No way to colonize "dead" planets?

This game is so close to being the spiritual successor to MOO2 it's not even funny...

However there are notable exceptions, and probably the largest of these is several tech trees that seem to me to be truncated - i.e. they only have a few techs, and they end. Probably the most significant of these is the planetary "terraforming" tree - only a handful of techs and then nothing. I can accept the techs that may or may not allow you to improve marginal lands on your planets, but there is nothing (that I am aware of) that allows you to colonize and improve planets that start out being class "0". It almost feels like the game is a snapshot of the middle of a classic MOO2 game, without the cool planetary expansion and end game. The fact that you start the game with almost unlimited range and that the planets that are colonizable at the start are the ones you are stuck with for the entire game really limits much of the cool factor of exploration and expansion. Am I missing something? Why even have non-colonizable planets in the game at all?

Is there some way to mod this? i.e. add the appropriate tech trees and allow planets to be "upgraded" from class "0" to some other class, and to add other terrain types (i.e. lava, methane, etc)?
6,326 views 4 replies
Reply #1 Top
The roaring silence is hurting my ears...

Agree? Disagree? Anyone ever play MOO or MOO2?
Reply #2 Top
I hear crickets..
Reply #3 Top
Yes the game really lacks on terraforming. I have stated this many times. In Gal Civ 1 you coudl research techs such as Planetary Creation and Star Creation, but in reality they did nothing, it was just there for kicks :/ I'm hoping and preyign part 3 will have a whole set of Terraforming and even planetary creation/conversion(Like in moo2) and maybe Dyson sphere's and ringworlds. But only time will tell. A much more complicate planet rating system would be sexy too. I just loved Moo2's planet rating system.

One thing that is missing from part 1 of gal civ though is the Terror Star which could destroy whole solar systems
Reply #4 Top
Agreed. Right now there is nothing more frustrating than seeing the beautiful planets and knowing that 75% of them (or more) have absolutely no impact on gameplay. I don't even care what type of planet they are - just what "class" they are. I would love to see:

1) ALL planets having a size and "type" rating. Size determines initial number of developable squares on the planet, and type determines tech necessary to be able to colonize.

2) Much more planetary development in the tech tree. MOO2 was great in that you were constantly making trade-offs between offensive and defensive weapon development, ship range and speed, and planetary development and research. With the highest tech you should be able to develop and improve any planet, and/or create NEW planets.

3) If a planet has a moon, please make it mean something. Perhaps a moon means a general bonus for a planet, or an extra development "square", or perhaps a slot for special tech development (i.e. moon-based defense, moon starport, etc).

If they could do this, and reduce initial ship and sensor range, I think this game would rock.