what settings do you find most enjoyable

from Stardock Forums

I love the fact that the pre-game settings affect which strategies work.


In fact everything you learn from tiny maps (rush and declare war asap) is sort of reversed on gigantic ones (build solid  sustainable infrastructure).


I wondered what everyone's favour combination is any why.


Personally I'm on Masochistic, Large, Normal Stars, Planets, Habitables, Anomilies etc.


I try to play the each race in turn with default attributes (but I tend to choose the political party to complement these bonuses). 


I've switched off all victory conditions bar conquest
(I think to "win" by forming an alliance with a run-away civ is silly... they have won not you! Influence and Tech tend to be too easy once you realise how the very flawed military calc is done).


This IMHO gives me the widest range of strategies that can work, I can look at the situation and decide between an initial rush or a patient trading, diplomatic waiting game.  I never ctrl-N and love the thrill of the early turns in a poor map.  With ship designing you can even overcome the isolated corner maps that used to be fatal in GalcIV I. I suspect everyone who complains life support is useless is either starting from a better position or smaller maps.


I've still got tech trading on, but will probably switch it off for all subsequent games to get the true effect of differing priorities. It may even mean I have to look at early military techs in favour of the diplo techs, something I never do at present. Even though everyone says the AI overvalues military techs nothing stands in the way of Diplo Translators,  good government and total majesty.  It is very easy to find a minor willing to trade all the early military techs for something as simple as Advanced Trade or Repuplic.


So what settings do you all find most enjoyable?


p.s. Does anyone actually trade the trade-goods. I NEVER do.  To me it is a no-brainer, yet if I miss out on one the AI will give you those all important  gravity accelorators (or whatever they have) for next to nothing.


 

4,906 views 15 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I find it most enjoyable when my wife is setting on top. OOOOP's. Sorry, I misread the question.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
p.s. Does anyone actually trade the trade-goods. I NEVER do. To me it is a no-brainer, yet if I miss out on one the AI will give you those all important gravity accelorators (or whatever they have) for next to nothing.


I do!!
Think about it, your going for a win, but suddenly, the strongest Military race declares war on you and your ally/ies....and things are looking down, then you remember, "Hey, don't i have Micro Repairs Bots and Armor Plating?"...Suddenly, the thought of sharing these bonus with alies isn't such a bad idea.

When ever i ally with someone, i ALWAYS give them my trade goods (not all of them mind you). I mean, Helping them helps you in the end.
Curtains - Customize Windows with additional styles
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
When ever I ally with someone, I always SELL them my trade goods Normally in echange for tech, then we're both better off.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

folkewolfe


Damiun


Because I always play in conquest victories all alliances are temporary. The thought of giving my soon-to-be enemies Armor plating and Micro Repair Bots seems not that smart. In such cases I give them as high maintenance a fleet of ships as I can... Pref with no defences against my primary attack. It is so sweet when they have a lot of expensive rubbish ships that means they can't keep in the arms race.


 


 

Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I thought that once war was declared all trade goods deals are cancelled?
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

No118
You may be right, in which case my bad.


However I still prefer my tactic as a general rule.


The AI seems to have no idea that gifts may be bad for you, guess it has never read the story of the Trojan wars...


 

Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I will sometimes pawn off the trade goods which i'm not using. In the beginning of the game i tend to research various paths somewhat evenly until the game progresses a bit and i can tell what path to victory i'll be using. Like in my last game i went for an influence victory so i didn't really need repair bots since i wasn't doing any ship to ship battles. Mostly i am going for conquest so diplomatic translators are not as key as that new weapon tech the guy i'm going to go to war with in two turns has. I'm going to have to crank up the AI becuase you'd be surprised how many of their warships they will trade for hull plating. No use for hull plating when they give away their entire fleet to me =P

The one i never ever trade tho is harmony crystals. Anything that makes the planets happier is always a plus no matter what angle i'm playing.
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

I guess I just never see the trade being worthwhile. 


Speaking of the AI giving you the whole fleet, it does do some silly things in trading. In 1.0x I've seen it trade it's early transports (don't know whether it has been tweaked now), this is so funny cos you get them to invade the world they have just left.


 

Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I also find the games with an early bad starting spot to be the most enjoyable. Especially those where you need to conquer a planet just to get out of your solar system. But after that point it seems that the challenge is gone.
Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

Martimus
They can sure be tense as you try to balance rushing to planetary invasion with all the other things you need to make you competative in the longer term.  If it is a minor you end up cheesily trading everything they own for everything you own just before you invade. If it is a major it is similar but you may have more targets... In any case I make sure it is all over in a single turn, because I've had to throw absolutely everything I've built into the fight.


 

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

Martimus
They can sure be tense as you try to balance rushing to planetary invasion with all the other things you need to make you competative in the longer term.  If it is a minor you end up cheesily trading everything they own for everything you own just before you invade. If it is a major it is similar but you may have more targets... In any case I make sure it is all over in a single turn, because I've had to throw absolutely everything I've built into the fight.


 

Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Martimus
They can sure be tense as you try to balance rushing to planetary invasion with all the other things you need to make you competative in the longer term. If it is a minor you end up cheesily trading everything they own for everything you own just before you invade. If it is a major it is similar but you may have more targets... In any case I make sure it is all over in a single turn, because I've had to throw absolutely everything I've built into the fight.


Yep, that is almost my exact strategy in those fights. Although I used to take their planets one by one until I got tired of losing half of their empire to another race because they surrender to them. Now I try to take as many planets at one time as I can. It is almost a race to take over their planets before they have the opportunity to surrender.
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
the thought of sharing these bonus with alies isn't such a bad idea.

When ever i ally with someone, i ALWAYS give them my trade goods (not all of them mind you). I mean, Helping them helps you in the end.


So if you offer trade goods in diplomacy, do you still get the benefit of its effects or are you actually giving away these bonuses?
I've always assumed that if you gift somebody your trade goods then you no longer get those bonuses, or are you just "sharing" the bonuses with people you trade with?
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
So if you offer trade goods in diplomacy, do you still get the benefit of its effects or are you actually giving away these bonuses?
I've always assumed that if you gift somebody your trade goods then you no longer get those bonuses, or are you just "sharing" the bonuses with people you trade with?


You are sharing them. You are giving them the right to use your product so to speak. You still gain the bonuses from that trade good. The other race will not be able to trade it to anyone however.
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I thought that once war was declared all trade goods deals are cancelled?


Two different things:

Trade: Build a freighter and send it to a distant world to establish a trade route and generate income for both parties.

Trade Goods: Built on planetary tiles and used in the diplomacy screen for political trade, like Tech, Planets, Cash or Ships. Once traded, the 'secret' of the trade good is available to that Civ in the same manner as Trading Harpoon II or Xeno Farming.

Cheers,
Reaver