Some really good suggestions here. I disagree with using large or huge maps. While in the short run it gives you a buffer, in the long run, handling such a large empire will be bad for a newbie. Stick with a smaller map that you play the entire game through without being overwhelmed by logistics and number of planets. A lot of planets can be hard to micromanage for the beginner.
I do have to ask the perennial question, though: How will it affect pre-existing save games? I'm in the midst of a huge map (on the metaverse, no less, my first incidentally). Should I wait to download this until that game is finished? They will work fine. I made special effort when I added new AI variables to make sure they wouldn't affect saved games.
I'm playing computer games since 15 years and i can't remember a company so close to its players. Thanks. richard I can think of a couple, but they were at their height before the true flowering of the Internet and the flowering of connectivity between Designers and Players. I do agree with you that, here and now, Stardock sets a very high standard in taking care of its fan base. Bravo!
Funny enough, I've seen minors try and place influence starbases at random...which is totally useless for them, of course. I agree that I've gotten away with using culture effectively against the AI. On the other hand, if you do get into a shooting war with the civilization in question, the relative weakness of influence starbases makes them tempting and easy targets for your opponent.
Very nice so far!
This is similar to the complaints some have about the Dread Lords Mega Event. Easy pickings of a high quality planet.
To play Devil's Advocate for a second...the advantage to buying it in a store is that it improves the store sales for Stardock's products. Sell enough of those copies of GCIIGold, and the stores will see Stardock as a reliable company to continue to supply their stores with future games. And honestly, I came to GCII via purchasing it at Best Buy. I had vaguely heard of GCI, but I was looking for something new, wandering in the Big Box store, and took GCII home with me to be hooked.<b
What sort of shipping method does Stardock use to mail the CD? I live in an apartment building whose policies on receiving packages other than US Mail are highly restrictive and usually set a mailing address for UPS and Fed Ex packages to a friends house, instead. So I am enquiring, basically, so I know where I should set my "shipping address".
Hi all. Strategy games are in my blood, and although I am not a huge fan of RTS games (with some very limited exceptions), I really took a shine to, being a Romanophile, Rome: Total War. Now, coming out soon is a sequel to an earlier game in the Total War series, Medieval Total War II. Is anyone else looking forward to it coming out?
What your defenders remind me of is the "monitor class" ships from the board game Star Fleet Battles. Slow, not maneuverable, but useful as a stopgap defense until your real fleet shows up to take care of the problem. Or, alternatively, from the old Star Wars/Tie Fighter games, "System defense ships". If they didn't have one hp, cargo hulls would be perfect for this role. But they are a little too fragile. Sure, the presence of ships qua ships will slow and inhibit the
In point of fact, there is a free photoshop plug in (called FITS Liberator) where you can take raw data from NASA and color that raw data the way you want. WWW Link
Oh, we're doing book recommendations. Space battles, and several alien races? The Dread Empire's Fall trilogy by Walter Jon Williams is for you! I recently finished the series, and enjoyed it quite a bit: Dread Empire's Fall: The Praxis Dread Empire's Fall: The Sundering Dread Empire's Fall: Conventions of War
AFAIK, Luck doesn't deal with specials on planets (although I certainly could be wrong about that). As far as I am aware, Luck has to do with anomalies and random events--like getting the Precursor Ranger, for example.
The problem with Nebulae, IMO, as has been said before, is that such things are unfair to the AI. Programming the AI is difficult enough as it is (and Stardock gets a thumbs up for doing it so well) but getting it to react and intelligently use nebulae sounds like a monumental challenge to me. Although, we'll have to see with Dark Avatar just how asteroid fields work.
Hi all. I have a question about far-ranging global special events. Is there somewhere in the game where previous special events are listed? For example, it could be useful to know with that nasty progressively better racial ability special event just how long ago that occurred. Or, simply, to check if such an event was clicked through and forgotten in the haste to do something else (or if your girlfriend was distracting you, or whatever). Is there any place in the interface
how can you control which side of the planet the ship comes out of? usually it always comes out on the same square on the grid You can't, but if you are coming in from the opposite direction, you can take advantage of moving "out" and to that square.
When I read that bit about DA, I thought the same thing, Achillus! I loved Star Control II (I wasn't as enthused about SC3, there was one ship that, once you got a hold of it, basically made you unbeatable in ship combat)
I am with Cyclonus--I don't have a problem with buying online, but I prefer having the backup of a hard copy--just in case. I like the security, and having had lost downloaded games (Front Office Football) thanks to a fried HD, I like having the hard copy as a backup.
I've had more fun with the sandbox than with the campaign. The campaign has nice flavor, but the scenarios feel a little artificial to me. Just like in Civilization IV, I don't often play the scenarios, either. Give me a giant galaxy to conquer, militarily, socially or otherwise, and an A.I. who doesn't cheat to challenge me for it, and I am happy.
Thanks, Guys, for the quick turnaround on fixing the patch!
You guys never cease to amaze me, if the rest of the software industry took your example all our lives would be less hassle, minimal grief and more enjoyable. Agreed. Most game companies and designers (there are a few exceptions out there) would have long since stopped the patch process and gone on to other things, and let GalCivII go to the dust
Is GalCiv II the most perfected game I've ever played? No. Is GalCiv II the most perfected space game I've ever played? No But you guys do try to give good value for money. And succeed!! The news of the future update is prima facie evidence of that! I had a host of weird problems trying to install this game, to the point of wandering into the IRC chat room for help. I finally managed to get the game to install (it randomly cra
Yeah. In my current game, I have my influence starbases named Babylon I, II, III, etc
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