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GalcivII - What the heck do I do?
Lord Jezo
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I picked up Galciv II off Impulse for the super $9.99 sale they have going on.
I installed it, booted into the game, got my first small galaxy started, and then was totally overwhelmed by everything.
The tech tree is a monstrosity, the ship men goes so deep that I have no idea what to click on, the universe has so many things in it that I am clicking around mostly aimlessly.
I figured out a couple of the super basics, like what the starter ships do, how to create a mining base, and a couple other things, but I feel like I am just doing it all randomly with no goals. I had it set on cakewalk so yeah, I was able to beat up on the one cpu in the universe, but its mostly luck.
Is there some kind of beginner guide to get me started? An easier to read tech tree (it is easy to read in the game but I have no idea what to build on)? Maybe something about how to build things? I made some starbases and they said they have modules available, but I have no idea what that is or how to build them.
But yeah, the game is big, I played for hours, but I still dont know what I was doing.
I installed it, booted into the game, got my first small galaxy started, and then was totally overwhelmed by everything.
The tech tree is a monstrosity, the ship men goes so deep that I have no idea what to click on, the universe has so many things in it that I am clicking around mostly aimlessly.
I figured out a couple of the super basics, like what the starter ships do, how to create a mining base, and a couple other things, but I feel like I am just doing it all randomly with no goals. I had it set on cakewalk so yeah, I was able to beat up on the one cpu in the universe, but its mostly luck.
Is there some kind of beginner guide to get me started? An easier to read tech tree (it is easy to read in the game but I have no idea what to build on)? Maybe something about how to build things? I made some starbases and they said they have modules available, but I have no idea what that is or how to build them.
But yeah, the game is big, I played for hours, but I still dont know what I was doing.
I KISS YOU!
Lord Jezo on
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Also, I've played the game before (borrowed a friend's discs a long time ago) and I too was totally overwhelmed, so if someone wanted to write up a 'beginners guide' that would be swell.
Techs you research should play to the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen (or custom designed) race. If you are a warlike race you should then research the relevant offensive techs, get some solid defenses going since you will see a lot of combat and make enemies and maybe look at a tech that will enhance these capabilities like Diplomacy (beat them on the field then when they surrender beat them at the negotiation table) or Propulsion (get there firstest with the mostest or run away better). A race that is built around Trading and Espionage (a favorite combo of mine) will have different priorities. There will always be some overlap though, and early game research should focus on the eXploration part of the 4X. When you hit the eXpansion portion then look to techs that will make your colonies thrive. Follow this theme as you encounter the eXploitation and eXtermination portions of the game.
Use trade ships to set up trade routes with alien colonies, the further away the better. It will also help keep them friendly. As for ships, most of the ship editor thing is just cosmetics, it's actually quite simple. Each hull has a capacity that you can fill with whatever you want, the only requirement is at least 1 form of engine. The way you place things on the hull has no effect either, it's purely cosmetic. There are 3 weapon types and 3 defence types, at the start you'll want to focus on one weapon type and a good coverage of defences, then pick whatever counters your main rival the best. Later you can build big ships with all 3 types.
The tech tree varies between Civs so it can be tricky, and yes its huge and a pain to look at the big picture. Thankfully they are colour coded into military, terraforming, industry etc. I recommend you find your Civs line of basic planet improvements; improved markets, science labs, entertainment and unlocking more squares to build on for your planets. And a line of military research, e.g beams. Also whatever leads to Miniaturization, since that tech decreases the space your ship components take up so you can fit more stuff on. You'll also want to research the ship engine line fairly early on to at least a few places.
Generally, tech for ship upgrades goes like [new beam weapon] -> [make that weapon smaller] x3 -> [new, more powerful beam weapon] -> [make it smaller] etc. You research a faster engine or more powerful gun, then you make it smaller so you can fit more on your ships.
Make sure your planets have enough entertainment to keep the approval high, that way you get more taxes. Then, build enough markets to make money and science labs for faster teching. You can use farms to increase pop cap for more taxes but higher pops will decrease approval too.
I haven't played it for ~a year so this is just a ramble. Also, I recommend you build all your own ships from the start and discard the pre-made designs. Why? Because at the start you have barely any components so its very easy to make a ship and understand how the shipyard works, then as you tech you'll see the benefit of your tech as it progresses and be able to keep up with it all. At the start of the game your hull capacities are too small for anything fancy anyway, all your ships will be single purpose e.g engine + gun = fighter, engine + habitat = colony ship etc.
Again, this depends on whether you are a warrior race or not.
That sounds neat.
But I can't play 10 games at the same time.
It certainly takes a lot of cues from Civ and MoO. It's crack for most fans of two games.
I saw that when I researched planetary invasion I got a transport ship to move my guys to attack, but with things like faster engines and stronger armor do they get applied to things automatically or do I need to redesign things?
With building things on the planets like the mentioned science stations and places for entertainment how do I know what planet needs what and if I should be building a slight population growth thing or a improved population growth thing or a recruiting station or a embassy or a .. *poof brain explode*
I KISS YOU!
You know you need entertainment if the planet's approval is low (sub 70%) which you can see on the planet build screen. For population, use your homeworld as a guide. A lot of the planets you colonise will have a lower rating and will support few people naturally. I think a safe number for population was around 20-24b, most will only be 8-12 to start with. Really, you can take it as high as you can get away with before ruining morale or using all your construction squares. It depends how much income you need. Of course, it's also less squares to build science or other special buildings on.
You'll get new ship designs automatically when certain tech milestones have been reached, but you're better of designing ships by hand to do exactly what you need them to do. You need to pick a goal for the game and for planets. Have a thriving world of green overflowing with food? A great place to focus on economy and/or research. Got a planet that isn't great for people but has minerals? Focus on building factory after factory there so that it can be your centre of industry; pumping out warships at a super fast speed.
Do you want to win by cultural takeover? Focus on politics and influence. Build embassies for influence bonuses, build influence starbases and kit them out with influence enhancing modules so that your influence sphere spreads across other civ's planets and convinces them to join you. Obviously, influence buildings are best used on planets on the fringe of your territory, the ones closest to enemy or neutral space.
If you want to conquer the galaxy focus more on teching through the military applications at a reasonable pace, and place emphasis on factories for your planets to build ships quicker. You can be a jack of all trades if you want, that works too. Let your enemies destroy each other while maintaining a decent rate of everything, then shift focus late game to whatever will best defeat the civ remaining.
Both.
The game comes with a bunch of stock designs which, as you unlike the required techs, will be added to your list.
You can also build your own designs. Also, if you save your designs, you can have them show up in future games automatically as soon as you unlock the required techs, just like Stardock's stock designs.
You'll probably want to redesign it to get better engines and range, since it gives you the base transport IIRC (which is still useful for short invasions, because it's cheaper and you can build it faster).
Note that, if you've got enough space, you can put multiple transport pods on a single hull.
Practice?
Also, what does your empire need? Also, look for squares that provide bonuses to certain buildings, and think long and hard before you use it for something else.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
I am running W7 and having no issues at all with it.
I KISS YOU!
This means money usually spent on research can go other places. Like fast tracking that custom tailored strike force of doom.
Trade makes races you trade with hesitant to attack you as well as bringing in shiploads of cash. Espionage gives you access to your competitors tech, and the ability to sabotage facilities among other things. By the late game you should have enough money, tech and influence to be unstoppable.
I wouldn't say that exactly, though I get where you're aiming at. For the OP, in GalCiv:
Shields counter Lasers.
Armor counters Mass Drivers.
ECM counters Missiles.
When determining your ship's defense against a specific attack, you get the total of your appropriate defense, plus the square root of your inappropriate defenses.
So, if you're dealing with a laser-using opponent, you want shields on your ships. If your opponent is building ships with armor, attack him with lasers or missiles. On your own ships, keeping a point in each Defense category is usually worth it. Similarly, if you've got the space, adding a two-point attack in an off-spec (e.g., mass drivers or missiles if you're largely laser focus) can make it harder for your opponents to counter your ships - especially since, as the game goes on, you're likely to run into opponents using a mix of strategies.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Use some of the tabs on your hud to pull up a view of all your planets and manage accordingly. Use Markets to bring a cash cow closer to breaking even. Exploit the native bonuses to the fullest extent, and remember to save your capitols for when you know you have a perfect planet for it. Like a world with several research or manufacturing bonuses or a planet with 1 or 2 approval bonuses (in this case, you would actually use a xeno farm)
Actually, does anyone here actually use XENO farms?
edit: Also keep in mind that a lot of cheaply produced ships with a weak weapon they have no defense for and a defense for their weapons can take down a lot of bigger ships.
Yes - but only when I've got the space to build entertainment facilities as well. My biggest source of unhappiness is always planetary population, and building a Xeno farm - especially on a bonus tile - can turn an otherwise productive planet at 8pop into a hellhole at 12pop or 16pop.
Also good advice.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Same.
For I'd rather have this on Steam, but for $10 I cannot complain.
But I will though mark my words1
Step 2: buy Sword of the Stars and play that instead
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Is it worth researching abilities to allow me to settle on hostile worlds?
I KISS YOU!
Depends.
How many hostile worlds are you finding? How desperate are you for more worlds? Are they close enough to your other worlds that if someone else takes them it affects your influence? Is it worth devoting months of research time away from weapons and defence?
With invading technology if another race colonises the world you can still take it if you have hostile world tech or not.
In my turn-based strategy, I like to have the option without it being the be-all and end-all. In Civ4, for instance, depending on map features, proximity of enemies, who you are up against, etc etc, an early rush may or may not be beneficial. You need to weigh your options before making the decision. It's an interesting choice to make, and one that I sorely miss in GalCiv2.
I'm debating. I have been putting of getting Twilight of the Arnor... worth it?
caffron said: "and cat pee is not a laughing matter"
Oh god yes.
edit: In way of making a point, here is the feature list;
* New campaign detailing the final chapter in the Dread Lords wars.
* The Terror Star arrives, capable of destroying any star.
* Unique technology trees for all 12 civilizations.
* Unique planetary improvements for each civilization.
* New 3D engine powered map editor.
* New Scenario Editor for creating highly detailed custom games.
* New Campaign Editor for players who want to create their own custom epic campaigns for themselves or to share with others.
* New Metaverse Tournaments: Specific maps & scenarios recorded to the Metaverse with prizes for top players.
* Updated Planetary Invasions.
* Unique weapons per civilization.
* New enhanced textures and graphics for planets and ships.
* New Galaxy Size: Immense (vastly bigger than the current galaxy sizes).
Sonar's advice is sound in any case, but it sounds like you were just unlucky with the map generator. Try fiddling around with the galaxy generation settings to see if you can get more habitable planets. (Just keep in mind that that means more planets for your rivals as well.)
Also, the AI is one of the game's high points, so don't be surprised if they run ahead of you even on the lower difficulty settings (though in your case they they were probably ahead because you had difficulties expanding.) At any rate there's no shame in lowering the difficulty until you get the hang of things.
I wouldn't recommend doing the research for colonizing planets with hostile environments unless you really, really need them. That time could be better spent researching better weapons to take those planets (and the techs to inhabit them) from your rivals by force later in the game :twisted:
Also, don't waste a colony ship on the closest planet if its crap. If someone else gets it,you can steal it through influence and by the take you do, you already have the tech to improve those yellow and orange tiles.
Definitely, one or two on every planet. Not only does it bring in tax money, but a planet with a population of 20 billion is pretty much invincible to invasion unless there's a huge tech disadvantage.
yeah, but then you have a much larger and more difficult population to keep happy, do you just not research xeno tech?
- Send your colony ship to the next star system over and try to find a planet that's class 10+. Don't give up until you do.
- Send your constructor to the first resource that pops up. If you lose patience make it an economic base for your system.
- Set your flagship to 'Auto Survey'.
- Set your scout ship to 'Auto Explore'.
PLANET
- Buy at least three factories, avoid farms because they are a curse in disguise.
- Buy a colony ship. Remember we are eXpanding here.
CIVILIZATION
- Tax the fuck out of your citizens, the uncultured swine. If I were in game I would beat them for you. Oh boo hoo, they're unhappy. Fine, keep it at non-red, the whiny bitches. I think you can lock the manufacturing and military spending at 0% too, since you're relying on the free market for now apparently.
RESEARCH
- What are you missing? There's three attack types and three defence types that directly correspond to those three attack types - but you won't be worrying about such things any time soon. Maybe you don't have the Universal Translator yet, or decent engines? Boosting your moves/turn can be important in early game for quickly getting the good planets.