Best starting configuration for an epic, but still not for a painfully detailed game?

from GalCiv2 Forums
As a new player, I am experimenting with this. I play a game in a gigantic galaxy, against nine races, with scattered stars, and everything set to "abundant", including habitable planets. At first, this looked like a nice thing to do, but after some thirty turns I saw that over a hundred planets in the galaxy were colonized already, and I assume that the number will climb up to 500 or so. That really makes a game painfully detailed!
I like games where I have enough space and resources to build a decent empire before running into opponents, but this is too much. Planets of class 15 and above are almost everywhere! On the other hand, if I set habitable planets to common, well, sometimes they are just not common enough for me.
Is there some sort of consensus among more experienced players on what starting parameters are best for the most enjoyable game that offers full GC2 experience? Maybe on a huge galaxy with less oponents and abundant planets? Or a gigantic galaxy with common habitable planets? Or something else?
10,890 views 16 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
i like Gigantic with Loose Clusters. Thisway there are 'chokepoints' which will somewhat define the empires.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
What about the number of stars and habitable planets?
And what about the technology rate? I saw that some people complain how tech is too expensive, so, is it a good thing to speed up the tech rate when starting a new game?
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I also have been trying to get a perfect setting going on, but have not yet succeeded.

Maybe somebody could post good galaxy settings for all map sizes
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
For an Epic setting, one that can take several days, I recommend Gigantic Galaxy with very slow research rate. I´m still tweaking the planet parameters, as I don´t want to micromanage hundreds of planets at the same time...
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think that I'm getting closer to the configuration I want. I'd like to hear what you think.
First, I think I'm going to play on a huge map, against five races. Huge map has 144 sectors which, divided with the number of players I put in the game, gives an average of 24 sectors per empire. Gigantic map has 256 sectors, so if you play against nine races, it means that, theoretically, there are 25,6 sectors for every empire. So, these two configurations should give about the same game feeling, it's just that I don't have to bother with four other races, and frankly, I think that five opponents are about enough. Just remember Star Trek BotF, in Star Trek universe there were only five races altogether.
I've experimented with different planet and star configuration. The following seems to be interesting. I put stars to abundant and scattered, and planets (and habitable planets as well) to common. This way I no longer get dozens of 12+ class planets around me as when I put habitable planets to abundant, but I get enough to create a fine empire. I am still very inexperienced player so I don't know if computer usually generates maps this way, but this configuration seems to lead to the creation of rich star systems with two or three high quality planets and you can easily find such systems, yet most systems have only one average habitable planet, or none whatsoever. This looks like a nice balance. If you're into this, try it out and tell me what you think.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I play pretty much the same map as Mr. Simpson -- Huge, 5 other races, scattered clusters with common planets and common habitable. It gives a even spread of colonized planets and will sometimes give planets close enough that a starbase can cover 2. Distances between planets aren't so far that you spend 1/2 your game watching your ships fly back and forth.

Another good aspect of this is the colonization phase. Every race will have at least some good planets near them so everyone has a fair start. I found with tight clusters or uncommon planets that it was a crap shoot...sometimes I'd have a bunch of good planets near me and sometimes I wouldn't have a single habitable one in any of the surrounding sectors. I like my challenge to come from the AI, not the map.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have found that occasional planets, with common habitable make a game without too much micro-managing. But abundant everything can be a very fun game too, but only near the end game when you have massive fleets that you wouldn't be able to build otherwise. (Since you wouldn't be able to have hundreds of planets.)

Also the second tab from the right on the bottom of the screen brings up a menu to help manage your colonies. This is a lifesaver for those maps when you have hundreds of planets. Once you get the hang of using that menu, even huge empires become somewhat easy to manage.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Personally I like to go with gigantic, abundant everything, and tight clusters, with 9 other players. This way you can usually build your empire to a good size with out distractions, other then exterminating a few miner maces.

P.S
Why doesn’t anyone use colors?
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Why doesn’t anyone use colors?


White is a color...
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I set planets and habitable planets to "occasional"; this keeps things from getting to cluttered, even on the larger maps.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I usually set it to huge, scattered stars and planets/habitable to abundant... Then set anomolies to occationally and tech to slow or painfully slow. 6 races plus minors. I find that on normal the other races will start doing the race to colonize thing about 20 turns or so into the game, which usually gives me enough time to set up a nice little pocket empire to rule the galaxy from...me and my allies the snathi (sp? EVIL squirrels ) I play good cop, they play bad cop...
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Gigantic, nine races, rare everything, tight clusters, very slow tech, playing as either a custom race with diplomacy and research bonuses, or the Drath

By the time I've met anyone (Which can be a long time or 20 turns depending on the start) I'm ahead in tech a long way. Once espionage is maxed out on all races (sometime around year 3 or 4), it's a wonderful game to play puppetmaster. I've armed minors with amazing ships capable of crossing the galaxy, I've seen the Torians crush the Drengin into oblvion. This is, personally, the ONLY epic style I'll ever play. It's the most realistic IMO, and just an amazing game. You really see things happen as you want them to, and it's just great seeing the Yor surrender after a major attack by the Snathi.

Shame it takes over a week to complete
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have abundant everything but habitable plants on common loose clusters. This makes a 400ish world gigantic galaxy. That is plenty without being too much for me. I had a 900 world galaxy and it was such a horrible game from wierd lag long turns etc.
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
huge and gigantic are nice for epic play, but I don't think it's possible to make it simple, since epic and simplicity don't mix.


If you play on huge+ map the game will just get complicate, if not sooner then later. When 9 races is reduced to 3 or 4 races, you can find yourself fighting one race for years, not months like in the earlier game. (Imazing with a huge map with each race has a quarters of the it packing with hundred planets and dozen resource point).


Epic? Hell yes, I'm fighting the Torian right now and it has been 3 years and yet I only conquer about 5 of their star systems (out of somewhat 3 dozens systems in their pocession) and the war has seen 2 generation of ships. I have defense fleets, assaults fleets, strike fleets, even building fleet.


Simplicity? heck no. Now after every couple of turn it's not uncommon to spend like 5 minutes at the Civilization manager screen and the map to arrange the stuff. Which planets build what, to what rally point, where is the enemy approaching and with what (like are a missle Frigate fleet is approaching a defense fleet with Davium), where to strike that hurt the most ....etc...



But hell, it's these type of game are what make your money worth, not even Total War has this kind of complication.
Of course, you need to put in sometime too, for the record my last game was finished in 4 days real time
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I like small/medium galaxies with everything set to abundant. It maximizes the use of Economy Starbases, takes life support out of the picture, and I don't spend forever waiting for ship X to go from point A to point B.
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
at the moment ive found some great settings i play on abundant everything, huge galaxy, tight clusters, fast research rate and 3 opponents on normal difficulty and the one im playing at the moment is turning out to be quite interesting i chose the terran alliance, drath legion and the thalan empire as opponents and the drath and thalan are struggling to hold onto there planets with my influence being so high and the terrans cover the most but im slowly pushing them back