Isn't seeing who is where on the glatic map a cheat?

from GalCiv2 Forums
In the begining of the game,if you hit the button you can see where the other races are, wouldn't this be a cheat since you didn't meet them yet? Is there a way to turn this off, so that you don't know where there are untill you come in contact with them?

I usually have this turned off, so I don't know in the begining of the game.
7,701 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's not really a cheat, because I think the AI's can see where you are too. This was the way it worked in the beginning, but lots of people requested the option to turn it off. They left it in, in case some people liked playing that way.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The races are supposed to be at least aware of each other's presence, given the fact that they all received the Hyperdrive Tech from the Humans.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
There is a setting to turn it off.

All you have to do is click "ownership" on the minimap to toggle it.

In the Prefs.ini you can manually set it by changing the value in the MiniMapSettings section to 0:

[MiniMapSettings]

PaintOwnership=1



It is not a cheat; it is a choice.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Also, in the game setup, you can select "blind exploration" which will hide the location and influence areas of other civs until you have explored that area of the galaxy.

I like to play it this way to make it a bit harder on myself, not knowing who is where and how fast they are expanding compared to me.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yup same here. I set everything except Technology to random and use the blind exploration pick to make each game different from the last. Tech i set to very slow as i like to use each tech i strive to research
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think everyone was traveling via stargates before hyperdrive so, as mentioned above, they were all aware of each other
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've been playing with "blind exploration" checked. Haven't yet played a game with it unchecked. I have to explore the universe before I can see that stuff.


Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I always wundered what blind explaoration is, will start a new game and turn it on.
Geez my home planet had the 300% industry bonus, and a 100% research bonus,oh well, hopefully i can find anthour planet with it again lol.
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
thanks guys, blind exploration did the trick. just to make shure, once i meet the civilization, it will show up on the map correct?
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I always thought it would be better to know the location of each home planet at the beginning, since you would know where the other planets actually were, but that you shouldn't be able to see the influence borders changing until you clear the fog of war.

And if you can no longer see something (in the fog of war) then it wouldn't update until you explored that area again.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Anything not covered by the fog of war will show up correctly on the minimap. The fog of war only allows you to see stars and (with the Stellar Cartography tech) planets.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
"The races are supposed to be at least aware of each other's presence, given the fact that they all received the Hyperdrive Tech from the Humans."

Well if they recieved the hyperdrive from the humans, how come you have to research universal translator? Hmmm... lol

If we were travleing by warp gates or what not, how come the previous placed that have been are not discovered now? or are warp gates only good closer to the home planet? So many loop holes, hope to hear all the plausible anwers lol.