Doing well in this game seems to depend too much on pure luck.

Class 6-9 planets form the backbone of an empire...don't overlook them...They have bonus tiles, and by mid game they are class 12 planets, if you research the terraforming techs.

It is not about luck, but about using the resources one finds to their advantage.

Yeah? I've always read to colonize only PQ 12 and above... besides, what about the PQ 12-26 planets that the other scumbags are getting? And they are.

I can not imagine only colonizing PQ-12's. I think I'd wind up with one planet if I was lucky. Like you, I dont get many above 8 or 9. I once had an ajacent ememy with a planet that became a 41 (thats forty-one) after all the planetary improvements. I took it from him.

A rule of thumb might be to leave the PQ 4-5 alone until theres nothing left but you have to take those 6 and above, thats the majority of the planets in the game. You may not find anything above a 9 or 10 or even an 8. That does not mean that you "never had a chance". You didnt say what some of the AI player's planets were in the same game or how many of thsoe PQ8 planets you got. you can have quantity instead of quality, in fact its probably better in almost every regard to have 2-8's instead of 1-16.

What would this game be if there were no randomness to the planets. You want a galaxy where all the planets are 12-26 PQ? where the challenge in that?. AS the last poster pointed out, you also have the tile bonuses to make them better.

If you get stuck in a weak position, you have to play the game differently, maybe you'll have to make nice with the other guys instead of bullying them. You will have to consider wisely which improvements to build and what techs to want. Occasionnaly you WILL have to just start over, everyone probably has at some point. But you should see that coming withing a few turns, Like iof you start in a corner and you can't seem to find a habitable planet anywhere near you. Hang in there, you will see that the game is still fun and winnable with those PQ 8's.

And as a note, I did find your use of certain words and near-words to be offensive. theres no need for it.

If doing well in the game depends on luck, how is it that some players are always lucky no matter what they do? This game depends on luck about as much as poker.

Lower PQ planets are actually really good in this game, because in DA the number of upgradeable tiles on them has greatly increased. Those class 1-4 planets are all gonna be class 16+.

I really agree with CaptainYar. Getting a good starting position can make the game a little easier, but if you need it to be easier maybe you should lower the difficulty. Playing from a weak starting position will help you to understand the depth of options you have available better, as you will need to start pulling every trick out of the bag to keep up.

(Good luck) with your future conquests!

Yeah. It sounds like you're giving up far too easily. Take what you can get, and build from there... you can turn the game around surprisingly fast once things get going, so being the smallest civ out of the gate does NOT mean you can't win it. In situations where a superpower is dominating the colonization phase, I personally have a tendency to rush military and invasion techs and gobble up my nearest similar sized neighbour.

If you are of a mind to always think of your position as "weak," then you might want to try to play with Drath (DA) with their Super Manipulator.

On a medium map, quite a few habitable planets, I was Drath. I had my homeworld, the 4-quality "Mars," a PQ3, and a radioactive PQ2 (with only the starting colonizing tech), and both of those were far from my home system. So, I was way behind in the early game, and even farther in mid-game. But I kept the others at war with each other, developed decent trade and resource bases, then was able to hold my own at the end-game.

So, you don't need to steamroll to win this game.

And someone is supposed to care about this because...?
Yes, there is a need for it. It is a part of our language. It is much worse to use *@#$! and such instead of just using the word in its correct grammatical context/spelling. But I see that someone left the back door open today and the Inspector General of Verbage strolled in to grace us... oh joy!
This is the best stuff you have to gripe about huh?

Or you can do what the AI seems to do: colonize every planet you can as it expands into the galaxy (although the AI seems to mostly ignore most PQ1 planets).

Even the low PQ planets are a great long term investment, so grab them all (as long as they aren't in the middle of AI territory and may flip). Sure, go for the best PQ planets first (they have better morale and influence), but in the end grab what you can. Time spent in traveling is time not spend developing, so sending colony ships on long term exploration is a waste.

For instance, if you have one or two levels of terraforming those dinky PQ 1 planets are wonderful: after you're neutral they instantly terraform to the level of your terraformign tech, and even if you’re not neutral they can invest and make them terrific planets. Imagine and PQ 1 planet that instantly converts to a PQ19! Well, it happens all the time. Of course, that doesn't help you in the early game, which it sounds like what you're frustrated with.

As other posters said, hang in there. Grab what you can. Keep an eye on the extreme colonization worlds, see which type(s) have the nearest and best worlds and get one or two of these techs as early as you can; park colony ships by them so you’re ready to go when the tech comes in. I'd bet the AI is in the same position as you (but they aren't nearly as picky on what they colonize).

Hydro

And someone is supposed to care about THIS because?

Looking back I can see that I was probably being overly sensetive. It wasn't all that bad and I was refering to the second posting btw and not the use of the Beetle Baily swear words. So i would appologize to the original poster for the unwarrented critcism. Guess i was just responduing to the anger in the letter.

However, I do wonder about the hypocritical nature of the response to my posting. it seems that I supposedly have nothing else to gripe about but someone else can feel free to gripe about THAT, I guess I can now say "This is the best stuff you have to gripe about huh?". My posting was about as polite as possible and did not result in name calling. If i can be called "Inspector General of Verbage" can you be Champion of the Vulgar?. My posting was on topic, constructive and not simply a posting to criticize another's. I just thought the boards could remain clean.

Enough of the fighting over verbage, vulgarity, and wording.

Unlike many games, GalCiv is about more than simple military might and civilization size. It's about making the best of what you have, and turning the strengths of a neighbor against them.

What race were you, particularly in Dark Avatar? Not every race is the top of the military or production food tree. If you're good at research or diplomacy it's far more important to use that to your advantage than try to outcolonize or overpower the enemy.

And lastly - having too many planets early on can actually slaughter your economy faster than having not enough - consolidate and plan if you cant expand.

If your unlucky then use the custom maps.

the random map generator will not always give you a map you can use. It is possible for even elite players to get a map that is so bad, even they cannot make a game out of it. Anyone who says they can make a game out of 'any' random map ever created would be lying! (excluding using low difficulty levels)

I think crippling or below it's possible to win on any given map, once you get masochistic or above then it starts to get tricky. Once you get up to suicidal the only way to win is to reload until you get the perfect start, and even then some people reload every colonisation until they get uber bonus tiles and every anomoly until they get 2500 cash, personally I think that's lame and you may as well just play on an easier difficulty, which is what I do.

Not true, you can still play out of a below average start on suicidal. There are (a few) positions that are just unwinnable on that difficulty, but it is very rare that I ever use Ctrl-N. And anomolies don't give 2500 anymore, the top is 1000. However, if you NEED a perfect start to win at that level, I whole heartedly agree with you, just play on a lower difficulty.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes I still lose on suicidal. And sometimes it is due to a poor starting position. But with a lot of experience you can do a lot with very little.

But I don't mean to quibble, and I always respect your opinion. What is true for one player isn't always true for another. The main point remains the same. If you need to rely on luck to win at the difficulty level you are playing at, lower the difficulty. If you need luck to win at cakewalk, play a different game.   

Hi

That doesn't help. AFAIK anomalies have fixed bonuses.

BR. Iztok

Hi!

Try with smaller galaxies, and you'll much earlier know if you need to restart. You should also adapt to what you get.

I remember one DL maso game if which I've been boxed from all sides with only 4 average planets, but with an influence resource. I considered abandoning this game, but decided I'll for the first time try the influence approach. Despite AIs had out-everything me, I played polite diplomat with lots of trade routes and LOTS of influence starbases. After flipping both Drath and Korx(?) I got to leading position so easily it felt almost cheese. And Drath even LIKED me all the time.   

BR, Iztok

hahahaha

actually on that difficulty level it is still very easy to loose! Somone new to the game might not realise the implications of using dept contractors - game over!

Winning at poker depends very much on luck.



As far as I have seen, you only get +3 tiles no matter what planet you get. +1 for soil enhancement, +1 for habitat improvement, and +1 for terraforming. PQ 12 planets become PQ 15, PQ 7 planets become PQ 10 planets, etc. I tried a game last night by just colonizing whatever was available, ended up with mostly class 8 planets. My economy crashed after the first 100 turns, even though I had a few planets devoted entirely to stock markets.

actually no!

In any one round, yes luck is the main factor, but over time, luck according to the laws of probability should even out amungst the players.

So all things being equal - especially luck.... skill is the only true determining factor of winning poker - theoretically speaking. In practice it seems from my experience, that luck has a vindictive nature in poker, as it does in many areas of life??

In DA, you get more than 1 tile for each terraforming upgrade, and you get more for a smaller planet. A +1 planet for example gets 4 tiles for soil enhancement.

If you really believe that, I so want you at my Poker Table. If you have to have a "Lucky Start" to win then you need to turn the Difficulty level down.

The only problem map I have is when I get crowded by 2-4 close neighbors, and that is because it makes me play a style that I really don't use much. I like to sort of expand conslidate then build up the Navy.

Some hands of poker are 100% luck. No matter how well you play them, you can lose.

This is ok for a hand of a game that takes a couple minutes, but not for an entire gaming session than can drag on for hours..its just frustrating to be screwed for that long.

your economy depends a lot more on population and what you have built and are building, than if you have devoted a planet to stock markets. You have to balance your building growth, with your population growth, the positions of your planets, and starbases, and how big of a military you have. EVERYTHING has a maintenance cost that has to be paid.

Build an economy starbase near a cluster of planets and begin reducing the cost of your buildings, research, and military. Everytime you upgrade the starbase, you decreese the money spent on running your empire.

focus on adapting and less on your anger and on lossing. Like any 4X game, you can not underestimate the importance of a strong beginning. You have to buy colony ships left and right initially, research the right techs, and deal with enemy AIs before they become a problem. Also, try playing on medium galaxies with abundant all settings. I find those games very enjoyable. There is plenty to do and yet the game doesn't take forever and can be completed in a night or two (if you spend many hours each night). Finnally, don't worry about planet colonization techs until you have no normal planets left to colonize. The AI wastes time going after the difficult to colonize planets, so you can instead spend time on researching facotry, research, economy upgrades, and on researching weapons and defenses!!!

then steal those worlds and gain the tech to colonize them anyway!!! mwhahah

actually, that might make things worse. if you're on a custom map with equal distribution of planets, then the major luck factor is bonus tiles. true, anomolies can make a difference, but not as much as bonus tiles IMO. if your opponent happens to get a +700% industrial or research tile, you're screwed.

JWBURKS, i think you're giving up too easily. i get a weaker position in the beginning of the game most games i play. but being a human, i make better choices in the long run. i usually play on painful; i've played a few maso games and won, but i find painful more enjoyable (i like nice leisurely games that give me enough time to do random things i want to do, such as contructing a network of military bases around my entire empire, just for Ss & Gs).

most of the threats in the early game are paper tigers. AI players more than halfway across a gigantic galaxy aren't much of a threat in the early game because their ships move so slowly. of course, the way the AI is in DA, they're never much of a threat for that reason.

if you're absolutely hellbent on having more high-PQ planets, turn your settings down. i swear it seems like the map generator is more likely to place higher-quality planets when you allow fewer habitables on the map, but maybe that's just me.