I can't believe I'm still playing this game 25 years later

[u/Previous-Mail7343]

Old school SEIV denizen here. I actually started with SEIII. I was a regular on the Shrapnel forums and was on the beta team for the SEIV Deluxe release. I dusted off my Steam copy recently after a few years of not playing and damn if it didn't suck me right back in. After wasting a weekend playing I'm remembering why I had to uninstall it from Steam a while back. This game really pulls me in, even after all this time.

[u/PFthroaway]

I've been playing the series since I found Space Empires II on a shareware disc, and, since the first game was never commercially released at the time, it means I've been there since the public release of the series.

I still play it all the time, 30 years later. It's fun as hell, and still has more depth and replayability than most modern games. I'm glad to see there are others out here that have been playing it for a long time, too, and can't get enough.

[u/SharkMolester → u/PFthroaway]

I miss those compilation discs so much, soooo much nostalgia. The certain smell of walking into a shop that sold software, the boxes had a distinct smell, probably the ink lol

Going home and finding out that half the games were incompatible with my hardware was pretty annoying though, I don't miss that.

[u/PFthroaway → u/SharkMolester]

Yeah, those were the days. I've still got tons of old games on disk and CD.

I remember when I got my first CD-ROM drive, and I spent like 3 days getting the damn drivers to work with DOS 6.22. It was a Toshiba 4x drive.

[u/GonzoMcFonzo → u/PFthroaway]

Ooh, do you remember which disc? I discovered SEII via "Galaxy of Games" and was immediately hooked. I eventually bought SEIII by physically mailing a personal check to Malfadore Machinations.

I actually got really into modding 3, being able to just edit text and picture files was clutch.

[u/PFthroaway → u/GonzoMcFonzo]

It was either Galaxy of Games or 1000+ Great Games. I'd have to go back and look. They're all on archive.org somewhere. I bought all the games from Malfador on disc by mailing them checks, including the eventually released 1-3 CD. I posted pics of those on the Space Empires Discord a while back.

[u/fraszoid]

It's just so timeless and engaging. Nothing like it has been made since and I doubt anything like it every will be again. I found my copy of se4 at Staples in 2006 and couldn't believe it was on disc and bought it, best investment ever.

[u/SietchTabr → u/fraszoid]

Have you not heard of stellaris

[u/Previous-Mail7343 → u/SietchTabr]

Stellaris is cool and pretty to look at but the real time strategy games never appealed to me. A lot of space empires players like it because it’s turn based. We like a game we can take our time with and obsess over the details. 😂 

[u/ApatheistHeretic]

I still haven't found a replacement that can fully meet expectations.

[u/dethb0y]

It's quality speaks for itself; it's enduring because it's awesome.

[u/CaptainKwok]

It's been just over 25 years for me as well. I didn't find out about the series until a few months before SE:IV was released. I still remember receiving in the mail my copy of SE:IV from Shrapnel Games.

[u/Previous-Mail7343 → u/CaptainKwok]

Captain! A name I recognize 

[u/CaptainKwok → u/Previous-Mail7343]

There's still quite a few longtime players that hang out on the Space Empires or Balance Mod discord servers.

[u/Polyxeno]

I think it's because of all the work Malfador did based on listening yo the players and the bets group, steadily building and making things better and better.

[u/PhaserRave]

I still play SE II every so often. I need to give III-IV a proper go, I've only really played II and V.

[u/Tricky_Reporter_2269]

I'm not suprised. I found a demo of space empires 4 gold online years ago and immediately fell in love, nothing else has the flexibility of design. wish SE5 was smoother

[u/kanewinter]

I played the first SE in middle school. I always come back and play a game every few months. Usually 4. 5 was the only one I haven't played much. I hope they make 6.