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Reply to Ship configurations and ship protection in Game Talk Stardock Forums

If I'm equally advanced in the weapons techs (can only happen if I've captured a tech as I stick to researching on one branch usually) I use a mixture as it is harder to defend against. Otherwise it is just the biggest bang per buck. This is usually guns as the cost of weapons on that branch is lower than the others. The formula for defence is based on the full value of the specific defence + Square root of the other two. (E.g. If you have 1 point in each then the defence is 3 agains

Reply to Some observations and suggestions in Game Talk Stardock Forums

I like lots of your ideas in the OP. One thing that I think would be cool is to not have population as an amophous blob but as a race by race basis. E.g. Earth may have 900M Terrans, 10M Altarians, 1M Torians, 220K Yor. As invasions take place the balance obviously changes. Eg After the Arceans take over maybe the above would be 500M Arceans, 10M Terrans, 1M Altarians, 1M Torians, 200K Yor. Each species would thrive on different types of worlds, e.g. Mars may be ideal fo

Reply to Mini freighter killed my fleet! 1.2b1 009 in Bug Reports Stardock Forums

Similar but totally different. The Arceans have been attacking me with transports with 0 troups... Amazingly they still kill some of my population... Guess it is just from fear!

Reply to Bankruptcy in early game - Need a hand in Game Talk Stardock Forums

Spot on gmjapan. But one of the problems is you need to have a crystal ball in whether 500 or 1 is the right number to put on a colony ship. If the planet has manufacturing and research bonuses (making it more useful for those purposes) then 1 is the best number early on. If it is going to be an econ planet then 500 is the best number. I head for small/medium PQs with small colonies (and use them for manufacturing/research) and the big PQ planets with big colonies and use them for e

Reply to using mods in 1.2 in Game Talk Stardock Forums

Not tried the mods bit yet... Setting a rally point is an icon on the bottom left of the map on the top of the framework. IIRC it is a sort of down arrow. It is kinda hidden as it is sort of an icon in relief on the framework rather than a big button.

Reply to CariElf, please "kill" auto-select as it's killing me in Game Talk Stardock Forums

puntarenas: Have you looked at the options in the interface section on 1.12. There is a tick box that affects behaviour, I don't know if ticking it or unticking it gives you the way you would like it to work, but it may be worth a try.

Am I alone in the GalCiv2 Universe? in Game Talk Stardock Forums

I've started playing the 1.2 beta. All seems more or less fine, except when I select random opponents I keep getting the Custom Race instead of the Terrans. While this doesn't seem to alter the game much it does ruin the fantasy somewhat. I've not seen anyone else complaining of this, which means it might just be me.

Reply to Bankruptcy in early game - Need a hand in Game Talk Stardock Forums

Iztok I don't entirely agree with you. I buy factories all the time. At least the first 2 or 3 on my home world and the first one on every other planet if I think my finances can stand it. But you are right that rushing colony/constructors is a bad idea unless you absolutely have to (there is always that lovely PQ26 planet that you can just beat the AI to if you rush)

Reply to Bankruptcy in early game - Need a hand in Game Talk Stardock Forums

You've got most of the information already. At the start you've got lots of competing pressures. a) The need to rush build. b) The need to keep population up on your economic planets (planets need a healthy poulation to make money) c) The need to colonise (each colony has a base of 12 maintenance-this can be really significant early on) d) The need for increase in production and reseach as well as economy. You need to evaluate

Reply to I think I've played my last game... in Game Talk Stardock Forums

I will go along with most of the OP. However, which game cannot be considered a "puzzle to solve"? This game is fun to "just play". I've toned down the difficulty level of late. Not because I can't beat it. Just because I can only beat it by playing a regimented game. On suicidal it feels like if you wander one step from the path of economic expansion then you get overwhelmed. There is fun to be had inventing your own rules (I cannot start wars, but I can bribe as many as I want - One

Reply to How do YOU design your ships? in Galactic Civilizations II Stardock Forums

In 1.11 it is largely about speed. Transports, Constructors are easy. Whatever they need in terms of modules then all the engines you can fit. Use Eyes and avoid sensors on ships. If someone else getrs there first build cargo holds with all the sensors you can fit. If I'm on the attack it is usually mediums with 3 or maybe 4 engines and the rest guns on whatever branch I'm most advanced with. If I'm on the defence (which I always try to avoid given the 1st strike advantage as it

Reply to How about OCC? in Game Talk Stardock Forums

One thing you must remember to do to avoid early invasion is to build a navy of some sort. At least without the initial planet rush you can focus on other stuff.

Reply to Getting rid of custom ships in Bug Reports Stardock Forums

IIRC it is stored under "My documents/Games/GalCiv2/Ships" or something similar.

Reply to How about OCC? in Game Talk Stardock Forums

It was certainly possible (and enjoyable) in GalCiv1. You could even do it by conquest with DeathStars. One of my fav ways to play. I've not managed a single planet in GalCiv2. The nearest was a slight fudge of a One Sector Challange on Large/9 races/Tough. I further fudged it by hitting Ctl-N until I got a crowded sector. I inhabited the one sector and never left until I achieved a diplomatic victory. (I think this is the only realistic way to win). It was helped by a PQ26 planet in

Reply to Masochistic in Galactic Civilizations II Stardock Forums

Iztok Bitenc - Great post. There are many ways to play, I can only say the way I do it. Which is completely different than your way Most important thing on high levels is to stick with it. You are going to be bottom or near bottom in most things. The thing is to make sure that you are not bottom in the things that count. I play on no tech trading, random sized galaxies and nu

Reply to Stock Markets and population in Game Talk Stardock Forums

dragonrift - i think you are missing the point. This thread is about economy- not production. Most people specialize worlds. Those that are for economy only have the minimum number of buildings which don't improve this attribute. The only exception to this is that generally all my worlds have 3 factories just to build the other improvements. I fill the world with stock exchanges until the pop cap is reached then I upgrade one by one to farms until the morale is only at 110% @ 79% tax rate(

Reply to Idea: First strike, fast and slow weapons in Game Talk Stardock Forums

Brad, I think we appreciate the effort involved in making a complex tactical system and the AI required. What about my idea of something as simple as letting the type of weapon determine order. Make beams fast but lower the punch at the top end of the tech tree. Then it would make some interesting choices but without a big re-write of how it all worked. (It is still one weapon per turn, same rules as now just the order is switched around.) (I know 1.2 has chosen the "everyone shoots" route bu

Reply to Is trade worth the effort? in Game Talk Stardock Forums

I see... so everyone who likes trade goes for diplomatic victories. I can see the point in trade then. However, I found diplomatic and culture victories so lame that I've switched them off. Maybe I'll try turning them on and not trying to conquer everyone. Then I can spend ages building up trade routes, heck I might even try being "good". Nah, on second thoughts I'll stick to conquest only and play as Neutral or Evil much more fun for me. <img src="http://images.stardock.com/sd_com/smiles/Wi

Reply to Is trade worth the effort? in Game Talk Stardock Forums

Pete is that a home grown economy or do you mean trade based economy? Marcathonas - Gal Privateer is great if you could be sure to get it. If someone else gets there first you are a bit stuck. I hate relying on getting to one particular wonder first.

Reply to Idea: First strike, fast and slow weapons in Game Talk Stardock Forums

Good post. I think it would be better with more character in the weapons. At present they are about as characterful as rock, paper and scissors. In reality they are very very similar. Seldom is there any other consideration than "what is everyone else researching". Your suggestions would make a real difference. How about as a varient, order of fire being made on type of weapon: beam, projectile then missile but with the damage (and size) being great

Reply to Is trade worth the effort? in Game Talk Stardock Forums

Skyjack and Megavolt Are you playing on gigantic? How do you keep your routes safe or do you never go to war? I play on conquest victory only on Suicidal. War can put pay to trade so quickly, wrecking game-years of construction. How do you overcome this problem?

Reply to Is trade worth the effort? in Game Talk Stardock Forums

Dr Ben Thanks for the hint but you've forgotten to say why

Reply to Is trade worth the effort? in Game Talk Stardock Forums

So you've lots of money... I'm sorry I didn't see the "win the game by getting 1M credits" option I said I'm trying to play the game by conquest. As soon as you go to war against a decently powerful civ the AI seems to target your freighters and starbases in space you do not own. Maybe I'm missing a trick but I seem to get on fine by having my own economy support me.

Reply to Is trade worth the effort? in Game Talk Stardock Forums

I don't think what you are doing is at all cheesy. I do recoginze it still works that way... Just that the other ways of getting money and keeping stable relations seem to work better, and need less micro management (building trade centers) than trade.

Killing lots of birds with one stone... in Game Talk Stardock Forums

an idea for AI, Expansion and Multiplayer threads. How about the crazy idea of an expansion opening up the AI interface. Brad is always talking about tweaking the numbers for the various AI’s. Why not open it up and let people tweak the AI in an online "Gal Civ Manager" sort of way. The idea being tweak your AI and set it up on-line against other tweaked AI’s. The game is then played out from a distance. Maybe allowing some fine-tuning to the parameters as the game progr