Minor Race Unique Tech Tree

De-Minoring techs.

from GalCiv2 Forums

I have always loved and been slightly annoyed by Minor Races in Galactic Civilizations.  What are they really supposed to represent?  At the moment they look basically like any other race, but with a set of rather artificial looking and never explained penalties.   Why if you can build battleships can't you build colony ships?  What is it that stands in their way?

Minor Races should have a unique tech tree that represents their development into a space-faring civilization.  At the high end of the tree, all the remaining penalties for being a minor race are removed, so they can build colony ships and colonise worlds (if there are any left by that point).  Initially all minor races have a -100% industry tech, which means they simply can't build anything, either buildings or ships, they must make do with their civilization capital and spaceport alone.  Minor races cannot research any of the normal techs, unless they get to a certain level on the tech tree.  The Tech Tree looks like this.

An Ancient and Powerful Civilization (starting tech)

We are an ancient and powerful civilization on our home world that had taken it's first steps into deep space and realised there was actually little out there for us.  That is all we are.

Militery Production- -100%

Social Production- 100%

Soldiering- -50%

Population Growth- -50%

Economy- -50%

Purchase cost increase- 10000%

Hyperdive Production

Despite out handicaps, we have managed to pick up the alien signal transmitting the information about how to produce the hyperdrive.  However the obstacles in our path are daunting enough, not only must our scientists actually manage wrack their brains around the concepts involved and then we must manage to work out how to manufacture the hyperdrive.  Having done that, we still must manage to assemble a viable intersteller spacecraft and a crew, on our limited resources.

Militery Production- +100%

Planetery Unification

With our successful completion of the hyperdive, our supremacy over our neighbors is demonstrated, our ascending to heavans proves *our* right to rule this world.  We must now unify our home-world, all who will not submit to our rule peacefully must be destroyed. 

Social Production- +100%

Soldiering- +50%

Population Growth- +50%

 

Purchase Cost Reduction- 10000%

-25%- morale

Unlocks normal techs. 

One-World Government

We may have 'unified' our homeworld, but the unity is superficial.  Many continue to resist our rule, which is percieved as oppression.  Before we can manage to organise a viable space colonisation program, we will need to create a central government that can rule over the entire world, to replace the present coalition of semi-independant powers under our nominal and resented authority. 

Economy- +50%

Morale- +25%

Intersteller Colonisation

We must now determine how to move literally millions of people in massive ships through space.  Not an easy task, but one must be achieved, since others have achieved it. 

Allows the Minor Race to build colony ships. 

Intersteller Civilization

The other races look down upon us as primitives due to our late arrival on the scene.  We must now learn about their civilizations and take what we like from them, so that we can pursuade them that we are full Intersteller Civilization as they are.

Removes all remaining penalties (aside from not having a UP seat).

6,938 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

They are *cows*, only have to give milk ;P

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

In some games (DA), I have enjoyed trading/gifting stuff to one or more minor races just to see what would happen.

One time, I was close to an Influence Victory but wanted a Research Victory, so I gifted every single piece of tech, every ship, every base, and every planet to them.  The only things i kept were one research planet, one orbiting fleet, and 20,000 BCs. 

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Quoting LTjim, reply 2
In some games (DA), I have enjoyed trading/gifting stuff to one or more minor races just to see what would happen.

One time, I was close to an Influence Victory but wanted a Research Victory, so I gifted every single piece of tech, every ship, every base, and every planet to them.  The only things i kept were one research planet, one orbiting fleet, and 20,000 BCs. 
End of LTjim's quote

Interesting. What did the Minors do after that?

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

When my gifts/trades included colonizers, sometimes they colonized new planets, but not always.  In the one case I mentioned, my gifts made them by far the greatest power in the galaxy.  I had had some Influence value well into the 90s% and wanted to test the possibility that a Minor could win an Influence Victory.  (I did not get a Defeat Screen, so it seems Minors indeed canNOT win an Influence victory)

In that game, the remaining 4 or 5 AIs began to scrap among themselves, but left the Minor strictly alone.  I had hoped that the Minor would go on the offense or something, but that did not seem to happen.  Maybe I should try to find that save game, bribe AIs to declare war on the Minor and THEN give all the stuff to that same Minor.  Hmmmm.  Maybe a missed opportunity.

They also left me alone, perhaps due to my one fleet of good warships.  I won by Research about 15 turns later, IIRC.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

I play with the minors disabled.  I finally got bored with them.

I haven't tried so I don't know if it would work, but it might be possible to edit the RaceConfig.xml file to give the minors a major race type.  That might make them behave like a major race.  In TA, they get a variant of the Terran tech tree, so they wouldn't be limited in that regard.

Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Quoting Maiden666, reply 1
They are *cows*, only have to give milk
End of Maiden666's quote

Undoubtably, I do my own fair share of minor milking in my games.  First Metaverse game win now!  I felt a bit sorry for the Ikonians in my last game, after I reduced them from no1 civilizations to well a few colonies forced to convert to the Krynn "way" in order to survive. But they were unreasonable, my other main rival the Yor after being chucked to the bottom figured out that they were better off joining my club but they decided to start another war against one of my allies only a few weeks. 

(sensible civilizations realise that once they join "the club" they can wage war against my allies all they wish)

So I'm going to play the Ikonians next game and see if I can make them into the Arnor they deserve to be.  

But there is a bit of a storyline/plot/realism hole when it comes to the minor races.  The reason why they are unable to leave their home world is not really explained.  They aren't like primitive pre-hyperdrive people's, they can build powerful battleships, but why can't they leave their world in any great number?

Quoting CraigHB, reply 5
I play with the minors disabled.  I finally got bored with them.

I haven't tried so I don't know if it would work, but it might be possible to edit the RaceConfig.xml file to give the minors a major race type.  That might make them behave like a major race.  In TA, they get a variant of the Terran tech tree, so they wouldn't be limited in that regard.
End of CraigHB's quote

That gives me an idea.  The minors have their own special tech tree, I know that.  

I know they can build transports and presumably they could invade worlds if they were strong enough to get away with it.

But they cannot build colony ships, why is that? Presumably this is because the build colony ship script thing is disabled for their AIs I suppose.

If the colony ship module is simply not available, but the assosiated AI is, it would be possible simply to add a tech that adds in the colony ship module and they will simply build it.  Once they have a colony ship they can colonise planets, that bit is quite fine apparantly. 

The fundermental question is how do the minor race handicaps work?