GalCiv needs more documentation
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Stardock Forums
Stardock Forums
Hi everybody,
I think that GalCiv is an excellent game of its type, but in pursuit of even better game, I have come up with a few things, mostly documentation (as title implies).
First, the game needs accurate documentation and more of it. I don't mean documentation about how to use the UI or how to download it via SDC, but about the rules the game uses. I don't know of you who are going to "learn by playing", but I think there are several black holes in the docs. A few:
- no information about different governments. How is anybody supposed to choose between Monarchy and Republic?
- no information about how planet stats (morale/income/pop.growth etc) are calculated. Impossible to know whether it is possible to make use of class X or lower planets. These imply that it is impossible to make anything but a guess whether anything is worth buying or selling for X bc. If you knew how morale would affect your economy, you would be able to deduce how much you would be willing to pay for a tech that boosts your morale. et cetera.
This is almost a game-killer for me, I don't like making blind decisions in a STRATEGY game - I'm willing to use my brains. I don't know about you.
Second, there are a few balancing issues that might need addressing. These have been brought up by me and by others.
- starbases stack. Starbases currently far outweigh any social improvements, that are slow to build, have maintenance, and improve only the planet vs. sector
- galactic resources are vastly overpowered. They become far more important than almost anything else.
- morale issues. Not going to discuss them in-depth here.
And, lastly, a few other points:
- metaverse scores should be based only on difficulty and number of turns it took to win (+map size/victory type). Reduces milking, population or money doesn't matter
- gigantic galaxies are too big for anybody with other hobbies to play. At least I don't have the time to play so big games
- if AI knows yellow stars, that's cheating. I don't care if AI cheats a little, but it's cheating, don't call it a background story. As well one might say that because other races have existed for so long time, their economy is mature and they get a +50% bonus
Two last comments may be ignored if you find them offensive.
These are my personal opinions. I don't mean to flame or so, I think this is constructive criticism. And this far these issues have already been discussed, but I'm just giving my vote that something has to be done for these, IMHO too.
I think that GalCiv is an excellent game of its type, but in pursuit of even better game, I have come up with a few things, mostly documentation (as title implies).
First, the game needs accurate documentation and more of it. I don't mean documentation about how to use the UI or how to download it via SDC, but about the rules the game uses. I don't know of you who are going to "learn by playing", but I think there are several black holes in the docs. A few:
- no information about different governments. How is anybody supposed to choose between Monarchy and Republic?
- no information about how planet stats (morale/income/pop.growth etc) are calculated. Impossible to know whether it is possible to make use of class X or lower planets. These imply that it is impossible to make anything but a guess whether anything is worth buying or selling for X bc. If you knew how morale would affect your economy, you would be able to deduce how much you would be willing to pay for a tech that boosts your morale. et cetera.
This is almost a game-killer for me, I don't like making blind decisions in a STRATEGY game - I'm willing to use my brains. I don't know about you.
Second, there are a few balancing issues that might need addressing. These have been brought up by me and by others.
- starbases stack. Starbases currently far outweigh any social improvements, that are slow to build, have maintenance, and improve only the planet vs. sector
- galactic resources are vastly overpowered. They become far more important than almost anything else.
- morale issues. Not going to discuss them in-depth here.
And, lastly, a few other points:
- metaverse scores should be based only on difficulty and number of turns it took to win (+map size/victory type). Reduces milking, population or money doesn't matter
- gigantic galaxies are too big for anybody with other hobbies to play. At least I don't have the time to play so big games
- if AI knows yellow stars, that's cheating. I don't care if AI cheats a little, but it's cheating, don't call it a background story. As well one might say that because other races have existed for so long time, their economy is mature and they get a +50% bonus
Two last comments may be ignored if you find them offensive.
These are my personal opinions. I don't mean to flame or so, I think this is constructive criticism. And this far these issues have already been discussed, but I'm just giving my vote that something has to be done for these, IMHO too.
