The gold edition manual is included as .pdf in the download, so I recommend you just buy the gold edition in on-line format. print the manual out if you feel you need it that way.

If you feel compelled to go the other route, I have owned all versions. the dark avatar/gold edition manual is about 10% different than the original, mostly in added sections to chapters, added capabilities (like how to create a custom opponent race, which is a large additional section).

That having been said, there are tweaks to gameplay that have come about through the constant posting of update versions that Stardock does, which are undocumented even in the .pdf gold edition manual. Nothing that will spoil your understand and enjoyment of the game, and you can find an review the change logs on this site. Not to mention our obsessive, ad infinitum discussions of how to squeeze every little advantage out of every wrinkle of the game. Just treat us all as your own custom edited, topic specific, random access manual - questions are free (answers may cost you some newbie ribbing. )

drrider

Many thanks for your help!
I now think the best alternative is to download the gold edition when the manual is included as a pdf file. I will do this at once, where is the credit card...

By te way, my inpression of the program developer and the user group for GalCiv2 is already very good. I have bought many games with some severe bugs and it could take many hours on internet to find fixes if they existed. many developers think they are finished when the program is published. When I look here it seems to be very different, they really want to fix problems.
I have played Civilisation II and III a lot (hm.. but I have a feeling that the computer opponents are cheating), what can be said of GalCiv2 in comparision, is it more "deep" or is there any other significant differenses? (except the space of course)

I still have my original manual. It would be a bit dated, but not OUTdated, especially if it is available in his milk tongue. You mainly want a manual to get you through basic mechanics, screen tools, conceptual relationships. None of that has changed.

What's changed is things like exact racial bonus values, point values or bonus valoues of some buildings, behind-the-scenes combat calculations that the manual didn't explain in detail anyway.

But how to assign tiles on a planet, or how to manipulate the sliders, or how to select and move ships, or how to design ships has not changed. He can suplement from the English-language DA .pdf, and from the wiki, and from this forum, once he has a grounding in the mechanics.

drrider