Medium Galaxy/Occasional Habital/PQ +15/Intelligent - AI Disadvantaged?

from Stardock Forums
First off, I am a pretty crap GalCiv player - but have played 4 games on the above settings and won 2 culturals and 1 military (plus one arse-kicking from the Yor).
The lack of planets, the PQ setting plus the AI not colonising PQ14s gives me an edge in the colony phase from which they never seem to recover. One race will usually expand to a few planets - but the rest will be restricted to 1 or 2 planets and are easy pickings.
I set spending to 100%, Military to 90%, Social 0%, Research 10% and am playing Pacifist party. I reasearch Habitat Improvemet, then Manufacturing Centre, then Universal Translator, and finally Impulse Drive (with Transports and Fusion Plant).
I build Soil/Habitat/Manufacturing/Banking/Fusion.
Then switch research to military. Defend with Battleaxes and attack with Corvettes/Cruisers/Frigates. And always attack and invade any minor races within range as any planet over PQ15 is a huge edge.
Anyone else played on the above settings?
If a play on more "balanced" settings - ie more abundant planets and no PQ edge - I usually win on normal but struggle on Bright - and would no way try Intelligent.
444 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
I'm confused, what are you saying?


~SDC~
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
I think anytime you make the habitable planets rare, and give yourself the 10/15 PQ bonus the AI is at a big disadvantage, yes.

olaf
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
IMO he's saying that the PQ +15% trait, which is already one of the best in the game under any circumstances, is overpowered on maps with few yellow stars because you can still colonize the 13 and 14 PQ planets (which the AI won't do). And he's right.

I'm currently doing very well on genius AI in a large galaxy under the same type of conditions. I'm not a shabby player (I've beaten Incredible) but Genius level is usually a pretty solid challenge...however the PQ +15 edge when there's few good systems around is just too good really.

It might be worth considering raising the minimum PQ for colonization up to 15 (which is pretty much the effective minimum anyways if you don't have a PQ bonus). This would slightly nerf the PQ ability while still leaving it very useful.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Hmm.

It bothers me that people want to nerf things to "fix" their games when, in fact, the easy solution is to simply do something differently - don't use the PQ bonus, don't choose rare habitability if you do, whatever. You can see a lot of this in the starbase thread - people want number of starbases to be limited, or have prohibitive maintenance costs (usually both) because they don't want starbases to work the way they do.

Anyway, I'm not saying that making the game more challenging is a bad thing. I'm saying that it's very easy to get hooked on a nonviable nerf to account for your personal cheese.

~SDC~
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
I have to agree with Phaedyme. The reason this is a non issue is because this is a SINGLE player game.. one of the reasons they did it this way, imo.

If you want to ruin the game for yourself (or enjoy kicking the AI every time), by all means do what you are doing! If it gives you enjoyment, no one is going to complain. And you shouldn't either. ;p

If you want a better challange.. don't max the PQ ability. It *does* have three settings. Just choose the +5%, or the +10%.

There is hardly a need for a 'nerf' when:

1. This is an OPTION, not a requirement.
2. There are other settings lower than 15%.
3. You don't have to make colonizable planets rare.

This to me is akin to a cheat code. You COULD do it.. but you are only ruining it for yourself. And you have no one to *blame* but yourself.

fleabitfox
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
I only do it when I've just had a bad game and I want to get even. :) I prefer abundant worlds and trade/diplomacy/economy bonuses.

I do not want my vehicle for catharsis nerfed.

~SDC~
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
Do the Yor (machines) have a PQ bonus? If so, why don't that colonize PQ 14+ stars? If not, they should. :)

/ds
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
(P.S. "they should" refers to having both a PQ bonus AND colonizing lesser worlds.) In fact, they should have a pretty hefty PQ bonus, or not be as affected by lower PQ planets. They are machines, afterall.

/ds
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
I dont think anything should be nerfed...just was answering what I thought was the 'question'.

olaf
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
Remember there is another hidden advantage that exists in almost all our games: when we roll a crappy starting position we reroll (there are probably some out there who go hardcore and don't, but I'm betting the majority do). So you combine good starting position with rare planets (for everyone but you) and through in tight clusters to improve the odds of the the AIs getting stranded and you have a situation that greatly favors the human player.

As to whether this type of thing should be nerfed, I'm on the side that says 'no'. There are always going to be people who are better or worse at the game than average, there -should- be many ways of playing the game so that everyone can find a sweet spot between difficulty and success. For players who don't expand well for whatever reason the +PQ bonus is very nice.

As noted, if you find something too powerful then don't use it. I don't use multiple starbase bonuses, for instance. I just find it to be too much (though if the comp starting busting me with them then I'm sure I'd revisit my attitude on the issue). I also haven't used the Rare/+15 PQ/tight clusters combo either because I can see how the AI will have trouble with that.

I think anyone who find one set of bonuses and sticks with them religiously are cheating themselves out of experiencing the many different ways you can play GalCiv.
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
Olaf: I was replying to the person who suggested disallowing colonies on less than PQ 15 worlds. I didn't remember you recommending any nerfs.

~SDC~