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Reply to Twilight of the Arnor is coming in PC Gaming Stardock Forums

Is there going to be any kind of demo version?

Reply to Very Slow Research Rates on Large, Huge, Immense Maps... in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Any chance of one more speed below "very slow"?

Reply to Very Slow Research Rates on Large, Huge, Immense Maps... in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

What about the other settings? Were they all identical as well? I did a quick test (higher up this thread) in research times by map size and noticed a definite difference for one of the early techs. It might even be *very* complicated, ie each tech scales in its own unique way. The point is, scaling is definitely there.

TA, focus buttons and the all-X strategy (questions!) in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I hear rumours that the focus buttons have been changed and the all-X strategies have been dethroned as the optimal way to play. Can anyone give more details? I'm considering whether to buy the expansion and this is probably the major decision maker for me. (I know that sounds an odd thing to decide on, but I really disliked the way I felt forced into the all-X strategy in Dark Avatar/Dread Lords; going for a balanced approach and deliberately playing suboptimally was

Reply to Long-Term Development on PC games in Galactic Civilizations II Stardock Forums

[quote]You could require groups that receive payment for develoment kickback to SD. Those that did it for "free" would not need to kickback to SD. Ick...enforcing this would be painful. You'd probably be better off not requiring a kickback at all just to avoid the potential legal trouble.[/quote] I think it could be manageable. Look at the NWVault for example...add in a cost to download and it could work pretty much as is. I think you'd need to require registration using the serial co

Reply to The existence of for-pay stuff doesn't hurt you in Personal Computing Stardock Forums

Hear hear! I think it's a safe bet the hard drives of these people are full of pirated software, movies and music.

Reply to Please fix trading! *pout* in Galactic Civilizations II Stardock Forums

[quote]I have no problem with the ai denying techs or having astronomic demands for a deal. BUT I have a problem with the ai giving tech like candy to each other. The problem isn't trading human vs ai, it's ai vs ai. Stop them from sharing everything like closest friends (while keeping the human out) and nobody has a reason to be upset any longer.[/quote] The AI applies the same rules to trading with other AIs as it does to trading with the player.

Reply to Very Slow Research Rates on Large, Huge, Immense Maps... in Galactic Civilizations II Stardock Forums

Just tested it. There's definitely *some* scaling. Terran on normal speed, 100% spending on research - 5 turns for basic logistics on "gigantic", 3 turns on "tiny". Must agree that doesn't seem like much scaling given the enormous difference in habitable planets between the two.

Reply to Very Slow Research Rates on Large, Huge, Immense Maps... in Galactic Civilizations II Stardock Forums

Are you sure it doesn't scale already? I thought I read somewhere that it did, and that makes sense considering many techs on very slow still take more than a week even with dozens of research dedicated planets (that would correspond to a year per tech on small/medium...I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen!) Perhaps it just doesn't scale fast enough? Anyway, I'd quite like an even slower speed, but not with the current tech cost balance. I already find the early techs too expensive re

Reply to Long-Term Development on PC games in Galactic Civilizations II Stardock Forums

A lot of people I've seen comment on the subject seem *fundamentally opposed* to paying for mods. To them, it's not just a question of quality - they would not even be willing to pay for a mod that was *far superior* to the original game. As I see it, it's added content which somebody has put a lot of their time into. I don't expect the original game for free. I don't feel *entitled* to receive mods for free. Lower quality is to be expected and can be reflected by much lower prices

Reply to Long-Term Development on PC games in Galactic Civilizations II Stardock Forums

"I refuse to pay for mods. That is... that's shady, that's what that is." That's a pretty common attitude, which I've never understood. Why do you feel that way?

Reply to Please fix trading! *pout* in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]The problem lies as you go up in difficulty. At Suicidal, you might get 100bc for a tech by selling it to one AI. Let's say you needed that same 100bc tech, you'd have to play 1000bc. In some cases, the AI won't sell it, even if you offer it every single planet you own.[/quote] Is that really a *problem* though? It is supposed to be "suicidal" level, after all. I don't know how the advanced players are doing these days, but when I was last playing this game (a year or so ago, p

Reply to KOTOR2, another unfinished game in PC Gaming GalCiv2 Forums

Both KOTOR2 and NWN2 suffered primarily because of the klutzy graphics engine. Both of them had pretty strong storylines, although KOTOR2's in particular got truncated thanks to those (beep)s at Lucasarts. If people weren't so obsessed by the cosmetics (graphics and sound), we wouldn't be reduced to only seeing a handful of game releases every year (it's basically impossible for a small team to produce a game these days), nor would we be forced to keep upgrading hardware just to play t

Reply to Long-Term Development on PC games in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Develop good modding tools then just leave it to the gamers. One thing I'd be interested in seeing is a company willing to publish the better community produced mods and share the revenue with the creators (perhaps after the active development cycle is ended). There's *already* some very good stuff put out for most moddable games even when people are doing it completely for free. Imagine what might turn up if the modders had at least the *potential* for some financial reward at the

Reply to Space Rangers 2 Discussion in Space Rangers 2 Stardock Forums

See the thread two below this one! (The answer's yes, and soonish)

Reply to New Space Rangers Add-on in Space Rangers 2 Stardock Forums

Damn! I hope people don't lose interest waiting. (I know I won't :)) This deserves to do well.

Reply to New Space Rangers Add-on in Space Rangers 2 Stardock Forums

If it *is* going to be standalone, you should probably stop advertising the old version so prominently on the Totalgaming frontpage. I know I'd be *pissed* to shell out for a game then see a new version released a couple of weeks later!

Reply to New Space Rangers Add-on in Space Rangers 2 Stardock Forums

OK, I have a week off work. Please release it now. Thank you. ;)

Reply to New Space Rangers Add-on in Space Rangers 2 Stardock Forums

Very good news. It would be very interesting to know how well this ends up selling.

Reply to New Space Rangers Add-on in Space Rangers 2 Stardock Forums

I really, really hope that a) The English version really does come out b) Stardock distribute it! https://www.elementalgames.com/forum/msg.php?lang=eng&forum=rangers&theme=484&page=auto The changelist on page 2 sounds like it's really ironed out most of the more irritating aspects of the gameplay.

Is it possible to group fleets? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Pretty much as the title says! I've not been keeping up to date with developments...did they add the ability to group fleets together for the purposes of issuing commands?

Reply to Starbase bonuses verses planitary bonuses (DL) in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

A PQ of 9 with those bonuses is really "only" like a PQ 27 without bonuses and only a PQ 23 if you're only looking at research. Meanwhile, a 16-starbase array roughly *quadruples* the effective number of labs.

Reply to The All Lab Approach in Strategies GalCiv2 Forums

However, does that mean when you conquer the planet with the MCC or ASC on it that you destroy the planet? I'm not sure. I've never seen the AI build either!

Reply to Multiple Troop Modules Don't Stack in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Nah, we probably don't want blatantly visible handicaps that would not fit in with the 'realism' of a galactic universe? I'd say the production and research levels the AI can pull in on a virtually empty planet at suicidal is *fairly* visible.

Reply to How fast do you build up your planets? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

It's rarely wrong to be building markets in preference to building nothing. When to start building up other stuff is much trickier. You don't want to wait until you can completely afford it because you will then have a prolonged phase where your economy will grow much faster than your capacity to spend the extra cash. This could easily end up leaving you well behind in the race. Equally, building up too early will leave you in a nasty financial hole. I judge it by feel...after a few