I Hate Restarts

from GalCiv2 Forums
Title says it . . . I hate restarting, but it seems like I have to restart five or six times before I get a decent start that's neither insanely hard nor way too easy. A few fixes to the galaxy and planet generator might be in order to iron out some of the problems:

Starting in the corner without another system anywhere nearby. I hate this one, it's a virtually guaranteed restart. Even on Large with Common stars, I frequently start out in the corner, with the nearest system being six or seven turns away. Chances of successfully colonizing anything fall to almost zero. I realize certain races are supposed to start out further away, but the galaxy generator should use an algorithm to keep players from starting out too far from the center of the map (AI players that start out in the corners almost invariably get crushed as well).

Five, six, seven or more "dud" systems in a row. I have planets and habitability set to Common, and yet I get one dud system after another. You would think that at Common, habitable planets would be, well . . . common. It appears that at Common, each planet has a roughly 10% chance of being habitable; that's way too low, with an average of three planets per system, it needs to be more like 20% for most systems to have a planet.

Way too many habitable planets. This happens every few games; planet after planet will be habitable. I am perfectly aware of the fact that true random number sequences are somewhat "streaky", but this, combined with the fact that most games have so few habitable planets, leads me to believe that something might be buggy in the galaxy generator.

Starting with a +700% Manufacturing bonus. WAY too easy. Starting planets shouldn't have any bonuses greater than +100%, if they have any bonuses at all. I realize this wouldn't be a popular change, but on the flip side I don't think anyone would want to play against a Drengin who started with a +700% Mfg.
10,326 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
yea it can get a little annoying, especially when I get stuck in a corner with only a few stars near me and a large area of no stars between me and the rest.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well, I think part of the point of the restart option is so that if you don't like what you got you can change it quickly.

Personally, I think that the variance is good, it keeps things interesting- starting way out in a corner and even "upgraded" colony ships take 5 turns to get to the next stars over which are all duds can be a pain but then you happen upon a couple worlds with nice production bonuses and then you end up with a nice big planet to use for research or for taxes/troops (since the homeworlds have a fair number of tiles) that is nice and safe behind your "front line" planets where you build your fleets. Or you end up in a galaxy with planets *everywhere* to colonize, and it turns into a major influence-fest with a lot of pretty big fights going on as well as you and the AIs battle over border planets to try and make headway against each other.

Yeah, sometimes you get really good tiles on your homeworld and it gives you a big advantage. Sometimes its an AI that gets the "super homeworld" advantage... but it just goes to make things more interesting.

Tightening up a couple of the options (planet habitability/etc) a bit wouldn't hurt, but turning it into a matter of "these options guarantee this type of game" thing would take out a lot of the interest as you'd be able to plan your strategy before you hit "start" and not worry about adapting to much at all.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I know its extremely depressing isn't it. You've just conquered the galaxy, your great battleships are returning home, there is celebration in the streets of your worlds as brave sailors disembark from their brobdingnagian warships, the post Galactic Domination euphoria sets in. Then you go back to a survey and a colony ship, having to colonise and stabilise a bunch of planets, once again trudge relentlessly along that tech tree and subdue the galaxy.

There's no escaping it, it happens in all strategy games, I get over it after about 10 turns and focus on becoming dominant once again.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The challenge on a map with a 700% bonus tile would be how can I use this to my advantage to utterly crush my opponents in the quickest time possible?If it is true that it is such a large advantage.And if the AI gets it,how can I survive?
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Why Restart I Think They Should Take This Option Out Cause When You Were Bron Did You Choose Your Parents,Lifestyle,...You Were Just Bron & Grow From Their Makes The Game More Real Life With The Changes & I Like Not Starting Were I Would Like Or Preferr To Be Cause I Can Just Take The Spot I Want Muhahahahaa!!!!!!!!
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Why Restart I Think They Should Take This Option Out Cause When You Were Bron Did You Choose Your Parents,Lifestyle,...You Were Just Bron & Grow From Their Makes The Game More Real Life With The Changes & I Like Not Starting Were I Would Like Or Preferr To Be Cause I Can Just Take The Spot I Want Muhahahahaa!!!!!!!!


you wouldnt be saying that if you played on a higher difficulty ii like how you have won over 50 games but your still on challenging.

Muahahah thats funny
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I Hate Restarts


Don't restart then!

I bet all u people who have restarted have missed out on loads of good stuff. I have never restarted and always found something good about my starting position like...700% manufacturing bonus or precursor library on the 2nd or 3rd planet colonised, 5 2,500 BC anomolies in a row, 2 economy mining resources, 3 military resources near by etc, etc...

Take a few turns to look around...before u hit ctr-n...all galaxies start well balanced in my view.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I personally do not restart. I do my best with what I have. Yeah, I play normal, and post them to MV for my reasons, does not mean I do not play on higher settings with or without mods. That goes for others as well. Remember, what we post on the Verse is what you see, nothing more. With that said, I do not believe they should take out the restart, it is nice for those that want the option.

I don't want the game to turn into a script. Do the same thing, game after game after game after game. Dull, mundane, boring, brainless, obtuse, insipid, lifeless, repetitious, spiritless, stale, and overall just plain tiresome. I just wouldn't want to play anymore.

Just my thoughts
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ive got this neat idea to give every race 5 class 14-16 starting planets and play on the barest minimum of planets in the galaxy, just to take out the "OMFG THE TORIANS HAVE A CLASS 26 PLANET RIGHT NEXT TO THEM!!!" factor.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think they should standardize the start to mitigate the motivation for constantly restarting to get a good setup. One thing that would help is to eliminate the randomness of the bonus tiles on your home planet. In other words, your planet always gets a pre-defined set of bonus tiles.