Shamgar

And now for something completely different ... in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I usually play the game with lots of planets ("abundant everything"), and I get the impression that most of us play that way. For some variety, I decided to try the complete opposite. I went to the largest map size, made everything rare (except asteroids & anomolies, made them abundant), with the most races possible (including maximum number of minors). It made for an entirely different kind of game, and it was lots of fun. Technologies that I generally ignore (like life support) all of a sudden

Reply to Please strenghten StarBases in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I agree with those who call for stronger SB weapons & defense. Now it is necessary to defend them with fleets, but (especially with increased maintenence costs) that can become pretty expensive with a large number of SB's late in the game. Even less worthwhile are the modules for military SB's once you get past the early game. Even the highest levels give only a +1 or +2 to defense or offense ... when ships and fleet numbers are into the hundreds and more. What good is that?

Reply to bad economy in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]In my honest opinion, taking any racial ability besides 30% morale bonus and like 40% economy or whatever the max economy bonus is is a waste. The nerfing of economy makes these two picks even more valuable. [/quote] If this is the case now, then I would say a modification of the balance is needed. If taking morale/economy bonuses is a practical necessity for playing the game, then a serious player does not really have any options in selecting racial bonuses ... which defeats

Reply to Absolutely SICK of These CONSTANT Out of Memory Errors! in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Many of us have been frustrated with the OOM errors, but they definitely have decreased for me. And, in the rare instances I get them now, I usually do not lose the game. It takes a few minutes, but I hit the "OK" on the button that announces the memory error, and the game comes back. Then, I am able to save it successfully and continue to play. (BTW, I am playing on Vista, and have 2Gig of memory.) For me, the quality of the game itself (and the obvious efforts of the develop

Reply to Yet another thread on ethics. in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I like a lot of the ideas put forth here, especially the idea of long term, ongoing effects. However, any expansion of the ethical aspect of the game without making it balanced would not be a good idea. As many have pointed out, it is now heavily balanced toward evil, and that needs to be fixed before doing anything else.

Reply to GalCiv2 Manual Versions in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]what do we do with terror stars after they are built [/quote] Blow up star systems. Along with any fleets that happen to be in them. You move the TS adjacent to the star of your choice, and then "attack" the star. The TS cannot defend itself, so be sure to have a strong fleet accompany it, or you will never reach your target. The TS moves as slow as can be, only one square per turn. And be sure to have your fleet hightail it out of the star system on the turn of

Reply to Will you add an Evacuation option? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

In a beta game, I managed to take out 4 or 5 systems with a TS. You do not lose the escorting fleet, either. Keep the fleet with the TS as you move it to the star, and on the turn you are adjacent, first order the fleet to "move out at top speed," far enough away (cannot remember exatly how far, but out of the star system). Then, detonate the star with the TS, and say bye-bye to the enemy worlds, and any of their fleets that were foolish enough to be in the star system at the time. On the next t

Reply to Galactic Civilizations II: Twilight of the Arnor preview in GalCiv Journals GalCiv2 Forums

[quote] Wow ... this expansion pack is a dream come true. I had a blast with the custom races in Dark Avatar, I am going to have even MORE fun making new techs and tech trees. One question about terror stars .... namely ... I don't get them. You need space superiority to use them (since they are so fragile), and if you have space superiority, why not just invade? Its probably cheaper, and you get new territory as well .... Dano

Reply to TA Beta3c - Suddenly, Everybody Hates Me... in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I don't know, maybe you are really annoying. In fact, *I* declare war on you. ONLY KIDDING!!! (I couldn't resist it) :LOL: I've had games that have gone that way too. Maybe it is a "perfect storm" sort of thing where everything just happens to conspire against you at once.

Reply to TA 3C - Korx start out totally Evil? in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]any race I've ever chosen before starts out neutral and it's up to me to choose an alignment as the game goes on. [/quote] Different races begin at different alignments. The Torians, for instance, start out pretty strongly "good." In my last game (as Torians) I took every "evil" choice to get good planets, and they were still on the "good" side when I researched Xeno Ethics. I think the "starting alignments" in DA are as follows (someone feel free to correct me if I got

Reply to Ship Crew and Heroes in Ideas GalCiv2 Forums

The additions sound like fun, of course, but you always have to consider the "AI" situation. Any time you add in an element like this, you have to get the AI to "understand" and properly execute that aspect. That is, I am sure, no small task.

Reply to Disappearing/inactive Turn button in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I have the same problem, pretty consistently once the game gets a few years in. I haven't tried the "zooming" idea, but will do so. The "workaround" that I discovered is less handy. I found that if I do a quicksave (even with the missing turn button) and then reload the game, it completes whatever cycle it was stuck on and the turn button magically reappears.

Reply to 1 sided scoring in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

The OP is correct, from all I can see, and this has been discussed frequently in these forums. A few rare individuals have tried to make a case that good is in balance, but I'm far from convinced. The only real debate is whether evil or neutral is best. I have been playing "evil" in the TA betas, after playing mostly "good" in my metaverse games. I have been a bit surprised how much advantage is gained by the evil choices, now that I am taking them myself. The conventional wisdom is that playing

Reply to Out of Memory Errors in 1.8e in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I'm not running the Star Trek mod, either. Though now that you mention it, it looks like it might be fun! :)

Reply to Done with GC2 for a while - metaverse error 12 yet again in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I had the same problem, and e-mailed tech support. They gave me a new registration number to type in, but said I might not be able to post past saved games. As a matter of fact, it *did* make the old games "postable" (is that a word?), for which I was very thankful. I, too, was frustrated with spending time on the game and then not being able to submit it to the metaverse. Next, before starting a new game, I followed the same proceedure that DethAdder mentioned above - started a game under a sec

Terran "Miner 49er" bug - TA 2b in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Someone must have found gold in them thar asteroids, because there are dozens of Terran of miners in orbit all over the Terran system. I suppose it's good for me that they are wasting money on ships that are useless, but it is a bit annoying to have to use up my precious movement points to pop them off one at a time so I can get my marines down on the planet. Seriously, there must be something screwy in the AI for so many mining ships to be built. Playing painful level, medium planet. I'm Torian

Reply to Classic movie moments in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

Almost anything in "UHF," but especially Raul's Wild Kingdom ("Right here in my apartment!") when he tries to teach poodles how to fly ("Sometimes, eet takes them a leetle while ...")

Reply to Out of Memory Errors in 1.8e in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I was starting to get them again, too, always when attempting to save a game. However, it did not crash the game, thankfully. I was able to Alt-tab to 2 different "out of memory" dialogues, click OK on both, and then go back to the game. At this point, I was able to save the game without any trouble. Took a few minutes, but aside from the inconvenience I could work around it, and eventually finished the game and submitted it OK to the metaverse.

Reply to Haven't Played This Game In A Long Time, Just Updated It; Not Much Has Been Fixed. in Dark Avatar GalCiv2 Forums

Not sure exactly what you think should be different. Some of what seems to bother you is simply part of playing a 4x game, and could not be changed by the nature of things (and those of us who like the game would not want them changed.) I'm particularly puzzled by the one specific example you give, i.e., that an advancement in weapons technology makes the weapon more powerful or smaller. What else in the world do you expect to happen? I'm sorry you bought a product that you do not like, but I fo

Reply to Capital World---really that vital? in Dark Avatar GalCiv2 Forums

Historically, think of the Roman Empire. Barbarians overran "the eternal city" of Rome for hundreds of years, while the empire continued to be ruled from Byzantium. Not comparing you the the barbarians, mind you. Just an example.

Reply to Still unable to use metaverse! in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I just e-mailed support with the same problem. Since I have a bunch of uncompleted DA games (due to the save-game bug that has just been fixed), I am hoping that a solution will be forthcoming. "Semi-patient," I like that. Can I use it?

Reply to Help with Meta account posting/error message #12 in Metaverse GalCiv2 Forums

I'm now getting the same error message, even though I am a long-time metaverse submitter, and have never had this problem before. I guess I'll send an e-mail to support and see what happens.

Reply to Quick update for Dark Avatar - 1.8d in GalCiv Journals GalCiv2 Forums

Thanks for doing this. I have a number of half-played DA games that I will now be able to finish. It's working fine on the one I am trying now.

Reply to The amazingly strong "don't rush" sentiments re TA in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]What I did not like in the poll was the December-or-January alternative. I voted for the latter, but I would have prefered to cast for a 3rd option : "Sometime in 2008, when it's really ready to be released." My age : 57. [/quote] That would make more sense if Stardock was not so good about continuing updates after the release of the game. No game of this scope will ever be absolutely "perfect," but at some point you balance out all considerations and m

Reply to NEW POLL: December or January release? in GalCiv II News GalCiv2 Forums

I voted for the January release, for the same reasons given by others above, but it would be nice if at some point before then the beta games could be posted to the metaverse.