ctmelvital
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Just bought the Ultimate Edition. It's downloading now.
Galactic Civilizations II
- Thread starter ctmelvital
- Start date
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- civilizations galactic
Ishcabittle
Member
steam?
GCII is an absolutley brilliant game. I've been playing it for a few years now. It was great upon release but with the two expansions and the feature patches it's easily become one of the finest strategy games ever made.
It's got more depth than the Mariana Trench.
It's got more depth than the Mariana Trench.
ctmelvital
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They sell it through their website. Then had to download some software they released and then that one allowed me to download the game.
Haven't really figured it out yet. Seems REALLY complicated plus I'm not a big fan of the lack of, well, Civ-4-like "tiles" or whatever those are called. Squares?
Anyway, I'll give it another shot tomorrow - the depth obviously is both positive and negative. I guess once I figure it out, I'll enjoy it.
CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
I should play something like that but I'd never find the time for it (even though I do nothing for 23 hours each day.)
Ishcabittle
Member
i like steam, they have some good oldies for no money, and i got a dawn of war 2 multiplayer beta sneak peak out of nowhere as well. there's definitely some crap on there, but they got the reviews right there. pretty sweet.
i gotta check out this galactic civ thing out, tho.
ctmelvital
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Okay, gave it another shot. Slowly getting the hang of things.
Some weird stuff, that isn't making me too happy, e.g. scrolling. May be a problem on my end but it's slightly annoying.
Apart from that, here are a few preliminary observations:
- lots of anomalies - took me a bit to figure out what they were good for though
- like the ship design idea - has awesome potential
- I miss the clock from civ iv - I'd like to know what time it is, out there in the real life
Yep, that's what comes straight to mind right now.
Some weird stuff, that isn't making me too happy, e.g. scrolling. May be a problem on my end but it's slightly annoying.
Apart from that, here are a few preliminary observations:
- lots of anomalies - took me a bit to figure out what they were good for though
- like the ship design idea - has awesome potential
- I miss the clock from civ iv - I'd like to know what time it is, out there in the real life
Yep, that's what comes straight to mind right now.
ctmelvital
more cookies please?
Okay, need some help:
I'm playing the humans on "Easy" and I have no idea how to balance the budget?!?
I'm guessing those Market Centers create income, right? But when I build them almost nothing happens. As soon as I get myself a couple of colonies (like, 6 or so) the deficit just explodes and I approach 0 very fast...
When I raise the tax rate to just 40% or something everyone is unhappy as fuck and when I reduce Spending nothing gets done.
WTF?
I'm playing the humans on "Easy" and I have no idea how to balance the budget?!?
I'm guessing those Market Centers create income, right? But when I build them almost nothing happens. As soon as I get myself a couple of colonies (like, 6 or so) the deficit just explodes and I approach 0 very fast...
When I raise the tax rate to just 40% or something everyone is unhappy as fuck and when I reduce Spending nothing gets done.
WTF?
Careful going out and just colonizing everything in sight. It can cost you a lot to maintain so many planets early on.
Make sure you are not just building ships for the sake of it either. Start out by building some colony ships and taking some high value worlds (above 7 quality) and prioritizing what you want that planet to do.
There is for example no point in building a starport on every planet since you're not going to have a shipyard production line on every one.
If you are going to have a planet that focuses on research then at the top of the screen (in planet view) you can click to specialize that world for research.
Once you have a few quality planets under your control switch your shipbuilding efforts in to building constructors. Try and get as many resources as possible and build starbases around them. Build some economy starbases and upgrade them.
At this point I usually wait before building a military presence. It can be a risky move but it means I'm not spending a huge amount on upkeep for a military that I won't need in the early game. On easy it's unlikley you will have to deal with any great threat for a while so you can hold off building a military and instead focus on researching tech.
The tech screen is a strategic mission all on its own. Try and focus on building one kind of weapon system (only after you've built other essential techs) and stick to that line of research. Trying to balance out your research through beam, missile and mass driver techs will leave you a jack of all trades and master of none if you're not careful.
I remember when I first played the game when it came out I found the economy hard to manage. And that was with experience playing GCI. But when you get the hang of it you can build a strong economy with a few right choices.
Another thing:
When colonizing planets build a few factories straight away and rush production on them. The point is to get productive planets early on instead of planets that are just going to suck money and be useless for ages.
It's all about specialized planets. Build a planet full of factories and stick your manufacturing capital there. Do the same with a research captial on a research centric world.
Consider an early run for an Interstellar Republic. It's not that hard to get there and you will get a 25% boost to all your spending and production as well as some other goodies.
Early game should be all about tech and economy. Military can wait. This is harder when playing on advance skill levels but still applicable.
Make sure to develop good trade routes. Get those cargo ships out there and you will see your economy soar. Make economy starbases overlap the trade routes (good rule of thumb is to keep them close to your planets) and this will also help you develop a strong economy.
There is a LOT more to cover but those are some good tips. You're probably realizing how much strategy exists in this game and that's just the tip of the ice berg.
It's hard and can be frustrating when your economy bottoms out because you're new to the game and haven't grasped all the strategy involved yet (I didn't either) but stick with the game and you will improve and you will end up loving the depth it has to offer.
Make sure you are not just building ships for the sake of it either. Start out by building some colony ships and taking some high value worlds (above 7 quality) and prioritizing what you want that planet to do.
There is for example no point in building a starport on every planet since you're not going to have a shipyard production line on every one.
If you are going to have a planet that focuses on research then at the top of the screen (in planet view) you can click to specialize that world for research.
Once you have a few quality planets under your control switch your shipbuilding efforts in to building constructors. Try and get as many resources as possible and build starbases around them. Build some economy starbases and upgrade them.
At this point I usually wait before building a military presence. It can be a risky move but it means I'm not spending a huge amount on upkeep for a military that I won't need in the early game. On easy it's unlikley you will have to deal with any great threat for a while so you can hold off building a military and instead focus on researching tech.
The tech screen is a strategic mission all on its own. Try and focus on building one kind of weapon system (only after you've built other essential techs) and stick to that line of research. Trying to balance out your research through beam, missile and mass driver techs will leave you a jack of all trades and master of none if you're not careful.
I remember when I first played the game when it came out I found the economy hard to manage. And that was with experience playing GCI. But when you get the hang of it you can build a strong economy with a few right choices.
Another thing:
When colonizing planets build a few factories straight away and rush production on them. The point is to get productive planets early on instead of planets that are just going to suck money and be useless for ages.
It's all about specialized planets. Build a planet full of factories and stick your manufacturing capital there. Do the same with a research captial on a research centric world.
Consider an early run for an Interstellar Republic. It's not that hard to get there and you will get a 25% boost to all your spending and production as well as some other goodies.
Early game should be all about tech and economy. Military can wait. This is harder when playing on advance skill levels but still applicable.
Make sure to develop good trade routes. Get those cargo ships out there and you will see your economy soar. Make economy starbases overlap the trade routes (good rule of thumb is to keep them close to your planets) and this will also help you develop a strong economy.
There is a LOT more to cover but those are some good tips. You're probably realizing how much strategy exists in this game and that's just the tip of the ice berg.
It's hard and can be frustrating when your economy bottoms out because you're new to the game and haven't grasped all the strategy involved yet (I didn't either) but stick with the game and you will improve and you will end up loving the depth it has to offer.
ctmelvital
more cookies please?
Fundamental problem appears to be my BOTF-style thinking. I expected factories to give me income, somehow. They don't - apparently I have to specialize some planets for money-making (i.e. building markets and shit). I'll give it another shot now.
Thanks for the advice!
Thanks for the advice!
ctmelvital
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2 a.m.: Yep, I pretty much figured it out. Addictive as fuck. :lol:
ctmelvital
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The "ultimate" version which includes both the add-ons was $39.99. I'll probably end up having paid a bit more due to exchange rate fuckery but in Swiss prices it's about three trips to the cinema.
