Hmm, does anyone else agree that having a good starting position was more important back in GalCiv 1? I remember to have used it quite frequently back then, I'm not using it that often with GalCiv 2.

Don't rember much from GC1. But I agree you should not restart. My last game I had 2 empires around me. I out colonized them and they could not expand past the Initial colony rush (another thing to rember the AI fizzles out after about 6 planets colonized and gives you amble room to surround them).

Of course If your into Neatness it does not look pretty with a couple of AI civs in middle of your empire. But after you get Built up they do not last long and have no real chance agaist you.

The corner is the best in my opinion. As long as you have some stars above you. You dont have to worry about getting flanked or anything

because you can out Colonize the AI everytime if you do it right

My hat is off to you if you can out colonize the AI on suicidal in v1.31. I used to be able to (barely) out colonize suicidal AI in v1.2 but in my first v1.31 I basically got my a** kicked. I think with a lot of work and adjustments I can achieve parity with suicidal AI in v1.31 but out colonize them everytime, I don't think so.

About the original post... I think there's plenty of room for disagreement.

pretty much the only thing i agree with is the building of a basic factory on your first turn. i always research weapons first. i prefer to be in a corner. i try to keep my moral above 70. i dont upgrade my colony ship. i settle only one more planet. then i work on making a powerful but small fleet. this way noone declares war on me and i can pretty much destroy anyone that comes inside my territory. then i slowly expand outwards. I've only lost 2 games out of who knows how many this way.

There's more than one way to start out in a corner. If you're within a competitive distance with a good number of planets then you might want to give it a shot, the benefits could outweigh the drawbacks. Same deal if you've got some decent-looking starsystems cornerward from you, this gives you a 'backyard' where you're almost guaranteed first shot at any colonies, resources, or anomalies in the area.

On the other hand if you find yourself seriously wedged into a corner, with rival planets inbetween you and most of the nearby colonizable space.. you're going to be facing an 'unfair' challenge. If that's what you're looking for you should probably just crank up the difficulty a notch or two. Personally, I always wuss out and ctrl-N until I've got a competitive sphere of likely planets that I can probably get to first.

I'm also not so much a fan of only sending colony ships to do my colony-rush exploration. Depends on the context, definitely, and it's certainly wise to upgrade that first colony ship to get a bit more speed(as well as the obvious, make sure it's full-up on colonists before it sets down on a planet). But scout ships can be produced faster, cheaper, and are reusable. Using 'colony scouts' you might find a system with one habitable planet, use up your colony on it, and have no idea that the next star-system over has multiple habitable planets.

So I usually use a vanguard of one scout ship per major arc of exploration, assuming there's enough breathing room. (edit) Another nice thing about having these scout ships out there is if you've got the research to back it up, you can make a new design with a particle beam stuck on it, upgrade a scout ship, and obliterate enemy colony ships that would otherwise usurp your 'rightful' planets. Evil? Yes. Warmongering? Yes. But that planet could make the difference between forcing 'peace through power' later or having terms dictated to YOU.

If you end up with too many colony ships at the end of the colony rush and no place to send them to, just move them back to planets, launch them with 1 colonist, and upgrade them into constructors or traders. I've noticed the expense of switching their role is massively less than the expense of purchasing them, and since waiting for ships to build is an expense as well it's a big cost savings and can also help you get a ship to where you need it asap. Hell I'd say it may even be worth turning a fully-manned colony ship into a constructor if it lets you get first grab at a valuable resource.

Talking about powerhouse AIs.

My powerhouse AI are always Arcean.
Very low profile until mid game, and sudden growth in military and hence drop in friendliness.

MY dregin AI wipe at mid game almost every game ......

There was this game where I was planing to play a softcore tech vic, and see Dregin getting ganked up on by 3-4 other Good/Neu empires, and has given him quite a few Medium ships with correct defense on the agreessor's offense. PRoblem is, Dregin only keeps all my ships on a SINGLE planet and doesnt use them at all even when all other planets are shipless.


Btw. nice first turn strats.

I'd say that using Ctrl-N to get the uber starting position makes the game monotone.

eeew... if hitting ctrl-n makes it go greyscale maybe you should check the dot pitch fluid in your monitor.

Morale and economy bonuses are a must.
A LOT of people swear by population growth bonuses, but I don't use them.
Luck also seems to be surprisingly useful.
After that it seems to be prett much according to taste.
I always get the planet quality bonus but that seems to be an unpopular choice.
Scincerely,
Scintor

Luck seems to help in several ways:
Better anomolies,
more and better bonus tiles,
more purple stars (with pq26 planets).

The default colony ship design is bugged. It was designed for the pre-Beta balancing and then never changed. On the release version of the game, Colony ships easily have enough room for another engine. Try designing one from scratch on turn 1 and you'll see.

Try designing one from scratch on turn 1 and you'll see.

Well, then, I don't know what the heck I'm doing wrong because I've tried that, many times and having researched engines and hulls, and can't fit another engine. I pick the ship hull with 55 hard points; each colony module takes up 25; that leaves 5 hard points. Not even an Impulse 3 will fit in there.

I know I must be doing something very stupid, but I can't figure out what it is. I'm playing the latest version, I've noticed that some ship component sizes have changed from what was recorded in player guides of earlier versions.