1.3 changes to DL campaign?

from GalCiv2 Forums
I'd started the DL campaign after upgrading to 1.3 and was horrified at how badly I'm being owned by the AI. It looks as if the Altarians will rule the day and trash the Drengin long before I'm able to grab planetary invasion.

After five(!) restarts, I was finally able to grab three planets, but only by devoting all my racial points to speed and outright purchasing of colony ships. Even so it was a very close thing. (And yes, the Altarians are on my side, but on my first post-1.3 attempt I'd only gotten a single planet (the one next to my home planet) and the Altarian lead was far greater.

Here's the thing: I'm on cakewalk difficulty. Take a look at their research. This is right after my initial planet-rush.


Were the 1.3 changes tested with the DL campaign? Has anyone played through the campaign since upgrading? Is this just my imagination and/or paranoia? I'd started a campaign (on challenging) while using the 1.2 version and did not find it anywhere near this difficult. I've won sandbox on (1.2) sucidal-difficulty so I find it hard to believe I'm just doing something wrong here.

Would not a new player who'd just purchased the game and (reasonably) updated it to 1.3 be put off by the huge lead the AI seems to have in the campaign?
5,557 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think it was mentioned that the AI had been tuned-up at the lower end, beginning mission in the campaign, as it was way way way too easy before.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
maverick: the thing is: it is even easier now. you dont have to do anything but let the AI fight out all the battles for you. i just sat back got planet invasion and sent one lonely transport. my ally had his faaaaaar more advanced ships all over the poor Drengi so i could just invade. now you dont even have to try, your allied AI is so darn overpowered that he will do all the work for you.
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Maybe one of the changes to the campaign was that the AI of your allies is now the INVERSE of the difficulty settings? As it was, the bonuses your allies got at the higher levels actually made the harder settings easier!

Have you tried to see if the same thing happens on Tough?
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
How about not being able to put weapons on your ships even when you research new weapons the weapons list is empty for the first 3-4 missions?
all you can do is upgrade the other systems on the default ships!

or is that just my machine?
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Okay... false alarm. Things began to even out when I started getting my infrastructure. Finally, the Altarians couldn't sustain their growth and flatlined for a bit, while I raced ahead. The Drengin were never a worry.

So chalk it up to a case of the heebie-jeebies. I'd never seen an AI come out of the gate like that; 6 colony ships, 3 scouts, and researching Laser V before I get three planets settled. Ouch.

Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Altarians are your allies. YOu have it on cakewalk. Therefore they do most of the work.