The TEC Loyalist Titan shows off the pretty new jump effect.

TEC Loyalists are isolationists, while the Rebels are effectively a xenophobic lynch mob.

To build a Titan, you must first build a Titan builder.

A Rebel player can even stash valuable ships smack in the middle of the Pirate base for safekeeping.

The Artifact World is protected by...whatever the hell that is.

The Vasari Loyalists can strip planets of every shred of resources and leave behind nothing but a dead, uninhabitable asteroid.

The TEC Rebel Titan is basically a gigantic gun.

First, the $40 package will include a full copy of Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity.

The model for the space combat in Sins of a Solar Empire was the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, says Ironclad co-founder Blair Fraser. "We really wanted to have that feeling of the Star Destroyer flying overhead, where you can see all the little details." Sins got pretty close, and thanks to an engine overhaul, the stand-alone expansion Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion is getting even closer. In the version that Fraser brought by to demonstrate what Ironclad's been up to lately, textures are considerably sharper and more detailed when viewed up close, huge Super Star Destroyer-sized Titan ships cast dark dynamic shadows over their prey, and enhanced particle effects make the battles even more fun to watch.Zooming in on a fighter next to a TEC Rebel Titan, the difference in scale is impressive -- the fighter could literally do a Death Star-style trench run down a groove in the Titan's hull. Despite all the upgrades, Fraser says we'll see overall performance increases relative to vanilla Sins thanks to AI efficiency optimizations, addressing a big cause of late-game slowdowns.Those Titans, super-capital ships which will become virtually unstoppable (except by another Titan) when fully leveled up, are built in a structure so large that it dwarfs even a starbase. The TEC Titan Foundry is an enormous shipyard that casts a looming shadow over half the gravity well. Titans must be researched and built in four stages, each of which alerts other players of what you're up to so they'll have a chance to catch you while you're vulnerable (having funneled lots of resources into your Titan project).Which Titan you build will depend on what faction you're playing, and that decision just got twice as complex. Fraser chose the random option when starting a new game, and instead of going straight into action, it took him to a completely new screen explaining the difference between the TEC Loyalists and Rebels (you can randomize that choice too). In addition to a description of the fiction behind the split -- the Loyalists are isolationists, while the Rebels are effectively a xenophobic lynch mob -- it lists some of the key differences between them. Some are huge game-changers.Both sub-factions share all the ships and abilities from Sins, plus a new capital ship that launches pods full of marines to board and capture other ships or destroy them from within -- but the Loyalists get major defensive advantages. The can build multiple starbases in the same gravity well, build the Novalith superweapon early, and their capital ships automatically gain experience when in their own territory, incentivizing players to keep them close to home. The TEC Loyalist Titan, the Ankylon, is a massive tank and buff machine, capable of defending an entire grav well. It can extend its shields around other ships, reduce allies' ability cooldown timers, and extend enemy ability cooldowns, all while giving and taking a severe beating.The TEC Rebel faction, meanwhile, is all about offense. They're rewarded with cold hard cash and morale boosts by bombing enemy planets. They have research unlocks that allow them to first befriend the defending militia forces guarding habitable planets, and then to ally with the Pirates (which will be present even in games where pirate raids are disabled). The Pirates won't attack those Rebels no matter how much bounty is on their heads, and a Rebel player can even stash valuable ships smack in the middle of the Pirate base for safekeeping. As a bonus, the Pirates will contribute ships to the Rebel fleet, complete with amusingly tongue-in-cheek pirate voices. The more aggressive Titan is bristling with weaponry, including an area-of-effect shotgun attack and an Overcharge ability that makes weapons even more potent.More briefly, Fraser touched on the Advent and Vasari factions. The Advent Loyalists are on a vengeful rampage and use their psychic abilities to their fullest to assimilate enemy ships. Their planets automatically spread culture without the need to build structures, and their Titan can mind-control an entire planet, permanently taking it over. The Advent Rebels, who suspect that their collective consciousness has been corrupted, have the ability to resurrect destroyed enemy ships as their own, and their Titan can consume other friendly ships to keep itself alive.Finally, the Vasari: the hyper-aggressive Loyalists can no longer sit still and wait for the still-unnamed threat that chased them into TEC space to catch up with them, so they're focused on mobility. They can upgrade their capital ships to produce money, supply, and research, and their Titan can function as a mobile capital world (and also summon Dark Fleet ships). Once they have that, they have no more need for planets, so they can strip them of every shred of resources and leave behind nothing but a dead, uninhabitable asteroid. They're the only faction that's able to keep on fighting with no colonized planets at all. Frazer says it's a risky strategy, though -- you have to be on strong economic footing to successfully pull up your roots, so you can't do it too early.The Rebels, conversely, are willing to play nicely with others. We know the least about them, but we do know that they can allow their allies to use their Phase Gate network (which lets them jump between any two planets).All of that will certainly change the way Sins plays, but the new victory conditions -- Last Flagship Standing, Last Capital World Standing, Research, and Occupation -- will likely change it even more. Playing with all of them enabled, you'll have so many paths to victory that every game can play out much differently, compared to the old style of military victory or bust (and later the diplomatic victory in Diplomacy). The Occupation victory, in particular, sounds like a shakeup: if one player takes a heavily defended planet known as the Artifact World, everyone else will have a limited time to evict him before he wins. Suddenly, every empire will have to converge on one planet for one massive battle for survival, rather than endless border skirmishes spread across the map. Also, games will be over much more quickly than vanilla Sins' multi-hour battles, which will make it much easier to get your friends to commit to a war for inter-stellar domination.Fraser's sticking to the Ironclad party line on the subject of Rebellion's release date: when it's done. Sins was successful enough that Ironclad's in no hurry to release it half-baked, and Stardock, having learned a valuable lesson from Elemental: War of Magic, isn't pushing them. That said, a beta will be coming soon, so keep an eye open for the return of Sins of a Solar Empire.Oh hey, I should probably mention a couple of other cool things about Rebellion:If you already own Sins: Trinity, you get $10 off. Second, Rebellion will have full Steamworks integration for multiplayer and achievements -- a huge improvement over vanilla Sins' system. Because of Sins' rich modding community, Fraser says Ironclad is definitely interested in getting Steam Workshop set up, though there are certain technical hurdles that might prevent it from happening, so he wasn't able to make any promises during this demo.: Titans don't scare me. All I have to do is get one fighter to kamakazi the bridge, and the whole thing will crash into the nearest space station. Meanwhile, on the planet below, I'll defeat a battalion of armored soliders with living teddy bears. Bring'em on, I say.