Matthew Downie

Matthew Downie

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Reply to trading techs in Strategies Stardock Forums

He's talking about selling techs for cash. If you want to win as a tech trader, you could use the following techniques: Give yourself a Diplomacy bonus when creating your race. Reasearch Diplomatic Translators if possible. Do not share them. Trade techs with everyone you can, except when there's a trade good or galactic wonder you want to build that the tech would allow your rivals to build first. Trading techs for other techs is a good idea. If you can find an AI wit

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Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

It is? I don't see it. “Downie? Where are you going?” said Theoden, upon seeing Downie packing his two possessions (a war-harp and a small bag of money) into a small suitcase. “Pronounced that way, Downie is Quenya for ‘horse’s rear’,” replied the elf. “Sorry, I meant ‘DOWnie’.” “That’s the Sindarin word for ‘insurance salesman’, an insult punishable by death.” “OK, Joe-Bob...” “Try ‘Matthew’,” said Downie. “That’s a name I sometimes use when I go amo

2,022 Replies 57,305 Views
Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

She could be trying to lure us into a false sense of security, so as to soften us up for a surprise attack, if her fall from the path of pure good is anything to go by. Understandable, though. I'm trying to get to Very Good, and I'm getting sick of the lengths I have to go to to get my alignment score up to a hundred by the end of every game. Usually, I can do it if I can colonise every world with a PQ of 7 and above, at least in Large or bigger universes. Annoyed to see that you ou

2,022 Replies 57,305 Views
Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I don't know exactly how many hours it was, but it was quite a lot, and it was fairly tedious, though not quite tedious enough to stop me trying to win. There really isn't any such thing as a quick victory when you're playing a gigantic masochistic map. I have resolved to avoid getting into such situations in the future. I started a new game last night on a Large map. This time, I was lucky enough to get a bad starting position. After the initial colonisation rush, I had two PQ15+ stars, whi

2,022 Replies 57,305 Views
Reply to A freighter matter in Strategies Stardock Forums

[quote]Well, after all, that freighter is filled with your stuff, so of course they'll send it somewhere else.[/quote] Well I can buy someone's freighter off them and start a trade route with them using their own cargo, so I don't see why they wouldn't. ~SDC~

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Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Yeah, but most of his bits (eg his role in the Scouring of the Shire sequence) weren't even filmed. Of course, I can understand PJ not wanting the film to go on for several more hours after Sauron's destroyed... The big conclusion to Alliance of Evil will be out soon. I'm afraid I had to cut out the secret undersea base to leave more room for the big musical number. ~SDC~

2,022 Replies 57,305 Views
Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]Hope my little bit doesn't ruin what you were planning.[/quote] Don't worry. Even if it did, which it didn't, I always have a backup plan. The details of the big finale will crystallise as soon as I've thought of a way to work in a secret undersea base, a romantic candlelit dinner, an exploding oil tanker, a daring commando raid, and a big musical number. ~SDC~

2,022 Replies 57,305 Views
Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Woohoo! Finally, a position of power that I can abuse. In order to demonstrate my absolute authority, all players whose names begin with the letter 'E' are hereby expelled! I think I enjoyed Two Towers a little more than Fellowship. My patience is a bit thin for those Council of Elrond moments when people sit around discussing things and I already know what they're going to say because I remember it from the book. I expect anyone who enjoyed the first two films will enjoy the third.

2,022 Replies 57,305 Views
Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

OK, since everyone seems to think I should, I am now officially rejoined, if that's a real word. Slaughter the fatted calf, and put on the kettle for a nice cup of tea - the prodigal prodigy has returned! It took me longer to conquer the galaxy than it did to research all the techs in my last game, partly because I'm usually too lazy to build culture bombs until I have no other choice. I saved a few Unknown anomalies for the slow techs at the end, so they didn't take much time. I su

2,022 Replies 57,305 Views
Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]What are you doing in the mopping up stage?[/quote] In the first part of my game, I establish a dominant position, and get on good terms with all the AIs. I acquire all the influence resources, usually by trading techs for them. Then there's a long period of researching, building trade goods and wonders, and maximising the influence bases. Once my influence bonus hits 300% or so, a slow chain reaction of cultural assimilation gives me victory. I try to speed it up by colonising l

2,022 Replies 57,305 Views
Reply to The Fellowship Halls (Fellowship of the Ring Empire Thread) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Hey guys, it's me, dropping in for a visit. I just submitted another 60K game. (Dammit, how many pure good games do I have to submit before I earn Very Good status?) My GalCiv games seems to have fallen into a pattern of three hours of challenging fun, followed by ten hours of tedious mopping up. I would rejoin the Fellowship, but I don't want those Special Forces guys to get discouraged by a widening gap when things are so close. I've submitted another chapter to Theoden's Alliance of

2,022 Replies 57,305 Views
Reply to Attention Matthew Downie in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Oh, and I could remind Ray that the reprinting of my early short stories without my prior permission is a violation of international copyright law, unless he can prove that I've been dead for 75 years, but I won't. Too risky, with all this time travel around... ~SDC~

32 Replies 919 Views
Reply to Attention Matthew Downie in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Version what? 1.12? When I left, we were already on version 1.25! I must have drastically altered the time streams! This threatens the very integrity of the space-time continuum! I must retrace my steps. Let me see... Back in the original universe, I had just completed stage one of Evil Ray's plan. As the Jedi Repuiblic was four million points ahead of the Fellowship, he had decided that it was necessary for me to sabotage them from within and drive out as many members as possible. Having do

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Reply to Jedi Republic Communication Thread in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I think it's best if I return to the Fellowship, if they'll still have me. Let's face it, there is no Star Wars equivalent to an elf poet. I considered adopting a new persona, that of Jek Porkins ( http://www.gamespy.com/instapoll/poll.asp?poll_id=5733&maxwidth=300&dontvote=true ), but it's not really me. ~SDC~

3,209 Replies 82,703 Views
Reply to poll: multiplayer a need? or not? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I'd be in favour of a multiplayer option for GalCiv2. It would give players who complain about the AI something to do. As long as it didn't spoil the single-player version. Star Trek: Birth of the Federation was designed around simultaneous movement, and it didn't work too well. For example, in order to attack someone, you'd have to move to the same place they did, which comes down to sheer guesswork. ~SDC~

13 Replies 408 Views
Reply to Jedi Republic Communication Thread in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]I am happy that you have decided to stick around. I am prepared to give you command of your own Star Destroyers or whatever you like in your fleet.[/quote] I still haven't decided. Can I get one of those cool Land Speeders like Luke drove on Tatooine? ~SDC~

3,209 Replies 82,703 Views