Oh! Forgot a question!

I read that there must be an active internet connection at the end of the game if you want to register on metaverse. I use a dial-up connection. Do I have to estimate when it would finish, alt-tab, sign on, and finish game.... Maybe I am confused... I should finish up this weekend (hopefully winning) and would like to post (unless I lose, then I'll hide in shame ). Thanks

John

Good morning everybody! More snow on the way here in Virginia! Looks like I'll be hunkering down with some popcorn, a DVD and the old lady this weekend.

John: First, what difficulty are you playing? The reason I ask is at higher difficulty, AIs get pretty mad about having SBs in their sector. Since you're at war, it doesn't really matter since they usually just declare war on you for building a SB in their sector. But just be sure to watch where you build SBs with the majors you're not at war with! Also, who is the minor? Alexians culture flip pretty easily, but Carinoids are almost flip resistant so culture attacks on them are pretty fruitless. However, if you invade the system, the culture SB will magnify your culture in that area so it's a good idea. You might want to dismantle the SB once you have secured the surrounding sectors, as it will be a drain on your economy, and you can use those BCs elsewhere.

Basically, the victory condition percentages are a snapshot of how you're doing. Alliance victory will stay at 0% until you ally with another major, so don't worry about that one. Tech will only jump really high toward the end of the game and you're close to researching Beyond Human technology. Cultural victory occurs after you have gotten to 90% (I think) and keep it there for 12 months, but cultural victory scoring is very low, so concentrate on military victory (the highest scoring version and in my opinion, the most fun to achieve!). The military percentage will jump up as you defeat majors and begin dominating the galaxy!

You can only ally with AIs that have a very close relationship, but only after you have researched the Alliance technology. Be careful, as alliances are a double edged sword. While you're allied, you won't go to war with an AI, but if they go to war with someone you're not allied with they will force you to go to war with them. This is not always advantageous.

Keep us informed of how you're doing! And enjoy your game!

And the internet connection only needs to be active immediately after the victory movie plays and you click "Done" from the Summary page. I usually let the movie play, then from the Summary page I Alt-Tab out and connect to the internet, then return to the game and click "Done".
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Thanks. I am playing on beginner for this first go round. Yes, it is the Carinoids. The starbase is not in the sector. It is from left to right, their planet white sector border then my base just on the other side. There is only one ship icon distance between the planet and the base but the border runs between. Would the starbase be effective or must it actually be in the same sector? I did not know I could dismantle it. That is a great idea once I am done with them. I have destroyed all of their freighters as they enter my space in hopes of hurting their economy. I am only a few months from finishing research on battleships which may help me too.

Essentially, they have ticked me off. They took out one of my freighters for no cause and thus must be eliminated Not to mention their rude, undiplomatic comments.

I was very pleased when two civs just offered me money, one being the Drengins. I love the diplomacy system in this game!

When I toggle the mini map to show influence, the map shows quite a bit. When on population, other civs have larger circles but less systems. I am going for a military victory. If you take the map and draw a line from lower left to upper right, I own most of the lower right triangle. Only the alexians are in the lower right sector with one system. I am working on "assimilating" them. The Carinoids are in the lower left and have two beautiful systems that I really want.

I am disappointed with my research scheme in this game. I did not go with enough military techs early on. I pumped up trade and worked toward a solid economy. I am rapidly acquiring the military techs now. I will keep you posted. I am sure I will have more questions.

The "very close" is with the Yor. They have sent me BC's twice and have offered to help in my war with the Carinoids (well, they said they would but I've not seen anything develop from it).

Back to work...

John

PS: We are getting hit with that snow tonight and tomorrow here in upstate NY. Sure you won't keep it?
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Cultural starbases give the main bonus to the sector they're in, but also give bonuses to surrounding sectors. So, yes it is helping.

When you research Battleships, you may want to consider building Death Knights (which come as part of that tech). They seem to give more bang for the buck! And if you like transports, you'll LOVE Combat Transports!!

Since you're going for a military victory, make sure you keep an eye on the Cultural Victory progress. If the percentage becomes a countdown (10 mts, 9 mts, etc) you will need to declare war on a major and quickly! You cannot win a Cultural victory if you are at war with anyone, but be sure you'll be in good shape for that final war or you might find the fight pretty hard. Keep an eye on what kind of ships the enemy has by checking the Diplomacy screen often. If you're not at war with an AI, you can see what kind of ships they have. Make sure you have at least the same level ships as they have before going to war with them. There's nothing worse than going to war and your Dreadnaughts suddenly run into some Overlords!

It's a pretty big snowstorm...but being from Upstate NY, you should be used to big snows!
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True enough. Last year we did not see ground for almost three months. Had 2 feet on Christmas and another 2 feet the week after. Oh well, nothing I can do about it...

Hopefully tonight shall be the end of the Carinoids, at least one of their planets. I will soon have ten transports loaded and waiting for the main assault fleet to do its work bringing down the defenses. I may wait for my battleship research to finish though as they have a stack of ships near the planet.

Oh! Being new, I get a lot of "You can't go that far" with ships. What will extend the range? It is usually with a BattleAxe or Defender. Are they limited in some way? I have not really looked...I am being lazy asking....

A quick addendum to Theoden's excellent advice: when dealing with starbases (and almost everything in this game) the actual distance doesn't matter, just the separation in sectors. So you get the same effect from your starbase right on the border as you would have gotten if you'd placed it in the middle of the sector.

In general, the effect of culture starbases is strong enough that it can be worthwhile to put the starbase in a sector adjacent to that of the planet you want to flip. Putting down multiple starbases can be extremely effective--the total bonus is not additive, but closer to multiplicative. However, as Theoden noted, this doesn't apply when you're trying to flip the Caronids or certain other minor races.



One pitfall that catches a lot of first-timers (myself included) is the population growth system. In most 4X games you want your morale to be just high enough that your people don't rebel against you. In Galciv, population growth is tied to morale. You get growth when morale is between 54 and 99, and negative growth when your morale is below 54, and double the normal growth rate when morale is 100. As your population increases, however, it becomes harder to maintain morale due to crowding.

Range extenders--certain techs (controlled gravity, gravity mastering) extend range. You can use a starbase to extend range--the starbase acts just like a planet for range purposes. Or you can colonize one of the remaining planets.

Have fun!
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I am seriously considering dismantling that one base tonight. Since it won't help with the Carinoids, it is a waste of BC's, that, and the fact it won't help me in any of the other sectors. With a tedious day at work I shall be quite belligerent when I start tonight so they will be toast.

Good tips on the pop growth. I have been working on keeping an eye on morale. I have had one planet with quite the angry red face, which I dealt with. Luckily I keep winning my elections so I keep that extra hit point bonus. I did get a message last night that some of my people do not like the way the war is going (this game is so cool) but I hope with a quick victory to quell doubts.

Back to MS Access....stupid work....they just do not understand...

John

I know the feeling...if they only knew that the galaxy was at stake!!! LOL

I even tried explaining this to them. They claim until they see a Drengin warship, I have to work. "Sure, sure," I tell them, "Live your lives in pathetic bliss. Someday, maybe even soon, you will know." Then the counseling... LOL

BTW, my wife doesn't like the game.... "Aren't you sick of it yet, you've been playing four 2 hours now?"

Oh well, just under 3 hours to go....weather guy keeps projecting more snow each time he comes on...5-9 inches this morning projected now up to 12" projected...yuck

John

Double posted somehow...

John
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LOL

That's exactly the same thing my wife says! She has a very short attention span and can't understand how I can play a game that lasts longer than a game of Majong tiles.

Only 1-3" more accumulation expected here!!! Of course, nobody around here knows how to drive in snow and they are quite dangerous when trying to.

By the way, John:

I've added you to the website Roster page. http://fotr.galciv.org If you (or anybody else in the Fellowship) wants to submit a backstory and have it posted on the Roster page, go ahead and put it here on this thread. You don't have to write anything if you don't want to, but I just thought I'd let you know.

And I don't know if you know or not, but you can change your nickname if you want to. Instead of jp42655, you can use another name. Just go to www.wincustomize.com (http://www.wincustomize.com) and sign in like you do on this site using your email and password. Click on Edit Account and then change nickname.

My wife plays quickie type games too. We have gotten some from a place called popcap. Nice, quick games.

She really hates the sounds of some of mine; like guys screaming when they die in Command and Conquer, swords clanging and such... "turn it down!"

Get my errands done tonight, before the snow tomorrow, and wrest control of the galaxy from others

I have changed my nick. I was wondering how to do that. I always have liked Sam...

John

Great! I'll change your nick on the Profile page!

Yes, my wife wonders sometimes about the sounds of my games. I love the reactions she has when I play games like Star Wars: Rebellion and there's the sound of 30 ISDs firing their turbolaser batteries, or Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor when I kill a spectre and it screams.

Have you ever played Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds? It's basically an Age of Empires mod, but it is really fun to send AT-ATs against Wookies! LOL They scream really nice when they get hit...

I'm really lucky--my girlfriend likes video games too. Not 4X games for some reason though... she likes abstract strategy games, and real time conquering games, but not civ-type games for some reason.

Oh, my wife likes games like Mahjong tiles and crap like that. Booooooring.

LOL They don't understand what it means to conquer entire galaxies.

I have been looking for Galactic Battlegrounds. I am going to check the local Gamestop. If they do not have it, I'll order it from their online store...only $20 with the expansion and free shipping. Looks good. Be nice if you could lay a smackdown on the ewoks...yes, I am sick...

Oh, then you'll love this...you can kill ewoks in the game!!!! They don't have a scenario for it, but you can create a scenario with the map builder and kill ewoks! Hmmm...I am a little sick myself...

You can.

Hmm, posts while I was reading... :notsure:
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I will be checking on my way home. Allegedly they have three in stock.. What a way to relieve pressure of a long day, go home and slaughter ewoks and wookies...

[Edit]Gungans too? That would be very cool too...
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Yup! Kill Gungans, Wookies, Trade Federation, Rebels, and many more!

You can kill Gungans?

I must investigate this.

Hehehe...you can evil kill Jar-Jar!

Man, I reeeeeally need a sinister smiley!!

With the change in my nick (done from work) effect my stardock central from home? Do I have to change anything in that?

Just verified with Gamestop, they have three in stock. Looks like fun... GalCiv first though, gotta finish my game before I forget where I was...