Screenshots - my current game situation

Asmodean · February 18, 2003, 11:36

These shots are from the latest beta (Beta 4C). They are posted to illustrate a start to mid game situation.

http://apolyton.net/upload/files/Asmodean/Situation.jpg

This shot is my current situation. The minimap is zoomed in to 200%, showing roughly a quarter of the galaxy. The tiny blue dots are my planets. The pinkish dots in the lower part are the Yor Collective's planets. They are my friends for now, but if I decide on a military victory, I can take them out, whenever I want. The large map is zoomed in to one of my frontier sectors. The space you see are not mine!!. They are star fighters (weak military ships) from the Independent League of non-Aligned worlds, with whom I am at war. It is a close call whether I can keep this star system on the short term. In the long run, however, the I-League are dead meat

Asmodean

Asmodean · February 18, 2003, 12:00

http://apolyton.net/upload/files/Asmodean/Diplomacy.jpg

This next shot is of diplomacy. As I've told you, the Yor Collective are pretty much financing my dreams of galactic conquest, and this is an example of just that. Here I've proposed to lease them the trade good "Diplomatic Translators" for 500 billion credits per month for five months. You can also see that my proposal is written in green text, indicating that they will repond favourably to my proposal.

http://apolyton.net/upload/files/Asmodean/Planet.jpg

Here is a shot of the planet detail screen for my best production planet. It is my production capital, and is a class 31 planet (which is pretty good). This planet can produce constructors at a very high rate (only 3 turns to build one constructors). This is important as constructors are the space ships that build star bases (a key to success in almost any strategy). I like this planet

http://apolyton.net/upload/files/Asmodean/Economic.jpg

Here is a shot of my current economic situation. As you can see, I'm pretty much in the green. It is also apparent however, that my monthly surplus is only due to the fact that I trade with the Yor Collective, and lease them trade goods. Did I not do that, I would have to reduce my spending level, in order to not run into debt.

http://apolyton.net/upload/files/Asmodean/Invasion.jpg

Here I have invaded the star system Sauron. I actually colonized this star system. But due to low morale, it joined the I-League. Well, as history shows...you don't do that and expect to get away with it

Asmodean

Draginol · February 18, 2003, 12:26

Ah the poor Independent League of non-aligned worlds. Such idealistic goals too!

Asmodean · February 18, 2003, 13:37

Yeah, Brad.

Actually I've had this "Random Event" so often that I'm beginning to wonder whether it is really random.

Asmodean

Usually Insane · February 20, 2003, 07:13

a Question. Could asmodean colonize both planets in that star system? could an alien race colonize the other planet?

cool game, I'm going to get this! I'm so happy...

Asmodean · February 20, 2003, 07:37

I could if I would colonize that planet. It is a class 14 planet, though, so it is generally not suited for colonization. In that particular sector, however, I have great bonuses due to a well developed star base. That means that the class 14 planet, that before was not a very nice place to live, has become an attractive spot, and thus ripe for colonization.

To different races can not colonize planets in the same star system. It is possible, though, for two or more different races to own star systems in the same sector.

Asmodean

Asmodean · February 20, 2003, 18:14

http://apolyton.net/upload/files/Asmodean/Good_skin.jpg

A nice touch about Galactic Civilizations, is that you can choose different ethic paths. I'm still playing the same game, and I have now taken the path of good. Galactic Civilizations skins the interface accordingly. I'm now playing GalCiv with the "good" skin applied

Asmodean

Draginol · February 21, 2003, 02:26

Aha. A goodie two shoes!

Usually Insane · February 22, 2003, 07:43

Impressive, An dpictures where the skin is red you're evil right... hmmm....

are there different hues on the goodie and baddie skins? like if I'm 60, it's only a little good and if I'm 90 i"ll need sunglasses (cos of the cool skin)?

also, what are the benefits for colonizing two planets? do you get a bonus or do they act as two seperate planets (with their own population and so on...

what happens if you invade a starsystem, can you defeat one planet but not the other, probably not as from your statements...
does that mean that you only need to garrison one planet and it will repel all invasions to all the planets in that starsystem?

notyoueither · February 22, 2003, 18:55

Can you swing from good to evil and then back again?

Trifna · February 22, 2003, 20:11

Usually Insane, could you say me who exactly Miyamoto Shinmen Musashi is? (little off-topic but I'm interested

)

mindlar · February 22, 2003, 23:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Usually Insane
Impressive, An dpictures where the skin is red you're evil right... hmmm....

are there different hues on the goodie and baddie skins? like if I'm 60, it's only a little good and if I'm 90 i"ll need sunglasses (cos of the cool skin)?

also, what are the benefits for colonizing two planets? do you get a bonus or do they act as two seperate planets (with their own population and so on...

what happens if you invade a starsystem, can you defeat one planet but not the other, probably not as from your statements...
does that mean that you only need to garrison one planet and it will repel all invasions to all the planets in that starsystem?

The good and evil skins are the same regardless of how good or evil you become. So there is no difference between being "good 60" and "good 90" on the morality scale.

Colonizing two planets in a system is effectively the same as colonizing two planets in different systems. Both planets have their own build queues, must be colonized seperately. The benefits come from sharing a common defence and the population is pooled for gathering colonists, soldiers, and repelling invasions.

mindlar · February 22, 2003, 23:59

Quote:

Originally posted by notyoueither
Can you swing from good to evil and then back again?

In theory it is possible, however it is very hard as there are not nearly enough events to do it. Being good or evil starts to have real meaning towards the middle to end of the game at which point it is very hard to switch back.

I rarely play as a good empire because some of the choices are just too painful to take the good choice. The decent into evil is pretty fast, while being good takes a lot more effort.

notyoueither · February 23, 2003, 06:02

Excellent!

Usually Insane · February 23, 2003, 06:06

Quote:

Originally posted by Trifna
Usually Insane, could you say me who exactly Miyamoto Shinmen Musashi is? (little off-topic but I'm interested

)

Uhm, this maybe should be a private message but I'll just answer for those who wonder but dare not ask...

Miyamoto Shinmen Musashi was a _VERY_ famous Samurai in japan around 1600, he partook in the major battles that decided the tokugawa shogunate and he was an accomplished swordsman. therefore he wrote a book, explaining the principles and metods in swordfights. He detested the more ceremonial usage of swords in the new era and hence the quote. I'd say that it has two meanings, the obvious one (don't fool around, just cut to the point

) and the more subtle one (I don't fool around, I cut to your point) which would be adressed mostly towards young nobles who hadn't been in a real swordfight and wouldn't know which way to swing the blade.

I like the quote.

Mindlar: so if I garrison one planet it'll protect the whole starsystem?

mindlar · February 23, 2003, 19:34

Garrisons are done at the star system level rather than the individual planet level.

PriestOfDiscord · February 24, 2003, 02:26

I've been following the beta forums for Galciv for a while now, and this is really looking to be an impressive strategy game to come out of seemingly nowhere. The fact the development has been so open and quick to take feedback is an even bigger plus. I just have a quick question, does the Independent League of Non-Aligned Worlds pop up from an event? They aren't one of the 6 major powers, from what I recall. What kind of attributes do they have, and what do they ususally form from?

Tytan · February 24, 2003, 05:09

They seem to come from an event, because they definitely aren't there at the beginning of the game. Judging from the number of games I have played, they are a common occurence, happening at least every game or most games anyway.

They seem to pop up in the area between several civs and will take planets from several worlds including your own if you don't keep your morale up. They tend to come mid-game and will eventually die towards the endgame unless someone helps them(usually the player).

Their actual attributes vary from game to game, but they tend to stay neutral. More like worlds that see independence as preferable to one empire or another. The I-League seems to have enough influence that they are able to grab worlds from many civs and are not stuck in one sector like most minor races. That in and of itself can make them a major player even if they are a minor race....

What makes this game so powerful is that I can win one of several ways. But what is even more powerful is that the player can combine two or three of the ways and create deeper strategies. I often begin with a diplomatic strategy, exploit the different major and minor races to put myself in the financial and technological position I need for my midgame 'culture rush'.

If you hit a civ fast enough and all at once with culture focused starbases(placed strategically in their territory), you can collapse them from the inside out within 30 turns or less.

The mid/endgame strategy is to boost the economy and use the money to destabilize the strongest civs at the same time your building your starbases so that their ability to launch a counterattack is drastically weakened.

This has the moo1/civ1 'edge'. It has flaws and needs more tweaking and some depth. But these guys have committed to a year of upgrading after the game comes out. Basically what we've been doing will keep on happening for another year after Mar 25.

Usually Insane · February 24, 2003, 05:51

tytan: how exactly does starbases work? can you build or repair anything with them or do they only apply bonuses for surrounding starsystems? do they affect a whole sector or do they have influence areas (like the surrounding eight tiles or somesuch)

ottok · February 24, 2003, 06:10

war is bad event!

mindlar · February 24, 2003, 13:52

Starbases affect a single sector with a few exceptions. Constructors are sent to a site to start a starbase or upgrade an existing starbase.

Modules that improve production, provide military bonuses, or improve trade affect only colonies, ships, and freighters in the sector with the starbase. Modules that improve defense only affect the starbase that built the module.

Cultural improvements I haven't quite determined how they work. They definately improve the cultural influence in the sector with the starbase, but there is some amount of cultural influence into other sectors.

Mining improvements affect your entire civilization depending. Mining improvements can only be built upon a special resource. The five special resources improve military abilities, morale, influence, economy, and technology.

The league of independent worlds, like tytan said, comes from an event. Unlike all the other minor civs, the independent league cannot be permanently destroyed. After removing their last planet, other planets can still join up with the league.

PriestOfDiscord · February 24, 2003, 16:05

Very, very cool. I like how letting morale drop is more devestating than just losing productivity, etc. A seprate faction for the disallusioned is a really neat idea for a space strategy game.

What other factions can pop up from events like that?

Tytan · February 24, 2003, 16:52

The direct bonuses, to ships, to production, to trade are in-sector. But inderect bonuses like culture upgrades affect the current sector and the adjacent sectors. Mining resources(like a culture resource-not the upgrade, thats a different thing) affect the whole empire....they add +10% to +20% to your bottom line. and two or three can give you an overwhelming advantage. You have to be willing to protect them though, because if you lose them your civ could very well fall to pieces.

Types of resources:Red Cone-Weapons, Blue square-culture, yellow cylinder-morale, green sphere-economy, purple pyramid-tech

Blue comes first in importance followed by yellow then green. Red and purple are a toss up for resources

I believe you can repair with a starbase, you can upgrade its defenses, and you can build things to aid the ships in that sector and improve their ability to fight in that sector. You can improve trade tremendously as well. The more you research, the more upgrades you get, as well as mining upgrades for the resources.

If I were to say there was one single thing that set this game apart from the rest and will single it out as 'unique' in its own right, it is starbases as they are used here. Its basically a vehicle to apply bonuses on a sector by sector basis for the most part, but adds bonuses to the whole empire in some cases too.

Also, they have a cumulative effect, that deteriorates like a logarithmic curve. Building more will give you some advantage but not much more.

In the days to come I expect the people at stardock to really begin to code the AI's to be more aggressive against the starbases and resources. They really are the key to the whole game.....

February 24, 2003, 21:40

Quote:

Originally posted by Tytan
In the days to come I expect the people at stardock to really begin to code the AI's to be more aggressive against the starbases and resources. They really are the key to the whole game.....

As of right now, what are the priorities (in terms of aggressiveness) of the AI?

What do they attack first?

What often provokes an attack? Has this changed over time with new updates?

Are most testers making this observation and thus making a reccomendation that they change the AI's strategy?

Thanks.

Tytan · February 24, 2003, 22:19

They were really aggressive at first and I lost all of the time.....but the AI's have been toned down alot so as not to frustrate the player. The enemy does have terriffic warfare strategy because he has more time to think, and they can beat you strategically at least half the time......I mean they can outthink you, not just out-produce.....

Oftentimes if a civ thinks you're weaker than them and they are neutral to you they will start making demands and such, especially on the higher levels. The thing with me that provokes it is unguarded worlds or the fact that they are out of money. When your rating with that civ starts going south, you can do several things: beef up military, give gifts, destablize, pay off another civ to attack them, espionage helps....

As far as AI goes, it is really aggressive on the higher levels, going after nearby starbases but especially focusing on grabbin any weakly guarded systems....which is their main focus.

But the key as I am seeing it is the strategy for the resources(being a cultural conqueror). I figure within the next 6 months there will be a fair amount of time spend creating an in-depth strategy for the AI's around the resources and starbases. The AI's warfare strategy is terriffic, but the resource strategy area will be beefed up even more than it is now because its the critical area and everyone who plays will lean on it heavily in their strategies.

Most would agree that the AI is the best anyone has ever seen, and everyone who plays it would be more than happy with the strategy of the AI the way it is. You would have no complaints if there was not going to be any more development after it was released, but there will be a full year of development and I'm willing to bet that the two things that will be deepened will be the starbase/resource strategy of the AI and Diplomacy of the AI. Its already up there with the best, but why settle for just the best when we could really scare the hell out of you?

As far as the AI goes it has the 'edge' you are looking for. If you have played good space strategy games you know what I mean. It just the small tweaks at this point that a lot of us are noticing, nothing really drastic. You know, those little areas of adjustment and focus that really sets an AI apart from the rest......this game has the potential and makeup to be the best AI any strategy game has ever had, not just a runner up, but something that really promotes the secondary belief that you are playing a real player.

I'm currently playing with all of the AI's on intelligent in my current game(2nd to the highest) and in my last game it was 2 intelligent and 4 bright(3rd to the highest).

Tytan · February 24, 2003, 22:28

BTW, if any of you are worried it will be too hard there is a good balance between the AI levels......easy is easy and hard is hard............You will enjoy the game and not just get beat within an inch of your life.

February 25, 2003, 02:44

Quote:

Originally posted by Tytan
I'm currently playing with all of the AI's on intelligent in my current game(2nd to the highest) and in my last game it was 2 intelligent and 4 bright(3rd to the highest).

Thanks for answering my questions.

But, what exactly is the difficulty settings about? Can you set the difficulty level for each seperate alien race? What are 'all' the settings?

Thanks again.

Tytan · February 25, 2003, 20:23

First there are the settings for you. There is your political settings of which there are 6. I usually pick technological which give me a +20% boost to tech and a +1 to my sensor range. There are:Federalists, Populist, War Party, Mercantile, Technologist, Pacifist.

The second set of settings for yourself are your bonuses your civ. In which you have 10 points and can boost several areas: Weapons, defense, speed, population growth, research, influence, trade, diplomacy, sensors, espionage. When the points are applied they can give you 5% to 20% bonus initially in any of these areas depending on how many points you spend in each area.

There are the settings for the map which are two: The settings for the size of the universe and the settings for the amount of habitable planets. Sizes range from tiny to gigantic, habitable planets can range from rare to abundant. Small games have a completely different strategy than large ones....I mainly play on gigantic....

At the next screen you can choose your opponents and their difficulty settings. Their are 5 races and they each have both an alignment setting and a difficulty setting. The alignments are the classic pure evil, chaotic evil, neutral, chaotic good, pure good settings. Those that have an alignment opposite you will tend not to like you will naturally tend to have bad relations with you, make demands, go to war, etc.....
Here's a pic:

http://www.galciv.com/images/screens...00250610PM.jpg

The settings for skill: fool, beginner, sub-normal, normal, bright, intelligent, genius. Genius is the only AI that is given more starting resources than you. About 2000 credits instead of 1000. All of these settings can be randomized so you don't know what they are. There is a box in the lower right hand corner of the screen that indicates difficulty.

In the beginning, because it is so different, it will be hard to play until you get the hang of starbases, resources, what wonders/achievements/social programs to go for as well as techs....there are too many to research them all. But it gets easier as you go....

After playing for 3 months you could say I'm intermediate to advanced. Right now Intelligent is plenty good enough for me, somewhere between King and Emperor setting on the Civ games.

When you submit a game to the Metaverse, the people at stardock every so often will take the best strategies from the best players and incorporate their strategies into the AI's overall strategy....In other words every so often a patch to the AI will be on the site with an AI that will be wise to your strategies......that means its a new game all over again....way cool......

I think there are more screens on the main site

http://www.galciv.com/screenshots.asp

Draginol · February 25, 2003, 22:08

In the final version of the game, the AI is penalized for resources on all the difficulty levels below "Intelligent".

And on top of that, a lot of the algorithms are set to not go very often to check on things because we found it made things too hard for players.

For instance, the AI can see if you are trying to do a cultural conquest. But based on its intelligence setting it will determine whether it is going to do anything about it.

For those who don't have it, don't take what I"m saying wrong, it's just a matter of trying to make the game HUMAN like. Most human players are not going to be able to look at a huge map and put together a pattern that an opponent is going for a cultural conquest victory right away.

Now, on intelligent and higher, you build that star base with a cultural domination set of modules installed and IF it has the military power to do something about it it will come up and say "Hey, we know what you're doing, hand over that star base or we'll squash you."

There are lots of things like this in the game that we've had to really play test because you don't want it to be too smart about that. The object of the AI isn't to be tough to beat (I've never beaten it at above intelligent before though) but for it to play like a real person.

We want GalCiv to feel like a multiplayer game without the pains that come with a real multiplayer game.

February 26, 2003, 00:00

Sounds really promising. I'm sold on it; though I hate pre-ordering things. I will get it on the day it comes out though.