The DEMO arrives

Glad you guys finally got around to releasing a demo. I've been watching Gal Civ 2 for awhile, but I've made the choice not to purchase games I don't have any kind of demonstration or trial version available. Too many games of crappy quality been coming out lately. You know how it is.

The time limit on the demo was kind of awkward--while playing I never really got anything "done" since by the time I was ready to start a war or try to make a diplomatic victory, the demo ended a shortly after.

Still, after playing the demo 4-5 times I decided to buy it. Crisp graphics, sweet, intuitive user interface, and great gameplay. It's gonna be best strategy game of 2006, no question. Good work!

Game looks pretty sweet! Wish the demo went a little longer but I guess I can't complain...

Bug report (no biggies, but a couple minor ones):
- The score at the end doesn't appear to be right for the player (the others look like a total of their component scores; my score is a fraction of it - difficulty modifier?).
- Can't scroll the tile special description to see all of it (up arrow lights up, down arrow doesn't/doesn't work)

That's all I remember right now...I think there was one or two more but I'll have to play through it again to see.

Demo looks good. But there were a number of interface glitches that are keeping me from buying the game.

1. I'll press 'End Turn' but nothing will happen. There is no indication of ANYTHING happening. I'll walk away from the computer for an hour, and the game will still be in this state. Finally, I'll click around on my own units and such, and the game will 'Wake up' and then do something.

2. I will be trying to design a ship. I will edit the Ship Design interface and go back out to the galaxy view. There, waiting for me are one or more ship design warning dialog boxes. What's up with that? Why didn't these show up while I was still in the Ship Design screen?

3. There are other examples like (2) where the game seems to lose track of the current window. I don't remember the exact details.

All-in-all, the presentation makes me think the game has come a long way since Gal Civ 1 (Windows). But these interface problems make me want to wait another three to six months while they get ironed out.

Wow I quite enjoyed playing the demo (waited for it ever since galciv2 was released), though I think I sucked big.
At the end I had two wars going, but it was just me sending some ship into their territory, blowing things up and getting blown up. Nothing spectacular.

I also found some minor UI issues. E.g. on the planet view, I click on build ship, then I select new to design a new one and when I am done with that, I am thrown to the galaxy and not back to the planet, where I wanted to build the ship.

The ship designer sure is a lot of fun, but I couldn't get past small sized ships and there was very little stuff I could put on. At one point I decided I have seperate defense and attack ships, but I couldn't find out if that helped (or worked), because I ran into the time limit.

I have to play some more games, to decide if it's worth the money.

Any beginner tips (important techs, ship combinations, things to do)?

zerg - those bugs are odd. I think they're specific to the demo. I've never seem them in the full version.

In the release notes for v1.1 Beta 2, "Fixed bug where "Cannot Remove Component" popup would get stuck behind the ship design window" Link
This sounds a lot like zergfest's bug #2. Making sure a particular window is always on top is a common problem with Windows apps.

I have never experience the problem he reports with the "End Turn" button (I have been playing since Dec. 2005 as I was a beta tester), so it might just be a problem with the demo which I have not tried.

Don:

No, there are no "tips" for the demo. The game doesn't last long enough for you to achieve victory through any other way than conquering all the other civilizations. I know because I tried, but even the "nearest" victory (influencing everyone else) was too far off for me to grab it in time. Pretty muc hthe only thing you need to do is research enough warfare-related technology to go to war with everyone.

Thankfully the retail version is much more expansive.

I played a second game of the demo today and made the following observations:

1. I was selecting a Technology to research next when the 'Breaking News' window appeared on top of the Galactic Map (completely closing the Research screen). This was a bit disconcerting.

2. Later, I was on the planet screen trying to build a screen when this screen was closed so the game could display the question, "Do you wish to upgrade this StarBase?".

3. When I was trying to set a ship to Auto-Survey, the game would not let me. The box would check and then immediately uncheck. Then, several moments later when I was doing something else, I would see one or more warning boxes that were about no anomalies detectable preventing auto-survey.

4. Just two squares away from a survey ship, I saw an anomaly. Maybe this anomaly was not in the viewing range of the 'other' survey ship? And, that is why it wouldn't go into auto-survey mode?

5. Sometimes, when I'm queueing up multiple factories to be built on a planet, the game will auto-select the next square and leave me with the last buildling selected. In those cases, I can just click 'Build' three times in a row to build three factories. Other times, I must select the square and then select the building and then press build. I'm guessing that in the first case I'm just getting lucky with respect to the list of grids being stored in some sort of internal order that makes then more amenable to repeat building.

6. In Gal Civ 1, IIRC, there was a screen that showed civ benefits caused by starbases. After two demo games, I haven't found that yet. But I haven't RTFM'd yet. So that might be a good starting point.

7. Mouse-overs would be nice in the interface....

Aiiie.... Just started downloading the demo from Download.com and gamespot.com and it's going to take 2.5 hours!

I can't find it anywhere else, and no, I'm not using dialup. To be sure, I've attempted to download other things to ensure it wasn't just my ISP.

Anyone have a torrent for this? (or are there any mirrors I just haven't discovered yet?). I'll try to provide a torrent for the demo after I've downloaded it.

As to #6, in the planet view you can click on the Summary or Details button (I forget which - it might be both) and in the right-side corner you should see what bonuses from Starbases apply to the planet, as well as its specific planetary bonuses.

Congrats Stardock, and can I put this on NeoTech Gaming fansite? http://www.neotechgaming.com I am switching software, I will add it to that site if its approved.

I've been enjoying playing the demo but I gotta ask - will there be a patch to 1.1 (and beyond) for the demo?

Aiiie.... Just started downloading the demo from Download.com and gamespot.com and it's going to take 2.5 hours! I can't find it anywhere else

Man you should try www.fileshack.com for all your downloading needs. Then if that has a long wait time then try www.pcgameworld.com they usually have a good mirror or two, but fileshack is definitely the best

Now maybe someone can help me out I've downloaded the demo but when I install it at 19% I get a message saying something to the effect of:

"An I/O error has occured. This can be caused by a corrupt program or installation program..."

Does anyone have a solution to this? I've downloaded it several times to make sure that I got the whole file; I'm pretty upset that it isn't working since this game has received such high praises from reviews and I want to purchase it...after I play the demo of course

Ok, tried to post this before and don't know where it went.

I have tried the demo but it crashes and yes I did update my video drivers.

Debug Message: Version 1.0X DEMO VERSION last updated on: Wed Mar 22 18:28:31 2006
Debug Message: Could not find a TGN Serial No.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 4/5/2006, 11:25:35
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: xxxxxxxxxx
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
System Model: Precision WorkStation 650
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(TM) CPU 3.20GHz (4 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 3454MB RAM
Page File: 296MB used, 6455MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: 3Dlabs Wildcat4 7110
Manufacturer: 3Dlabs
Chip Type: Wildcat4
DAC Type: Wildcat (320 MHz)
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_3D3D&DEV_07A3&SUBSYS_10463D3D&REV_01
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: wcgdd.dll
Driver Version: 6.06.0002.0066
Driver Date: 8/11/2004 09:08:20
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SoundMAX Digital Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24C5&SUBSYS_012C1028&REV_01
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: smwdm.sys
Provider: Analog Devices
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.3538
Driver Date: 12/19/2002 19:48:48
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0



Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (sw vp): 3Dlabs Wildcat4 7110
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 60
Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: Hardware does not support a color cursor.
Debug Message: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 be200710
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
Debug Message: No files found matching mask Gfx\Tutorials\*.bik
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\*.StarSystems
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for PirateShip. ***
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for Starbase. ***
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipclass
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: No files found matching mask ./Data/English/Tutorials/*.xml
Debug Message: CustomRaceWnd: Cannot find OBJID CustomRace_Description_Text
Debug Message: CustomRaceWnd: Cannot find OBJID CustomRace_Tab_Homeworld
Debug Message: Creating Galaxy
Debug Message: Set galaxy size.
Debug Message: Killing threads.
Debug Message: Kiling civs.
Debug Message: Killing ships.
Debug Message: Killing rallypoints.
Debug Message: Killing misc objects.
Debug Message: Killing stars.
Debug Message: Killing anomalies.
Debug Message: Killing space resources.
Debug Message: Killing colonies and planets.
Debug Message: killing scenario.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Creating Random Map
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Stars
Debug Message: Number of Unplaced Stars: 10.
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Planets
Debug Message: *************** Failed To Place Planet ***************
Debug Message: *************** Failed To Place Planet ***************
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Anomalies
Debug Message: Num Anomalies: 42
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Resources
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Done
Debug Message: Creating Civs
Debug Message: Drengin Empire: Intellence -> 30
Debug Message: Altarian Republic: Intellence -> 30
Debug Message: Arcean Empire: Intellence -> 30
Debug Message: Creating Civs... Done
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Galaxy Create... Done
Debug Message: UIBeginGame called with g_ulLocalPlayerID = 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: Cannot find texture ./Gfx/Thumbnails/S0_ColonyShipR0.png
Debug Message: Cannot find texture ./Gfx/Thumbnails/S0_ConstructorR0.png
Debug Message: Cannot find texture ./Gfx/Thumbnails/S0_ScoutR0.png

Well hi hello all...been scrolling forums for some time,watching...reading about game/gameuniverse a lot...played demo for a while...now after ALOT of trouble ordering online...i have ordered full game and downloading it while i am waiting for my Box.Man..i am looking so much to it..i want to play it..to hold balance of forces in space..oh oh oh....hehehehehe...take care all,we'll talk after i blow up some drengi...

I have tried the demo but it crashes and yes I did update my video drivers.

Driver Date: 8/11/2004 09:08:20

Well, your drivers are more than one year old. Not sure if they are really up-to-date.
And you might want also to update your sound drivers. Who knows?

Current Display Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768 Debug Message: Running fullscreen. Debug Message: HAL (sw vp): 3Dlabs Wildcat4 7110 Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT Debug Message: Refresh rate: 60 Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.

Somehow, I find this strange. You may want to change option to play windowed at your desktop resolution.

I'm having the same problem as #13. It gets to 19% in the installation and then gives me the I/O error message and tells me the file is corrupted.

Edit: Problem solved. Apparently the Fileshack download is corrupted. I tried the Gamestop one and had no problems.