Starting Race Problem still not solved in newest patch. Reseting Races makes some better then others

from GalCiv2 Forums
After pressing 'reset' button on the race ability screen you got full 10 points AND some special abilites. Here is the list:

Yor 10 ability points, 8% logistics, 25% miniaturization
Thalan 10 ablity points, 6% logistics, 10% miniaturization
Drengin 10 ablity points, 7% logistics, 25% morale
Iconian 10 ablity points, 7% logistics, 50% Research
Drath 10 ablity points, 6% logistics, 50% defence, 25% military production, 25% diplomacy, 50% espionage
Korx 10 ablity points, 6% logistics, 15% economics, 25% trade, 10% courage
Torian 10 ablity points, 6% logistics, 25% morale, 10% luck, 20% courage
Altarian 10 ablity points, 5% logistics, 30% luck, 30% creativity
Human 10 ablity points, 6% logistics
Arcean 10 ablity points, 7% logistics

Strange thing that some races got something and others not. Even if there are some invisible things which can't be found on the overview. for me it looks inhomogeneous.

Furthermore:
When allocating the arrangeable abilitypoints of the races some of them (these with special abilities like the drath +50% defence) lose their special ability bonuses complete.

For example drath: I click 'creative' for 1 ability point and go back to the race summery and the +50% defence bonus and the +50 spionage bonus is vansihed

For example Yor: I click 'creative' or something else and the +100% loyality bonus goes into nirvana. BUT very weird, the 25% miniaturization not!

The cruel thing is that you have to delete this custom files in windows explorer to regain the original races and bonuses. If not these bonuses are missed forever and some players may not even noticed them.

For me its still not clear that it should possible to add abilites to normal races but Brad uses the points in his testgames too so it seem to be ok. He used the human which doesn't have specials like some other races.

Plaese fix it.

12,688 views 29 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
This is how it is supposed to work. Those extra points are being "used" to power the unique abilities of that race (such as the yor miniaturization ability).

I think, though I don't know, that if you leave the number of points free constant, then you can adjust the point-based abilities as you want.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
But the Yor don't lose their miniaturization bonus if you edit things. The loyalty bonus disappears, though.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yes, but the yor has less points to spend than the other races because of that. I think they only get to spend 8 points versus the normal 10 for most. Some will only have 9 to spend for the same reason. Basically, every ability that you can 'select' (everything except for logistics and miniturization), will be resetted if you chose your own abilities. It's suppose to work this way, it's not a bug.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If i reset the races i could relocate all 10 points of abilities.

But still in additional to this 10 points some races left with other bonuses. In sum the races have:

Yor 10 ability points, 8% logistics, 25% miniaturization
Thalan 10 ablity points, 6% logistics, 10% miniaturization, 15 Level Homeworld
Drengin 10 ablity points, 7% logistics
Arcean 10 ablity points, 7% logistics
Human 10 ablity points, 6% logistics
Drath 10 ablity points, 6% logistics
Korx 10 ablity points, 6% logistics
Torian 10 ablity points, 6% logistics
Altarian 10 ablity points, 5% logistics

For me seems not that fair
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hmmm... well according to RaceConfig.xml:

Iconian are suppose to get 7
Arcean are suppose to get 8
Thalan are suppose to get 8
Yor are suppose to get 8
Drath are suppose to get 9
Torian are suppose to get 9
Everyone else is suppose to get 10

Then again, that tag seems to do nothing (just tested, and you're right everyone gets 10)... maybe it's a bug, who knows. If anything, you might want to ask up on that I guess. Personally I don't really care, I play against the Yor all the time, they just make crunchy metallic sounds when you crush them.

But if what you suggest were to come true (racial special staying when you customize), then the custom race, which has no default specials would never be as good as any of the others. It's just a balance thing, if you customize a default race, then you lose those default specials. If you feel REALLY strongly that the Yor are too powerful, mod it, and remove those specials *shrugs*.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I thought custom races gets 6% logistics too.

Anyway, don't forget about alignments too as they will affect the game as well.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The Thalan PQ15 world isn't a benefit when you add to it the fact that they don't have a 2nd planet in their system to colonise.

As for the different outstanding bonuses after removing all you can? So what? What does it matter in a single player game, so long as it's all roughly balanced, which from playing the game, it seems to be?

Also you missed the Yor diplomacy negative, although I don't think that's stated explicitly. In other words, don't expect the numbers you're reading there to be the be all and end all of "who is best", because there are other factors.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The Thalan PQ15 world isn't a benefit when you add to it the fact that they don't have a 2nd planet in their system to colonise.


Really depends how you look at it. With the Thalans, you already have a PQ15 colonise, which frees up your extra Colony Ship for another star system. In essense you get an extra colony ship for free. A single PQ15 planet is better than a PQ10 + PQ4 planet you get for standard with humans.

The bad, is that you only end up having 1 starport instead of two for manufacturing ships (although a PQ4 planet is quite slow depending on how you build it up).
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have this problem too. The thing is, even if you don't spend the extra points and change the government style from Federalist to something else.. the unique bonuses will be erased. This is really annoying, as basically all of the races have to be a Federalist party if they want their unique bonuses like +100% loyalty for the Yor.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
As for the different outstanding bonuses after removing all you can? So what? What does it matter in a single player game, so long as it's all roughly balanced, which from playing the game, it seems to be?


Whats the problem to have balanced races AND a an overall roughly balanced game?
And why should there are such weird things that abilities vanished for some races?
And why could i relocate 10 full points of ability after a reset and still have some very inhomogeneous special abilities (like miniaturization) on some races
And why shouldn't that a problem in a single player game? I want a balanced race option and don't want such a 'have to take this race to go best'
Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top
A single PQ15 planet is better than a PQ10 + PQ4 planet you get for standard with humans.


Not really. But that is why the tax formula is being worked on.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top


Where is the custom race config file??? I have changed the abilities of most races so their specials are lost.... I need to delete the custom file and use the "create new race" instead of messing up the other races.


HELP!

I have this problem too. The thing is, even if you don't spend the extra points and change the government style from Federalist to something else.. the unique bonuses will be erased. This is really annoying, as basically all of the races have to be a Federalist party if they want their unique bonuses like +100% loyalty for the Yor.
Why isn't this considered a bug? Surely it isn't a "feature"...
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Whats the problem to have balanced races AND a an overall roughly balanced game?
And why should there are such weird things that abilities vanished for some races?
And why could i relocate 10 full points of ability after a reset and still have some very inhomogeneous special abilities (like miniaturization) on some races
And why shouldn't that a problem in a single player game? I want a balanced race option and don't want such a 'have to take this race to go best'



You missed the point where you showed that the races are inherently unbalanced to begin with. They all have differnt AIs, so slight different in base specs is probably to balance those. Again, it's looking at one tiny aspect of a race in isloation and declaring "it's broken!"
You customise races, and some of the default abilities go away. I don't see that as wrong.
Yes, you fiddle with things and some races still have some advantage - IN THEORY ONLY - ignoring whole aspects of the races other than what you see in that one config file. The Yor miniturisation bonus is counteraced by their lousy diplomacy. That doesn't show in the config file! This is no different to looking at an isolated aspect of the Drengin AI, spotting that it's more aggressive than others, and throwing your arms in the air declaring "the Drengin have an enormous aggressiveness bonus! This is so unfair!" There's more to a race than raceconfig.xml
You'r working from the assumption that one race is inherently better than another. A few entries in raceconfig.xml is not conclusive proof that you have to choose one over another to "choose this race to get the best".
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I learned that races lose abilities when you use their extra points. I do not beleive this is intentional. I think they just gave the races too few points by mistake. The Drathi, Yor, and Arceans have amazing starting abilities. No matter how you look at it, it is a big advantage.

However, we're humans, and we can easily learn a computer's pattern and beat it. That gives us the big advantage. This is why I always play on TOUGH in a gigantic universe with all 10 major races. I use the Humans.

Sometimes I own, other times I get caught between 3 or 4 majors and they stomp me like a bug. Its a toss up. Even with the default Terran Alliance, the outcome of the game is not determined. I've see the Yor get stomped in the first 3 years, I've seen the Arceans reduced to 10 colonies by the Korx, or even the Alterians. (Ofcourse I paid the Alterans and supplied them with ships. Their AI is so weak militarily).

Anyway, it would be nice if they fixed it. Using those remaining points is not supposed to be a trade off between using two points and losing like 8 points worth of bonuses. The book doesn't say it, nor does the PDF. That means that is not intentional behavior. I simply choose how I want to use the remaining points and then apply the changes to the RaceConfig.xml file directly. That way they're there when I choose the race. I believe this is the intended behavior of the game and I use my workaround to get it.
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

You missed the point where you showed that the races are inherently unbalanced to begin with. They all have differnt AIs, so slight different in base specs is probably to balance those. Again, it's looking at one tiny aspect of a race in isloation and declaring "it's broken!"
You customise races, and some of the default abilities go away. I don't see that as wrong.
Yes, you fiddle with things and some races still have some advantage - IN THEORY ONLY - ignoring whole aspects of the races other than what you see in that one config file. The Yor miniturisation bonus is counteraced by their lousy diplomacy. That doesn't show in the config file! This is no different to looking at an isolated aspect of the Drengin AI, spotting that it's more aggressive than others, and throwing your arms in the air declaring "the Drengin have an enormous aggressiveness bonus! This is so unfair!" There's more to a race than raceconfig.xml
You'r working from the assumption that one race is inherently better than another. A few entries in raceconfig.xml is not conclusive proof that you have to choose one over another to "choose this race to get the best".


And you missed the point i just want a more balanced playerchoice of a race. Thats all. I know that the AI plays very different, but thats not the Topic of this thread.

And if you don't see a bug that you have to delete the CurrentCustomRace[1-10].raceconfig on
C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2
to regain the special abilities which isn't described in the manual then you're not the brightest seer.


The fact that you can reset the whole raceabilities and set it new but still play NOT a custom race (for a metaverse game) is a weird thing too.

And that you still get no information that your special abilites gone away when allocate any of the remaining ability points. On races with no 'special ability' you can allocate these ability points.
Very inhomogeneous and i think such weird things weren't part of the game design.
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I'm having the same problem with the bonuses disappearing, even after I restart the game. I tried looking for that CurrentCustomRace[1-10].raceconfig but I couldn't find it. I have a plain old raceconfig xml file, but I don't want to delete that and mess everything up. Any suggestions? if all else fails, I'm just gonna have to reinstall the game lol
Reply #17 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
he Drathi, Yor, and Arceans have amazing starting abilities


Where do you guys get this info from? I know we have a partial list above but...

BTW, not just 1.1
Reply #18 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I'm having the same problem with the bonuses disappearing, even after I restart the game. I tried looking for that CurrentCustomRace[1-10].raceconfig but I couldn't find it. I have a plain old raceconfig xml file, but I don't want to delete that and mess everything up. Any suggestions? if all else fails, I'm just gonna have to reinstall the game lol


You find it here:

C:\Documents and Settings\[your loginname]\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2
Reply #19 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
ok, thanks, I took your word for it and there it was....strange since I installed the game on a completely different hard-drive. lol oh well, now I know. gracias
Reply #20 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
ok, thanks, I took your word for it and there it was....strange since I installed the game on a completely different hard-drive. lol oh well, now I know. gracias
Reply #21 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
ok, thanks, I took your word for it and there it was....strange since I installed the game on a completely different hard-drive. lol oh well, now I know. gracias
Reply #22 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
To #17. If you erase, or better simply rename your *.raceconfig files to something else, then you will see the races in their original states.

Some races have a TON of bonuses like the Drathi and Arceans and Yor. They have like 20pts worth of bonuses (exaggeration maybe like 15 or so). Plus they have more starting techs.

The humans are made with the handicap. I believe this is intentional, it only makes sense since they are the new kids on the block.

However, the base abilities vanishing whenever you spend the remaining points is not intentional. Either that, or the manual and updated .pdf manual both forgot to mention that terrible trade off. I beleive that we are supposed to be able to spend those remaining points in the abilities screen. Or if we're not, then the manual needs to be updated to tell you that altering anything on the race puts it in a less able state.
Reply #23 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have this problem too. The thing is, even if you don't spend the extra points and change the government style from Federalist to something else.. the unique bonuses will be erased. This is really annoying, as basically all of the races have to be a Federalist party if they want their unique bonuses like +100% loyalty for the Yor.


I've never lost my special abilities when I've changed governments. I play the Yor too, so it would be pretty obvious.

-Dewar
Reply #24 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
What is the official Stardock position on this? Has Frogboy said anything about this before? it would be nice to get some confirmation that this was intentional and not just another bug.

I've always wondered by the Yor get 12 points on default. (ie. -2 points). And the poor Iconians have 6 leftover points!!! This is ridiculous.
Reply #25 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I want some answers too... BUMP