guvnor33

Join Date 03/2008

What Fresh Hell Is This? (pirate fleets)

Gents,

Brand new to the game, brand new to the entire GalCiv lineup. I watched the tutorials and started my first game on "beginner" difficulty. I am a fan of Civ so I kinda can't believe I missed this game. Anyway I am about 3 hours into my first game and a random event occurs where pirates attack and kill every single ship and base (I had four) on the map. They don't seem to leave, they are parked outside my planets and are killing new ships as they are created.

I am speechless. Is this just an amazingly rare event and I am just that unlucky? It just leaves me wondering how such a devastating event could even be programmed into the game in the first place? Like what dev sat there and thought, "I know what would be fun..." and then this got coded? I am wondering if there is a random event where all of my saved games are deleted and then I am crashed to the desktop?

Guv.

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This sounds like what I have read on this forum related to the "Jagged Knife" event that can happen. It's a mega event of some kind. Like you, I haven't been playing long enough to really know. I will tell you though that there is a Thread on here related to it, and if you search on the Wiki site you can find alot of information on it there.

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The pirates event can be devastating for human and AI players alike. But since they do not get transports to invade your worlds with, you can't lose any planets except if a particularly strong enemy fleet breaks through with transports in tow. So focus on building up your planets and doing research until you're ready to roll out some more advanced ship designs.

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This, oddly enough, happened to my in my first sandbox game as well; and I haven't seen it since. Which is a shame, 'cause it'd be FUN now.

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erischild

Join Date 01/2012

+136

I think you got very unlucky and got an event at a time where it would be a bigger challenge to handle. If you play Civ for the challenge, you might play out this game.

If you are looking for a more representative first impression, you might try a complete re-roll for new map.

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Given that the AI is usually not too good about clearing them out, the pirates can often prove more help then hindrance, if you resign yourself to losing every ship and starbase you own when they arrive. When you eventually tech up and defeat the pirates - they never advance or rebuild losses, so they will be defeated eventually - you'll likely be in control of the largest (sometimes only) military in the game.

You can also try just bunkering down and going for the tech victory, but that's pretty cheesy.

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As others said before, there are ways to beat the pirates or even use them in your favour. Getting them in pretty much your first game is kinda hardcore though. They, like all other mega events, weren't really meant for the first playthrough, but were added to shake the game up and make it more challenging for more experienced players. You can turn mega events off when you start a new game, if you want.

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Thanks for all the replies! Unchecking the "mega events" checkbox is definitely advisable for a very first game. Almost seems like selecting "beginner" should auto-uncheck this box. Anyways, I did decide to leave this game behind and instead tried a new sandbox game, which I lost to the Krynn in a culture smash. I could see it coming but kept playing because I was learning what was what in the tech tree. I switched over and played the first few Arnor Campaign missions which kinda gave me a better feel for what GalCiv is all about and allowed me to figure out the tech tree a bit more.

Now that I've learned a bit about what is important in the tech tree (jack of all trades = bad) I'm back to sandbox mode for a third try. I went all +tech crazy and out teched the other 5 civs very rapidly and now have the game on mop up. Time to jump up the difficulty.

The game is a blast.

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It sure is! Enjoy.

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And I do appreciate the offhand Dorothy Parker reference.

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I have left Mega Events turned off since I first got the game. Playing nicely, sizable empire...then BOOM Jagged Knife and I lose 1/2 of my colonies. What sadist programmed that??

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Quoting Yranib,

reply 11

I have left Mega Events turned off since I first got the game. Playing nicely, sizable empire...then BOOM Jagged Knife and I lose 1/2 of my colonies. What sadist programmed that??

I dont mind the pirates actually I quite enjoy it but I have to keep Mega Events turned off especially on immense maps as 9/10 I get the dread lords and by the time I find their single planet my empire/fleet and planets are burning in space or conquered.

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