InfernalRS

Reply to premade ships strangely powerful in Twilight of the Arnor GalCiv2 Forums

I noticed this as well, there were excessive components listed when I hit upgrade on the basic Constructor. Not only that, but several of the components weren't even allowed by my technology level. There were range and sensor modules on it well above what my starting techs permitted. This wasn't quite game-breaking, as none of the components actually imparted stats, volume, or cost to the ship design. They were, for all intents and purposes beyond the rollover

Reply to A chance for someone to look smart (noob question) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Trade is an excellent way to enhance your relations- it should be an early priority for just that reason. I've found that my early routes aren't made for pure profit, but more for diplomatic ties first and empire balancing second. All trade routes benefit both parties equally. If you can establish good relations, they'll make more trade routes with you, and so on. I usually end up trading with the stronger minors and weaker majors, to even them up for the fun to come. The best time

Reply to A chance for someone to look smart (noob question) in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Well, it sounds like the Altarians have several developed Influence resources, in addition to owning the largest empire. Those Influence resources can provide a massive boost to any planet's influence, especially with multiple resources under the command of one civilization. If you toggle the graph over to Influence, I bet the Altarians have a commanding lead while you're stuck at around 50% of what they have. What's happening is that by taking a planet close to yours, they've establi

Reply to How to deactivate Win Condition ? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Well, you can disable all victory conditions except for Military Conquest on the starting screen. I routinely disable Cultural Victory because I'd win with that long before I could win with Military Conquest. You can disable them all, ally with the only remaining planet of the only remaining major whenever you reach that point, and simply coast on from there. Just be sure they don't lose cultural control of that last sector- if you must, disband starbases on Influence resources, or gift one t

Reply to mods permitted in metaverse in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

It varies. Stardock certified mods should always be safe to use. Uncertified mods are much more fluid, and some are gamebusters on the metaverse. There may even be certain combinations of Stardock certified mods that, together, may cause flags to be raised. However, simply poessessing an uncertified mod is unlikely to be an automatic kickout. It's how you use it that determines if the game is valid or not.

Reply to What am I doing wrong? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Well, the AI does get some advantages- the most notable one being a PQ boost at higher levels. This is a substantial advantage at incredible, so you will have to give on something to keep up. However, a lot of that military power you see isn't obtained well- I've watched the AI completely kill its economy with rush bought ships, sometimes going multi-thousands into the hole. They tend to take those "most up front, part per month" deals, since they seem to drag on the recovery even wit

Reply to What am I doing wrong? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Aye, ditching the production bonuses is a good idea- they don't really help unless you can maintain a 100% spending rate. The same goes for research bonuses- I never need research bonuses since just one developed Research resource is usually enough to force down the spending rate. Indeed, that's a very key difference between GC and many other stragegy games- you don't have a dedicated "Production" resource class. Instead, you have a production base that can be streamlined (with manufa

Reply to strategies in Strategies Stardock Forums

A few more tips: Max out your spend rate and dump it all into military production at the start, as you will need to shove out those colony ships. Once trade becomes available, start making Freighters and trade routes. If you're planning on going for an Alliance win, trade with the other major civs. If you want some other kind of victory, trade with the minor civs. You can somewhat discount taking Research, Moral, Attack/Defense, Economy, and Influence bonuses, since

Reply to Buffer over run crashes in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

That's odd... I've encountered this, but there was no problem- when it hit the maximum number of ships in orbit, it simply halted production of new ships and wouldn't let me put any others into orbit until I launched a few. What game version are you using? I have 1.22, so that one should be okay.

Reply to 1 Planet created 2 Trade Goods in the same month?! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Entirely possible, though in more recent versions the minors don't bother with trade goods. Indeed, it's possible to get two items completed almost every turn- One can be bought during the turn, and one can be completed naturally at the start of the turn. Production always goes to something, even if you've sandwitched the calculation phase between purchases on the prior and current turns. This is handy to know if you culture flip a planet only to find that the comp stripped

Reply to A few things... in Strategies Stardock Forums

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't economy only affect your plantary income? It's never made much of a difference to me, especially once you hit that 4xPQ barrier when considerable economic bonuses only budge income up by one or two. On the other hand, more economics should let you set a much lower tax rate with minimal income impact, leading to higher moral, population growth, and ultimately more production capacity. Trade, on the other hand, doesn't suffer from such limits. I r

Reply to Custom Map / Aliens do nothing? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

That's the funny thing about these things- sometimes it might be the game, sometimes it's the computer. It could be either in this case- it all depends on the exact algorithms used for the AI. More often than not, AI algorithms tend to be of a P^n nature, and if the planets in question are all equally good, then it might not be able to prune away any choices, forcing it to examine them all. Depending on the exact nature of the situation, you might have created a galaxy map that's only playabl

Reply to AP Crashing - Can't Start!! Help! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Crash details? Does it simply flash a window and exit, or does it actually display an error as it goes down? System specs are also handy for bug quashing. There's also a very oft chance (I don't have the AP pack, so I'm not sure if it uses the loader or not) that the little start menu proggy got corrupted, and that corrupted file got cached (therefore making the problem external to what GC deals with). There is a work-around: You can try running GC directly by running galciv.exe i

Reply to Disable Full-Screen Movies? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Whoot! Finally got it working, along with a ton of other programs that use DirectX- My system is now working almost normally. I simply zipped over to good old Nvidia's website and got their latest driver files (ver 77.72, had been using ver 66.94). The upgrade has greatly improved compatibility. I can now start GC normally, without using the Civ III "bounce", and the full screen movies play properly. I can also run a great many other DirectX apps that use frequent screen resizing.

Reply to Disable Full-Screen Movies? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Well, I just upgraded to a GeForce FX 5500, and I still have the same problem. Oddly, once (I haven't been able to repeat it) I started GC after some time spent doing other things, and the intro animations actually played! However, it then promptly blackscreened on the start menu, and I was only able to reset my comp. It went right back to the Bounce CivIII -> Play GC minus fullscreen movies behavior.

Reply to Disable Full-Screen Movies? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Funny, I have that exact problem, and that exact brand of card (Nvidia GeForce2 MX400 to be percise). Latest drivers and DirectX 9.0 on the software side. The card may simply be too old for the leanest and meanest, but DirectX can't be downgraded short of an OS reinstall... ~SDC~

Reply to Disable Full-Screen Movies? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I get this exact problem myself, and I have an even more bizzare solution: I run Civilization III before GC. Nothing major, just enough to enter then exit CivIII, but that solves the full screen movie lockup problem. It doesn't actually fix them, it just goes completely black and lets you skip the movie by clicking. Smaller, non-fullscreen movies play normally. It smells like some sort of ommitted initialization of the movie player, something that CivIII does but GC doesn't.

Reply to A few things... in Strategies Stardock Forums

It sounds like you're in excellent shape, save one item- you're not trading technology. The AI will trade technology around, and thus end up outpacing you easily if you stay research-isolated. If you get involved in the technology trading, your research opponents are equal in number to the number of major and minor races in the game. If you shy away, your research opponent is all other races combined, and though none may be a match for you individually, their combined might is able to

Reply to Flipping minors, a question. in Strategies Stardock Forums

Flipped refers to using culture to take over a planet. Basicly, it 'flips over' to your side. Woe be we who are up at all hours... The joke is a lost art form on us... ~SDC~

Reply to omega defense, planetary defense & star system defense in Strategies Stardock Forums

They all just effect ground combat. There are no structures that provide ships with direct bonuses for being in orbit. The only way a plantary improvement can aid ships is the various quality improvements- Shipyard, Advanced Quality Control, Starship Foundary -and this bonus only applies to a ship ONCE, when it is built. If you do want to provide your ships with attack/defense bonuses, build a starbase and add Protection Fields, Battlestations, Fusion Cannons, Micro-Fighters, and rela

Reply to Extra capitals in Strategies Stardock Forums

I've done this in older versions- the newly aquired planet will finish the capital, and suddenly you've got two. In newer versions, it'll reset the project before it's completed and change it to 'Nothing', thus fixing that little bug of building two capitals. ~SDC~

Reply to What are your star naming conventions? in Strategies Stardock Forums

I usually use Aplha Centauri for the closest, Wolf 359 for the next closest, and Sirius for the third. After that, I just default to the given names, though if a planet gains some importance it gets a new name. ~SDC~

Reply to trade routes??? in Strategies Stardock Forums

Once you do that initial trip from the planet that built the freighter (the source) to an alien system (the destination), the trade route is set and will be handled automatically by the computer. All you have to do is sit back and watch the money roll in. The route will remain up even if the destination system changes hands to another alien civilization, but if you take over the target (through any means) the route is cancelled. I got a nice kick in the economy my last game when the Altarians

Reply to money problem in Strategies Stardock Forums

Beware of what you build- everything has a cost except for a few rare ships/improvements. Try to focus on things that improve Planet Quality, then Economy, then Moral as needed. You'll want to develop your highest PQ planets the furthest- they're going to be your production powerhouses. Others, just keep them happy and squeeze as much economy out of them as possible, and seriously consider removing improvements you might have had in the buildup phase (like the Manufacturing Center) and let th

Reply to Too lucky in Strategies Stardock Forums

That's extremely good luck, even with lucky. Take it as a very rare lucky break. As for the maintenance costs, you can disband excess craft to cut back on the cost. That early, a pair of rangers is really all you need- send them out with transports in tow, and invade everyone. ~SDC~