morrigi DLC are actually talking about texture packs for the Liir and Morrigi? I really hope this is true, because the notion of having to pre-order or buy as DLC the best race (giant space dolphins!) in SotS made me really really sad.
Game is available for Preorder on Steam, Gamersgate and several other digital distributors.
The Game requires DX10 as their new engine was written with NO DX9 code!
The game will be using steam as its main platform but will not require steam to run the executable, only requiring it for installation and updates.
Game DLC pack are cosmetic and include Alternate ship texture set by race, as well as alternate voice acting, music, avatars and extra lore. Packs are toggle-able by race and are not required in anyway for multiplayer.( A player without the DLC will see the standard textures)
So all of these pre-order sites that are telling me I'll get Liir and Morrigi DLC are actually talking about texture packs for the Liir and Morrigi? I really hope this is true, because the notion of having to pre-order or buy as DLC the best worst race (giant space dolphins!) in SotS made me really really sad.
fixed that for you, and yes just eextra fluff packs
Game is available for Preorder on Steam, Gamersgate and several other digital distributors.
The Game requires DX10 as their new engine was written with NO DX9 code!
The game will be using steam as its main platform but will not require steam to run the executable, only requiring it for installation and updates.
Game DLC pack are cosmetic and include Alternate ship texture set by race, as well as alternate voice acting, music, avatars and extra lore. Packs are toggle-able by race and are not required in anyway for multiplayer.( A player without the DLC will see the standard textures)
So all of these pre-order sites that are telling me I'll get Liir and Morrigi DLC are actually talking about texture packs for the Liir and Morrigi? I really hope this is true, because the notion of having to pre-order or buy as DLC the best worst race (giant space dolphins!) in SotS made me really really sad.
fixed that for you, and yes just eextra fluff packs
You have to preorder just to be the totally fuck-off Space Whales?
So all of these pre-order sites that are telling me I'll get Liir and Morrigi DLC are actually talking about texture packs for the Liir and Morrigi? I really hope this is true, because the notion of having to pre-order or buy as DLC the best race (giant space dolphins!) in SotS made me really really sad.
Yep, All the launch races are included in the game, no DLC required. Kerberos only plans to add races in full expansions (a la Born of Blood, A Murder of Crows)
The DLC packs only contain extra content that the community had expressed a large interest in, and would not have been created otherwise.
edit: Quad ninja'd >.<
Agent.Nihilist on
<rintaro> Maybe "Coke" doesn't like postings about "Pepsi" on their website?
<--- Is not Moe
You have no choice. this is a must have game. I have been waiting for more than a year for this darn game as scraps fell from the official forums. If you must not feel the pain of this delay you must share the joy of SHINY SPACESHIPS.
So are the Suul'ka playable or what is up with that? I can't seem to find anything on it other than they are evil giant space liir in the game.
Suul'ka can be summoned by the Zuul/Suul'ka Horde after building the top tier of a tribute station, Something I'm told to be a large undertaking. The Faction will take on some aspects (tech and various hinted goodies) of the summoned Suul'ka. They are around 3 times as large as a Leviathan and one can be controlled by a faction at a time. Once a Suul'ka is killed it is dead for that game. I do not know if you will be able to summon another after one dies, but if you are able it can not be one that has died, or is associated with another faction. You will be able to use them in combat.
Mecron
...and as to what went so long, was an attempt to get some sort of unified timing and quality assurance for updates across ALL providers...couldn't happen...so we fell back to the one unification option we had that was completely controllable.
It's a pretty different breed of game in direct comparison.
Umnum.
SotS is a campy sort of, "Throw it all in the pot," take on science fiction 4x. You have humans, space whales, space lab rats, space lizards, space crows, space bugs, and they all have different cultures and takes on space travel.
You also have various horrible doomsday critters floating around in the black that show up from time to time! Like planet eaters and von neummann machines and space locusts.
Empire management is no where near the complexity of MOO3, but it takes place in a three dimensional starmap . . . unless you select a 2d map because you hate half the species in the game that depend on a 3d map to navigate properly. It has a simultaneous turn based format, with real time tactical battles as an option.
The big draws are the streamlined, but not brain dead empire management, the variety between factions, an enormous guddamn partially randomized tech forest, and a combat engine that pairs the age of sail in zero g with an accurate model of ordinance in transit.
In SotS 1, that last bit has a serious case of varying mileage. I adored the combat portion and had an absolute blast playing out every single skirmish ever. Other folks did not, and I absolutely understand where they're coming from. This outing promises to be a visual treat.
Kerberos also wants to move the SotS universe forward, instead of remaking the first game. The game starts with each empire already having multiple planets colonized, and technology tree is already up to the fusion era, extending beyond antimatter-era. (There aren't any energy sources beyond antimatter, but the devs have hinted that there will be more efficient ways to squeeze juice out of antimatter)
This same trend also applies to ships and ship sizes. The old destroyer class has been demoted and will serve as a battlerider-type unit, piggybacking on other ships to the battle. A new ship size class has also been introduced, the Leviathan class. When a cruiser is roughly 3 times as big as a destroyer, and a dreadnought is about 3 times the size of a cruiser, a leviathan is 3 times the size of a dreadnought. (It's huge, the missiles it fires are about destroyer-sized.) The leviathans are intended to be centers of the fleet, flagships and superweapons. Chances are good you won't be seeing dozens of these in one fleet.
This is the most exciting part to me because I always thought the original started a bit too slowly, and it always took way too damn long to get far casters (Hiver supremacy!)
There are quite a few differences, important differences, between SotS2 and SotS1 that I don't think have been covered. For example, the Hiver drive progression is quite a bit different. They get Far Casters almost right off the bat, but they're shitty Casters which they can later upgrade. All the same this makes them much less terrible against a human opponent. Hivers were the suicide choice in multiplayer.
Second of all, the fuel system is gone and replaced by fleets having operational radiuses based on their home base. This is largely meant to curb the "huge fuckoff deathfleet crossing the entire galaxy in 1-2 turns" issue that dominated end game SotS1.
How does this compare to Sins of a Solar Empire, and does it have a solo campaign at all?
Sins of a Solar Empire is real time and has more relations with an RTS game in space than a proper 4X game. Sword of the Stars is turn based and is more akin to Total War in space. Generally Sword of the Stars is quite popular because It attempts to streamline the 4x portion of the game so as to make it a bit more exciting and to stop newcomers getting bogged down in complexity.
If you enjoy Total War games you'll likely enjoy this, whereas if you're more a fan of real time action you'll probably prefer Sins over Swords.
Aaaaah, I fired up SotS yesterday in prep for the game dropping this week, it's just as much fun as I remember. Really looking forward to 2 dropping now.
What are the requirements? let me pull those up...
OS: Windows Vista 32-bit
Processor: Core2 Duo or equivalent
Memory: 2-GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 2-GB free space
Video Card: 512-MB DirectX 10
Sound: Any Windows Vista compatible sound device, stereo speakers or head phones
DirectX®: February 2010 or newer (DX10)
0
Lord_AsmodeusgoeticSobriquet:Here is your magical cryptic riddle-tumour: I AM A TIME MACHINERegistered Userregular
What are the requirements? let me pull those up...
OS: Windows Vista 32-bit
Processor: Core2 Duo or equivalent
Memory: 2-GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 2-GB free space
Video Card: 512-MB DirectX 10
Sound: Any Windows Vista compatible sound device, stereo speakers or head phones
DirectX®: February 2010 or newer (DX10)
Doesn't seem super intensive. It might even play on my laptop. But then I barely know how to read system requirements...
Who here has bought and read the Deacon's Tale e-book?
Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. - Lincoln
Casually HardcoreOnce an Asshole. Trying to be better.Registered Userregular
I can't play Liir worth shit.
They're super slow, super weak, and the only thing they got going for them is super fast terraforming which is pointless because by the time you get to another planet (after building 9000000 tankers because they have shit for fuel capacity), half the fucking galaxy is already taken over.
They're super slow, super weak, and the only thing they got going for them is super fast terraforming which is pointless because by the time you get to another planet (after building 9000000 tankers because they have shit for fuel capacity), half the fucking galaxy is already taken over.
iirc they were also super dicks w/ biological warfare. "oops we plagued your planet even though we're supposed to be peace loving dolphins, turns out we're dicks, just like real dolphins kekekeke" man, fuck liir.
They're super slow, super weak, and the only thing they got going for them is super fast terraforming which is pointless because by the time you get to another planet (after building 9000000 tankers because they have shit for fuel capacity), half the fucking galaxy is already taken over.
iirc they were also super dicks w/ biological warfare. "oops we plagued your planet even though we're supposed to be peace loving dolphins, turns out we're dicks, just like real dolphins kekekeke" man, fuck liir.
Don't they also have the best tech discovery ratio of all races? I thought the goal with them was to simply out-tech your neighbors and then destroy them through superior hardware?
Posts
Wait no, I have DX10, it's just no one says you need only DX10, they skip to DX11. Phew, I can play it. Holy shit I want the Liir DLC let me have it I'm so excited!
Is it not diplomatic enough to nuke every colony I find?
Launch Price is $39.95
Game is available for Preorder on Steam, Gamersgate and several other digital distributors.
The Game requires DX10 as their new engine was written with NO DX9 code!
The game will be using steam as its main platform but will not require steam to run the executable, only requiring it for installation and updates.
Game DLC pack are cosmetic and include Alternate ship texture set by race, as well as alternate voice acting, music, avatars and extra lore. Packs are toggle-able by race and are not required in anyway for multiplayer.( A player without the DLC will see the standard textures)
DLC is currently available as pre-order perk and is set to be on general sale after release. Packs are said to be priced at $3.99
Sots ][ Wiki http://sots2.rorschach.net/SotS2_Codex - index of most release information, trailers, media and interviews. Hosted by the evergreat Rorschach
Interview with Arinn Dembo - Loremaster of Sots http://www.gamingnexus.com/Article/Sword-of-the-Stars-II-Interview/Item3186.aspx
Kerberos forums - http://www.kerberos-productions.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=222&start=0 Kerberos treats their forums as an extension of their office and are very active. Lots of great info and friendly people.
Myself, totally looking for to this. They've really put a lot of thought into it and it shows.
Edit for more info.
Current info on gameplay
General Info http://sots2.rorschach.net/Game_Setup
Strategic/empire info http://sots2.rorschach.net/Strategic_Turn
Tactical combat http://sots2.rorschach.net/Tactical_Combat
PAX Gathering Video http://blip.tv/angryjoeshow/sword-of-the-stars-ii-fan-gathering-2011-exclusive-5519940 Skip the first 5 minutes if you do not wish to meet the team
Beta Impressions http://www.kerberos-productions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=21251
I know everyone here has been trawling through the websites looking for images, and some questions have been posted about the user interface and the strategic map in Sword of the Stars ][.
I can't speak about any details, or the surprises in store for everyone once they have installed the game and hit the play button. What I can give you is my feelings and general impressions.
The strategic, or star map, has changed, as you will have seen from the PAX demonstartion. What you wont experience until your sitting in front of it at home is just how the universe your looking at now seems so fluid and alive. As the original Sword of the Stars changed the look and feel of the turn by turn 4x game into an entirely new and fitting direction, SOTS ][ takes the developments and pushes them lightyears into the future.
The strategic map feels alive, its fluid and it reacts. Its a real evolution. Screenshots and any static images do not do it justice, and every time I look I'm noticing some little touch I haven't seen before, which shows that this is more than just another project for Kerberos, but rather a labour of love.
There's too many little touches to mention, and I suspect many more waiting for me to notice them. But all these little touches build up into a living picture, and the one word that seems to describe it is "immersive".
You really feel like you are the emperor/queen/director when your making decisions and weighing up options within the game, and on the strategic level this gives the game a feeling of epic grandure, both with a sense of stately progress and frantic weighing up of options.
I strongly suspect that his game could be responsible for quite a few wrecked marriages, its just so immersive, you don't want to step away from a game, or the universe the game is part of.
**** additional impressions added 07/10/11 ****
Further Beta Impressions.
Well I've recently got to play with a later build, and I thought it's time to give you guys some more impressions, it's taken a bit longer than I would have liked where I've been working and playing
Technology Forest.
The old favorites are back, as well as some new friends. The user interface for the tech forest is nice, and retains the look and feel of the original interface while developing it. There are a lot of new technologies to develop, and thankfully Kerberos haven't stuck them all at the top of the tree. There are new techs found at almost all levels, and some of the old technologies have been re-imagined into new techs which will quickly become new favorites. I know I've now got a new early combat tech thats one of my favorites which I wouldn't have normally researched in SOTS prime.
Design Screen.
I suspect that a lot of us are going to be spending considerable time in here. It's beautiful to behold, simple and yet almost infinitely adaptable, and a real evolution of the original ship design system. The ability to goto the weapons test battleview and try out the setup does add quite a lot of excitement to the process, and gives you a real visual kick . Considering that the ships and weapon hardpoints are much more detailed, even on the cruiser level, the new design process allows you the infiinite choices were used to with SOTS while avoiding going down the route of taking forever to design a single ship.
Voices.
The voices for each race are now in place, and are simply aural beauty. They have taken the overall theme of the voices from the original and evolved them. The first time I heard the Liir voices in concert I had a little shiver run down my spine. The voices in the original were the marmite element of the game, you either loved or hated them. These have been further developed, and sound much more "rounded" for SOTS ][.
Combat.
This is what I have no doubt everyone has been waiting for. A quick learning lesson from me first - remember it helps to get into combat if you declare war - thanks Mecron for that handy hint
The combat engine is a delight, and its true that it feels on a whole larger scale than SOTS prime. The new graphics are incredible and the damage to ships really helps with the feel of immersion - something of a theme running throughout SOTS ][. The effects make you love to zoom in, and it feels a much more stately dance compared to SOTS prime, achieving the aim of fewer ships but more important ships which Kerberos had set out to achieve.
Its smooth, and in the intial stages you get the feel of submarine combat in WW2, where your looking for the enemy fleet and searching around the system for them.
Diplomacy.
Well this is a lot more developed that SOTS prime, and certainly light years ahead of the original game at release I haven't had too much of a play around with the options but its much more fleshed out compared to the ANY release of SOTS prime, and if you like your diplomacy there's going to be plenty for you to do.
Stations.
A very nicely realised addition, they make a real difference and aren't something tagged into the game for the sake of it. They are fully realised within the game mechanics and range from essential to useful. They give a real feeling of size in combat and as an essential part of your empire in the strategic view.Visually I bet everyones jaws drop when you see the hiver gate stations, I know mine did
<--- Is not Moe
Next friday cant come fast enough.
So all of these pre-order sites that are telling me I'll get Liir and Morrigi DLC are actually talking about texture packs for the Liir and Morrigi? I really hope this is true, because the notion of having to pre-order or buy as DLC the best race (giant space dolphins!) in SotS made me really really sad.
fixed that for you, and yes just eextra fluff packs
You have to preorder just to be the totally fuck-off Space Whales?
Also, taliosfalcon is a Whaler on the Moon. SPESS WHALES ATTACK
This is going to be a problem. TheGerbil, could you clarify in the OP?
YOU DO NOT NEED THE DLC TO PLAY ANY OF THE RACES!
The DLC contains extra textures, voice acting and in-game fluff for the given race. It is entirely cosmetic, and has no impact on actual gameplay.
The DLC packs only contain extra content that the community had expressed a large interest in, and would not have been created otherwise.
edit: Quad ninja'd >.<
<--- Is not Moe
<--- Is not Moe
Of course, there's like, nothing coming out in December, so I'll have the time at that point.... Hmm.
http://sots2.rorschach.net/Suul%27ka_Horde
<--- Is not Moe
Steam was chosen to ensure universal updates, they had been working on another multi-vender solution but that was unworkable http://www.kerberos-productions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=21570&p=337397#p337397
<--- Is not Moe
Umnum.
SotS is a campy sort of, "Throw it all in the pot," take on science fiction 4x. You have humans, space whales, space lab rats, space lizards, space crows, space bugs, and they all have different cultures and takes on space travel.
You also have various horrible doomsday critters floating around in the black that show up from time to time! Like planet eaters and von neummann machines and space locusts.
Empire management is no where near the complexity of MOO3, but it takes place in a three dimensional starmap . . . unless you select a 2d map because you hate half the species in the game that depend on a 3d map to navigate properly. It has a simultaneous turn based format, with real time tactical battles as an option.
The big draws are the streamlined, but not brain dead empire management, the variety between factions, an enormous guddamn partially randomized tech forest, and a combat engine that pairs the age of sail in zero g with an accurate model of ordinance in transit.
In SotS 1, that last bit has a serious case of varying mileage. I adored the combat portion and had an absolute blast playing out every single skirmish ever. Other folks did not, and I absolutely understand where they're coming from. This outing promises to be a visual treat.
This is the most exciting part to me because I always thought the original started a bit too slowly, and it always took way too damn long to get far casters (Hiver supremacy!)
The new lore is pretty fun too.
Second of all, the fuel system is gone and replaced by fleets having operational radiuses based on their home base. This is largely meant to curb the "huge fuckoff deathfleet crossing the entire galaxy in 1-2 turns" issue that dominated end game SotS1.
White FC: 0819 3350 1787
Sins of a Solar Empire is real time and has more relations with an RTS game in space than a proper 4X game. Sword of the Stars is turn based and is more akin to Total War in space. Generally Sword of the Stars is quite popular because It attempts to streamline the 4x portion of the game so as to make it a bit more exciting and to stop newcomers getting bogged down in complexity.
If you enjoy Total War games you'll likely enjoy this, whereas if you're more a fan of real time action you'll probably prefer Sins over Swords.
going to shred some dolphins day 1.
assuming my laptop can even run it.
OS: Windows Vista 32-bit
Processor: Core2 Duo or equivalent
Memory: 2-GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 2-GB free space
Video Card: 512-MB DirectX 10
Sound: Any Windows Vista compatible sound device, stereo speakers or head phones
DirectX®: February 2010 or newer (DX10)
Doesn't seem super intensive. It might even play on my laptop. But then I barely know how to read system requirements...
Who here has bought and read the Deacon's Tale e-book?
Either "typo" or because they're treating ANY as SotS 2?
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
They're super slow, super weak, and the only thing they got going for them is super fast terraforming which is pointless because by the time you get to another planet (after building 9000000 tankers because they have shit for fuel capacity), half the fucking galaxy is already taken over.
iirc they were also super dicks w/ biological warfare. "oops we plagued your planet even though we're supposed to be peace loving dolphins, turns out we're dicks, just like real dolphins kekekeke" man, fuck liir.
Don't they also have the best tech discovery ratio of all races? I thought the goal with them was to simply out-tech your neighbors and then destroy them through superior hardware?