All4x games use the same cheesy cheat

from Stardock Forums
Hi all

First I want to say I think this game is really cool however it does the same thing as Civ3 and SMAC and countless other 4x titles.
It gives the comp players the best starting positions.
Or more to the point it sticks you with crap.
This is something that really bugged me in civ3.
One time I ran an experiment and created a super starting position in Civ3 editor.put lots of resources and other goodies around that spot.
I then saved the map and started a game with 8 civs.
Well guess what? After about 50 restarts I still wasnt given that spot.It just simply would not give it to me.
doesnt seem to be too random to me.
Now this game seems to be doing the same.
Last game I played I thought I finally had a good starting spot-lots of 15+ planets nearby.
Well as the game progressed it became appearant that NONE of the galaxy's resources were anywhere near me--in fact they were all clustered around the other civs.
I spend more time restarting GalCiv after false starts then actually playing it.

Frogboy--please say it aint so--please tell me you didnt implement this frustrating tactic into your game.
Then again I guess I could just be extremely unlucky (:(

Please dont get me wrong --Im not flameing the game--I like it alot.The AI is really tough in this game and a handicap right from the start is not necessary.I am still playing normal level and when I want a tougher challenge Ill move to bright but dont shaft me on starting locales.

ahh--I fell better now ;)
512 views 14 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
The computer does not always get the best spot when you play a game. In the last game I played I had a great starting position allowing me to control almost half the map once I colonized. From what I've seen starting positions are just random with you and the AI both getting a range of good and bad ones.

~SDC~
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
uuh with all respect your totally wrong! Kavorkian.

I have had games with multiple 20+ systems on my starting screen, and the AI gets only 2 planets WAY out in the corner. Its purely random!

You can regenerate your map in game by pressing +N you dont have to restart the game.

~SDC~
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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
I also get my fair share of Resources, in fact i normally am the first to grab the ones near me, and some of the ones out side my influence.

~SDC~
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
O.K.--guess Im just unlucky then

With my experiance with civ 3 i guess im just a bit jaded.

Nirvana(great band)--thanks for the tip--that will save me some time :)
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Np's I try not to use it myself, unless im stuck in the corner with only a few stars in range.

Hehe haven't listened to Nirvana in years really, i have had this name in all the online games i play for about the last 6 years.

~SDC~
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Yep, you're just unlucky. :) I just started a game on a large map, and based on the half of the map I can see, I got a pretty good starting spot. Lots of easily accessible 15+ planets, and a 25+ planet nearby. Of course, my luck attribute might've helped some. :)

BTW, if you have trouble getting good planets, take the +15% to planet quality boost. Very, very useful.
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top
Arcanum--Your smiling about my bad luck??May a rabid Drengin mount your sister!!! :D j\k
Seriousely tho -I thought about the luck attribute but i have trouble using an attribute point on something so invisible as that.
My latest configuration is war party with +10% planet quality and +30% morale.
Im thinking of dropping the morale thing tho since it just makes my planets grow faster negeting the bonus.

anyway thanks for the tips :)
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
I start in good spots quite often. Last game playing a gigantic galaxy with tight clusters and abundant planets I had 16 stars that had 14+ planets right nearby, I used the +15 planet quality so 14s were useful to me. And in addition I had 5 resources very close as well and that was just in or near my starting cluster. I was also able to grab most of the nearest two clusters as well gaining several more planets and a few more resources before I met my first major race. Other times when i have started in bad places I am not above using ctrl N to reset the map.

~SDC~
Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top
I make use of ctrl-N very frequently because I'm one of these people who are never quite satisfied with my starting position. For instance, I _don't_ like to have to try to deal with one of the Big Five or a minor race right away, so if I get a starting layout that has me in the same sector as a minor race, or I encounter one of the major empires too close by my starting point (say, three or four sectors away), ctrl-N goes into action. Basically, my ideal starting layout involves a sector with a class 19 (or better) quality home planet and a star with a 15+ planet close enough by that my starting colony ship can reach it in the game's first turn so that I can colonize it and have two planets generating income and building ships right from the outset. I'm willing to hit ctrl-N as many times as I have to to get this layout. If I get an opening layout with a sector with at least three other stars with class-15+ planets beside the Sol system, I'm on Easy Street (unless one of the Big Five is too close by). I haven't had much difficulty with finding resources or useful anomalies to date, either.
Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top
Man--I just started a new game and I thought I got a great starting spot--then it all got sour.
I started on a 22 planet-
I found a 28 planet(the biggest ive found yet without enhancements) in the next sector.
in my sphere of influence I found an influence resource,a moral resource,an economic resource,and 2 technology ones.I thought Man this is great!!
I put starbases on all the resources While I continued to scout.
Well all the stars around me were quite lousy and as I continued to explore I felt an uneasy feeling.
It turns out that the Alteran homeworld is only 2 sectors away to the south.That cut off my expansion in that direction--so I shifted my colony ships toward the north only to find that the Yor homeworld is only 3 sectors away to the north east.
Im in the dead center of the map sandwiched between an evil empire and a good one.I had nowhere to expand and had only 5 star systems.
My bad luck just never ends >:(
Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top
In my experience it's all very random and I am positive the AI majors get no starting position advantage. In many games I've played on small or medium maps some other majors have really poor starting locations.