Well unless it changed, tactical combat is supposed to be pseudo-turn based. I believe it's been compared in earlier journals to how combat works in, say, Baldur's Gate, where each "turn" (round) is 6 seconds and your units can act concurrently.

So that's the impression I get out of what's been described so far about the tactical combat engine, but of course we'd have to wait and see for the final implementation.

I was going to write a long reply, but Tridus covered all my points.

LAN != Online

I can't see, and I'm sure Stardock can't see, people renting servers a la TF2 to host Elemental games, so they want to host all these servers themselves. There is no conspiracy where they want to force you to use their money and hardware to play online. They simply don't want to deal with peer to peer over the internet.

a game of elemental in under and hour seems a bit weak, i was hoping to have them more SOASE like, 2-3 hr minimum.

You must've missed the part that said it'd be different game modes for people who want those kinds of games

Well, I think its all about options, it's been mentioned before that with the 64-bit version it would be possible to have a game last years.  I think that with the number of requests people had for shorter games of SOASE that they just want to have the option for short games here too.

A TBS in an hour....wow there must be turn timers or something. I have played with people that an hour would DEFINITLEY limit the game to 10 turns or less unless there is a 1-minute-to-take-your-turn limit!

Well I would wager a guess that these quick games would more or less start you off with everything you need and then all you'd have to do is just some combat. Perhaps not unlike E:TW's current MP where you just play tactical battles (they've been promising MP campaign play for a while now )

It would be nice to see some sort of real-time play option, taking into consideration what Sins has shown to be possible, though that would be somewhat over the line for an old school kind of game...

Sins is not a turn-based game... What, exactly, has it shown to be possible that is in any way relevant to a turn-based strategy game?

I'd be wearing your stone proof armor before making any suggestions that EWOM be morphed into a RTS in any way, shape, or form.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to go that way. Being turn based is part of the appeal of a game like this.

Yeah. It's somewhat odd to make it both realtime and turnbased. In essense, it can't really be done in their two absolutes, but there can be a compromise. The only game I know that did it was Fallout: Tactics. The original Fallouts were turn-based in combat. You had your action points that you used on movement and shooting, and they only recharged when you ended your turn and the enemy went. Tactics blended this turn based combat with realtime by adding action point regeneration and weapon fire rates so in real time each movement and each shot still cost you action points, but they regenerated in real time and weapons now had "cooldowns" so your sniper rifle didn't shoot like a minigun until you ran out of action points (which was 2-3 shots but shh).

But this way isn't really true realtime and it isn't true turn based, it's more of a blend. And, while I can see something like this working for Elemental's tactical combat (which sounds like will use something similar already), I don't really see any good way to make it workable on the campaign map.

So no, I would not try.

Tbs/rts tactical hybrids are badass.  I'd kill for Total War style combat in a game like this.  Only badguys though, politicians, lawyers, criminals, NBC news personel... 

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/sins-of-a-solar-empire/850906p1.html

Once upon a time there were "4X" turn-based strategy games and real-time strategy games and the two philosophies behind them couldn't have been more different. A "4X" game is all about the big-picture: building an empire, sacking enemy cities (or planets) and controlling the movements of millions of soldiers to conquer the known universe. An RTS, on the other hand, is all about moment-to-moment decision making -- move your forces, attack targets, bring up reinforcements and make decisions quickly as the tactical situation changes in a heartbeat. Then along comes the team at Vancouver-based Ironclad Games who see in these two styles not incompatibility, but opportunity. The result is Sins of a Solar Empire, a simply brilliant hybrid of 4X and RTS gameplay that draws from both sides to make a wildly innovative and enjoyable game that's much more than the sum of its parts.

Guys, since this thread concerns multiplayer, I was just considering a real-time "hybrid" option for that area of the game, without messing with the single-player experience.

Brad has already indicated that he doesn't want to give up an inch of the single-player experience when considering multiplayer. Fair enough. Games take a long time to develop, I know. But since we are still in the realm of "what if", what if multiplayer could offer a light-hybrid 4X/RTS playing experience besides all of the *yawn* standard issued multiplayer options of turn-based games? Consider this idea a more action-driven twist for multiplayer, which is an ideal environment for that sort of thing.

There's a given map where a lot of the micro-management is assisted by the AI, with quicker bulding time and resource gathering. Your chosen character coordinates and deploys units with the goal of taking control of that map. Remove the movement cap from that quicker-paced game and you have a real-time experience from a turn-based game.

I like turn-based in its own right as much as I like real-time, and I think that the multiplayer part could have that extra spicy ingredient thrown in, besides the normal options. Think of the Total War series with a turn based and real-time components. Think of Elemental with an old school single-player experience and an extra bit of real-time in multiplayer.

Unheard of? Yes, and that's precisely my point.

Anyway, that would probably take more time to develop then what the team could handle at the moment, and just from an option in multiplayer. Why did I even bother to mention this? Food for thought, and I like to think outside the box.