Gav Civ and VGA Planets

from Stardock Forums
I'm an old Vga Planets player.Loved the game and played it to death on local BBS boards back in the old dos days. I have always wanted to find a game with a similar bend but as a single player game.Something Vga Planets never was. How does Gav Civ stack up to Vga Planets? Everything I've read so far about Gav Civ has me drooling at the mouth wanting to play it.

Cheers,

Hammer007

~SDC~
86,448 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
GalCiv's excellent diplomatic model does feel at times like the multiplayer interrelating that was at the heart of VGA Planets. Often in GalCiv your welfare is linked to the survival of another race, minor or major, and you find yourself trying to decide how much help you need to give without having it come back to haunt you in the future - a very VGA Planet type of situation ;) . GalCiv's game mechanics are more streamlined than Planets and the game advances faster. Though there's a lot less micromanagement, there's still plenty of strategic depth. If you enjoy a slow moving, heavy micromanagement game (as I sometimes do), try to find a copy of Empire's Stars!, which is very similar to Planets except can be played solo or multiplayer. However, the solo game has no diplomatic model and I found it spreadsheet-like and lacking character, something GalCiv is loaded with, well, the character part anyway LOL . As an old Planets player myself, I whole heartedly recommend GalCiv (long as you won't miss lugging the ore back and forth). Hope this helps.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks for the reply Alltus.The diplomatic model sounds great as does the game.I've put in a request for GalCiv for my BD.The wife's agreed so I'll be playing it the end of May.Until then I think I'll read the Manual and every other article I can find on this game. I should be ready to jump in by then. ;)

Cheers,

Hammer007

~SDC~
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
In VGA Planets you had multiple resources to manage.
Every race used different ships (which could be modded btw).

In GalCiv the model for planets and shipbuilding are much easier. Also turns take are much shorter. In VGA Planets a turn could take at max 2-3 hours, when playing three turns a week. In GalCiv often les than a minute per turn.

Alltus, you are right GalCiv has lots of character.

bye,

Tventano

VGA Planets is really "the good old times". I hosted in total almost 30 games, but only played in five or six.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
There actually was an AI for VGA Planets at one point. I never had the patience to find out if it was any good, though. ;)
It's still available, and there's a beta of v4 which you can get. No idea if it's any good, it wouldn't run when I downloaded it a couple of years ago.

www.vgaplanets.com

GalCiv is better, though. :CONGRAT:

~SDC~
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Ya I've tried the AI's they've put out for VGAP. They were ok but never approached the fun I had playing other players. The problem with VGAP was after awhile players started dropping out and the end game just fell apart. Something I won't have to worry about in Gav Civ :) The diplomacy is one aspect I really enjoyed in VGAP. Players can be very devious, it created a lot of tension in the game. Can you set up
other Civs and try to get them to fight among themselves in Gav Civ? Is a divide and conquer approach possible? Is diplomacy very deep in this game and does it play a large part in the overall strategy?

Hammer007

~SDC~
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
Galciv is very similar to VGA planets..minus the minerals..which I loved and wished moo etc would have encorp'd ...
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
"Can you set up other Civs and try to get them to fight among themselves in Gav Civ? Is a divide and conquer approach possible? Is diplomacy very deep in this game and does it play a large part in the overall strategy?"

It's Ga*L* Civ, not Gav. :)

But, in order: Yes. Yes. Yes and if you want it to. :)

~SDC~