All Gameplay Settings In Sins Of A Solar Empire 2, Explained

Summary

Enhance gameplay with new orbiting planets mechanic in Sins of a Solar Empire 2, impacting travel time and tactics.
Three unique victory conditions in the game: Home Planet Victory, Colonization Victory, and wiping out enemies.
Adjust gameplay features such as ship speed, research rates, and income rates to customize difficulty level.

Sins of a Solar Empire 2 had its Steam released in August 2024. Following up on the success of the original game, this new iteration improves the strategy gameplay, while also making it simpler and easier to learn.

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By Mac Wheeler

Every time a player starts a new game, they have the option of changing some settings that govern the way that this 4X strategy title plays. Some of these settings can have a significant impact on the balance of the game and should be used sparingly, if at all. Others simply enable different win scenarios or toggle certain gameplay features on and off.

Orbiting Planets

Will Planets Orbit Or Not

On, planets will move and phase lanes will shift.
Off, planets remain in stable orbits and phase lanes do not shift.

The orbiting planets mechanic is new to Sins of a Solar Empire 2. With orbiting planets enabled, the solar system is in a constant state of flux, and planets will orbit around each other. This results in planets drifting either closer, or further apart as time goes on.

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By Joe Grantham

As planets move, phase lanes adjust, and can become longer or shorter. This can have a direct impact on the travel time for ships, and is something that needs to be considered tactically, and when exploring the solar system. For example, if the player expands into a nearby sector, and that sector then drifts far away, travel time to this new sector will be far longer.

Home Planet Victory

Allow Victory Through Home Planet Destruction

Destroying an enemy's home planet is an instant win.
A player’s home planet must be heavily defended.

There are several ways to win a game in Sins of a Solar Empire 2. Most players aim to wipe out all the enemies on the galaxy map, as this is often the logical way to proceed. But there are other ways, including a home planet victory.

In this winning scenario, the player has destroyed an enemy’s home planet. That enemy will then be removed from play, regardless of whether they still have other assets. The same holds true for the player – if their home planet is destroyed, they automatically lose. Switching this option off disables the home planet victory winning condition.

Colonization Victory

Allow Victory Through Empire Expansion

Victory through map control.
The victory condition is 51% or more of the map.

In the previous section, two possible victory conditions were explained. Either a home planet victory or simply wiping out all enemies on the map. However, there is a third way to win a game of Sins of a Solar Empire 2: colonization victory based on empire expansion.

When the colonization victory option is enabled, it becomes possible for a faction (either player or AI) to win the game by controlling 51% or more of the playing map. Control of sectors is gained by colonizing planets or habitable asteroids within that sector. Enabling this option means that a player must keep an eye on the expansion of all other factions, in case they are approaching a win condition, and deal with them in an appropriate manner if they are.

Orbiting Planet Speed

How Fast Planets Orbit

3 settings; normal, high, and very high.
Higher settings make phase lanes move rapidly.

Expanding on the previously outlined orbital mechanics in Sins of a Solar Empire 2, the orbiting planet speed setting only comes into play if orbiting planets are enabled. As implied, this setting directly impacts how quickly planets orbit.

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By Mac Wheeler

Setting this to a higher rate will mean that planets move faster, and the galaxy map changes much quicker. Phase lanes will shift rapidly, making planning logistics much more difficult, and changing the tactical situation as well.

New players might like to leave this setting on "normal" until they have mastered the game somewhat.

Research Rates

How Quickly Research Completes

Directly impacts how fast research happens.
3 settings; normal, high, and very high.

Of the four settings that allow the player to change different rates in Sins of a Solar Empire 2, the research rate is the one that has the least dramatic impact on gameplay. Both military and civic research require research points, but it also takes time to perform them once the player has accrued enough points to start. This option increases the speed of the current research project.

Increasing the research rate speeds up research, but doesn’t impact gameplay so much, as progress is still gated behind resource procurement and construction projects. However, it does mean that the player will gain access to advanced research projects much quicker than normal if set to a higher level.

Ship Build Rates

How Quickly Ships Are Built

Set higher to build fleets quicker.
3 settings; normal, high, and very high.

Constructing ships and entire fleets is one of the cornerstones of gameplay in Sins of a Solar Empire 2. One of the gates to progression is the speed at which players can construct new fleets, or reinforce existing ones. This setting impacts how fast these things can be done.

However, it should be noted that this setting only changes the speed of production, the player will still need to accrue the resources acquired to build the ships before constructing them in this real-time strategy game.

Ship Speed

How Fast Ships Move

Faster ships equals simpler tactical gameplay.
3 settings; normal, high, and very high.

Ship movement speed in Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is quite slow, especially when a fleet is instructed to move in formation, meaning all ships move as fast as the slowest one in the fleet. Speed impacts not only sunlight speed but how fast ships move when using phase drive.

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By John Cunningham

Increasing the ship speed setting makes ships move faster, and simplifies tactical gameplay by enabling the player to respond to the tactical situation much more rapidly. However, this is a pretty overpowered setting and significantly changes the way the game plays.

Income Rates

How Quickly The Player Gains Resources

Impacts the income rate of all resources across the board.
3 settings; normal, high, and very high.

Of all the settings available in Sins of a Solar Empire 2, income rates has the most notable impact on gameplay. As with most strategy games, resource production and income are natural gates to progression, keeping gameplay balanced.

Setting the income rate to the higher settings will unbalance gameplay quite a bit, making the game much easier. Especially when one or more of the other increased rate settings already covered above are also raised. In short, only raise the income rates if you want a quick, easy game with little challenge.

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