n00bie question bout upgrading ships

You don't.

Also, once a route is established, ALL freighters are replaced by generic speed one freighters.

bummer, but ty !! for the info,...i have some pirates i needa sponsor,...hmmmm

another question, if I may??

I got the cheat mode function enabled but, I've never used a cheat code before. Is there a list of them somewhere? I could use a boost in Influence summin' terrible.

Mark

I don't know how well-updated the page is, but the galciv wiki has a list here.

IMO, you'd be much better off playing at a lower difficulty level and figuring out your problems, perhaps with some help from folks around here.

Do you want an influence boost because you're trying for an influence win, or because you're losing worlds to culture flips?

Starbases are essential for influence aggression and can help defend against strong enemy influence. Embassies and Cultural Exchange Centers can make a big difference in protecting against a flip, and can also sometimes help you convert an enemy world in a system you mostly control already.

tY!!

this is kinda my situation,

I made a custom race, and, this game, the terran alliance has been after me from the git-go. now then, they have fought and intimidated races to controlling about 1/2 the map but, the arceans have almost as much influence as the terrans do. I'm in the middle, and what other races are left are at the bottom, influence-wise.

my military is coming up to par,...i have begun expanding my starbases slowly. the UP levied a 20% tax on any warring civilization, so I have kept studying influence-related studies, and am 'neutral',..to help my merchants make more bc's.

expansion is difficult, and the 10 ship limit in the shipyard is rediculous,..i'm trying to keep my ship strengths hidden. Si I have been building constructers and sending them out to build bases slowly....I'm just afraid they'll get a cultural victory before I have a chance to expand.

I'm quite new and the other races are sub-normal intelligence. I started with a huge map n 9 civilizations.

I want my game to count in the metaverse, hoping to, someday, be asked to a guild, or to join in one. tY for the link, by golly,..I'mma haveta tuff this out, though.

Mark

If you haven't researched Xeno Ethics yet, do so and make yourself formally Neutral. That will help your economy as well as give you a boost in influence and diplomacy.

The way you describe your map sounds like you aren't at risk of losing planets to a culture flip, and if your military is looking strong, you should be able to defend some influence bases placed to expand your territory.

Leaving ships in orbit does not hide them from the other civs; if you haven't done it yet, you can look at theirs by clicking the world on the main map, even if you don't have a ship in sensor range at the moment. That's a good way of keeping tabs on their weapon and defense preferences so you can optimize your ship designs against the civ you fear most or want to attack next.

Several posters around here advocate never leaving a ship in orbit at all. I only do it for worlds that are far from my core territories and look vulnerable to a quick invasion.

Just wanted to poke my nose in here on this sentence.

Don't be afraid to ask questions on these boards. 99.9% of the users are very friendly and are more than willing to help you out.

it's gonna take a bit of doing but, there's two former capitals close to me, i'm building influence starbases for...can't get constructors quick enough, it seems.

checked my score,...retired after i saved the game,.... technologies really make a big Impact on your final score, that's for sure,..thinking of modifying my race and starting over. I don't wanna give up though.

should i keep studying 'influence' related tech?...or get that mass hull design? i'm thinking with mass-hull design i might be able to fit two constructor mods on it.

Mark

You won't be able to. You can only have 1 construction module per ship. Hard-coded that way.

Two things you can look into to increase your build speed.

1) Make a new construction ship that just has the module and engines. If you're not going WAY out of your way, there is no need for life support modules. That is doubly true once you get 1 of those star bases in place since they count as a base point for distance for life support. Having this stripped-down ship will lower it's price and thus speed up construction.

2) Make a ship with a small hull with a construction module on it and however many engines you can fit. Typically their price will be lower than a cargo hull and thus build time will be lower.


If you are planning to try and influence flip the opponent, definitely work on any tech that'll give you an influence bonus. The one will even open up more star base modules so that you can get up to a +100% influence boost via that star base.

In addition, if you are playing TA 1.96, feel free to have taken the Evil ethics choice from Xeno Ethics to build the Mind Control Center (often referred to just as "MCC"). If you're not running that expansion and version, it would be best to not go evil and get the MCC. Prior to a recent patch for TA the MCC actually made planets HARDER to influence flip, yet gave a +100 econ bonus across your empire.

I just downloaded GalCiv II yesseray, heh,..I'm a quick study at some things.

I've already taken the 'neutral' path in xeno-ethics,..no way to change it w/o the cheats turned on?

Mark

I don't even think with cheats that could change. I never looked too much into them however.

Anywho, the MCC is a building only available to the Evil choice from Xeno Ethics, so you won't need to worry about it's bugged/fixed status for this round.

To address the the OP: You can't replace the minifreighters, but you CAN upgrade them. Design a ship with either a cargo hull or a large hull (must include freight module, of course), then select one of the existing freighters and check the "upgrade all ships of this class" box. I haven't done this in a while, so you might need a full-size freighter to do this.

This will almost certainly take more money than your trade routes are worth, but trade is a marginal income source under the best of circumstances.

Minifreighters are limited to one space per turn, so don't bother with engines on the new design. Likewise, don't bother with life support; you don't need it any more. Sensors are optional unless you have the Eyes of the Universe, then they are unnecessary.

I haven't tried with freighters, but with all other ships, hull size is the one thing you can't change with an upgrade. I'd be surprised to see it work for freighters, and I'd want an explanation for the inconsistency.

When upgrading, cargo hulls and large hulls are interchangable because they are the same size. Always have been, AFAIK.

Only in DL. And possibly very early versions of DA.

What's the most recent version you've tried that in?

Probably early DA. As I said, it's not worth it on a financial basis. I don't remember ever seeing anything about it in any change logs though.

It make sense to me that Cargo is distinct from Large. The combat hull has real hit points, but the Cargo hull is a soap bubble unless you add HP modules.