VladimirUljanov

Join Date 11/2008

Questions after the two first games of GalCiv

I have just finished my second GalCiv II real sandbox playthrough. I played on small and medium universe as Terrans against four and nine opponents and with the normal and tough difficulty setting, repectively. I used standard options, and the TA expansion version 1.97 (european Ultimate Edition version right out of the box). During and after the game a couple of questions arose;

1. When you trade technology with a foreign species through diplomatic channels, some tech names starts with a star (*) . What does that mean?

2. How do I set my agents/spies up for tech stealing. I was able to place spies directly onto foreign tiles, but the effect of that is just reducing or canceling whatever is happening on that tile, or what?

3. Starbases:

3a. The game seems to be a lot about starbase strategy, but even though I tried to use rally points, a lot of time went into micro management. What is the most effecient way to uppgrade starbases? (I only used the standard constructur type given at the start of the game). How does your solar system look like where your most precious planet(s) are? Are the entire solar system surrounded with a ton of different starbases?

3b. Both my wins (diplomatic and technological) were a result of influence starbase expansion. What surprised me was how indifferent all species were towards the fact that I overtook their planets on by one at tough difficult setting?? As Terrans I had maximized the diplomic skill and tried to be general friendly. Does high diplomatic skills force foreign spieces to behave like kittens? Placing tons of influence starbases outside a planet should be equal to droping an army onto that planet? I won on tough without doing a single fight!

4. If GaLCiv was a multiplayer game with no computer opponents would diplomatic skills in its current form render useless?

5. What is up with tourisme? I think I read somewhere that it is governed by the population of the universe and your influence control... But it totally dominated my economy even though I had a lot of trade routes. I was told that tourism had for some reason gone 10x, but surley this doesn't go on for ever?

6. The Next Turn button disappared a couple of times, and I don't think it was the computer suddenly taking a long think. I had to restart the game, is this a known bug?

7. Why can't I always get the option of allies, trade/science agreement etc. when I have the tech to do it. Do my opponent also need to possess these techs.

8. Is it typical to get the next turn syndrome very fast in GalCiv like in most 4X games (to become indifferent towards micro management). What is the best way to stall this?

9. Is there anything you can do with zero tile/quality planets?

Thanks

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Some answers:

1) I do not know (I play DL and DA, but not TA)

2) The chance of a tech steal is very small and random each turn, and also is the same if one has one spy on an enemy tile, or many.

3) I have had AIs complain about Influence bases I had placed near their planets, with a corresponding drop in Relations. I advise making later constructors faster and/or smaller. With a few levels of miniaturization, they can be made from cheaper Tiny hulls.

4) Yes - see the multiplayer thread

5) There is a good discussion of tourism on the Wiki, IIRC. A temporary increase in tourism is a relatively common Event.

6) This happens sometimes - others here may know more about it than I do.

7) The AI needs the Alliance tech to make an Alliance. You can sell it or trade it to them and, IIRC, sometimes continue with them on the same turn. Note, though, that one must reach "Close" to have any chance at reaching an Alliance.

8) I cope by always checking the colonies spreadsheet before I hit the Turn button.

9) No - though there is an event, I believe, that will sometimes destroy a planet and turn it into one or more asteroid fields that can be mined. Also, I think the coming of the DreadLords converts one planet into their homeworld.

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A few additional answers:

1. The (*) is in front of techs which are unique to a species.

7. The research and economic treaties: each race has only one to give/trade away, so if they've already traded their treaty to another race, you will not see the option for it.

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Ah!

The species-unique techs were introduced in TA, and are not in DL and DA (which I play).

Also, each race is indeed limited to just one economic and research treaty at a time. Good point, and one I neglected to mention.

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WIllythemailboy

Join Date 03/2006

+70

2. You also need Advanced espionage, gotten by planting civ-level spies on that opponent. Once you reach Advanced, you must have at least one spy placed on a building to have a chance to steal.

For management, use rally points and autobuild; there is an option in the starbase's detail screen that will prioritize module addition without asking you every time a constructor shows up at the base. Failing that, determine how many modules you need to build the base you want, then add 1 to that number and put that many constructors in a fleet. Pick a location and Bam! instant starbase.

Starbase useage: not so much any more. Sure, econ bases are nice but they aren't really necessary. Military base arrays are still a vital part of the game, and influence bases are highly situational.

5. That is a mega event, meant to destabilize the game. Yes, it is permanent. Although comparing tourism to trade income isn't very helpful, as trade is almost never a significant source of income.

6. A known problem. Sometimes you can break free of it by hitting the space bar repeatedly - this wastes the turn of whatever ship the game is trying to move at the time. This bug often results from the game not being able to resolve a ship movement issue, so wasting the turn can sometimes force you past the error. Other times, you need to reload - autosave is your friend, although I find saving manually just before hitting the turn button is better.

7. Econ/research treaties have been covered. Alliances require both sides to have the tech, and relations must reach Close. You cannot force Close relations either, you can bribe your way to Friendly, then just wait until Close is reached on its own (random chance per turn, as far as I know).

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2. You also need Advanced espionage, gotten by planting civ-level spies on that opponent. Once you reach Advanced, you must have at least one spy placed on a building to have a chance to steal.

I've had tech steals happen prior to Advanced, but I'd have to guess the chance goes up as the intel level goes up. Due to the absoulte randomness of this portion of espionage, I gave up on trying to come up with numbers on it .

Agreed on the 'must have a planetary spy in place for chance to steal and more than one doesn't increase chances' though. I've had 100 spies on a race and wasn't stealing techs every week....yes, I had 100 spies, that was my finish line for my spy costing analysis.

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WIllythemailboy

Join Date 03/2006

+70

I've had tech steals happen prior to Advanced, but I'd have to guess the chance goes up as the intel level goes up.

I haven't stolen one below advanced in TA, but it was certainly possible in DL and pre-2.0 DA. I thought they changed it with the empire level spies.

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I always create custom colony and constructor for my goal. Just a colony or constructor module on a small or tiny hull, depending on your tech level for a cheap ship. Other times you want one with extra range and/or speed. For example, to claim a distant resource I might need extra range to get to it or extra speed to reach it before the computer players. Once you have claimed it you need neither range nor speed to build it up so pump out cheap constructors.

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You might like to read my post Primer for GalCiv II.

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WIllythemailboy

Join Date 03/2006

+70

Quoting Mascrinthus,

reply 7

3. See above comments about miniaturization and tiny hulls. Two levels of mini will get a tiny hull with a constructor module and not much else. Slightly slower, less range - but about half the price.

I always create custom colony and constructor for my goal. Just a colony or constructor module on a small or tiny hull, depending on your tech level for a cheap ship. Other times you want one with extra range and/or speed. For example, to claim a distant resource I might need extra range to get to it or extra speed to reach it before the computer players. Once you have claimed it you need neither range nor speed to build it up so pump out cheap constructors.

Cheesy exploit tactic: build a blank hull with range modules on it, set the autopilot, then upgrade to colony/constructor/freighter without cancelling the autopilot. It will continue to whatever target you set even if it is well outside the current life support range, you just can't switch targets en route.

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Oh! There be sharp cheddar, indeed!

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