We didn't get to actually play the game so we can't say for sure, but it seemed as though Sins of a Solar Empire's UI was headed in the right direction.
Since the game plays out entirely in real-time, having an intuitive user interface is crucial. Stardock, Sins of a Solar Empire's publisher, recently brought the game by our office to give us an early look. To do battle, players will need to conquer planets, develop technology, and amass vast fleets of tiny scout drones and massive capital ships. Both the TEC and The Advent are human, whereas the Vasari are an ancient alien race that attempted to reign supreme in the cosmos and failed. The story involves three factions, the Vasari Empire, the Trade Emergency Coalition, and The Advent.
In other words, playing requires swifter decision making both for combat and empire management.
This means technology management, trade negotiations, and combat all take place on the same map without any pauses. It's a large scale 4X game set in space that plays out entirely in real time. For anyone tired of hitting the 'end turn' button in games like Galactic Civilizations II, Civilization IV, or even Rome: Total War, Ironclad Games' Sins of a Solar Empire will offer something different.
