From the makers of Thrawn's Revenge: Imperial Civil War, Ascendancy is a Star Wars mod set after the Battle of Endor in the Star Wars Galaxy. Fight for galactic ascendancy as multiple factions from this period in Star Wars history.
Coming from Empire at War I knew what kind of high-quality work to expect, but I was also a bit set back by the ultra-minimalistic UI and the lack of heroes.
Star Wars without heroes is like coffee without beans. Its just water or yet another run-of-the-mill RTS. I can understand the teams reasoning, but that doesen't mean I have to like it. I find it very hard to enjoy Star Wars without heroes to rally behind, especially in a game that takes the EU lore so very seriously.
When I first heard of a SoaSE version of Thrawn's Revenge, I immediatly imagined a limited amount of capital ships (limited to 1 like Titans) and their transformation into beloved hero units. It still seems like the more sensible choice. Instead you quickly gather an army of staple capital ships which constantly gain experience, simply to coerce the AI to build some as well (as the devs explained, the SoaSE AI immediatly builds another capital once the former has reached level 3). During the first hour of the game, you constantly hear the sound of levels gained even without any fighting going on whatsoever.
What's also bothering me about this mod is what they've done to the UI. Removing many frames to increase vision is a good thing, but replacing most icons with HUGE overlays (including text) has turned SoaSE's mass fights into a blurry mess. The icons also twist and turn with the ships, which means you have hundreds of Executor-sized symbols constantly moving arround the battlefield, decreasing visibility to zero.
Even worse are the buttons and skilltrees. I hope many of these icons are just placeholders, because those abstract black-and-white thingies are hard to read and even harder to memorize--and completly unneccesary. The Star Wars fanbase has produced an infinite amount of epic fantasy art.
After trying a few other mods like Interregnum, I can say that Thrawn's Revenge II is still the best and most true-to-the-lore mod out there. I hope the team will find the time to fix their design oversights, but there is only so much they can do.
Many of the SoaSE-homemade problems persist. For example the dumb AI which--according to the modders--is hard to tweak, or the drawn-out gameplay with little to do in between. Almost every game turns into a war of attrition rather than an epic space battle. When playing against the AI you never have the feeling of competing against some kind of intelligence, just a bot which constantly builds ships to send your way wave after wave.
Sins of a Solar Empire has always been a rather awkward game. Beautiful and immersive on one side, horribly outdated on the other. I fear the Thrawn's Revenge mod team may be a bit late to the party. SoaSE has aged badly over the years, especially when it comes to actual gameplay.
Serious overhaul to the UI - Confusing at first, but the quick reference guide is useful. I like it much better after getting used to it.
Gameplay is much better with the mod, as the ship damage system provides a new edge to space combat.
My one problem with it is the lack of an Empire of the Hand titan, but I can understand why it isn't included.
Game play: 9/10
Sound and effects: 10/10
Graphics 8/10
Design: 5/10
GUI 0/10
Over all 6/10
While the game elements are good. There are a number of things that are not so good. The tech tree has fewer techs that matter as the economic upgrades outside of building unlocks are almost needless. Multiple techs to get a increase in resource production is silly. Just make it one and be done. The original game seemed more reasonable that you would want to get those equivalent techs. The units themselves are very nice and behave as expected. However this biggest issue is by far the user interface. The GUI is extremely poor. The harsh contrast is hard to read and the icons are overly simplified it feels like an alpha level project. Downgrading the UI is ridiculous when there is a ton of art available to be used. Interregnum did use new or existing art, and for a total conversion star trek armada 3 did too. Just reusing in game assets would have been better than this. In the base game the map would at least show planets and stars, just showing icons is terrible. And they are bland and boring icons at that. If it weren't for the units' graphics I would think that I was looking at a simulation or a mobile game. A new GUI or at least a GUI add on mod are very badly needed for people who want less eye strain.
I think that the mod itself is absolutely amazing, completed or not. The ships and structures may look more cartoonish than their sister mod counter-parts but I like it as it is a bit more refreshing than the dullness of said mods.
I absolutely adored the look of the Empire of the Hand ships and have always enjoyed playing as them. The Imperial Remnant and New Republic factions are brilliant too but there will always be something someone wants to nitpick about.
Personally, the only problem I have with the mod is the two empty faction slots. The reason I have a problem with it is because I desperately want to know who they're going to be, so no actual problem.
Fantastic mod, extremely stable, by far the best SW mod for SOASE.
(1.0 Beta) The best Star Wars mod out there right now. I hope the team continues the development on this awesome mod.
This is not just a port of units from the EAW:FOC version, since the gameplay mechanics are so different.
Right now, the game is very fun, and fairly well balanced. The only thing I would take off for is the performance, which can be improved later down the line. The Sins engine was never designed for massive amounts of fighters, which is exactly what the game encourages (New Republic especially). Coupled with the various banks of weapons capable of targeting multiple units, relatively small fleets will consume massive CPU resources and cause stuttering somewhat early in the game, especially when playing against AI and on larger maps.
One of the Best Sins of Solar Empire: Rebellion Mod. Always loved Star Wars mods in games, keep up the good work. 10/10 xD
Thrawn is one of the best characters of the EU. This mod, and it's predecessor bring that character off the story pages. And into our game. Something the movies and official games have failed to do. Short of Rebellion (Supremacy.) The best SW's game ever in my opinion, but painfully dated by this point.
Delving into the ideals of his background, in a fun and expansive SW mod is simply a joy. I'm waiting for 1.0 to authorize even as I speak, but .95 already showed a care to crafting a quality mod. Easily backed up by work of the original Thrawn's Revenge. So I give this, 10/10. Now authorize it already!
The best mod based on Star Wars. An interesting period of history and original factions (I love the combination of ships of the Republic, Empire and Confederates in Pentastar Alignment), and what is the Empire of the Hand worth! Strict and ascetic interface, many favorite compositions from films. The downside is that there are a limited number of skyboxes and some of the models look… sloppy. If anything - sorry, English is not my native language, I formatted it as best I could))