Alf Melin

Reply to Good/Evil in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

IIRC one of the Good techs gives +10% planet quality. Basically evil is a fast way to power (rewards now) and good is a slow way to power (rewards later).

Reply to Epic Generator in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Yeah it's got a history file you can access (history.txt) and it's also appended to the save game. Useful for reference but screenshots and notes are needed to write a good AAR.

Reply to Epic Generator in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Take notes and exercise your writing ability :) The After Action Report forum at Paradox (EU2, HOI) has some excellent stuff, also check out the Tsunami thread (18 player multiplayer game!).

Reply to Metaverse scoring suggestion in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I've got the angelic interface in my current game, took a while to get there and I had to pass up some juicy opportunities :( It's some contrast from the quick profits of evil and the red/black interface but hopefully I'll benefit in the long term :)

Reply to Why - Win / Lost: N/A ?? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

It was probably on original release of GalCiv with updated SDC only. Thanks for clarifying that, no big deal really but confusing :)

Reply to Metaverse scoring suggestion in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

And always evil I see :) Selling Flesh Nectar to finance your expansion? LOL

Reply to Opening Strategy in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Starting position will greatly affect what strategy should be used. In general terms, I prefer to go to 100% spending immediately and check all systems within reasonable range. If a good planet is found (15+) then I'll build or purchase a colony ship (purchase only if there's local competition). With the right setup it's sometimes possible to wait until you see to opposition approach a planet, then buy a col-ship (with about 400 million colonists) and get there 1 turn ahead of them. That wastes

Why - Win / Lost: N/A ?? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I had some problems submitting games to the Metaverse but after upgrading SDC it worked. I just noticed the following in my profile though: Win / Lost: N/A Why? The game was a conquest victory. Should I reload the game and finish it again to get it updated or would that create a double entry?

Reply to So what is the average age of a Gal Civ player?? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

30...

Reply to Trickle-fight AI goofiness in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Playing at Challenging I noticed both the Carinoids and the Drengin sending ships to beat on a starbase which is way beyond their ability to hurt. Some time into the game this starbase is now level 18 (Godlike) and typically at about 80 out of 90 hit points, currently it's defeating a stream of frigates but previously it was battlecruiser, starfighters, corvettes... Something missing in how the AI does odds calculation maybe?

Reply to Are early game blitzes possible? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

If you get lucky with att/def/HP increases for your survey ship then it becomes a very effective weapon, but if you don't then I wouldn't try an early rush. Planetary conquest isn't the only reward from a war though, you can play it just to deny resources (kill their constructors) and get them to sue for peace then add tech/cash/influence to your demands. Ref transports I think it's quite reasonable that they must be researched since they represent an invasion armada (ie aerospace units

Reply to Game Report: The Rise and Fall of the Arcean Empire in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

There's other modules available as tech advances

Reply to Updated Tech Tree For Download Now in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Nice work, very impressive

Reply to Starbases STACK forever!?!? I think that should be fixed. in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Well, I think a +3 for a mfg center is +3 points, absolute increase. A +5% for a starbase upgrade is +1 point absolute for a planet which already has production 20. In other words, the social projects give a larger absolute increase, without that the increase from starbases will be less useful even if stacked. Perhaps there should be some upkeep cost for starbases though...

Reply to Time spent per turn in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

The production pop-ups and reliable auto-pilot functions ensure that most turns are very quick. It's slow going whenever negotiations are needed though (say every 6-12 months), it would be great to be able to auto-optimise the influence/cash part of a deal. Tweaking the tax and spend rates is usually only done once per 12 months or so. Obviously any significant fleet action slows the game a bit. Overall, the game progresses quickly.

Reply to Game Report: The Rise and Fall of the Arcean Empire in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Great after action report :) Starbases really are critical and the availability of a certain resource can make or break a strategy.

Reply to Metaverse Score Updates in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Well, here's a funny - I completed a game the other day, couldn't get it logged (it just exited to main menu). I thought it might be firewall or any number of other things. Today I connected SDC, it updated itself. Clicked on install for GalCiv (fearing a huge download) and it updated itself in about an hour. Meanwhile I made sure I registered my player in the Metaverse (think I did that already but better be sure...). Started GalCiv, noticed a firewall pop-up, allowed it and ta-da! I'm

Reply to Survey Ship Weapon Capacity in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Pretty big galaxy out there huh? ;) Of course some of those anomalies are so common you'd think they are the regular thing and empty space is something rare! LOL Yesterday I was a bit nervous as the single-planet Torians suddenly DOW'd me and sent 60+ Precursor Corvettes (some event they must have had!) towards me but my trusty Survey ship handled that pretty well :)

Reply to Too many events? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Playing on larger universes means longer games, so if events weren't allowed to re-occur it could get rather dull... Don't change the frequency, just add more events. I've done event scripting for other games, is there an FAQ for GalCiv modding?

Reply to First game musing and questions in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I've found a marked difference in AI behaviour as diff levels increase. Low levels = cakewalk...

Reply to multiple trade routes.. in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

... or until Space Sharks eat the original trade ships ;)

Reply to It's too easy to invade planets... We need Planetary Defenses ! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

The "main thrust" is in the first line of the first post, that once the space battle is over - ie defending ships have been destroyed - then the battle for a planet is a non-issue. Responses saying "use ships" are hardly useful in those circumstances as the pre-condition is that the defending fleet was destroyed. Personally I think that the battle for a planet should not be a foregone conclusion yet it seems impossible to fail. Planet type, opposing force and any improvements make trivi

Reply to One random event: Game over. Serious balance problem on small map in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I quite enjoy events, even if they set me back seriously. For EU2, another gaming classic, there was a community-driven mod called Super-scaled Events which basically created versions of every random event in the game with effects scaled to fit the size of your empire. That way the effects were always relevant rather than sometimes trivial and sometimes overpowering. I haven't looked at GalCiv modding yet (need to get a better feel for the game first) but with the right triggers (starfl

Reply to It's too easy to invade planets... We need Planetary Defenses ! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I tend to agree that planetary assault is too easy. Transport range is too good and the battles are over too fast, with no real negative effects should you lose a billion people in failed assaults. Planet quality should provide a modifier, making it hard to assault planets with hostile environments makes good sense and would provide a raison d'etre for such outposts. Also some early-tech defensive improvements would be nice... - Planetary Militia - Planetary Defen

Reply to Bug Reports in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

In the diplo screen, there's two treaty options: Attack... Peace... Clicking on Attack and picking a race adds this choice in the lower right-hand box. Clicking on the choice there removes it from the negotiation and adds another Attack entry in the options box so it looked like this: Attack... Peace... Attack... Hope that's clear, otherwise I'll try a screenshot if I see it again.