Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion Message Board

The first DLC pack for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, a standalone expansion in Stardock's 4X strategy series revolving around space colonization, will launch on June 5. "Forbidden Worlds" adds four new planet types to colonize, a new planet specialization system where you classify your worlds as either beacons of industry or society, 15 new research subjects, 40 new planetary bonuses and a handful of new achievements, all for $5.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion's "Forbidden Worlds" DLC will be available either directly through Stardock, or through other popular digital distribution channels such as Steam, GameStop, GamersGate and GameFly. CEO Brad Wardell confirmed last month, during the announcement of an investment fund to aid budding game developers, that Rebellion has been "immensely successful" for Stardock and that we should expect to see more Sins of a Solar Empire in the future.

Developer Stardock has announced the beginning of an investment fund to support up-and-coming developers. When Stardock sold distribution service Impulse to GameStop, it earned "some unprecedented opportunities," says CEO Brad Wardell. The fiscal boon will help "to keep Stardock small and invest in start-ups."

These spinoffs, says Wardell, "should produce things that will help future start-ups in the technology industry." Some of the partnerships are already underway, though "not far enough along in what they're working on to publicize anything." Wardell's plan is to reveal more about the fund this summer, with news about the companies involved coming later.

Elsewhere in Stardock's customer report, Wardell says the company's internal teams are toward two new games to be revealed this year. One or both games may be the result of Stardock's work with consultant Soren Johnson, the former lead designer on Civilization 4.

Wardell also says Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion was "immensely successful," and that we can expect more from that series in the future.

Stardock Entertainment and Ironclad Games are happy to announce v1.1 for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. This latest update adds dozens of new maps, balance changes and bug fixes as noted below. Version 1.1 is save game compatible with the previous v1.041.

[ Gameplay ]

New Maps! We've added dozens of new maps, including competitive multiplayer variants which normalize resources, militia and other factors (thanks to Pbhead and GoaFan77 for these). New maps include:
The Art of War Competitive
Battle Lines / Battle Lines Competitive
Blitz / Blitz Competitive
Close Encounters Competitive
Crystal Storm / Crystal Storm Competitive
Double Cross Competitive
Empires at War
Foreign Invasion Competitive
Fractured Lands / Fractured Lands Competitive
Gemini / Gemini Competitive
Hostile Orbits / Hostile Orbits Competitive
Kabel Competitive
Maelstrom Competitive
Melting Point Competitive
New Dawn / New Dawn Competitive
Pandemonium Competitive
Quick Strike Competitive
Random - Huge Multi-Star Competitive
Random - Huge Ring Competitive
Random - Huge Single-Star Competitive
Random - Large Multi-Star Competitive
Random - Large Single-Star Competitive
Random - Medium Competitive
Random - Mini / Random - Mini Competitive
Random - Small Competitive
Random - Vast / Random - Vast Competitive
Razor's Edge Competitive
Storm Front Competitive
Tempest Competitive
The Void
Triple Entente Competitive
Twin Empires Competitive
Typhoon Competitive
Unstable Alliance Competitive
Whirlwind Competitive
All corvettes are now unaffected by most harmful Titan abilitiesExceptions are Explosive Shot, which will still knockback corvettes in the AoE, and The Maw, which will still potentially draw in corvettes in the AoE (but won't specifically target them).
Ships should no longer try to use abilities on invulnerable targets.
Corvettes will no longer be explicitly targeted by Cleansing Brilliance or Reverie abilities (but may still be affected by them).
Corvettes are no longer affected by Magnetic Clouds.
Adjusted relationship bonuses per Pact with allies to grant a 0.2 Diplomatic Actions bonus per unique Pact (to a maximum of 2.4).
Adjusted relationship penalties per Pact with enemies to grant a -0.5 Diplomatic Actions penalty per unique Pact (to a maximum of -6.0).
TEC Loyalists
Titan: Can now cast Group Shield on itself.
Titan: Increased started HP from 5400 to 5500; increased starting Armor from 11 to 12.
TEC Rebels
Titan: AutoCannon damage increased from 110.5 to 121.52; Missile damage increased from 127.5 to 140.25.
Advent (General)
Deliverance Engine Balance Changes:
Cannonshell speed increased from 12000 to 36000 (moving at the speed of thought!).
Culture Spread effect increased from 5 to 15.
The 25% damage buff to Advent player owned ships will now affect incoming ships as well as those already in the gravity well when the shot hits.
Deliverance Engine shots will now reduce an enemy planet's Allegiance by 10% (stacks 3 times).
Advent Loyalists
Global Unity now adds a 5% bonus to max. planet allegiance in addition to its other effects.
Advent Rebels
Wail of the Sacrificed has been changed to affect all adjacent planets, ships and structures regardless of ownership.
Titan: Chastic Burst antimatter cost increased from 70 to 80; cooldown increased from 20 to 30.
Titan: Side Beam damage reduced from 130 to 117.
Fixed Expulsion tech to properly give its 20% culture spread bonus.
Vasari Loyalists
Titan: The Maw will no longer explicitly target corvettes (though they may still be affected if caught in the ability AoE).
Titan: Increased the cooldown on The Maw from 175 to 210.
Titan: Starting HP increased from 4802 to 5042; HP per level decreased from 459 to 436; starting Shields increased from 2567 to 2696; Shields per level decreased from 533 to 507.
Vasari Rebels
Titan: HP per level increased from 405 to 445; Shields per level increased from 529 to 582; Armor per level increased from 0.58 to 0.64.
Rebel Starbases will now suffer from additional debuffs after a phase jump: Passive shield regeneration is decreased by 50%, Armor is reduced by 1.5 and weapon damage received is increased by 25%. Negative effects after phase jumping a Starbase now stack 3 times; debuff duration of all effects increased to 600 seconds from 60.
Armor Restoration technology bonus reduced from +25% HP / +5 Armor to +15% HP / +3 Armor.
Pirates
Ships spawned from bounty raids made less random and weaker earlier in the game.
Pirate raids spawned via Diplomatic mission costs adjusted for revised raid levels above (i.e., much cheaper).
[ Misc. ]

Fixed reported null pointer crash related to buff spawning (thanks ezeltje299).
Fixed reported null check on first spawner buffs (thanks ateague1987).
Fixed broken Pirate Exterminator Steam Achievement.
Fixed broken Outstanding Resume Steam Achievement.
Steam Cloud Saves re-enabled and should now work as intended in multiplayer games.
Checksum detection added on multiplayer saves to validate that saves aren't corrupted.
Fixed Pact related crash that would occur if a player had more than six unique Pacts established.
Fixed null pointer crash related to Wail of the Sacrificed.
[ Modding ]

Added new icons to Galaxy Forge for competitive map types.

Sins of a Solar Empire is an award-winning RTS space battle game, and Mass Effect is an epic action RPG universe with enough lore to fill a library. What happens when you smash the two together in the particle accelerator chamber that is a fan-created mod? You get Mass Effect: Dawn of the Reapers, a full conversion for Sins that lets you command ships like the Normandy against various Mass Effect-inspired units, including those of the Geth, Volus, and Cerberus' ships as well.

There's lots more planned for the mod, including even more races and ships designed straight from Bioware's epic series. Unfortunately, the mod itself isn't available to the public just yet, and the release of Mass Effect 3 pushed it back for some more lore and spec tweaks. Still, when it's available it will work with both Sins' Diplomacy expansion and the standalone Rebellion version as well.

Ironclad Games and Stardock Entertainment are pleased to present the 1.04 update notes for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion to customers.

NOTE: VERSION 1.04 IS NOT SAVE GAME COMPATIBLE WITH PREVIOUS UPDATES.

Version 1.04 Change Log:

[ Graphics ]

• Added new loading screen image.
• Fixed some button highlight bugs in the create mission system.
• Updated UI not to display game speed Infocards in multiplayer matches.
• Updated texture on Advent Rebel Titan.
• Updated texture on Vasari Loyalist Titan.
• Fixed Resource Drain particle on Vasari Colony capital ship that would start past moon/asteroids.

[ Gameplay ]

• Added five new maps: Kabel, The Art of War, Triple Entente, Unstable Alliance and Random Huge - Ring. (Special thanks to Pbhead and Goafan77 for assisting with some of these.)
• Added new Corvette weapon damage type which all corvettes now use for their fore/aft weapons.
• Updated Corvette damage balance per new weapon damage type.
• The maximum number of superweapons a faction can field is now based on the number of planets they own. By default a faction can field 1 superweapon for every 4 owned gravity wells.
• The Frigate target filter will no longer improperly target Corvettes.
• Fixed bug with aiUseTime - OnlyWhenAboutToDie that was causing it not to activate in some circumstances.
• Changed all Flagships' Overload Engines ability aiUsetime to OnlyWhenMovingThresholdDistance; reduced cooldown from 300 to 120; increased duraction from 30 to 45.
• Players may no longer contract Pirate missions (via Diplomacy) against TEC Rebel factions who have researched Truce Amongst Rogues.
• Destroyed Titans now cost an additional 10% per level in resources and build time.
• Steam Cloud saves are now fully functional in multiplayer.
• Pirates -

• Pirate raiders will no longer linger at the Pirate planet when their missions are complete. They will now despawn after returning to base.

TEC (All)

• Corsev Battlecruiser: Capped the maximum number of targets on Demolition Teams to 25 from unlimited.
• Corsev Battlecruiser: Updated Demolition Teams autocast to target Boarded vessels.
• Updated Proximity Mines to have a small HP restore rate.

TEC Loyalists

• Novalith Deregulation now allows TEC Loyalists to field 2 superweapons for every 4 owned gravity wells.
• Fixed bug that caused the bonuses from Hardened Defenses to only be applied to Gauss Turrets.
• Removed duplicate PlanetModule entry in Disruption Matrix target filter. This was replaced with a Titan entry.

TEC Rebels

• Changed Snipe aiUseTime to IsCapitalShipOrStarbaseOrTitan.

Advent Loyalists

• Changed Coward's Submission to no longer convert friendly ships, Flagships, starbase constructors or temporary/illusion ships.
• The culture benefits of Global Unity will now properly dissipate if the player doesn't maintain enough research labs for the subject.
• Fury of the Unity damage bonus increased from 10% to 20%.
• Assimilated Populace updated to now provided 20 population every 60 seconds, three times.
• Coronata Titan: Unity Mass changes - aiUseTime changed to IsCapitalShipOrStarbaseOrTitan; antimatter cost changed from 65/70/75/80 to 80/75/70/65; base damage increased from 1000/1500/2000/2500 to 2500/3500/4500/5500; damagetype changed from Physical to Energy.

Advent Rebels

• Expulsion now uses a new buff modifier and will only modify existing culture, not create new culture.
• Eradica Titan: Strength of the Fallen duration increased to 400 from 120.
• Eradica Titan: Unyielding Will re-designed - the effects now scale as the titan takes hull damage (75%/50%/25%), granting higher levels of ability cooldown, antimatter restoration and damage negation. When destroyed, the Eradica become invulnerable and may chase enemies down.
• Updated string for Protection of the Unity to make it clear the effect only works within the player's culture.

Vasari (All)

• Rankulas' Create Combat/Assault/Support Naintes and Reassemble abilities are now untargeted. The nano ship will appear adjacent to the caster.
• Updated nanite swarm strings to indicate the ability is no longer targeted.
• Changed Disintegration aiUseTime to IsCapitalShipOrStarbaseOrTitan.

Vasari Loyalists

• Vorastra Titan: Fixed bug that caused the Maw's attract range to be slightly lower than its target range.
• Vorastra Titan: Removed Corvettes from the Maw's target filter.
• Stripped to the Core scuttle time is now dependent on the planet being stripped: Asteroids/Dead Asteroids - 60 seconds; Desert - 240 seconds; Ice - 260 seconds; Volcanic - 280 seconds; Terran - 300 seconds; Home worlds - 400 seconds.
• Stripped to the Core income is now affected by Fleet Upkeep penalties.
• Shipboard Labs has been split into two research subjects:

• Shipboard Labs (Tier 7) will grant 1 military lab per capital ship.
• Empire Integration (Tier 7) will grant 1 civilian lab per capital ship.

Civilian Evacuations income bonus is now affected by the global Income Speed option.
The Capital Loss voiceover will no longer play if you haven't actually lost due to Mobile Rulership.
Vasari Rebels

• Moved Starbase Mobilization from Defense to NonCombat tech tree with a pre-req. of Enhanced Tunneling.
• Starbase Mobilization is now disabled if the player doesn't maintain enough labs for the research to remain active.
• Vasari Rebel starbases now suffer a 25% weapon damage penalty for 60 seconds after exiting phase space.
• Added an appropriate error message when a starbase fails to jump to a gravity well due to their already being a player starbase present.
• Kultorask Titan: Removed unintended 0 from AntiMatterRestoreRate passive upgrade.

[ Interface ]

• Added new UI option: Empire Tree - Show Ships in Phase Space, which toggles whether ships phase jumping to other gravity wells are displayed in nods in the Empire Tree. (Helps prevent the Empire Tree from 'jumping' around.)

[ Sound & Music ]

• Hooked up phase charge and travel sound effects for Vasari Rebel starbases.
• The Capital Loss voiceover will no longer play if you haven't actually lost due to Mobile Rulership.
  

[ Modding ]

• Added new Corvette ChanceToHitTargetType to gameplay.constants.
• Added new Corvette weapon damage type to gameplay.constants.

• DamagePercentBonus:CORVETTE:CapitalShip 0.65
• DamagePercentBonus:CORVETTE:VeryLight 0.50
• DamagePercentBonus:CORVETTE:Light 1.5
• DamagePercentBonus:CORVETTE:Medium 0.6
• DamagePercentBonus:CORVETTE:Heavy 0.5
• DamagePercentBonus:CORVETTE:VeryHeavy 0.55
• DamagePercentBonus:CORVETTE:Module 0.35
• DamagePercentBonus:CORVETTE:Pirate 0.50
• DamagePercentBonus:CORVETTE:Titan 0.7

Added cannonsPerGravityWellRatio to gameplay.constants.
Added cannonGravityWellRatioDenominator to gameplay.constants.
Added new buff modifier - CultureSpreadModifier.
New aiUseTargetCondition - HasBuff. Only autocasts on targets who have the specified buff.Form:aiUseTargetCondition "HasBuff"buffType "BuffMyBuff"
Increased iconBackdropDefs from 3 to 5.
New buffInstantActionType: ApplyBuffToFirstSpawnerNoFilterNoRange. Same usage as ApplyBuffToLastSpawnerNoFilterNoRange.
Galaxy Forge Updates:

• Added galaxy name to save file.
• Updated GalaxyScenarioDef with planet bonuses and other additions for future maps.
• Normalized some line endings.

[ Misc ]

• Fixed bug that caused some of the research achievements not to unlock.
  
• Removed un-needed semicolon in gameplay.constants after enemyDPSInOrbitBodyISquadOwnerBuildRateScalar.
• Fixed incorrect effect entry in PlanetAsteroidBelt.entity for Stripped to the Core particle.
• Removed un-needed tilde from Effect_CoinDrop in SoundEffects.sounddata.
• Truncated file locations from all particle files.
• Various optimizations made to movement, IAttacker and rendering systems for improved performance.
• Removed un-needed .mesh extension from Vasari Loyalist Titan Factory MeshNameInfo entry.
• Removed un-needed .mesh extension from Vasari Rebel Titan Factory MeshNameInfo entry.
• Minor string adjustments to clarify when a ship can't phase jump.
• Increased formation distances between frigates and capital ships to prevent ships from clustering too closely during group phase jumps (which slowed things down while they waited for formation).
• Potential fix for iHyperspace related crash bug - this was a major culprit of many crash reports.
• Fixed AttackPlanet bug that caused the game to crash - this was a major culprit of many crash reports.
• Fixed a Checksum crash bug - this was another major culprit of many crash reports.

Rebellion are suing Stardock and Ironclad Games over the use of the term “Rebellion”. Ironclad’s standalone expansion pack for their strategy series was called Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, and the trademark suit claims that the use of the word has “deprived [Rebellion] of substantial sales of its products”. Blimey.

(more…)

#legal Stardock is now fighting a legal war on two fronts. Only a day after news of its case against a former employee emerged, the publisher is now being taken to court by Rebellion, the developers of games like Sniper Elite and the original (and awesome) Alien vs Predator. More »

It's a strange day for Stardock when we say this is the second-weirdest lawsuit involving the company that we've seen today, but it's true. UK developer Rebellion (makers of the 2010 Aliens vs. Predator game) has decided to sue developer Stardock (publisher of Sins of a Solar Empire) because of the name of the latest Sins of the Solar Empire expansion, Rebellion. The court documents say that Rebellion (the studio) has a trademark on that word, and accuse Rebellion (the game), of causing customers "to mistakenly believe that the developer of the game Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion is in fact plaintiff Rebellion."

The developer of the expansion is actually Ironclad Games. But the lawsuit claims that from the logo and game name to a YouTube description for the game (mentioning "the developers over at 'Rebellion'"), Stardock knowingly profited off of the "Rebellion" trademark.

The litigation asks for Stardock to be enjoined from selling the game any further, to turn over any infringing materials, and for both damages in the case as well as the court and attorney's fees. Presumably, the complaint will next go in front of a Michigan judge, who will then decide on whether or not the issue can move forward.

Ironclad Games and Stardock Entertainment are pleased to announce the release of Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion v1.03 today. Now available through the Steam client for all registered customers, this patch includes a large number of balance changes, bug fixes and more.

[ Interface ]

• Weapon damage numbers on entity Infocards now take into account damage from All For One, Savage Thrill and Militia Weaponry (actual damage was always correct, it just wasn't accurately displayed on the Infocard).
• Fixed a mixup between the TEC and Advent flagship's Infocard icons.

[ Gameplay ]

• Increased chance on all Corvette passive abilities from 2.5% to 5% per shot.
• Changed all Corvette forward/aft weapons from damage type Composite to AntiLight.
• Removed the ability for Flagships to bomb planets. This was unbalancing Capital Victory with early rush sniping that players couldn't recover from or defend adequately against.
• Changed health on Desert/Terran Home Planets (i.e., starting planets) to 1875/3750/5600/7500 from 1500/3000/4500/6000 to help players better defend against early rush sniping.
• Various tweaks to corvette movement (to make them turn a bit smoother).
• Reduced Pirate Mission (via Diplomacy) costs to 3250/4775/6075/13525/25575 from 7500/11500/12500/19500/35000.
• Increased number of potential upgrades per Pirate raid from 1 to 2.
• Flagships will now behave more like capital ships for the purposes of fleet formations and cohesion.
• Updated all Corvette research techs to not allow Corvettes to be built it there's not enough labs for them.
• TEC

• Added NotInvulnerable constraint to TimedCharges ability target filter.
• TEC Loyalist

• Decreased max stacks on Disrupt Engines corvette passive from 5 to 4.
• Added new autocast condition for Group Shield ability on the Ankylon titan.

TEC Rebel

• Increased range on Snipe (Ragnarov titan) from 15000/16000/17000/18000 to 18000 at all levels.
• Decreased antimatter cost of Snipe from 80/85/90/05 to 70 at all levels.
• Decreased damage on Snipe from 2000/3000/4000/5000 to 1200/1600/2200/2600.
• Changed Snipe Overcharged damage from 3000/4500/6000/7500 to 2400/3200/4400/5200.
• Increased impulse on Explosive Shot to 2000000 from 1700000 (Ragnarov titan).
• Increased damage on Explosive Shot Overcharge from 900/1500/1950/2400 to 1200/2000/2600/3200.
• Increased Scattershot Overcharge damage (Ragnarov titan) from 375/750/1125/1500 to 500/1000/1500/2000.
• Increased Ragnarov titan's Gauss weapon cooldown from 6.0 to 6.5.
• Increased Ragnarov titan's Rail Gun damage from 975 to 1000.
• Decreased max stacks on Cripple Defenses corvette passive from 10 to 5.

Advent

• Fixed phase missile block on Advent culture techs to give proper (positive) buff.
• Removed 'minelayer' role type from Advent carrier cruisers to prevent them from building squadrons of useless homing mines.
• Advent Loyalist

• Updated Subjugating Assault ability on Coronata titan to no longer fail if the player doesn't have enough fleet supply.
• Added target constraint to Domination and Subjugating Assault abilities to prevent Flagships and other non-controllable vessels from being affected.
• Fixed a bug that caused Coward's Submission research ability to always lose the chance roll to convert.

Advent Rebel

• Purification ability (Eradica titan) antimatter cost reduced from 80/80/80/80 to 65/60/55/50.
• Strength of the Fallen ability (Eradica titan) duration increased from 60 to 120; range increased from 2000/2500/3000/3500 to 3500/4000/4500/5000.
• Increased conversion chance on Reanimation from max of 10% to max of 15%.
• Increased conversion chance of Return of the Fallen from max of 10% to max of 15%.
• Updated Protection of the Unity CultureShieldRegenAmount to a max of 150% at level 3. Note you will only get the full benefit if your ships are within a fully saturated region of your culture.
• Advent Repair Bays should no longer have the Recharge Shields ability.
• Recharge Shields should now have the correct HUD icon.
• Flagships can no longer be Resurrected or Reanimated.

Vasari

• Create Support Nanites (Rankulas capital ship) aiUseTime changed to OnlyInCombat from AnyTime; aiUseTargetCondition changed to Any.
• Fixed incorrect weapon type on Assault Nanite armor reduction ability (Rankulas capital ship). Should now debuff structures as intended.
• Updated wave cannon particle on the Kortul battleship to better match the model.
• Replaced Returning Armada for Kostura Prototype on the Vasari race select screen.
• Updated wave cannon particles on Jarrasul Evacuator and Vasari Flagship to better match their models.
• Vasari Loyalists

• Dark Capital Ship summon ability cost decreased from 3000/400/250 to 2010/270/170; cooldown reduced from 600 to 300.
• Dark Combat Fleet summon ability cost decreased from 7200/960/600 to 3300/700/430; cooldown reduced from 600 to 240.
• Dark Support Fleet summon ability cost changed from 7200/960/600 to 5000/1025/980; cooldown reduced from 600 to 240; fleet supply spawned range increased from 90 to 120.
• Increased max stacks on Disable Hull Repair corvette passive from 5 to 10.
• Change Suffusion damage on Vorastra titan from Physical to Energy.
• Changed Vorastra titan PulseWave damage type to Wave; increased damage from 102 to 135; changed PhaseCannon damage type to PhaseMissile and increased damage from 148.75 to 165. Titan will still use newer weapon particle types.
• Increased Vorastra titan's max targets per bank from 2 to 3.
• The Maw ability (Vorastra titan) will now properly award XP for consumed ships.
• Reduced all resource bonuses from Stripped to the Core by 33% for Ice, Desert, Terran and Volcanic planet types.
• Moved Civilian Evacuations from Tier 3 to Tier 4.
• Moved Mobile Rulership from Tier 4 to Tier 5.
• Moved Shipboard Labs from Tier 5 to Tier 7; reduced number of labs per capital ship from 2 to 1.
• Moved Stripped to the Core from Tier 6 to Tier 8.
• Fixed bug that was causing Solitary Path to not award bonus fleet supply in all cases.
• Fixed a crash bug with Stripped to the Core that would occur if a planet changed ownership during the scuttle process.

Vasari Rebels

• Increased max stacks on Disable Shield Emitters corvette passive from 5 to 10.
• Decreased Nano Leech ability (Kultorask titan) restore hull amount from 5/10/15/20 to 2.5/5/7.5/10; decreased antimatter restore rate from 4/6/8/10 to 2/3/4/5; changed action count from 15/20/25/30 to 20; updated duration from 15/20/25/30 to 20; removed CapitalShip from targetfilter and added Corvette.
• Changed Kultorask PhaseMissile damage from 125 to 150; changed PulseWave damage type to Wave and increased damage from 145 to 176; changed PhaseCannon damage type to PhaseMissile. Titan will still use newer particles.
• Increased Kultorask's side targets per bank from 1 to 2.
• Fixed bug that would prevent Gravity Pulse ability (Kultorask titan) from autocasting.
• Vasari Rebel starbases that can phase jump are now properly affected by phase destabilization debuffs.

[ Sound & Music ]

• Added new music tracks for all players' 'neutral' scores.
• Fixed a bug that was causing Pirate taunts to loop if the target player researched Truce Amongst Rogues.
• Fixed bug that prevented Loyalist players from hearing the new music tracks.
• Hooked up missing AllyFlagshipDestroyed voice over for all players.
• Fixed incorrect AllyTitanDestroyed voice over for all players.

[ Modding ]

• Added latest version of Particle Forge to the game's install directory.

[ Misc ]

• Various string updates/fixes.
• Updated manual with various typo fixes.

Take command and choose your allegiance in epic, strategic space battles in Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion.

Stardock and Ironclad Games send word that the final phase of their Sins Of A Solar Empire: Rebellion beta is now underway, and have immortalised that event with a YouTube’d trailer, which you can see below, along with the main trailer. The pre-orders for the new version of the game get you access to the beta, of course, and you get $10 off if you own the original game. I have to say I am quite excited about Rebellion, which arrives June 12th, because even though it is essentially a standalone expansion, it’s as close as we’re going to get to a sequel to the original RTS, which consumed a huge chunk of my time when it hit four years ago. Rebellion, with a huge suite of options derived from the previous mini-expansions, and new visuals, it certainly going to get my attention.(more…)

Intercepted communiques reveal Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion will be strategically deployed on June 12 for PC on Steam and Impulse. Those who pre-order will gain access to the second beta, which is currently active and all set to teach galactic generals across the galaxy how to control vast space armadas.

Ironclad Games may be hard at work on Sins of a Dark Age (read our preview), but they're also on the precipice of releasing the next Sins of a Solar Empire expansion. Titled Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, this standalone release will be coming out on June 12th for $39.95...

Standalone expansion Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion is quite the odd space duck. As this clip reveals, there is a backstory explaining why the factions in the universe are dealing with insurrection, but none of this actually plays out in the game (which has no campaign). It does deliver a hefty amount of space battles, though!

There are four Xs hidden in this trailer. How many can you spot?

Combining real-time tactics with many components of the typically turn-based 4X genre has paid off for Ironclad Games and Stardock. Their game, Sins of a Solar Empire, has sold more copies than games with 10 times its budget, netting Ironclad a hearty profit and helping fund their next game, Sins of...

The screenshots of Sins of a Solar Empire showing off colossal space-faring vessels bristling with devastating weaponry might lead you to believe the gameplay is complex, akin to something like Galactic Civilizations. But if you've played Ironclad's strategy game you'll know it's a surprisingly acce...

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, expected to launch sometime this run around the sun, splits the existing factions of the epic real-time strategy series into loyalist and rebel groups. Today, publisher Stardock released the first screens of the intergalactic game's standalone expansion.

We’ve not heard much about the Sins of a Solar Empire expandalone/quasi sequel Rebellion since it appeared on the radar back in March. Today though Stardock sent over a couple of images (below) showing how the graphical overhaul will shiny-up the ships from the original game to give the new game a good dose of polish. And they are at least 25% shinier, according to my Pixelshaderised shinometer. Of course Sins of a Solar Empire has been expanding and overhauling aplenty (and with stuff that matters to the game) since the 2007 release, and became far more interesting to play after the Diplomacy pack. Rebellion gets to build on this with new factions, new ships, and of course the whole rebellion theme – factions will be splinter off the main factions to create “rebel” and “loyalist” sub-factions, which in turn makes the conflict all the more hectic. With that and some AI improvements, well, we’ll be looking forward to it. Still no release date for Rebellion, but apparently it will be digital download only. Convenient for some, as Sins is now on Steam.(more…)

Stardock and Ironclad Games' Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity, the bundled collection of the epic space armada RTS and its mini-expansions, is available now on Steam. After selling over 2 million units, mostly through Stardock's Impulse digital distribution system, the game is finally warping over to Valve's service.

"With the sale of our former PC digital download technology to GameStop earlier this year, we no longer have any conflicts of interest in offering our titles to other digital distribution channels," said Brad Wardell, CEO of Stardock. "We are starting with Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity with other titles being made available over the coming weeks."

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, a "full-fledged expansion" of the series and not a sequel, is expected to launch next spring. Stardock plans to add more of its catalog in "the coming weeks."

[Thanks, Daniel]

GDC 2011 brings news of a new expansion to the Sins of a Solar Empire universe in Rebellion! Get the details on this upcoming update with Brad Wardell, President/C.E.O. of Stardock!