if you have played star fleet battles you will know what i am talking about all of the parts are the same size on all the ships except the two fighters I played SFB for years, and it was a fun game. The welded-wedge Tholian ships were always challenging to play. I wonder if it is possible so have 'smooth' welded-wedge Tholians in GalCiv2? Have you tried NeoTholian designs? Hydro
I am certainly not the most gifted player, but you may want to consider reading some of the After Action Reports (AARs) I’ve posted for the Korath (AAR: Korath), Yor (AAR: The Yor), Terran (Terran Diplomacy AAR), and Thalians (AAR: The Thalian Hive). The Thalian AAR is in character and reads as a story, but the others are more conversational and explain what I’m doing and why at snapshots during the game. The snapshots are about every half year or when something major occurs. I’ve included scree
Well, playing as the Krynn with their 50% espionage bonus and a Luck pick I’ve been able to get 3 techs from the Thalians, the only one that mattered was Advanced Toxic. It is now 2232 and I’ve had High infiltration for ~4 years, and have had one or more spies continuously in place since 2227 or so. Overall I’m not impressed with spying or Super Spy. The above takes considerable effort to keep continuous infiltration since the spies keep on being knocked off, and the bloody things acc
Playing without tech trading is a different game. I’ve found that the AI doesn’t advance nearly as fast technologically since it can’t engage in rampant AI tech trading (if you don’t believe me check your debug.err file – you’ll see). Granted, I haven’t observed much weapons tech being thrown around, but they’ll trade pretty much everything else. Even diplomatically challenged races (Drengin, for instance) can get some pretty sweet deals. Without tech trading the AI’s seem to follow th
I’ve beaten off 180 (!!!) Drengin ships, most of which are Dominator class, at one research resource starbase. The resource was freed up when I conquered one of the minor races, and I had a constructor nearby when it was open to claim it. When the Drengin declared war I set up a scratch cruiser defense force. The first wave of 95 ships came in a single week in December 2230. My cruisers and a few other odd ships did well, but they also died since my early cruisers didn’t have any armor.
It's not really that difficult, you just have to research down that one line. Though it might not be as easy now with the tech trading. When I won it, it was just a case of hitting Enter turn after turn. Any techs I needed for other things I just traded for. Really quite boring. Perhaps 'easier' was the wrong word. The right word is tedious. The game is wrapped up, anyway I can see that it might reduce micromanagement, as long as you have a posi
Good and evil are in the eyes of the beholder. But if you look beyond self perception and toward outside actions you’ll see what the GC2 game designers are looking for – deferring something that would benefit you for the benefit of someone (or something) else. That is their Big Picture definition of good, and it is an interesting one. So while roasted Torian baby livers as an aphrodisiac might be a novel Drengin cultural phenomenon, it is unlikely to be viewed favorably by the Torians.
I've never had the patience for a tech victory since other victory options seem so much easier. How long did it take? Hydro
Scenario background: The dust has settled and only those that did what was necessary have survived the Dread Lords. The weak races are but a lingering memory of ineptitude, and some of them have made worthy slaves. Ah, but there are others. Perhaps they are not so soft, but that will make victory all the more delicious (literally!). GC2: DA (pre patch) Player: Korath, optimized for conquest; War Party 5 AI players: Drengin, Yor, Korx (evil); Krynn, Thalians (neutral) 3 minor
Niven’s Ringworld would have ~3 million times the surface area of the Earth. There are tiny problems with stability, finding appropriate materials to construct it with, the mass of materials needed for construction (equal to all the planets in a solar system or more), keeping its orbit stable, and the amount of energy needed to build and then set the object in motion around the sun. Details, details. Still, it is a nifty idea. Hydro
Best Alpha Centauri – it has depth, amazing innovation, and terrific atmosphere. I actually cared when Morgan betrayed me, or Yang went on a rampage. Hands down - #1. The AI needs help, but as has been mentioned already it is great for 1999. Terrific for multiplayer, too. SF genre at its best. Too bad there will probably never be a remake since it is caught in legal limbo. MOO2 – still play occasionally, lots of fun, first multiplayer I can remember (even if it was a tad unstab
I wouldn't recommend the 7300. It might be good enough for Dark Avatar, but it's getting a bit long in the tooth for any other games that are coming out these days. That's why it's only $79, it's pretty much obsolete. I wouldn't recommend anything lower than a 7600 on the Nvidia side, or an X800 for ATI. There's more to a video card than the amount of RAM it has, today's graphics processors are far superior to what's on the 7300. It won't be long before even the 7950 i
I was having the exact same problem. I installed another 512 333MHz DRAM for $50 last Saturday and my performance is MUCH better. My load times are much shorter, time between turns (which wasn't bad before) is better, and animations and graphics are much smoother. Even the intro and end of game movies are smooth, and before they were so choppy I ignored them. Note that I have anti aliasing set to 4 and none of the video options disabled. I looked into a better graphics card (upgrading
I've noticed strange AI behavior, too. In my recent Yor AAR I gave the Terrans a chance at peace, assuming they sweetened the deal just a bit. They said no. Then I simply offered peace (they had only Mars left with no ships, so they would never be a threat to me) and they said no. Then the opportunistic Drengin declared war on the Terrans, so I ended the situation with a transport into the undefended Mars. Game over for the Terrans. Hydro
If you go to the debug.err file you'll see any number of events (tech trading, random event) including AI elections. I don't recall if it tells you the result. Hydro
AAR: The Yor 1 I decided to try the Yor. I really liked them (in an evil sort of way) in GC2: DL and was interested how their Isolationist super ability worked. Moreover, many of the exploits of GC2: DA have been nerfed in the lastest patch 1.50x. So I started up a game: • Large galaxy, common everything • 6 random AI (which turned out to be Drengin, Arceans, Altarans, Drath, Terrans, and Krynn) • 4 minors • Yor – most points in economics and some in morale and
Tech trading was made much different after the 1.50x patch. This was likely done to combat ‘tech whoring’ and abuses of the AI by players. One of the questions that has come up since the 1.50x patch is to what degree is the AI trading tech between each other. Well, it turns out the answer is quite a lot. Below is documentation of AI tech trades from debug.err file for AAR Scenario 2: Korath from Jan 2226 to Feb 2227. 1. Year: 2226. Yor Collective traded Xeno Communications to t
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DL and DA have been truly excellent games, and I appreciate Stardock’s dedication to its game and fans (which are, in a way, one and the same). My wish list parallels other suggestions: Spies: Be able to ‘generally’ spy on an opponent instead of trying to place spies on his worlds (and have them countered two turns later). Also, this won’t hurt a race that is nominally your friend but that you’d like to keep tabs on. Ship Update: Have an Auto Update of ships that wil
I've noticed this too with the 1.50x patch (I play at painful). There are some techs the AIs simply won't trade for: weapons, extreme colonization, and defense. Others come at a ridiculously high price, where I give 20+ turns of research (at a much high research rate, mind you) for a tech I can research myself in 4. And this is with a diplo ability bump, a good number of diplo techs, the diplomatic translator, and feedback that my diplomatic ability is 'incredible'. I've only played one game ful
May 2230 Diplomatic victory in May 2230. I gifted the Korx Alliance and then offered – they accepted. The rest of the races were already allied with me. [URL=http://imageshack.us] [/URL] Image 11: population and some events in May 2230 A few thoughts: • Once the Terrans had 2x the planets of anyone else the game was almost over, pending a nasty Event or ineptitude on my part. The g
March 2230 A few more Drengin planets and mining platforms have defected to the Terrans, and the Krynn are rolling over the Korx, who are down to their last 2 planets. The Drath were doing OK against the Drengin, but then the Drengin started constructing high-firepower ships that wipe the map with Drath. My Terrans are able to make comparable ships, but only with superior tech and 2 military galactic resources. Maybe these are the Evil super-weapons? I haven’t played evil all that much
Aug 2229 NOTE: I upgraded GC2: DA with the 1.50x patch. Ok, something odd is going on. I’ve set my tax rate to 72% and my morale is still 100% at all planets! I’ve never seen this before. I only have 1 morale galactic resources (maxed out), and many but not all planets have 1 morale enhancement tile. Most of my planets are at either 6B to 12B (depending on whether I built farms or not – if I do usually only 1 farm). So what gives? Normally if I’m evil or good with a s
Nov 2228 I’ve finally committed to neutrality and am building neutrality learning centers, which should give the Terrans a huge research boost. I’ve never played neutral before, although I’ve seen the prestigious amount of research these babies crank out. I also like the neutrality trading with the 3 extra trade routes. The improvement that gives me a portion or neutral trade income is a bit dubious, though, with only the Krynn likely to be neutral in this game. It would make much more
May 2228 Most of the 30 Terran planets have close to their population maximum. The economy is rolling along with a weekly surplus of 400 BC/turn. Overall the Terran is at 8 time (vs Krynn) to 3 times (Torian) than any other empire. We’ve built all of the early projects and trade goods, and there is rarely any technology that we don’t have. Moreover, Terran influence is spiking significantly. There is one influence starbase and the Restaurant of Eternity. Almost all of the Dren
Aug 2227 The Terrans now have 27 colonies, 2 of which revolted from the Drengin. A few other Drengin planets revolted to other AIs, too. Apparently planting small population colonies in someone else’s sphere of influence is a bad idea. Imagine that. [URL=http://imageshack.us] [/URL] Image 6: Galactic map August 2227 – revolted Drengin planets My economy has really turned around: Korn’