HighWater

Reply to Help me conceptualise an alien race for GCII :) in Modding GalCiv2 Forums

Urgh, I knew the cathedral of valor was bugged, but I didn't remember it was a hard code issue. That really limits modding something ' different... For me priority would be making this race a viable choice for the AI too, and since the AI isn't truly intelligent (but is it conscious? :-P ) that further limits fixes. Giving them economy starbase modules won't help, nor will giving it a bunch of galactic achievements and then telling it to build only one on each planet and doing

Reply to Ethics in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I'm sure he meant new 'ethical choices' that appear when you colonize new planets later and that pop up at random during gameplay.

Reply to Help me conceptualise an alien race for GCII :) in Modding GalCiv2 Forums

Had an idea to boost your race economically and to make them stronger with every planet they take (this would work best on the big maps with lots of planets): they need a race-unique building. I was thinking a building that boosts the civilization wide economy by say... 2%? They have to be able to build it on every planet they take and the AI should give it special priority. As I haven't done any modding for galciv I'm not sure how badly the AI would flip out, but the only building th

Reply to Epic of the Torians in AARs GalCiv2 Forums

Looks mildly eventful. ;)

Reply to Help me conceptualise an alien race for GCII :) in Modding GalCiv2 Forums

Difficulty in Diplomacy? I'd say Diplomacy is impossible as "they" (which appears to be an incorrect denomination as "they" have no sense of "I" or "we") cannot truly communicate. (They can at most tell you to get out of the way,but it reads as if they wouldn't even tell you that.) They need a serious Diplomacy hit as I doubt even the Drengin would appreciate Turing Machines and perhaps should be unable to communicate at all (but I'm not sure how to implement that). Make them "mil

Reply to Why doesn't your ship design screen info match your technology? in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Yup, it's a bit of a pain. I just remember what base-speed I currently possess, as that makes the difference between yes-engine and no-engine, although my warships tend to end up without engines regardless of this, (I need more weapooooonssss) and my transports get as many engines as possible (as long as they can contain enough troops, which depends on my soldiering), exept on low-production planets which get their own special brand of "Cheap 1K, 2K, 3K Transports :D. <br

Reply to What brings you back too the game? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

What difficulty and galaxy set/up are you using? It sounds like you may need to up the difficulty so you can no longer coast by unchallenged on your usual strategy. The AI doesn't become fullstrength until it reaches "Tough". Above, it gets bonusses to deal with your agression. ;) (Forcing the AI to use full processor power will make it behave more "natural".) It also sounds like you can benefit from an altered set-up. If you're used to play with many manjor races and minors,

Reply to MarvinKosh's Space Weapons Fix Mod v6B (updated 31/08/2014) in Modding GalCiv2 Forums

Disproportionally high, aye. Bank upgrading to SM is shockingly expensive, making banks even more of a moneybleed either way. ;) (Don't know about the situation in your mod, was just answering a vanilla question.)

Reply to MarvinKosh's Space Weapons Fix Mod v6B (updated 31/08/2014) in Modding GalCiv2 Forums

[quote who="Douglas_M" reply="393" id="3311908"] Makes me wonder what happens if you upgrade a market directly to a bank (unmodded, so 200 cost), and then to a stock market. [/quote] This is actually the only building where I noticed a strange (and big) increase in costs with upgrading. Going from a market to stock market is generally cheaper than going from a bank to a stock market. I always blamed this on "something being wrong with orders of buildings or something"

Reply to My zoomed map won't stay put and keeps floating up in Twilight of the Arnor GalCiv2 Forums

I have run into this problem myself a few times, in unmodded galciv games. I am quite confident that your mod is not the problem, something can go wrong if you zoom and move at the same time. After trying extensively to counter this annoying behaviour, I eventually found that if I moved a particular ship, the problem would disappear. I seem to recall it locks up with a planned move (much like the "turn" button getting stuck), but it might also be a ship you can find through hitting "next". Mo

Reply to Dark Avatar over ToA? in Dark Avatar GalCiv2 Forums

To answer the original question: The AI in DA does what it is supposed to, making the game very playable (no honestly, it's very good). ToA is a bit hit and miss, though the mods make it a lot better (I play Tolmekians... I think). I switch between DA and ToA as both are fun. ToA offers more depth but you'll have to be willing to ignore its weaknesses in return.

Reply to Thinking of Ditching GalCivII in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

An important tip that has, so far, been missing is howto grow your population. During the early game, try to run your taxes so low that the population on your homeworld has 100% approval. It will grow much faster that way than when you have it at 99%. Once you go deep into the red, it's time to start taxing the suckers... Second tip: in the same screen where you adjust taxes, also ramp up the production slider to 100%. It's better to go bust quickly, rather than build

Reply to What's the trick for a PC Ranger? in Twilight of the Arnor GalCiv2 Forums

I once had this ship come up twice in the same game, for the same race. This same race already owned over 60% of the galaxy (and growing, I had about 10%) and had the largest and strongest fleet in existence. Dragging victory out of that fire was a nice challenge. ;) Point is, it doesn't necessarely appear for the failing civs.

Reply to Trading with the AIs in the latest version in Twilight of the Arnor GalCiv2 Forums

The AI are rarely willing to give you a 1 on 1 deal (you have to outdiplo them massively), but unlike the AI you actually understand what is worth what and what isn't. I usually don't retrade techs I've gained in trade, but I do trade the techs I have to everyone that is willing to give me something of worth, greatly enhancing the tradeprofit per tech. That way, I still get a "fair" deal. As for the IP thingy... Well, you are your own moral compass. IPs are close to worthl

Reply to Ethics in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I usually go Neutral and only pick the evil choices when it presents an actual gain, but yes, I often do. I consider the extra fee you incur a "spiritual cleansing fee". That said, I mostly do that with races where it actually makes some sense (such as the Korx) to make such a trade. If I am actually playing a good race, the evil option is usually a no-no...

Reply to my military production is zip in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

The debt ceiling is 500bc, if you're at -500bc or lower, all production ceases except some focus production! As stated before, population has no direct bearing on production, it only determines your income but doesn't determine your military expenses as taxes are not tied to expenses (it does factor in at your maximum espionage budget though). You can run all your factories at full production regardless of whether you have the taxes too offset the deficit, it's just that a

Reply to Playing Drath feels like cheating? in Twilight of the Arnor GalCiv2 Forums

Yes, that can be quite a difference! I don't think I ever really played the Drath though. I always went with the Korx as they are a more "believable" war profiteering race, in my opinion. Maybe I should give the Drath a spin someday...

Reply to Being an arms dealer - legit way to win? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Whether something is an exploit or not is entirely up to the player. Every person has his or her own cheese-meter. On mine, this tactic has some very mild cheese, but isn't quite as cheesy as other ways to beat the AI at the diplomatic game. You're giving the AI something it actually needs in return for something it can't possibly defend anyway, a fair deal in my book and there are way way worse ways to convince the AI to give you planets and an unfair advantage. (Although, if the

Reply to AI doubles its starting ability points. in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I was always under the impression the AI didn't use its ability points. To level teh playing field, I always picked useful abilities for them that fit with their playstyle/racedescription. Turns out I wasn't leveling the playingfield but instead just gimping myself? Well... I do love an unfair fight, I suppose... ;)

Reply to Is there no auto setting for scout? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

As Marvin already accurately pointed out, there is an "explore" command. However, the exploration your ship will embark on will be very erratic and most likely not nearly as efficient in achieving its goals as it would if you took manual control. I only use it when my flagship (and perhaps other survey ships) have run out of anomalies. It'll then mop up fog I couldn't be bothered with myself. (Only useful with a fast ship with good sensor range though.) The AI only builds scou

Reply to Do Starbase bonuses help Economic planetary improvements? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

The only module that helps you gain money is the "trade" variety, which only has an effect on your freighters while they are in its "circle". This module is generally not very cost effective.

Reply to Exploits of the Korx in AARs GalCiv2 Forums

Enjoyable read. I don't read too many AARs as I generally can't get past the story (I prefer AAR's that show the player's side on things, rather than that of a fictional character), but I enjoy playing the Korx and they get precious little love in the AAR field. ;) Seeing someone take them to heart and play them in a Korx-like manner is nice (You use a very Neutral approach, which I find more lore-suiting than the Evil approach in the actual lore). The settings seem to

Reply to Alt-Tab on Windows 7 takes longer and longer until a crash in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Same happens on good old XP (at least for me). I don't alt-tab for this reason. If I really need to do something else on my PC, I'll save the game, alt-tab for the hell of it, and 9 out of 10 times it will crash when I try to tab back in. Slightly annoying.

Reply to Destroying a race's last planet looses all agents in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Undercover till the bitter end, no? You can pull them back manually...

Reply to Soul Crushing Maps in Modding GalCiv2 Forums

Two further notes: In spite of the code saying "DarkAvatar" at some point or another, this is a Twilight of the Arnor map, if you run it in DarkAvatar, the game will crash (DA does not support ascension starbases nor immense mapsizes). In order to play the map, click on Kosh's link and copy the code to notepad. Then save it as SoulCrushing_01.GC2Map in the Data/custommaps subfolder of your Twilight of the Arnor folder. I didn't actually get to play it yet thoug