From all that I've seen this is the way I feel about GalCiv.

from Stardock Forums


Well ever since I found out about this game and the company thats making it and its business practices I feel really happy about this game as a whole. But I feel like going over point by point cause I don't have much to go on right now.

Video.. FMV's actually look pretty decent. Certainly nothing spectacular.. But they look great and fit the part better than what i've seen in any other space based game of late. they add mood.

Sometimes in moo2 I liked to watch the colony ship land on a planet just cause it was cool. I'm glad they have a simular element here though I wish that I could watch it for every planet colonized as an option instead of just the first.. But still thumbs up in this area. I'de say an 7.0 overall from what I saw in gamespot but because i like the subject matter and this is a relatively new company these seem to exceed my expectations by a bit. 8.8 (Yes final fantasy has spoiled me.)

Average gameplay video... The graphics won't win any awards but they look better than MOO3's. I would say had this came out in 99 or 2000 the graphics woulda been top notch for a TBS strategy game so with that in mind I would like to say congrats for doing such a good job as a small company. :). 7.0 in this area.

From what I can see the interface appears to be easy to use. the AI seems to be great, if not too good. I personally do not support dumbing down the AI at all by the way. I would like AI that can piss me off by beating me still for years to come and make me want to play again and again to topple it. .. I beat MOO2 with minuses. an uncreative race -50% population growth and -10 to ground combat.. That was fun. Poor goverment type too, I forget all the stuff I changed but man it was harsh and a sweeet victory when I won.

I do worry about the sound as that can be important. I know absolutely nothing of the sound of this game.

In theory the gameplay sounds great. all the beta testers say its great so i'm taking their word on it.

Replayability factor seems to be real high. big bonuses.

The company thats making this is doing a really cool job IMO. Involving beta testers in real development early was a good idea. Allowing buyers to download the game. I really like that and it will be a first experience for me to download a game that I buy. I personally can not wait for that moment to begin. And I hope but I doubt it will be somthing I will experience more often. Also the planned expansions are a great idea.. But I do have one big issue....

That one big issue is I did not learn about thi game till about 5 days ago and I watch computer gaming news every day.. I read gamespot, I check out gamespy sometimes.... I watch tech news, yadda-yadda. and even looking for a cool game of this paticular sort.. Mildly while doing my daily hour long + web surfing routine between games I did not find it. I strongly suggest that more advertising for this product be done if you want it to sell really well. Afterall thats how things get sold. do to great advertising.

These are my thoughts, Joloven
426 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Regarding the marketing and positioning of the game - try to read Brad's articles on Avault, they are great and explain much regarding computer games industry.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
The graphics are quite good, really. Lots of ambient animations and a neat parallax effect with the starfield when scrolling the main view around. It's not an eye candy tour-de-force or anything, but it's clean and attractive.

Sound is decent, but fairly basic. As good as any other turn-based grand strategy game, I guess. The music is nice.
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Just one comment, unless you had access to the release candidates, and only those with Ensign access or higher did, the final game had a lot more cut scenes and the high quality ones were not included in the beta for download size reasons.

For instance, before you even get to your first game there's about 3 minutes of FMV.

But you are right, we do need to get the marketing going. ;)
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
what is strategy first doing in terms of marketing?
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Well, IMHO, the flyer included with MoO3 was a GREAT start for marketing and advertising. Perhaps also throw up a banner ad on Gamespot and IGN. That would be huge right now. Perhaps run it for a few weeks and see how many click-thrus you get.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
I for one, am a crossover from Moo3 to Galciv. Moo3 has not gone over very well overall and I think that it will help sales of Galciv as disgruntled Moo3 owners want a game with a REAL AI in it and the ability to engage in actual "strategy".