CraigHB

Reply to What do the different ranks like lieutenant mean? in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

That's Metaverse stuff. The average score is derived from a formula (sum of individual scores divided by number or games exponent .4) If you set up a Metaverse character and play Metaverse games, you'll see medals relating to your overall game performance in the sig of your posts. I believe the military rank is derived from how many military conquests you've won. Your average score appears in the Metaverse rankings. The other item (like citizen) is your rank in the forum. I'm not s

Reply to Why does the AI always surrender.... to another AI? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

The surrender system is fine. You have to actually *do* something to get aliens to surrender to you. Seems reasonable to me. If you build the Hall of Empathy (good alignment only), form an alliance just before they give up, and bribe them a bit, a race will surrender to you with pretty much 100% probability. The better strategy, as stated before, is to jump in there when a race gets attacked by another and take all their planets before they can surrender or lose them to the attacking race.

Reply to What would happen if I uploaded the same game twice? in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

I've uploaded games twice before. It just updates the game. So, if you post a game and decide later you could have played it better, just go back to an old save and post a do-over. Pretty cool actually.

Reply to absolutely clueless in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Yea, first game I played was on a small universe on beginner with 3 races. I won it in like 150 turns with an influence victory and I had no idea what I was doing. You can set up the the game to be very easy for learning it. Once you pick it up, you'll find yourself quickly running up the difficulty levels as you discover how to take advantage of the many play styles this game offers. Have fun

Reply to Medal Detalis in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

mmmmm, more medals, oh wait, I already said that in another post

Reply to Help!!! in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Yea, you're limited with AGP, 9800 ATI or 6800 nVidia is it. Though both are decent cards and can handle modern games at lower video quality settings. I finally broke down and got a PCIe motherboard. It's not so bad really. Sure love my smokin fast video card.

Reply to --The Galactic Empire-- in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

mmmmmm, more medals, more medals

Reply to I lose in the mid game, advice requested. in Strategies GalCiv2 Forums

My basic strategy is to stay out of war until I can overwhelm the other races militarily. I put all my focus on maintaining good diplomatic relations. Playing good alignment provides a head start with half the field. Once I've sufficiently surpassed the other races, I take them out.

Reply to New Player Perspective - WOW in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Yea, great game. Lots of interesting stuff goes on. I've been enjoying it for several months now which is a record for me as far as computer games go. One of the many great things about this game, there's like a bizillion ways to play it. In my case, I generally don't build economic or military starbases because they don't offer a huge benefit and can cost a lot of turns. For Metaverse games, you need to conquest the whole board as fast as possible to get high scores. T

Reply to OMG why is making a ship so damn hard for me in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

A lot of my ships are just cargo hulls with stuff piled on them. Nothing fancy at all. My warships are the stock medium or huge hulls. I don't use any jewelry except on the huge hull and I only put 2 pieces on it. The jewelry is just...well, jewelry. You can go online and get modified hulls and additional jewelry if you want to play with it, but it has no impact on anything other than appearance. The important thing is the functional components. You really *have* to adjust those

Reply to Finaly got the game!!!!!!!! in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Good for you! Don't mind those other guys. They're just akin to an unmentionable part of the anatomy. BTW, I still can't figure out what WOOT means. I know it's an expression of excitement, but what does it stand for?

Reply to Can't Ally in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I was playing a game where I could not ally with the Torians. I had much greater military and influencal power than them and no matter how much free stuff I game them, which was a ton of military ships and cash, I could never get the ally option to show up. On the other hand, I can often get alliances with races just by giving them the tech or later in the game, by giving them a few ships.

Reply to Confession..Never finished a full game in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

GC2 is my first 4x game and I'm not up on all the terminology. I was wondering what they mean by "sandbox" game, just curious.

Reply to --The Galactic Empire-- in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

Thanks Master U Getting into the top 10 was a goal for me and I'm very pleased about it. GC2 is a sophisticated game and mastering it is not something easy to do. I don't feel like I've totally mastered the game yet. There's still more to learn and perfect for me. Aside from that, I'm still getting lots of enjoyment out of it so I don't see myself losing interest in the near future. I'd like to be a senator and I've been actively playing for the last few months. However, I

Reply to Confession..Never finished a full game in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Yes, it does become obvious when you've won and it seems like a tedious mop-up to finish the game. But, on Metaverse games, I want that final score so I see it through. Gives you motivation to finish. Otherwise, I totally relate to what you are saying.

Reply to how to be a conqoring civ in Strategies GalCiv2 Forums

I find the best thing to do is play offensively. Defensive tactics just don't work well in this game. It's better to destory an enemy ship before it can get to a planet than to try and defend a planet after an enemy ship has already arrived. It's too bad because playing defensively could be fun as well.

Reply to Pluto in Ideas GalCiv2 Forums

So get over it, we have 8 planets and 3 dwarf planets in our solar system And, more dwarf planets coming as they are discovered. I think it's pretty amazing we're still finding large bodies in our own solar system and now we're looking at planets in other solar systems. Cosmology and Astronomy are such wonderful fields of study.

Reply to Newbie Question about custom ships in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

One thing I overlooked myself is the "strip functional components on upgrade" option in the setup. Once I realized it was there, I find myself toggling it quite a bit. It *is* handy. The option is the last one on the "Interface" page. I found I don't really benefit by saving my ships from game to game. I flush the files in the "My Games\...\Ships" directories prior to every new game. Of course, I'm using stock hulls with very little or no jewelry. I suppose if you're using fanc

Reply to --The Galactic Empire-- in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

Thanks, I joined Kenny. Can I be a senator? - Craig

Reply to --The Galactic Empire-- in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

Hey Master U, Can I join your empire? Thanks, - Craig

Reply to Culture flip the last/only planet? in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I put 40x influence on a planet and it held out for about 50 turns. Once you get the prerequisite 4x, its a crap shoot. The higher the influence the better the odds, but a lucky planet can hold out for a while.

Reply to Is there a current list of hot keys? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

There is a list of hotkeys in the back of the online manual (which is the same as the hardcopy that ships in the boxed version). I also wish the game had better keyboard support and provided a "keyboard setup" menu similar to what most other games utilize.

Reply to What races are preferred for a conquest victory on challenging and/or above? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I use custom with 70% population bonus and the rest economy. I use industrialist party. I put my starting techs into engines and Stellar Cartography. Drath has a lot of free bonuses. Yor has the invaluable miniaturization bonus. Thalan has a high PQ home planet. Really depends on your play style so pick the race that has the best bonuses for the way you play. Have fun, military conquest rules <img src="http://images.stardock.com/gc2/T_DL/smiles/Smile.gif" border=0 ALIGN=

Reply to Gas/Petrol Prices In America in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

Actually, Brazil is around 85% non-fossil fuel. Even so, they make an impressive model. However, their situation is unique in that they have a lot of useable land with a relatively low population. That makes renewable fuels a more viable option for them. In any case, your point is valid, it *does* take a government effort. As far as the US goes, that's not going to happen with the current administration.

Reply to New to the Metaverse in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

I like the military conquest. It seems the most challenging to me. When I started playing GC2 a few months ago, my first three wins were a tech victory, an alliance victory, and an influence victory. I wasn't particularly excited about those win types. Since then, I've unchecked all the victory methods in the game setup and haven't changed it. The game gives me a win only for military conquest.