Sins of a Solar Empire 2 developer Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock Entertainment have confirmed that the 4X RTS will launch in Early Access via Epic Games Store (opens in new tab) on October 27. We already had a good idea of the date, since Epic included it on the store page last month, but now we know what it will actually contain.
Good news: You'll be able to play around with all the "core systems," allowing you to see how celestial mechanics, diplomacy, warfare, and all that good stuff work, Blair Fraser, co-founder of Ironclad, told me.
“If you remove one piece of it, other parts just don’t work,” he says. “So we have to put everything in, but just restrict the content, enough so that the systems work, but not to deliver everything.”
One of the big changes you’ll see in action is the dynamism of the galaxy. It’s always in motion, with planets orbiting stars and moons orbiting planets. This means you really need to keep an eye on the celestial mechanics when planning long voyages. If you’re in a rush to get your fleet to a planet that’s about to be attacked and another planet crosses your path, you’ll get attacked.
Along with the celestial mechanics, you’ll get to see how the ship combat system has evolved. The main attraction here is the turrets. These turrets are all individually simulated, rotating and trying to find targets. Each missile is also a simulated projectile that your turrets will need to shoot down – thankfully, this is handled automatically. Positioning is incredibly important, then, and you’ll be able to use your beefier ships as a wall, protecting the glass cannon artillery at the back.
You can read more about these things in our exclusive Sins 2 preview from last month. In a follow-up chat, Fraser went into more detail about diplomacy and other ways to interact with the galaxy beyond blowing things up, calling these features “one of the most important and biggest changes in Sins.” There’s a lot you can do to work with and undermine your rivals and expand your influence without being overtly aggressive.
If a rival has claimed a planet you want, for example, you might try to make a deal, trading it for resources they need. They might then make a counteroffer, throwing more demands into the mix. If they give you the world, you don't want them to steal it a few minutes later, so maybe you make a temporary treaty. The ceasefire now has a set time where you can't break it, but after that everyone is free to be idiots again.
You can also develop relationships with neutral factions, opening up new avenues for trade. If you see a rival doing the same, you can compete with them by setting up your own businesses or outbidding them in auctions where you can earn resources, bonuses, or in the case of pirate factions, pirate attack abilities that you can save up and deploy at will.
The bounty system has also been expanded. You can now place bounties on specific planets, and all AI and human players will be notified, though they won't know that you're the source of the bounty. This allows you to quietly lay down a killing blow while pretending to be friends with your rival, and once you're no longer bound by the treaty, you can start using pirate attacks and bounties to make your conquest of their worlds even easier, as well as attacking their trade routes to break their economy.
“So it’s not just diplomacy,” Fraser said. “It’s how can I screw these other people in more indirect ways and with fewer banks involved. Those are the kinds of things I’ve always found most interesting.”
Exotic resources will also spark more conflict. They’re finite and needed for things like special research projects, Titan production, and starbase construction. You can find them on derelicts and planets that are usually closer to the stars, making these locations prime flashpoints where there’s a lot of competition. What’s useful is that you can tell your scouts to look for specific resources, along with neutral factions and anything else you want to find.
It's worth noting that the trade system is exclusive to the TEC faction, as merchant ventures are what they're all about. You'll only be able to play as TEC when the early access version launches, but if you miss out on Advent and Vasari, don't worry, you'll still be able to play as them eventually. You'll also have to wait until next year for multiplayer shenanigans, as this build will focus on singleplayer.
The original game was released almost 15 years ago, and while it received expansions and DLC up until a few years ago, I’ve been itching for a sequel for a long time. The proof will be in the pudding, but from what Ironclad and Stardock have revealed so far, there’s plenty of reason to be excited for its early access launch later this month.
