Bonuspack

The actual game has gone gold already so there was nothing to add anymore

I guess these were ideas that came up late and they didn't have enough time to implement. I think it's great that we get a bonuspack right of the bat!

Well the game was planed to come out about the same time as MOO3, but then they decided to bush the release back a month. I guess all the changes they made in that last month are the "Bonus Pak" features.

~SDC~

The "gold" copy has already been sent for reproduction so the items in the BonusPak can´t be added, also the items in the bonuspak are still beeing made (some are done but not all).

/Andreas

Bull.

From the looks of things, this "bonus pack" has been a clear cut way for the devs to create a means to "counter" software piracy. They are making it CLEAR that the game that is SHIPPED is not the full game, and that the "bonus" content that will be included with the pack is going to pump things up. If I were a consumer, and I was legitimately looking between MOO and GALCIV, and was informed that I would need to download content to "BEEF" up my supposedly GOLD copy of this game, MOO3 problems aside, I'd choose it over GALCIV.

Ermmm... But of course GalCiv is full and complete without the bonus pack. Heck, it's pretty well full and complete in the latest beta. MOO3 was hardly playable in it's 'final' status.

Is there a problem with getting a full, complete, and polished game and then later getting additional content if you want?

~SDC~

Gold version of Galciv, aka without bonus pak, is very uch a finished game and does not need a bonus pak to be played. Hell, the beta of this game was a solid game. If you look at the list of the new things that are in the bonust pak http://www.galciv.com/bonuspak/ you will realize that it is just the icing on the cake not the cake itself.

BTW if you followed what Brad W. had to say about the piracy issue on the forums you would know better than to acuse them of releasing unfinished product. Game as it is has 0 piracy protection. You can copy and multiply it as much as you want there is nothing there to stop you. So, no, you got it wrong to think this Bonus Pak is just to prevent piracy. Actualy it is there to reward legitimate owner of GalCiv and give him the material that he would not be able to get if he just got the warezed version of the game.

PS.
Please tell me that MOO3 doesn't need some "Beefing up" as it is right now

~SDC~

No offense, but right from the bat you've got things missing. If THIS is honestly a "full game", then its light. I didn't say its not fun to play, but cmon now.

Hell, this is the DEVS forum, so I wouldn't expect anyone to think anything other than positive thoughts, its simply that there seems to be ALOT going into development of the "bonus pack" (and subsequent packs), and one can only raise an eyebrow when thinking that all this purported "new" content came into development after, or a short time BEFORE the game went gold.

Cest la vie.

And yes, MOO has its problems, but at the VERY least, you feel like you got a complete game. Bad or good.

No, right from the bat, they've got extra things coming out. Wait 6 days, then judge for yourself. I think you'll find it's a very complete game as it is.

Stardock already *had* an extra month to develop that they weren't expecting to have. During that time they were able to nail down the stability of the features that were there already and slip in a few more that were not planned for 1.0 - all into the gold shipping version. Yes, they are features that came into development after or a short time before. This was always the plan. It's just with the way things turned out, they're going to be ready on the release date, not a month after.

The alternative to a bonus pack released on the release date would be that Brad and co. did nothing for the whole month it took to get the gold copy into distribution. Sure, they deserve the rest, but they decided to go the extra mile and add some requets that just couldn't be accommodated, like the advanced setup screen.

From what I've heard, the beta testers who bought Drengin.net or GalCiv early are happy that Stardock is shipping a complete game, and they haven't even seen the gold version. I think you're being premature in judging a game that you have assumably not seen at all, on the basis that there are going to be *more* features available than were on the box.

The ED!

The plan for this game is to effectively not stop developing it. Besides the first bonus Pack and the simple customisations, I am fairly certain they plan on 4 additional bib bonus packs. After that they may very well start doing some core updates the game engine requiring a follow on version.

Personally the fact that the game allows such simple addition of new features is a major plus. The fact that they are coming out simply means that they were not ready and tested pre feature freeze for the release date. Most companies would have effectively dropped developmental support at that point (Like Quicksilver with MOO3, Lets Lose 80+% of staff before we even release the game.), Stardock on the other hand, plans for continued additions and addon's.

It was always planned (since talk started about GC 3 years ago on the old SD site) that there would be easy add ons and continued developmental support for 12 months + at least through Drengin.:D If they refused to release the (perfectly working and challenging) game unitl they had completely ran out of development ideas (like a integrated MP3 player) then I doubt we would ever see it.

Now MOO3 on the other hand appears to have actually not been released in what I would call a finished manner. Certainly not as far as AI, Gameplay, UI or documentation is concerned . There is also exccedingly little chance of anything even resembling a bonus pack coming out for it and it appears most patching will be done by the user community through Mods.

Yours
Paul

The Ed! Good point you raise. Well, have fun with moo3, maybe I'll see you over on that board. Goodbye.

The version you will buy is complete.
You can play the game out of the box and it is an excellent game.
You need nothing from the bonus pak.

The bonus pak adds a few additional events, technologies and ships.
It also tweaks the setup screens so you have more control over the start conditions.

Stardock is employing a different model from most other game companies.
The game will be improved over the next year.

This is something Stardock has done very successfully with Windows Utilities.

If you look in this article at the last question and answer Brad explains it
http://www.galciv.com/encyclopedia.asp?action=showpage&page=http://www.galciv.com/docs/qa.html

Some people will not understand the model or think they are getting an incomplete game.
If you think that then maybe this game is not for you.

For other gamers who see this as value added and refreshing. As a game they might play for more than 1 month then all I can say is I don't think you will be disappointed.


(Beta Tester)

~SDC~

Here is the corrected link

http://www.galciv.com/encyclopedia.asp?action=showpage&page=http://www.galciv.com/docs/qa.html

~SDC~

Just wondering if you've played the game, and, if so, if you've played the beta or the gamma? If the version you're running is the latest Beta, you should keep in mind that it's about 4 months old. It lacks alot of the polish that would differentiate a "light" game from a "full" game. All that we've done with the Bonus Pack is take some of the idea's given towards the end of the gamma testing period and implemented them. Nothing was "striped" out of the final version for the sake of the bonus pack. It'd be silly to do so since the copy most reviewers will be writing about is the gold boxed version (though reviewers have been given the SDCentral link to DL the bonus pack if they so wish). Think of the bonus pack as a mini-expansion pack. A couple extra ships, a few extra events, a tweaked screen, a (non-game-altering) new feature. As a gamer I can see where you're coming from, It be crummy for a company to yank out (or dumb down) features just so then can fix them and herald it as this glorious new bonus pack. But, I can assure you, all the content is 100% new (added after the gold went out and we all took a few days off), and again, it's nothing that will alter how the game is played, just add to it.

ScottT
GalCiv Programmer
(Yes, Im from stardock...hopefully I didnt come across as bias.)

~SDC~

Oh well it in the Encyclopedia Section under The Skeptics FAQ.
Well worth a read for any one whether you are a skeptic or not.

~SDC~

Sorry, that post was to TheED! ... apparently im a much slower typist than I thought


~SDC~

I never even thought of it that way... I guess that makes this my kind of game.

The Ed is happier to download patches to fix his already "complete" game, rather than new, fun material. I suggest we leave the troll alone.

Kind of ironic isn't it? I can see it now "GalCiv just didn't feel complete without that built in MP3 player. I mean really, what kind of strategy game in 2003 doesn't ship with an MP3 player???" (the bonuspak includes an integrated MP3 player and controls for playing them, pretty hard to argue that these were features that should have or needed to be in the gold 1.0 version).

And yes, the BonusPak does have the pleasant side effect of discouraging piracy.

~SDC~

hey frogboy,

will it link to the actual mp3s? or just a directory? or is it like the grand theft auto 3 mp3 player where you only needed windows shortcuts? or can you build mp3 lists (like winamp m3u files)?

this is because i have one big directory for mp3s and don't want my humourous mp3s playing while in the middle of galciv.

Even if the bonuspak was simply an anti-piracy measure, there is nothing wrong with that. The game is not crippled without it and Stardock provides it to all legitimate owners of the game at no charge. Many RTS devs retail feature-short games purposely, so they can include features players desire in an expansion pack in a clear attempt to get players to pay twice for a game (e.g. random map generators, enabled multiplay, etc.). Not the case with GalCiv. Purchasers of the game pay once for the gold version and all additional content. If Stardock chooses to add lots of goodies for purchasers of the game, the purchasers are the winners! Though I can see the gamers who really only wanted to rip the game being displeased, wouldn't you agree TheEd?

Hey, Ed, get that chip off your shoulder, it's causing you to think in an "unbalanced" manner

Grifman

The Ed! has been doing this same thing at the Moo3 forum. Obviously a rabid moo3 fan. Anytime GalCiv gets mentioned over there it gets attacked. I've tried to defend it a couple times but the hardcore mooers just don't want to hear it. Apparently, not liking other games besides the "masterpiece" that is moo3 is "in fashion" this time of year. Most of the shots taken at GalCiv are WAY off or completely untrue and they are usually trying to swing people towards moo3 who are just trying to find out a bit about both games before making a buying decision.

BTW, I'm new here. I've known about the game for a while but missed out on the beta. Can't wait for the release day. I picked up my pre-order for GalCiv with the money from my returned Moo3.

Well, he's welcome to do what he wants on the MOO3 forum, but why come here and bash GalCiv? Does it worry him that much that it might be as good or better?

Grifman

Many in the Moo3 forum are just waiting for GalCiv to fail. They don't want to be seen as picking the losing side. I've seen it remarked that they can't wait to see this forum get raped worse than the Moo3 forum because they think this game is incredibly bad.

I've seen the same thing over at the MOO boards. I don't understand why some people get so fanatical about games but they do. I've actually seen a number of people over there bashing GalCic because they apparently see it as a them agains us situation.

I won't be surprised to see a bunch of the MOO faithful coming over here after the game is released to get some kind of retribution for what's happened over there.

Sad really.