A query on Terrain/Ship/Starbase upgrades. Thank you.

I seem to have trouble figuring out a few things.

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hi there,

I've gone the culture/diplomacy/government line of progress while others have opted for a military one. (Normal mode - small galaxy, 6 race game). However, everyone has a rating of "Close" or "Friendly" with me so trade is brisk and tech research is fast and buyable for a reasonable price. I'm almost finishing the last diplomacy research and then I'll finish off Star Democracy to round up my principle research.

But I seem to have problems with the way tiles/ships get upgraded in the game.

1. If I'm right, does a particular kind of tile upgrade override an existing upgrade or does it stack over it ? I'm asking this since I see my favour rating fluctuate constantly. The public just doesn't like anything other than entertainment. So what should I do ? Specialize planets or balance them ?

2. The ships I have at my disposal are pretty basic, with Defender being the only military one. So the only way to make better ships is by actually customising them in the ship designer tool?

3. How much would a pure economic/military/influence starbases have when built in regions other than your own ? I have 3 influence (with 2 additional inf. modules attached) starbases in the Altarian system but they seem to have no effect. The Altarian boundary just keeps increasing. Is it better to construct economic starbases in a "trade route" path or just enough to build near a planet?

4. If I were to upgrade a Starport tile to something else, I lost the Starport. So how do I get it back ?


I know most of these points are basic, but I'm missing something. Making mistakes I don't seem to have an answer for. Thanks for any kind of response.

Regards.......
2,988 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
1. Overrides. IE if you have a trade center (15% econ or something) building a bank will give you 24% econ now.

2. Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Yes.

3. Influence starbases max out at 387 Influence I believe so the enemy will laugh at 2-3 starbases with only 2 modules. Not sure about economy bases and trade routes. I have heard that you need the starbase to be near the planet the trade route starts in. I haven't noticed any significant increase in trade income from economy starbases.

4. Upgrade it back to a starport. If a tile is currently upgrading, you do need to cancel the upgrade, then overwrite the tile with a starport.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
2. The ships I have at my disposal are pretty basic, with Defender being the only military one. So the only way to make better ships is by actually customising them in the ship designer tool?


Until someone releases a core ship addon pack. Seems way too many people want to use only core ships and not design their own.
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
1) Specialize or Balance is up to you.. Although I'll give you my advice. Don't specialize on tiny/small where you get 1-2 planets. Cause you really need a Tech Capital world, a Manufacture Capital world and 1-3 econ/farm worlds to keep the cash flow positive. At least. Once you have this you can try (notice I said try) and divide out remaining worlds in this ratio to further increase your efficiency overall.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
3. Starbases.
Yep, they will laugh at your 2 module influencer starbase. You'll need to back the modules on that baby.
Economic starbases. If you want trade enhancer modules then build them along your trade routes. If you want production bonus then build them so as many of your planet as possible is in range. And of course they can do both.
And the bonus from them can be huge. I had a corridor of 3 trade routes that went in the same direction. I built 3 economic starbases along their path up to the first planet one of them ended. Each one added nearly 150 bc/wk to my income. All told in this game so far I have over 700 bc a week due just to trade routes enhanced by about 6 economic starbases. And of course I've added several starbase attack and defense modules so they aren't sitting ducks in a war. They can defend themselves pretty well.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Much appreciate the info from all of you. Thanx a lot.

Yes, I can see the difference now. Although I haven't been able to successfully rebuild a Starport on Earth (I had stupidly overridden it with something else), I have been able to deala significant cultural jolt to my neighbours.

I have teched all the way to Star Democracy and Total Majesty. Funny to think that the Drenjin actually gave me money as a sign of appreciation! . Having said that, it has come at the cost of my military prowess. I have the tech that the other races have but I haven't spent time building my own ship. My military rating is just 24 but I'm absolutely sure I am not a sitting duck. I have total control over others. My favour rating is nothing less than "Close" with everyone. I research 47% of the entire galaxy and trade over 50% of the total amount.

However, I have noticed that the races don't trade their techs for money anymore. They just don't. The simple reason being that I am far too advanced. But hey, my influence has been so good that the UT has awarded me an entire planet !. I was like, WOW!. What more surprises will this game throw at me ?

As you rightly said, trade routes definitely have an effect on economic starbases. I'm currently churning 450bc. But that is because my research spending is 100%!!. And taxes are at a good 37% with a favour rating of 89%. What I would like to ask is : Do custom made Constructors (if such a thing exists) have better defense/offense capabilities than the core design ?

I have steadfastly refused any alliance. I did it once and after a few turns I was immediately compelled to side with Arcean & Altarians against the Drenjin and Yors. I lost 6 trade routes and had limited military to ward off their relentless attacks. I reloaded a save file and since then, played completely neutral.

This game is truly a refreshing change from the normally formulaic sequels. Wonderful work, Stardock.