1. The higher the planets manufacturing capacity, the faster everything builds on that planet.

2. If the planet has a bonus tile you should probably focus on that area. So if I have a 300% research tile on a PQ5 planet, it would probably get one factory, 3 research buildings and an economic building. And once everything is built I might replace the factory with either another research or econ structure, depending on if I need more research capacity or more money.

Manufacturing only affects the planet it is built on, but research goes into a general pool. So each planet manufactures only as much as it can by itself, but research is for everyone.

3. Nope. Anomalies are spawned at the start of the game only. When they are gone, they are gone for good. So find them as early in the game as possible.

Hey all, This is part of my question. How do I build survey modules to explore these anomolies??? So far I can only bult constructers and scouts...Thanks! Lee

hurray for research.

Research to sensors mark 4 or 3 i forgot you can look when you highlight the tech.

Also make sure to make your own ships for they are much better then those that are created for you.

And here I thought Moosetek was an upgrade to research labs in the
Canadian System...

Outstanding answers and a quick response, thanks much Moosetek13 !!

1. Is it a complete waste to build Manuf capacity on planets that will never get a starport or do they help you in some more generalized way?

Below 6 PQ I don't build them. On 7-11 I build them but then build over them once I have the top build for econ/res/morale.

2. If the planet has a bonus tile you should probably focus on that area. So if I have a 300% research tile on a PQ5 planet, it would probably get one factory, 3 research buildings and an economic building. And once everything is built I might replace the factory with either another research or econ structure, depending on if I need more research capacity or more money.

2. So low capacity planets (say 4-5 usable squares) can best be used for tech which can be used off planet, is that right? Or what?

You only have four buildable tiles on a PQ 5. Personally I would put 2 econ and 2 research. Even if one of the tiles is a manu bonus. Of course this depends on the number of planets you have. If you only have a few then you may need a different set up.

3. Do any anomalies appear after the very early game? I tried a medium sized playing field and after the initial rush to exploit never saw another anomaly. But then there is the option to build the Galactic Guide Book which allows all ships to be survey vessels, which made me think there must be some reason to do this so maybe there are more that appear at random later in the game. Or is this just a pretty worthless use of a planet space?

No they don't . The GGB is useless to most as the anomolies are usually gone by the time you can get it. I did so a post once that someone was rushing sensor tech to get and use it but most don't. Random or regenerating anomolies have been asked for at least since GC I. Maybe back to the OS days. This Chief is still hoping we get them.

This is part of my question. How do I build survey modules to explore these anomolies??? So far I can only bult constructers and scouts...Thanks! You should research "Sensors 1" tech. It will unlock the survey module. You can make your own survey ships then. Research to sensors mark 4 or 3 i forgot you can look when you highlight the tech. Sensors 3 & 4 merely unlock planent structures. I believe Sensors 3 unlocks Nano recorders and Galactic guide book, and that Sensors 4 unlocks Eyes of the universe.

Yup. Build a cargo hull with impulse engines and the survey module(or 3). Even playing against 9 AI you will still get over half of the anomolies. Remember that getting to these anomolies not only helps you but more importantly will not help your future enemy.

Again, many thanks for all the help. I'm sure I'll be back for more

Strange thing you start off with one such ship if you don't have the tech to build it...

Wow, I am not the only one who thought this was strange as well.

Ah, good, a Quick Noob Questions thread! Handy since I'm a Noob and like quick answers

My questions are:

1. Does Terraforming (or later advances) allow you to transform & colonize uninhabitable planets? I mean, that's what terraforming is supposed to do . . . . . and that reference to the Genesis machine would seem to support that. Playing in a tiny or small galaxy, it would seem that once all the habitable ones are gobbled up, your only recourse is war or cultural domination.

Or does it just open up more productive squares on already habitable planets (boo!)

2. I have just tried one game so far. Everything seemed okay, I focused on a cultural campaign and research, with a small military in the event of hostilities. The problem was, no matter what I did, my popularity dropped like a stone. I built all kinds of entertainment perks, even one on Mars (which could scarcely afford that space) and it still dropped. I lowered taxes to no avail (it'd help, a little but not nearly enough).

Was this because of overpopulation (I did always build farms first), or because I remained a dictatorship ( I preferred to think of it as a Benevolent Monarchy )?

Hijacking with another noob question.

What size map and number opponents do you guys play with typically.
I have been playing normal size with me + 3, but it basically feels like I can run one of them over pretty easily and then it is just pushing on to the end game. Should I be playing on a bigger map with more enemies, and if so what do you find to be the optimum size?

I am a vet of the civilization line of games and always find the AI advantage annoying to say the least so I am playing at "Tough" (I think that is the setting) where it is supposedly even with the player. As for the map size anyone have a basic size to number of players list they seem to like?

To me the following seems right
Tiny 1 enemy
Small 2 enemies
Medium 3 enemies
Large 6 enemies
Huge or Gigantic all the enemies.

That sound about right?

ah I see. That will help thanks. Also does setting the high CPU algorithim help the AI significantly. I have a slightly older CPU with a lot of RAM (P4 1.7 w/1 GB of Rambus DRAMS) so was keeping it off not to kill the CPU, but it seems from a few things I have read around here that it really helps the AI's game play.

I will definitely kick it up a few notches on the "pain chart".

It does help the AI predict moves. So if you play fairly and don't have ships that can cross the map in like 2 turns, it will help. Basically it's like increasing the move depth of a chess AI.

As of v1.31:

Difficulty = (AI Level) (AI Intelligence)

* Cakewalk = 15 (Fool)
* Easy = 20 (Dunce)
* Simple = 30 (Beginner)
* Beginner = 40 (Sub-Normal)
* Normal = 50 (Normal)
* Challenging = 65 (Bright)
* Tough = 80 (Intelligent) *Full AI capability from here on*
* Painful = 85 (Gifted)
* Crippling = 95 Genius)
* Masochistic = 100 (Incredible)
* Obscene = 120 (Godlike)
* Suicidal = 150 (Ultimate)

Notes

And as Kblore mentioned, we really have no idea how the bonuses run these days. But those are the numbers from the debug.err file along with their associated game settings. Brad has yet to fill us in on the details of what exactly the AI does at each of these levels. In the past it has been economy bonuses past a certain point. This is suspected to still be true but the exact values are unknown.

Exact levels for your current game can be viewed in the debug.err file in the installation directory.

AI Intelliegence Level

AI Intelligence level is per AI controlled race. When you select a game each race has a varying degree of intelligence based on the game difficulty selected above. Exact details are not known. In older versions prior to v1.31 it was known to be the following.

Fool - The AI's economy is run at 10% of normal, no higher level algorithms are enabled
Beginner - The AI's economy is run at 25% of normal, no higher level algorithms are enabled
Sub-Normal - The AI's economy is run at 50% of normal, no higher level algorithms are enabled
Normal - The AI's economy is run at 75% of normal, AI evaluates common human tactics
Bright - The AI's economy is run at 100% of normal, AI evaluates most known human tactics
Intelligent - The AI's economy is run at 100% of normal, AI expertly picks abilities and all known human tactics are searched and countered
Gifted - The AI's economy is run at 105% of normal, All AI algorithms in place (same as above)
Genius - The AI's economy is run at 125% of normal, All AI algorithms in place (same as above)
Incredible - The AI's economy is run at 200% of normal, All AI algorithms are in place (same as above)

Retrieved from "https://www.galciv.wikia.com/wiki/Difficulty_level"

Strange thing you start off with one such ship if you don't have the tech to build it... But that goes for the cargo (large) hulls too. The techtree, oh the techtree

Actually, initially you don't have *any* of the techs required to build the survey vessel (medium hulls, sensors, survey module, advanced support, basic support, ion drive)!

You and any other race, that is. Oh, but the Yor, the Korx and the Drath do have Ion Engine, which is rather strange, considering the storyline... so the humans invented the HD, but these guys after all were already way ahead.   

Another thing I find very weak in the game is the mixing and matching and the cumulative effect of different levels of sensors and life support in a ship. Yuk! Make them increase in size with each level, and become more powerful, and have only one per ship, like logic dictates (not the right game for logic, I know). I dare not say, do the same with... engines.