SirBruce

Reply to v 1.13 totally messed up in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

... so I guess it means it's not compatible. I know that was a possibility, I just didn't see a specific warning reagarding 1.13 so I was hoping... Bruce

v 1.13 totally messed up in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I loaded my 1.12 save game into 1.13 and it's all screwy. The number of votes in the Senate is all messed up and I've been given lots of new technologies that I didn't have before. Bruce

Reply to Who is the USS in GalCiv? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

NCC doesn't officially stand for anything; it's just a registration prefix. Other ships have prefixes like NAR, NSP, NX, etc. It was invented based of the prefix used for tail numbers on aviation aircraft... N stands for USA, C stands for civillian. Matt Jeffries threw in the second C just because it looked neater. Bruce

Reply to Why is the AI population growing faster than mine? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I think it's also effect by tax rate directly (instead of just via morale). Keep you tax rate under 40%. Bruce

Reply to Possible way to cheat - Sandbag the AI? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Modemboy, good to hear. Although maybe it would still be a cheap way to improve relations? Bearcave, maybe you do. I just assumed you didn't... Bruce

Reply to All early ships useful in 1.04? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

If StarHawks are 0 maintenance, that might be something Frogboy should change. I noted the change when they made Escorts cost at least 1 mainteance; I assume this was becase people were building gobs of them and taking advantage of that fact. Seems to me the same could be done with StarHawks. As exploration vessels, however, they are pretty lame. Bruce

Reply to 9/11 terrorist attack! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Not true. Soil Enhancement and Habitat Improvement are only +10% each, but Terraforming is +20% and the Terraformer Wonder is another +10% if you can build it. So even a PQ10 can be turned into PQ15. And that doesn't even count random events that can effect PQ even more. Bruce

Reply to creativity pick? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I agree. Unfortunately a lot of people here seem to enjoy playing on small maps for a quicker game and thus a higher metaverse score.... Bruce

Possible way to cheat - Sandbag the AI? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I haven't actually tested this to see if the diplomatic routines are smart enough to catch it. But I just wondered if it was possibel to: 1. Colonize some really lousy worlds with 1M colonists... PQ1 if you can find them. Anything under PQ13 will be very expensive to maintain. 2. Give them to an AI player, who will happily take them off your hands. 3. Watch AI's income get dragged down into the dirt. If this works, it seems to me that diplomatic routines nee

Reply to creativity pick? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Creativity does two things: 1. Increases the chances of an explored anomaly giving a 25% completion bonus for the current tech being researched. 2. Provides a small chance that when you finish researching a technology, you'll get a second technology for free. Bruce

Reply to All early ships useful in 1.04? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I think the Star Fighters and Battle Hammers pretty darn useless. Battlecruisers are not bad for attack, since they are relatively cheap compared to Battleships, but the BattleAxe is still your main line of defense early on. Sensor Drones are also pretty lame. A couple placed in a few strategic areas to watch the AI players is certainly warranted, but I never build them; I just use the ones I find in anomalies. But the Star Hawk is clearly the most useless ship. By the time

Reply to 1.04 AI cheats on tech tree, gets free techs from nowhere (bug?) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Thanks for the revised AI Frogboy. I'll have to upgrade after I finish my current game. Bruce

Reply to 1.04 AI cheats on tech tree, gets free techs from nowhere (bug?) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]I find the thought that everyone who buys this game is coming the the forums absurd,[/quote] No one is suggesting that thought. But there are a lot more lurkers, and further more those people who ARE here, communicate with potential customers in far more ways that via the board. [quote] Also, I'd ask you to check the lastest poll- the vast majority of people who own GalCiv don't own any other stardock products and have no intention of getting any. So clearly, the pe

Reply to 1.04 AI cheats on tech tree, gets free techs from nowhere (bug?) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote] Bruce, I don't really want to argue with you. But given the field I'm in, I'm pretty confident that I know a good bit about what makes business works.[/quote] Unlikely, since you continue to make statements like this: [quote] Take the total number of regular posters here, multiply by $30 and compare that to StarDocks annual revenue. You will get a number that is so small that spending an exhorbitant amount of time and effort dealing with squeaky wheel issues rai

Reply to 1.04 AI cheats on tech tree, gets free techs from nowhere (bug?) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]And you know this about me how?[/quote] I'm very perceptive. You may, of course, deny it and claim you have a successful business. (The average person does not, so it's a fair assumption when you meet someone.) [quote] There is no such thing as a cheap and easy alternative. Ever. Anyone who actually IS in business knows the old adage about "the customer is always right" is bollux.[/quote] I never said the customer is always right. But you're wrong about t

Reply to AI races changing alignments in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

*bump* Bruce

Reply to 1.04 AI cheats on tech tree, gets free techs from nowhere (bug?) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]In economic terms the people on this list are completely and entirely insignificant. Do the math, it ain't that hard.[/quote] With that sort of attitude, you won't do very well in business. Each customer counts for more than just themselves. I'm sure since Brad has a successful business and you don't, he knows this. :) It's a balancing act, but it's never good to just blow off customers if there is a cheap and easy alternative way to please them. Bruce

Reply to Frogboy please read this (it's a good thread)... in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]Somehow, amazingly, all those bugs got fixed, some serious, some trivial, without users behaving abusively or ranting at us about them.[/quote] I think this only shows you, Frogboy, that you can't assume that just because people haven't complained about something before, that it isn't a serious bug. Nor can you assume that because hard core folks are complaining, it's not serious... Bruce

Reply to Suggestion: Color Blind Help in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I would not change any of the colors used right now; you'll help some people but make it worse for others. I'd hold off on any changes until you can simply add a palette option so users can pick whatever text color combinations they want. Bruce

Reply to How long until the free expansion is ready for beta? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Can beta games be submitted to the Metaverse? Bruce

Reply to Paying extortion, is it ever worth it? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

So far I've only had the Drengin extort me for money. They did it several times early on in my current game. I gave in... most of the money demands were steep but not bank-breaking, and I really didn't want to get in a war. Demand for tech is no biggie; I out-research the AI anyway and often it takes several techs to make a good trade anyway. Once I built up some military ships and the Drengin got caught up in a war they haven't been threatening me. Bruce

Reply to Metaverse scoring shock in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I think scores should be weighted more depending on the type of victory. The way I see it: 1. Cultural Victory is the easiest. 2. Alliance Victory is next. 3. Military Victory is harder still (an Alliance of 1). 4. Technological Victory is the hardest. Some people may quibble about whether Technological Victory is hardest or not; on larger maps it may be easier than a pure Military Victory. But it is certainly extremely time consuming. Bruce

Reply to Confessions of a GalCiv gamer in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Computer Gaming World and Computer Games (used to be Computer Games Strategy Plus) are the best magazines out there. Bruce

Reply to Tired the AI is cheating threads in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote] At the end of the day, the real question is, which expansion pack features should we remove to look into this? Rally points maybe? Maybe a few random events? [/quote] Now come on, you know that's unfair. It's effectively threatening blackmail - "Do you want us to spend time looking for these bugs or do you want lots of shiny new features?" Developers have to balance these sorts of issues all the time, but we aren't talking every little bug here... just some new issues

Reply to 1.04 AI cheats on tech tree, gets free techs from nowhere (bug?) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Frogboy, Perhaps you've answered your own issue with, "If it was so important, why are people only reporting it now?" Answer -- Perhaps it is a recent bug, and is as you say with the new tech trees the Arceans (for example) are using. Although I must confess I find it disturbing that such trees don't go through the same code checks, apparrently. As for the "good research evil tech" thing, I *know* I've seen the Altairians do that in 1.03. Perhaps the in-game morality isn