The Leader

Reply to 1.03 Better than1.02 ? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

It's cool that the game changes all the time. You have to keep re-learning things. Not that 1.03 seems very much different. I have a hard time figuring out if tech trading has changed much. I guess it's now a little harder to get good deals from the AI now. Start out with 70% Diplomacy, pick the Populists party (+20%) and then buy the Diplomatic Translators (+30%)from Mitrosoft as soon as you can, and you still have no problem keeping up with the AI tech. Wi

Reply to v1.03, +10 PQ Ability has been nerfed in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Ideally, all the abilities you pick at the beginning of the game should give you equal benefit, thus encouraging you to try different strategies. When one ability pick is so much better than the rest, then you wind up picking that one all the time and ignoring the others. Replay value dwindles.

Reply to Complaint - Lack of Game Variation = Boredom in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I had played on Small maps, until this last game I tried a Medium map. I found the Medium map too big! I wound up having all my planets send constructors to a central sector and built a whole bunch of starbases there, pumping up my economy. But... it's boring. And despite my strong economy, and decent sized military (it's necessary to have a decent military otherwise the AI attacks you), I don't feel like I have the military power necessary to take over any of the AI players. Seems

Reply to Wish list for GalCiv (or GalCiv2) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Indeed Ryan, the key problem with the game as I see it is that the AI doesn't intelligently use starbases, and doesn't intelligently attack.

Reply to Battlehammer just too powertul!! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I quickly discovered that the Battlehammer was the most cost effective ship to build. The AI clearly doesn't see much value in the Battlehammer. The AI favors Corvettes, Frigates, Battleships, and Dreadnaughts. With some Battlehammers, and a starbase(s) with good military capabilities, your home system becomes unconquerable by the stupid AI. (But the AI is very effective at destroying all of your trade routes.)

Reply to I loved this game but now I hate it in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I'd rather get killed than pay the evil Drengin tribute every month.

Reply to 1.02.049 is here! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

The AI seems to be building more starbases now, but there doesn't seem to be any coherent strategy behind them. Nor does the AI defend the starbases with ships. AI combat tactics don't seem any different. The enemy ships still attack the first thing in site, without any coordinated plan. Only concentrated attacks make sense in GalCiv. You need to take out a starbase, or you need to take out ships defending a planet and immediately follow through with transports. Otherwise i

Reply to Suggestions to fix Starbase problems in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I also like the idea of adding hitpoints to the starbase as you add modules. Instead of a starbase starting out with 150 hitpoints, maybe they should start out with 100, and get 10 hitpoints for ever additional module?

Reply to Suggestions to fix Starbase problems in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I vote for simply removing the stacking bonuses. As someone else suggested (I can't take credit for the idea, it was in some other thread), every module you build should only work once within a particular sector. So if you have two Starbases in a sector with Battlestations Mark II, then you would only get a +2 bonus for the sector for both the Battlestations Mark II, and not a +4 bonus. Without the stacking bonus, there wouldn't be much of an incentive to build more than one starbase

Reply to Hard Numbers in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

It's all important. The programmers need to focus first on bugs. Second on playbalance and AI issues. Third on adding enhancements and online help. Trade/strategy/tactics/diplomacy fall within playbalance and AI, and it's a judgment call which of these to hit first. The programmers should first concentrate on things that have a big positive impact on the quality game, but don't take too much time to program. Then do stuff that takes more time to program and doesn't have as

Reply to Tactical Fleet Combat is Required! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I say that not all strategy games need tactical combat. Civ and SMAC never had it, and they were great games. The guys at GalCiv have designed a game without tactical combat. There is still plenty of stuff to do within the context of the game. And furthermore, there is plenty of stuff for the GalCiv programmers to do in order to fix and improve the current game. Creating tactical combat would take a lot of work for them without improving the game. So I vote NO to ta

Reply to The Number One AI Deficiency in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Boracks, The Drengin have PERSONALITY. They are a bunch of mean bastards. Rojonia, If you try to build a culture starbase in a sector where you don't have any planets, the AI gets mad at you and declared war. There is some smarts built in there! But you are allowed to get away with whatever you want inside your own sectors. I think the problem with the starbases is that (1) they stack, meaning you can build infinite starbases in a single sector, all

Reply to 1.02.049 is here! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

So you fixed the problem with the defecting planets! You really ARE listening to our gripes :) Looking forward to seeing if the AI starbase and battle tactics have improved.

Reply to The Number One AI Deficiency in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

In playing a few games, I really haven't noticed anything wrong with this part of the AI. In every game I've played, one race, either the Drengin or the Arceans, get really strong and attack me. The Yor and the Altarians often tell me that they are coming to my aid. They even give me some ships to help fight off the enemy. Sometimes the Yor come to my aid too (who says those guys are evil?). If the AI were better military strategists, then it would harder for YOU when they at

Reply to The Number One AI Deficiency in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Of all the problems with the AI, this is the least of them. On this website somewhere, the creators of the game explain why GalCiv is not like other games. The AI doesn't gang up on another civ that's too strong because they are chicken. The goal was to prevent what happens in other strategy games where everyone, even your longtime friends, start attacking you when you get too strong. The problem with the AI is that it's such a stupid military strategist. And that it

Reply to If the AI doesn't cheat, how does it get so many techs in the first few months? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Za H, The beauty of the Mitrosoft leases at that they ARE painful. But most people still agree that you should take one out if it means the difference between getting an important trade good or wonder. The interest itself is reasonable. You wind up paying less than twice as much with the lease, than if you bought it outright. That's reality. Diplomatic Translators today are worth a lot more than Diplomatic Translators 200 months from now. Maybe the base price shoul

Reply to Military strength calculation? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I like the Battle Hammer because it has so many hitpoints. If the military strenght algorithm is just looking at attack and defense values, and ignoring hit points, then the Battle Hammer is going to be undervalued.

Reply to Starbase Suggestion: in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I agree with those who say that starbase modules shouldn't stack. Stacking creates a boring undynamic game where you just sit in your sector building more and more starbases. Even a single starbase loaded up with military modules increases your defensive position significantly (and the AI is too dumb to target it). Building several starbases with military upgrades gives you a sector the enemy cannot take over... yet the enemy civs are too stupid to realize this and just keep throwing

Reply to The reason why I hate Altarians so much.... in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

The difference between the Altarians and the Drengin is that the Altarians only extort money for "peacekeeping" purposes.

Reply to Military strength calculation? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Makes you wonder if they just look at the maintenance costs? The Battle Axes and Battle Hammers (the best ship imho) don't have as much maintenance cost as Frigates and Dreadnaughts. Battle Hammers in a sector with a decent military starbase have no problems taking down enemy Dreadnaughts. Yet the AI seems to really value Frigates and Dreadnaughts. They will want an arm and a leg to trade you the technologies that enable those two ships.

Reply to Drengin way too powerful... in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I've noticed the same thing. The Drengin or the Arceans are always the most powerful. I guess the Drengin benefit from their evil choices, and both races extort money. It's strange that the Yor always seem to do so poorly. They are evil too. Maybe their "chaotic" alignment means that they don't follow a consistent strategy?

Reply to Major Diplomacy War/Peace Cheese at Intelligent levels in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I agree that that the diplomacy screen and the Diplomacy skill were put in the game for you to use, and give you an advantage if you have a high Diplomacy skill. If because of bad AI you have TOO MUCH of an advantage, then this is not the fault of the player, it's a fault of the AI. I like the comparison to the fighting part of the AI. If you build some military starbases in your home sector, the enemy civs keep throwing their ships at you and they don't have much of a chance because

Reply to If the AI doesn't cheat, how does it get so many techs in the first few months? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Starting position determines everything in this game. If you start with another yellow star right next to you with a really good planet in orbit, it's almost like starting with DOUBLE. With five other civs in the game, there's only a 1/6 chance that you have the best starting position. So it's likely that some other alien civ is going to start off with a strong economy, not even accounting for the fact that they know where the good planets are and you don't. A cheap w

Reply to Found a very cheesy strat... in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

With the starbase issue, the military bonuses definitely seem to add up, because they show up on my ships. You can make your home sector nearly impossible for the enemy to invade by building a bunch of starbases there. I assume the productions bonuses add up too, but I don't know how to confirm this: I can't understand what the planet detail screen means! I wish they would make all the production increase issues more understandable. :(

Reply to Could we have the option of furthur playing the game after we win? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I always quit playing these kinds of strategy games BEFORE I win or lose. Once I see where things are going, I usually just call it quits, content that I could have whooped the aliens' behinds if I so chose.