I think Dread Lords still has some things going for it. The two have a lot in common, but I think DA is a harder, more involved game. Though, I may still play DL every now and then. I agree it's a good idea to start with Dread Lords then move to Dark Avatar once you know the ropes.
I've been having an issue with Dark Avatar so I thought I would rule out a corrupt download by re-installing the game. The download speed was good me the second time.
Yea, that's the thing about GC2, the economy requires constant care and tending. But, that's a fun part of the game for me.
Yea, on a gigantic map, if a race from the other side declares war on you, it can be pretty much ignored. By the time they get any ships over to your side, you can easily bargain a peace treaty with them. Not a real threat.
Well, I have a pretty run-of-the-mill machine as you can see by looking at the debug output. It has plenty of ram and a decent video card. It has all the latest drivers. I don't see why Dark Avatar would have any problems on my system, but it does. Dread Lords works without flaw. I did submit a ticket to Stardock support so I'll see if they can tell me why I'm having issues.
Thanks, I'll have to check that out
Do I have to gamble also in that case I think its bad! Actually, I enjoy the random factors involved especially for invasions. It's always fun to try and get those good ratios. That's something I would be dissapointed to see changed in any way.
You'll find you can crank up the difficulty as you get your style of play nailed down. Personally, I start out on Normal and crank it up a notch every game until I start losing. Right now, I'm playing Dark Avatar on Tough with all races at the full intelligence the level allows. I think DA is generally harder than Dread Lords. I did eventually win a few Suicidal games in Dread Lords, but most of the time, I get creamed. I typically play Dread Lords on Masochistic, but don't give all the rac
I seem to be settling in on the Thalans for Dark Avatar. Their industrial super ability is really powerful. Combined with their class 15 homeworld, it gives me a great jump on the start. I'm still putting all my points into morale and population growth and using the Federalist party for the economic bonus. The Thalans get a free economic bonus and along with the economic bonus from the Federalist party, it gets me over the economic hump faster. Economy is a tough one in both games, but it's
Yea, I always build Tri-Quan Training ASAP as well. The other races will get that one pretty quick if you neglect it. For invasions, I seem to go for Tidal Disruption a lot, it's fairly effective and doesn't degrade planet quality. To the OP, for defense against invasions, the best thing is build up planet populations with farms and morale buildings. Soldiering techs are important as well. There isn't a designation as far as population goes. They're all soldiers during an invasio
my only complaint is that engine specs were radically changed in Dark Avatar. With the exorbitant cost, it really screws up the way I play. This is certainly part of the reason I still play DL. The stated justification is that the AI wasn't designed to deal with speeds in excess of 16 or so if I remember the argument correctly. I agree with what you say further in your post and my retort to the above statement would be, "fix
but anyway, Craig you mentioned looking at continuous rather than peak wattage: how can i determine that? most of the specs i've seen (which have mostly been on newegg) only list a single figure for wattage (which i assume in most cases is probably the peak). should i check the manufacturers' pages? also how do i determine if a unit is single or dual rail? for that matter, what does it actually mean? electrical engineering isn't one of my best-understood areas
The lack of invasive copy protection software is the main reason I tried GC2. Up until then, I hadn't really played any TBS games. However, I've enjoyed the game quite a bit and am pleased with the purchase. The only negative is that GC2 now requires the Stardock Central handler application to keep up with the latest updates and releases. It's not a "bad" program especially compared to things like StarForce and the like. It does add another layer of software, but offers some convenience.<br
Once you research trade, you can create ships with a trade module (or use stock trading ships) then send them to alien planets. Once one gets there, the trade route is automatically set up and you get the creds, that's it. Trade is always available to research once you get through the prerequisite techs. Routes make differing amounts of money depending on distance and economy of the alien planet. Economy starbases can be placed on routes and upgraded with trade modules to increase the route'
I'm well into a Dark Avatar game and have avoided any major problems by negelecting to open the planet/ship list. That's definitely the cause. I guess I can live without it, but it's tough. Does anyone else have this problem? Try to move a ship with the planet/ship list open and see what happens. Also, I figured out the problem with ships moving randomly or failing to move. Unlike Dread Lords, there's a momentary delay when a ship is selected. If an attempt is made to move the shi
Thanks. The reason I ask is because of a a problem I'm having with DA. I was wondering if it's possible the heightmaps could have any effect. Sounds like the module is pretty harmless. I'll go ahead and run it.
What exactly does the Heightmaps module do? The description is pretty vague. I've tried the game both with and without the module installed and can't tell any difference. Thanks.
After getting used to some earlier changes to the game, I'm generally happy with the way everything works. I wouldn't be compelled to write a long winded "I love the game, but..." post. I'm strongly against making changes that have a pronounced effect on how the game is played. Right now, my only complaint is that engine specs were radically changed in Dark Avatar. With the exorbitant cost, it really screws up the way I play. I'm running a modded GC2Types.xml that puts them back to Dread Lo
I put a PC Power & Cooling 450W in mine. A high quality power supply is often better than a cheap one with exagerrated peak ratings. The PCP&C power supply is continuous 450W not peak and it's single rail which is better than the more common dual rail. It's more than adequate for a single CPU/GPU system. Also, an UPS is very important. I would never just plug a computer in to the wall. Use a good surge protector at least.
Thanks
I haven't used mods at all, but I'd like to use a customized GC2Types.xml file for Dark Avatar. Can I do that by enabling mods putting it the mods directory? If so, where exactly does it go? Thanks
I found that things work right for the most part as long as I don't open the planet/ship list. Once opened, things go all to hell as far as moving ships go. Things go back to normal on the next turn until I open the planet/ship list again. As the game ages, ships get better engines and more moves per turn so the problem gets magnified. This is a really nasty bug. The planet/ship list is a necessary function and playing without it is quite difficult. BTW, I've always had a minor pro
I decided a long time ago not to get into the trap of buying the newest and fastest of anything, it just seems to get old faster (performance anxiety/keeping up with the Joneses). After buying a new comp. every 2 years, I through my hands up in disgust, and just relaxed and enjoyed what I had at the time. I k
I'm having big problems with Dark Avatar. I've attempted 3 games so far with the same result. I'm pretty sure it's not my computer because I can complete a gigantic/abundant Dread Lords game on the same machine with no problem and very little lag. At first, I thought it was a problem with Dark Avatar handling a gigantic/abundant game, but each game I've reduced the number of habitable planets with the same result. The last game had only about 200 in the whole galaxy and it still choked.
I always go for economics (federalist party) and put all my bonus points into morale and population growth. In DL, I always play Yor for their minitiarization bonus and starting engine tech. The Thalans are another good one with their higher class homeworld. In DA, I haven't decided what race I like the best. The Yor don't get quite as starting bonuses as they do in DL, but the isolationist super ability is really powerful. I may like them best in DA as well.
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