LTjim

Reply to Spies in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Well, I play only DA after a few DL games years ago, so I was guessing.

Reply to Spies in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Note that there are three separate games or chapters: - Dreadlords - Dark Avatar - Twilight of the Arnor One possibility is that Moloo is playing the first game or chapter, DreadLords, which is the oldest of the games. I have not played that in years, but I think spying added the passive race boxes in Dark Avatar. A couple more notes on spying: 1) Having a few spies handy lets you have the option at the moment you invade to neutralize mora

Reply to Seeking Galactic Balance Advice in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I play DA. The best games of that type that i have had there are Suicidal with max Minor AIs, largest galaxy, most major AIs, but with fewer than max stars. Rare or Uncommon seems best, with Abundant everything else. The effect of fewer stars seems to be that several AIs will have substantial volumes of space, insulated from the others. They are then able to develop in their own mini-zone, yet the colony rush ends sooner and before they over-extend themselves. <

Reply to Spies in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

It is a bit of over-kill, but one does get some more info from the "View" option that from the spy option.

Reply to Transfer population in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

IIRC, if one tinkers with names, one can get a home system with a normal PQ 10 homeworld, but with also a PQ15 (IIRC) other world in that system. If that planet is only one square away, one can transfer all the population you want to the other planet in one turn even with an engine-less colonizer. Even if no tinkering done, one usually has a PQ4 planet in the home system to do the same.

Reply to Ethics in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I considered doing that, but the bonuses and other gains in Ethics make it worth the trouble for me. For examples, there are diplo, morale, and mil production bonuses, and the chance to build the MCC and No Mercy Invasion buildings, also. In DA, the MCC presents an unintended dilemma. On one hand, you get a 100% econ bonus. On the other hand, you'll never influence flip a planet again. A couple years ago, I did an gamey tactic with the MCC. As soon

Reply to Ethics in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Ah, I just don't research Ethics until I am about done colonizing.

Reply to Ethics in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

The MCC econ bonus is still there in DA. Also, the planet bonuses do not go away after an Ethics choice, at least not in DA.

Reply to Ship Designs in Strategies GalCiv2 Forums

The problem with zero-engine ships is that they take a lonnng time to get anywhere when playing the larger galaxy settings. That is, such are fine for defenders, say of mining starbases, but zero-engine ships may not be able to respond to an oncoming fleet heading for some target not nearby. Of course, one could always build a mega-slingshot spot, but that is very expensive.

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

If you switch screens to, say, the colony screen and then back, does it still do it? If you save and reload, does it still do it?

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

stardockleaf - YAQW! I do not have Ultimate - remember, I do not have TA. However, if it is like the game I bought with DA + DL, then the opening game screen gives you the option to either "Switch Chapter" or something like that. DL and DA would be the earlier chapters. However, maybe someone here with Ultimate might chime in and confirm/correct. One other suggestion I might add to my earlier ones is the Control+N option. That is, you can star

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

I never bought TA because of the reasons you cited and, additionally, because some of the AI personalities do not develop their planets and others appear to be so afraid of Influence effects that they do not expand well. I still play DA.

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

I would offer a few thoughts. First, GalCiv2 is really three games, not one, as they were developed/sold sequentially. That is, Dread Lords then Dark Avatar, then Twilight of the Arnon, or DL, DA, and TA. DL is a simpler game than DA and TA is more complicated than DA, but what one learns in each game can be applied to the more complicated successor. You could always choose to play first the "sandbox" version of a game before TA, as those are simpler. Second,

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

The best trade deal I have gotten recently involved a mining starbase I owned. I had added enough modules to get it to +34, but had never put defenses on it -- I regard those as almost pointless at Suicidal as the AI sends big fleets. I was at war with two AIs and one slipped a fleet past my pickets just as I committed the local defense fleet to support the invasion of one of the AI's planets. When the AI fleet got to the starbase, I traded it in a nice deal t

Reply to AI research vs Player research in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Many AIs begin with more techs than a human player can as a new race. You can play a race and start with them, too. I agree that AIs seem to have many more techs when I meet them than sometimes seems possible, though. Since I play on Suicidal, I have always thought the reason was that they have those huge bonuses and shift about their first few turns of research on a set plan.

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

You generally should also see its destination or target named, though not always.

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

Note that the approach suggested above probably requires you to have a high logistics ability. That is, you need a lot of small ships in that fleet. Two other approaches. One would be to make peace with the Drengin. With them at war with the rest of the galaxy, this might be possible. Once at peace, you might even be able to buy it from them. The other would be to eliminate the Drengin. That ship cannot defend their planets from invasion. A

Reply to Ethics in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I hate paying to add modules to starbases and boost invasions. Also, I put off the good-neutral-evil choice until after the last colony rush so I can get the planet bonuses. At that point, I rarely care who declares war on me! Also, the AIs rarely go after the orbital transformer, so the planetary gain from one of the others can be mooted by that. In fact, I turn off soil enhancement-habitat improvement - terraforming once I get a few done on my core worlds.

Reply to Ethics in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Is there any real advantage to NOT going Evil? Or, is it just a role-play thing?

Reply to My first game and a 7x research tile in Twilight of the Arnor GalCiv2 Forums

Perhaps an example would be best. Suppose you do not convert the miner and do not build other colony ships as you research. So, you have only two colonized planets. No matter how many research points you generate, you will not be able to gain more than three research techs per turn. Thus, suppose you began with a run up the Interstellar Government tech path and are generating by the end something like several hundred points per turn. Say you now switch

Reply to The Metaverse Recruiting Center in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

charliec - When the game was newer, the Metaverse was apparently a way to have competition among players in a game w/o multiplayer. High scores, total Empire scores, etc were a source of interest. Many players had discovered tricks or even exploits and tried to keep them "secret" within their Empires. See the "Economic Powerhouse" post by Mumblefratz for one such example. One I discovered independently involves a simple way to get a slightly better planetary

Reply to Skipping intermediate buildings in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Auto upgrade can also crush your economy if you are not careful. I tend to turn it off somewhere around mid-game, and especially before I start invasions. I also turn off auto-terraforming stuff if I intend to make a research run to the super project that instantly upgrades everything free of cost (orbital transformer?).

Reply to no SB construction at the edge of the map in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

An easy mistake. I remember in another 4X game when I launched a major invasion only to discover (after i had fought through the enemy to the target) that I had not loaded the transports! At least in this game, there is a prompt that prevents that particular ooopsie.

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

Indirectly, yes, if you mean total Empire population. However, you could get the same mil production no matter what the population was on any one turn. With more tax income, however, you would be better able to sustain it. Once you go enough in debt (400?), all production stops until you're back below the debt ceiling. My point is that mil production itself is independent of pop. More pop does mean more tax revenue.

Reply to invasions require... in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

You've basically got it, but soldiers and population are the same, so no special soldiers are needed. There are defensive buildings possible, but they only help the defenders in odds. Once you get some Invasion tech gains, you will also get offered different ways to conduct each invasion. There are some other things that also boost your soldiers' odds, including one trade good building ("Tir Quan" traning academy or something like that). Just be prepared to