Hello,
As we approach the 2.95 release, we are working on addressing gameplay balance and quality of life improvements. To enable the patch, please do the following:
Steam
Select Galactic Civilizations IV from your Steam Library list.
Right-click and select "Properties."
Select the BETAS tab.
From the dropdown, select "Insider" and click Close. (if you don't see this option, restart Steam.)
Steam should pull down the changed files; if you ever want to return, do the same as above but select "default."
Epic
Please note: The opt-in (Insider Build) is an early preview of the next update, and you might experience bugs or other issues.
Key Features
Heighten Gameplay Balance. We have updated planetary improvements, colony features, ship components, and war conditions.
Updated Map Generation. We enhanced Map Generation for star distances, higher planet frequency, and planet resources.
Quality of Life Improvements. We improved UI layouts, previous crashes, language errors, and cinematic cameras.
v2.95 February 21st, 2025 Change Log
Art
Battlefields
Crashes
Gameplay
Base ship hull sizes are now unlocked through the tech tree
Starbases are tougher in general and harder to kill
The "New Generation is Born" event no longer happens for Synthetic races
Military Starbases provide combat buffs by default to friendly units
Reduced the regulation buff from 20% wealth to 15%
Fixed bug where players cannot execute leaders
Leader Spawn rate is faster
If a Civilization has the Ancient Trait, they gain new Starbase Modules that buff Relics
Added alternative self-repair alloy option
Fixed bug where trade routes did not give diplomatic capital
Colonies
AI will optimize the specialization of citizens on the planets based on the strengths of the planet
AI will prioritize durational projects as the planet runs out of usable tiles
Earth loses 1 mineral, 1 tech, gains 2 influences
If a planet isn't capable of becoming a core world, it will no longer show what is on it
Improvements
Fixed bug where improvements wouldn’t show up without a proper tooltip
Added support for improvements to provide shipyards with production via a durational project
Fixed bug where the Quantum Processing Unit improvement was marked as a Wealth improvement instead of a Research improvement
Resources
Thulium is more common
Elerium is less common
Ships
Improved quality of scout search
Tiny Hull Ship maintenance increased from 0.25 to 0.50
Supply Modules now requires the Colonial Policies tech
HP giving ship components now have 1 maintenance cost
Significant improvements to the auto scout behavior to be smarter and fast at computing it
Added Life Support Module to Starting Flagship
War
Removed the “Let's trade" when a player is at war with another Civilization, especially a forever war
If a player is in a forever war, they will no longer be able to negotiate peace with that Civilization
Localization
Map Generation
Tech costs will scale based on the map size
Slight increase in the rate of decay based on distance of asteroids and colonies
Star distances moved slightly further apart to make range more important
Increased the likelihood of trade resources on planets with special traits
Fixed Extreme planet slider
White Dwarfs get more planets
Balance pass on planet frequency
Balance pass on planet types and their resource outputs to align more with the type of planet
UI
Moved Missions tab up on the Main Menu
Fixed bug where techs displayed 0 months to research
Lengthen the Artifact UI
Fleet detail lines no longer intersect
Resources display which Civilization owns them
Fixed bug where N/A shows up for Ships after building Shipyards
Shipyard icons will show up based on combat rating
Changed “Save Ship Design” text to “Save New Class Design”
Cleaned up the citizen tooltips on planets
Megastructures DLC
AI
Structures
Dyson Sphere
Improvements
Solar Farm Energy Generation increased from 1 to 5
Solar Farm Energy Generation per level increased from 0.25 to 1
Reduced all Gigamass Costs to 0
Increased Energy Consumption to improvements that previously had 1 and 2 Gigamass Cost
Increased Energy Consumption to improvements that previously had 2 Gigamass Cost
Orbitals
Orbitals now use Energy
Orbital Embassy Durantium cost increased from 1 to 5 and is now a Civilization Achievement
Diplomatic Council Durantium cost increased from 3 to 5 and is now a Civilization Achievement
Gigamass Costs reduced to 0
Energy Costs increased to 5
Stellar Gateway
Stellar Nexus
Fixed bug where Nexuses used Energy while under construction
The Focus Generator Augment now buffs Citizens +10 in all stats and Workers +10 in Diligence
Stellar Nexus Gigamass Costs decreased from 50 to 30
Added new prerequisites for Stellar Nexus based off which Civilization is played
Below are Civilizations and what Nexus Augments are available to them
Terrans
Festron
Navigators
Mimot
Xeloxi
Arceans
Drengin
Altarian
Yellow Star: Celestial Garden
Purple Star: Galactic Resort
Blue Star: Allegiance Engine
Yor
Red Star: Defense Coordinator
Blue Star: Cosmic Foundry
Blue Star: Neoteric Spire
Torian
Yellow Star: Celestial Cloud Cycler
Red Star: Defense Coordinator
Blue Star: Allegiance Engine
Manti
Krynn
Yellow Star: Celestial Garden
Purple Star: Galactic Embassy
Iconian
Purple Star: Galactic Resort
Red Star: Acceleration Matrix
Drath
Corporate Sec.
Onyx
Baratak
Resistance
Luxar
Contaminant
Intueri
Korath
Phalenoid
Stellar Nexus Augments
Stellar Nexus Augments now have their Gigamass Costs reduced to 0
Energy Costs Increased from 10,15,20 to 10,25,50
Augments renamed to include Star Color ("Yellow Star: Focus Generator")
Augment descriptions edited to include what colored stars Stellar Nexuses can be built around.
Ringworld
Ships
UI
