ShockMeSane

Reply to How radical should expansion packs get? in GalCiv Journals GalCiv2 Forums

First off, let me say that I really like Stardock, and I'm sure I'd buy any expansion that you guys release, but the main features I'd look for: - Tactical combat (this would be a big change though, as I don't think the games current weapon/defense system would lend itself to tactical combat.... making this basically an entire expansion by itself) - Overhauled economy - Overhauled espionage (needs to be a bit more interesting/powerful for me to use it for anything othe

Reply to Hey, just bought the game and played it through in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

No, I don't mind answering questions at all. I think back to my best experiences with games in the past and they usually coincide with good community experiences. I'll just add that I'm by no means amazingly good at the game, but there are plenty of people on these boards that can answer more advanced strategic questions. In DA, I found that the best strategy with the Korx was to use your trade routes as primarily a way to avoid war with your most militarily powerful neighbors. Trade ro

Reply to Hey, just bought the game and played it through in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I'm going to go ahead and agree with everything Silverbeacher just said, and add the caveat that I find masochistic games much easier with minor races enabled, as they are kind of a "safe" person to sell technology to and supplement your income to help make up for the bonus the AI receives. This is one of the reasons that I turn tech-trading off, because I for one cannot resist temptation. Also, I feel like tech-trading moves the overall tech-level of the galaxy forward too quickly for my tastes

Reply to Beta 3b, the Krynn and some other random thoughts in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I always assumed that although they could replicate Precursor technology, because the Precursors had lived amongst them so long. However the Precursors themselves had evolved much further than the current state of the Iconians, into some sort of quasi-energy state or involving telekinesis or something fancy like that, the Iconians themselves couldn't get anywhere near the efficiency of what the Precursors got out of those buildings... sort of like trying to run the Starship Enterprise with only

Reply to Hey, just bought the game and played it through in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

[quote]how do i get levels of espionage rating on enemy planets(e.g im told i need a level of low for, this high for something else etc) i cranked up my espionage spending to 40 bc for about 10 weeks but i still couldnt see the enemy planets influence stats(which require low). i also tried placing agents on the planet, didnt change it.[/quote] From DA (the first expansion) on, you raise your espionage rating by placing agents on that civ's planet hex's. This will disable that

Reply to Hey, just bought the game and played it through in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Alright, a few answers, in no particular order. -Game Difficulty At "Normal" difficulty, the AI isn't very good. Its functioning with a 25% handicap to its economy and it isn't playing with the higher level algorythms, like checking to see if you have transports/ships building up near their worlds, which is an easy strategy to overwhelm the hapless AI with, especially with its economic deficiency at that level. I'd recommend jumping straight to "Tough", since you seem to ha

Reply to Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar for Strategy Game of the Year in GalCiv II News GalCiv2 Forums

Threw in my vote too, but I must say Supreme Commander looks like it might be an unstoppable juggernaught. Which is too bad, cause it wasn't all that spectacular =/

Reply to Beta 3b, the Krynn and some other random thoughts in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

I'd like to see some kind of super-ability relating to their mastery of robotics and automation. I mean, they did design the Yor (even if not to their sentient state), so I think it might be realistic to give them a +10% social/military cost-free production bonus or something to simulate the efficiency of their robotics technology as a super ability. And as far as the Espionage bonus I mean, cmon..... I'd even take Influence, as an economic advantage might be too powerful in offsetting

Reply to Beta 3b, the Krynn and some other random thoughts in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Yea, I've managed to put a couple more games in and I feel more strongly than ever that the Iconians need a bit of help. Their super ability is subpar, they lack customization points, and the +50 espionage just doesn't make any kind of sense at all. They definitely need a little bit of help in the economy department. I can easily trounce the AI with any race, especially the Korath on Painful, except the Iconians. With them I feel like I have to rely on a good starting setup and a lot of

Reply to Beta 3b, the Krynn and some other random thoughts in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

While I certainly understand your point about Super Abilities being far less of a balance concern than before, they are still a factor in game balance. I've played the game through at least twice on painful with each race, and though I'm far from a great GalcivII player I couldn't help but notice that the Iconians are definitely the race I'm worst with. Now, it could be with all their high maintenance buildings and relatively weak initial production that I've been unable to pull ahead by a sizea

Beta 3b, the Krynn and some other random thoughts in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Hey guys, just wanted to say fantastic job on the Krynn. They seem to have the most unique playstyle that I've seen yet, with all their crazy influence and moral boosting abilities, not to mention being able to shut down entire planets with their spy network. I've managed two games with them (on normal/painful) and each one was a total blast. I am still kind of holding out that the Iconians will lose their espionage bonus and get something a little more precursoresque, as neither their

Reply to Resource Mining techs in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Yea, I was just assuming that it was a concious design decision, because its about a +30% global bonus difference once you get the high level mining techs between the races that have the old ones and those with new. The Iconians are really the only ones I feel suffer greatly, as the newly improved Yor and Korath don't have nearly the economic problems the Iconians face. Oddly enough, I find that the Arceans with the full line of mining techs and their Weather Control Centers can become

Reply to Updated views on TA in Beta Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Just wanted to agree and say that I think Stardock is an amazing company as well. TA is beyond what anyone could have hoped out of an expansion, it's practically like playing a new game. In fact, the only non-bug thing I have to possibly complain about in TA is that the Drengin play a little too much like a watered down version of the Korath. Seeing as before TA they played even more similarly, its only a complaint in comparison to how amazingly different the races all feel and play now! <br

Terran/Korath bug TA beta 3b in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Not sure if this is exclusive to the Terrans/Korath, but I played 3 games tonight with the Krynn/Krynn/Yor, and every game that I played against Terrans (with random opponents) they didnt build a single ship with a weapon. The Korath had the same problem in my final game as Yor. They were easily at the point of which a militarily oriented race like the Korath should be at least in their second tier of weapon techs, minimally. These were all on normal difficulty, and the Arceans and Torians built

Reply to CTD in loading saved 1.80a game in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Yep, apparently any loading causes a CTD for me. Using Vista, latest version of the game. Everything ran fine until I CTD at a combat screen, then both my autosaves and two of my manual saves all are insta-CTD. Its nice to know I only lost like 4 hours of my life. I'll take comfort in the fact that I was going to win beyond a shadow of a doubt, but still =/

Reply to Gameplay Example: Epic in GalCiv Journals GalCiv2 Forums

Another great post. Just thought you might be interested Brad, but I love it that your release of patches has almost perfectly coincided with my skill level. The AI is at least twice as good as it was at release, and at the time, I thought it was pretty solid beyond the engines issue. Anyways, keep up the great work, can't wait to hear what's in store for 1.2!

Reply to What priority should multiplayer have? in GalCiv Journals GalCiv2 Forums

I'm kind of in the same boat as you Brad. The only people I would enjoy playing a game that requires this significant of a time investment against would be a "real-life" friend. Of that group, two people play Gal Civ II. Out of those two people, neither has a skill level at 4x games that is comparable to mine. One is so much worse that we would never play, while I imagine the other might play 1-3 games with me before tiring. That being said, I know the

Reply to First-Timer needs help! in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

The best way to learn the game would definitely to be to set it to the lowest difficulty, the smallest galaxy size, and have 2 opponents. I think you need at least 2 to get a general feeling for what the game will play out like. Also, as someone mentioned, turn down the number of habitable planets. Hopefully you should not have to manage more than 6-7 planets on your initial playthrough as you get the feeling for managing a much larger empire. On the m

Reply to Results: Where did you hear about GalCiv II from? in GalCiv II News GalCiv2 Forums

Kosty and some others mention a critical point. Anyone willing to write in a game developers forum is a heavy internet user, which many, many gamers are not. On the other hand, I do know many "casual" internet users who still rely on things like Gamespot and IGN for their gaming news. As far as to how I bought it, it was in several steps: 1) Saw it on display at Gamestop (the store), looked at the back. Looked interesting. Did not

Reply to Results: Where did you hear about GalCiv II from? in GalCiv II News GalCiv2 Forums

I'd just like to add that I can't agree enough about Gamespot and Penny Arcade. Gamespot is almost without exception the first place I hear about new games, and although I do not take their reviews as the last gospel truth, I think it is fair to say that if they don't give a game at least an 80%, I'm not even going to bother looking at it. After that, if I'm still interested in purchasing a game I'll check out at least 2 other reviews (usually the firs

Reply to Unbelievable choice of surrender in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I would be much, much happier if taking a Surrender was viewed by the AI for what it actually is, a hostile act, and give them a chance to decline it. I'm always hopelessly annoyed when a climactic 3 year war against a massive galactic empire concludes with its surrender to another race which had nothing to do with the conflict, thus forcing me either to withdraw and risk the wrath of the new owners, or plunge on directly into the next war.

Reply to The Two Page Spreads are coming.. in GalCiv II News GalCiv2 Forums

I like it as well, but I'm not really sure how much you guys need to spend on advertising in magazines. I suppose it could open you up to more customers, but I think these days many, many people get their gaming info from websites like Gamespot.com. I think it might definitely be in your interest to try and get some interviews/coverage on those sites, particularly because of the results of your own poll. Getting into the top 10 most viewed PC games on

Reply to Resources --- Overpowered? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Resources are undoubtably very powerful, and the computer will sell them to you for far too cheap. Other than that, the only possible balance issue I have with them is that as another poster mentioned, Influence Resources are probably a little too powerful. If you grab the only two in the galaxy at the beginning of the game, you are almost guarenteed an easy win on any difficulty, particularly if you manage to rush-build the Restaraunt of Eternity.</fo

Reply to what i would like to see in 1.2 in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

just remembered another thing I would really love to see in the game: Alternative governments. Actually, it kind of shocks me that they aren't in the game. Currently the system works in such a way that every government is a direct upgrade from the one prior to it. There really ought to be different government styles for different playtypes. Not just Democracys, but Collectives (I mean come on, the Yor forming a Democracy seems really weird),

Reply to what i would like to see in 1.2 in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Fun thread, just thought I'd reply with my wishlist, not just for 1.2, but up to and including the expansion: - Death/Terror Stars + another larger hull size after Huge - Carrier Modules! - New, obvious techs - Cloaking Devices (and the sensor tech to detect them), Interdicter Ships, etc - Shipyards that are built in space using constructers. They would still cost money to operate, but perhaps get a discount and potentially be