Questions on GalCiv for those in authority

from Stardock Forums
First of all, let me say that I think this game looks great. The concept behind it seems like a work of art and I can't wait to play it. I have a few questions about gameplay.

1.) When starships attack other starships is it to the death? I'd hate to lose a fleet of 10 ships or so. The option to retreat would be nice, and realistic. Is this in the game?

2.)Do races respect borders? Will they colonize in the same system as me? I realize that they wouldn't respect borders if they were preparing for war, or at war, but what about other situations?

3.)Can you freely switch government types? If so, how could you go from republic or democracy to Imperial, especially if you don't have control of the senate? Wouldn't this cause a civil war?

4.)In the manual it states that destabilization should only be used as a last resort where you plan to annihilate that civilization. In that case, is it safe to say, that If you find out which civilization is destabilizing you, that you might as well declare war because they are intent on taking you out?

5.)Regarding the events, in one event it talked about ignoring a pre-industrialized society or forcing them into slave labor. If you choose one or the other, do you have the power to go back and change that later in the game or do you just have to live with the decision? I realize that in some cases like eradicating them you would have to live with it(since they no longer exists), but if you left them alone or enslaved them, what then?

6.) I read somewhere in the manual that civilizations may try to get legislation passed in the U.P. to not allow building in foreign territory. Does this mean that you or other races can propose legislation or does it just come up at random? And if something is outlawed by the U.P. does this mean that the computer won't give you the option to break that law, or can you break that law and just face the consequences?

This is all the questions I have. I know it's lengthy, but any help would be appreciated, and if any of these aren't in the game then maybe they could be considered as add-ons? ;) Thanks.
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Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
In short:
1) There is a auto-retreat option at the ship-commands but Ive never used it so I dont know if it does what you want.
2) No borders like that in this game. Several races can have systems and starbases in the same quadrant.
3) You can switch gov-type, but the votes may go against you - in that case you cant switch.
4) Sure, you can attack - or work harder on your diplomacy. The AI can get problems and need to focus on other things, so it destibilazing you isnt exactly as war.
5) You cant change your mind. But if you feel bad about going the evil way you might take the good answers on upcoming morale issues.
6) The UP-issues are predefined, it has a bunch to random from. And it can be modded - it will be more issues to get later. Im not aware of any way to break the new laws or refuses issues that UP's majority vote fore.

Perhaps someone else can fill in the blanks?
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
On 6 you can always leave the United Planets however this is rarely a good idea because you cannot trade with any civ's that belong to the United Planets.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
hi Ancient Warrior

1. Yes to the death, you may fire an individual ship as many times as it has movement points left, 10 mp means you can fire 10 times (during your part of the turn) defensive fire (when the a.i. is attacking you seems to be unlimited (have had 1 ship fire back at 70 different ships during the a.i's turn. Moving the ships away and hoping they don't attack you is about the only way i know to retreat.

2. Nope, they never respect your borders, if they can, they will build on any available star with habitable planets, lass 15 and above. Thru hard work you can get make class 14 planets work, but you should't start colonizing them till there are no moe class 15 and above planets left. Colonizing in the early part of the game is very important.

3. You can switch upwards from imperial to star democracy, going the other way can only happen if the senate votes to lllose it's own power or if the united planets votes on a specific issue that way.

4. Not necissarily, If he's mmore powerful (military) than you you'd better not. He just might walk all over you and kill you off.

5. These are one time events as you colonize the planets, you can not go back on what you decided. These are major decisions and what you select can determine if you are neutral, good, or an evil scociety. It will also affect how the a.i's react to you. Pure evil and the'll probably vote to restrict your trade routes, or they'll ally together to wipe you off the galaxy. Good, and they might warm up to you a lot faster. It just depends how you want to play the game. I normally go for good, but sometimes i like being the dark force.

6. It does come up random, You can break that law by leaving the u.p. but their are major consequences to that (no trade, no one trusts you, etc...) By the way some laws are permamnet and some last for a period of a few years


hope this helps

rich


it will get a lot clearer when you start playing the game :)
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
1) The entire fleet (not including non-attack ships) will be committed to the attack. But you can left-click on the ship you are about to attack to check out its stats before attacking it.

2) They will not colonize in the same star system; once you colonize a planet in a star system, you control the entire system and you can colonize the other habitable planets in the system at your leisure. But the AI will colonize planets in the same sector as you, and sector control can be important.

3) You can always go forward without voting, but regressing requires a vote from the senate.

4) Not necessarily. There are various was to deal with the problem. You can build improvements and spend money on propaganda to keep your people happy and then quietly destabilize THEM, and build starbases with cultural influence bonuses near their star systems. Or you use your diplomatic abilities to get someone else to attack them.

5) That particular decision holds, but you may get a similar event in the future which you can make a different decision. Over time, your decisions affect your aligment, and your interface will change if you become more good or evil than neutral. Your alignment will affect how the AI interacts with you. For example, good civilizations will like you more if you play good. Being able to change your decision is an interesting suggestion, so I've made note of it for when we are discussing features for expansions.

6) Currently, the UP issues come up randomly. I don't know if that will change in the future, although it has been suggested. You cannot break the laws while belonging to the UP. If you want to break the laws, you will have to leave, but then you will not be able to trade with other civs, which will hurt your economy.