Positive feedback on Beta 4D

Very stable, with few showstopper bugs

from GalCiv2 Forums
Wow! These Beta versions are getting MUCH better each time. There are many new features in this one, over 4C, and 4D is very stable. I have been playing on my crappy work laptop for hours without any crashes or lockups. The zoom-in/zoom-out seems a little smoother to me this time. The Minor Races are a lot of fun, but may be a bit too powerful (just my opinion so far - I'm still in the early game phase).

My biggest complaint right now is the bug that kills saved games (you can never reload your game again) when you upgrade/obsolete/delete a ship in some way. I'm not sure exactly what triggers it, but it really sucks to have your savegame corrupted and have to start over. I reported a TON of other minor bugs in the Beta 4D Report thread, but none of them are serious enough to prevent you from playing through the game.

Other than that one bug, there is nothing else serious enough to keep me from finding a workaround. The AI races are doing well in the early game, colonizing planets, doing research, trading techs, etc. In fact, to assure myself a victory (I don't really want a challenge at this point, I just want to test the whole game) I have to push the difficulty down to Beginner. It's sad for me, I know, but that speaks well for the AI anyway. Once the game balancing is done, I want to try the higher levels.

The game is becoming fun to play now, and I am less inclined to request new features from Stardock, and more interested in suggesting minor tweaks to fix stuff that is already in there (ex: pointing out things that are hard to see when you are zoomed out, buttons that don't work right, glitches in the ship design window, etc). I can TOTALLY see them having this game finished by the end of February.

This build is looking great. Nice job!
24,348 views 25 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Totally agreed, its really coming together now and it just feels good. I'm looking less at what isnt there and more at what is, which must be a good sign. Well done so far Stardock, all the hard work is starting to show through.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Oh, definitely, my last killer issues have been resolved in 4C. The 2 minute delay before I get the first screen is still around, stability needs work, and I've got ideas for improving things a bit without radically changing the game.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
I'm sure the gameplay will be fine for feb, but what about the graphics, there seems to be loads still missing.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Technically, once the gameplay and engine are up and running, Art assets can be added up until the last minute, so players won't be seeing the final art until the game ships (or the day we release 1.0 on SDC).

There are alot of ship gfx, battle animations, cutscenes, planet images, ect that either 1.) on our To-Do list, or 2.) Done, but won't be released to the public until 1.0

That said, what, from a graphical perspective, do you guys feel is missing from the game.  In our confidence that we have it all covered, we may have overlooked some important polish points that could bite us in the end which, as always, would suck.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Please make the Mass Driver attack sequences better (MiniBalls, Mass Drivers, etc). The stupid "two balls hover from both sides and slam the ship" thing has got to go! That is the thing that I think looks worst in the game for graphics right now.
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
Will there be race graphics of the army's in the invasion screen or just a generic invasion sequence like it is now.
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
Please make the Mass Driver attack sequences better (MiniBalls, Mass Drivers, etc). The stupid "two balls hover from both sides and slam the ship" thing has got to go! That is the thing that I think looks worst in the game for graphics right now.


Could it be changed to look more like a naval warship broadside? A series of smaller projectiles flying out in a cloud sort of thing. I do agree its my least favourite combat effect atm.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

ash: Are you playing with the new beta (4D)?  That has an improved invasion system that may be what you're looking for.

massdrivers: Yes, this is on our list, along with MANY more weapon FX.

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
hmmm, well since I have BoogieBac's attention...

I still find that generic background under the main map looks pretty bad. It should be WAY more subtle, so much so that you should barely notice it once you've been playing for awhile. We have to look at the background the whole time we're playing the game, so I think it deserves some attention. Sometimes, a bright part of the background makes it hard to see the "max ship range" lines on the main map.

and for a positive comment:
I really like the look of the United Planets voting window now. The faces of the ambassadors look great, the race colors are nice and crisp, and I like the way you can see the ambassadors move their heads around a little bit. I think you should totally leave that screen the way it is.
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

You SHOULD be able to adjust the # of stars and nubula in the BG to fit your liking, this should clear up any visual problems associated with the starfield.

Also, adding more nebula would be pretty easy, but it's been so long that it has kinda escaped our realm of concern. We'll revisit the starfield in our next GC2 meeting

Keep the ideas coming....the art crew is ready to polish the hell out of GC2 

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
The new invasion screen has infantry and tanks but they are the same, just different colours.Will there be race specific units on it.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

We'll probably do something similar to the ships, where we make about 5 different sets that we use across 10 different races.  Hopefully this, along with the color difference, will make the battles more unique (or, at least, unique enough ).

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
BoogieMac, I cranked the "background nebula density" all the way up to make the backgound brighter, but it didn't do anything until I saved and reloaded the game. Is it supposed to work like that? Thanks.
Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

Yeah, those settings dont take effect until the galaxy is restarted IIFC (and may actually require a game reboot).  We'll have to put in a popup message so players know this.

Other than that, did this help your visibility problem?

Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top
A few ideas.

1.It would be great to have some fighters in the sky in that ground invasion screen, to go with the tanks,infantry.To complete the look.

2.I would like to see the navalships with high experience/levels have some wear and tear and not look so dam clean like new ships,it should look battleworn.

3. Why does the united planets have the old plain boring screen background from GC1.The screen needs a more authoritarian style like in MOO3(yeah at least the senate looked cool in moo3).
Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top
No doubt too late....but

It would be great to have the AI leaders more animated in the Diplomacy screen like Civ 4 - it makes the immersion factor deeper, as if you are talking to someone thats alive.
Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top
Having the nebula density set to max allows me to see the grids very clearly, but makes some ships harder to see. I'm sure if I try some settings in between I can strike a happy medium.
Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top
I'm finding the Influence border very hard to see from the maximan zoom out view.The colours need to be stronger.
Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top
1.It would be great to have some fighters in the sky in that ground invasion screen, to go with the tanks,infantry.To complete the look.


That's a good idea.

3. Why does the united planets have the old plain boring screen background from GC1.The screen needs a more authoritarian style like in MOO3(yeah at least the senate looked cool in moo3).


I like the UP screen the way it is. What do you mean by "more authoritarian"?
Reply #20 from Stardock Forums Top
The minor race I-League racial color on the tactical map is a dark grey or possibly black color. Locating their ships in a section of the screen in which one has sensor coverage is nearly impossible. The AI should never be allowed to use difficult to see colors on the tactical map.

I'm sure the art team are aware, but at least one pirate ship type does not appear to have been textured.
Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top
I like the UP screen the way it is. What do you mean by "more authoritarian"?


The UP screen in the background just looks like a strange empty room with 5 box type things.I'm thinking it should be like the Starwars council,the U..N,startrek it should have personality and be alive.
Reply #22 from Stardock Forums Top
The main screen - the screen one seens upon starting the game.

It looks pretty but fails to convey a sense of... anything... Other than that the game is related to space. Could I suggest that an in-game fleet battle loop be played there? Not a rendered video, but an actual fleet battle rendered on the fly. Give the player a hint of things to come and a sneak look at some neato fleet battle action (something some players may never actually see, since the game offers so many paths to domination).
Reply #23 from Stardock Forums Top
i think the tactical screen need work - there could be an opportunity here to do something insanely aesthetic - much like a board in a board game - it might make the map a little clearer, and encourage players to zoom in and out more often? an inverse star map (ie black stars/white space)??? just a thought.......insane of course

Reply #24 from Stardock Forums Top
i think the tactical screen need work - there could be an opportunity here to do something insanely aesthetic - much like a board in a board game - it might make the map a little clearer, and encourage players to zoom in and out more often? an inverse star map (ie black stars/white space)??? just a thought.......insane of course


Exactly the kind of drivel I would expect from the Robomen.
Reply #25 from Stardock Forums Top