In space, no one can count your APM. At least, we're hoping that's the case for space strategy game's factions so they can provide valuable for developers Stardock and Ironclad Games.
"This early access will be much more like an old-school style beta program," explains Stardock director of publishing Brian Clair. "The goal is to take the we get and iterate the game with monthly public updates."
The developers say that while this first phase is 'just' a technical preview, there's already a lot to take in with Sins of a Solar Empire II. The map is constantly shifting with the orbits of planets, turreted weapons have realistic fields of fire and projectile trajectories, and worlds can be tailored with a powerful planetary colonisation system. You'll have to contend with various NPC factions, who could either help or hinder you in your path to galactic domination.
The technical preview phase will also be the maiden voyage for Ironclad's new Iron Engine, which the developer says is 64-bit, core-neutral, and will "tens of thousands" of ships without any noticeable performance impacts.
The initial tech preview phase will be followed by a multiplayer-focused alpha, which will add two more factions, the Vasari and Advent, Stardock and Ironclad say. Finally, a beta phase will "focus on polish, balance, fixing exploits, and visual fidelity enhancements."
You can pre-order Sins of a Solar Empire II Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion mods if you'd rather wait until development has progressed a bit further.