I would love to see a few of different things. Although one of them may just be too much for an expansion.

1st) I think it would be cool to have a blind and random tech tree. Say you are researching space weapons; you would not always get mass drivers, or missiles or beams. It would be random. As would defense. The only way that you could get into other categories is to either steel the tech, trade the tech or get it from conquest. but even if you get it that way it would take double or triple the research points to get to the next level, due to the fact that it is a forget tech.

This could be done on all areas of tech. Say for example you really are not any good at miniaturization. You would not get that research ability, but to compensate you would have the ability to construct massive ships. I guess it would be a little like SE4, but I think it would give a little more re-playability.

2) I would love to have the ability to capture ships to reverse engineer them. However it would cost a lot and take a long time to do. But it would a cool way to gain new tech.

3) This is where I may be a little crazy and asking for way too much. I would love to see an option to keep the game going after you have won a victory. Basically what would happen is that after you have won the first part of the game a larger screen would show the local group of galaxies. Each of these galaxies could have a number of new races, probably more advanced then yourself. You would get a new tech tree to start with and you would receive all the bonuses of the combined different races you have conquered in your galaxy. And you would need them all to survive.

In order to get a foothold on the other Galaxy you would have to conquer a world in that galaxy. So you would have a galaxy view for your galaxy and the new one.
There is no colonization at all in this part, it’s just conquer and expand. Also the new races would be able to come to our galaxy and do the same thing. Wormholes could be used as the transport mechanism, and it would be random where they would be established, and they would not last forever.

All the new races could be user created as stated before or new races could be developed. It could be game that could be recreated and expanded upon for a long time to come.

Well that’s just a little of my idea. Too much to really put into here. But as I figure this would probably be just too much to ask for, as it’s pretty much a new game. But it would really make for fun, and long games with great goals to achieve before expanding out.

Expanded espionage and planetary invasion if possible.

Some improvement to the battle viewer so the ships don't just float around randomly and projectiles actually hitting their targets.

A few extra options like 'no' anomalies and abundance of galactic resources too. (they are so powerful...)

A 'find next idle ship' kind of button and the ability to turn off the auto-target next idle ship thing it does.

The ability to re-name stars since I like using theme names for the planets, but can't match the star name to them. =P

multiplayer is definitely my biggest wish, the rest are just "nice to have"

1 - The espianage system in GalCiv 2 leaves much to to be desired. I love the game but this aspect needs work, and it wouldnt even be that hard to impliment counter intelligence and even agent 'operations' such as training a agent send him into enemy territory and give him general commands such as lowering moral, stealing technologies (which would be a very large 'mission'), or even destabalizing fleet operations (removing ships from a fleet so they would operate on a temporary reduced logistic ability). On the map you would see your agent as a little symbol on a enemy planet, fleet, or starbase where you then could assign the mission or move him to another planet starbase or fleet. This addition could add immense strategy.

2 - When I conquer a planet I expect them to revolt and be all rebbelious and junk. Another thing that bugs me is that when you get a planet taken away and they barely win with only a 100 or less troops left and then go to take it back a turn later they have a full compliment of BILLIONS of troops? If they did take those hundred of millions from my population you can be sure as hell when I would land assault troops they wouldnt fight me they would join me. I think it would be interesting if when you take over a planet depending on the allignment of you and the subdued populace, the way you took over the planet (ie. atrocoties) and the number of surviving troops would lossly determine how much of a production penalty you would get while the population 'adjusts'. All that could just be simple code lines that doesnt really need to be made aware to the player as a player can just think about it in common sense. aka "I just conquerd the Drath homeworld with the Altarians and used mass drivers to obliterate and destroy the surface...Ya their pissed."

3 - I would say tactical combat system but I think everyone has already said it enough.

9. The ability to blockade a planet. When blockaded you can't buy anything on it and it can't contribute to your research or income (but if it's using up your money it should continue to do so so people aren't encouraged to let money holes be blockaded). As it is now, you can let enemy ships run free in your territory as long as you kill all the troop transports.

I never actualy thought about this before but it works incredibly well with the game. Heck it could even be put in a easy patch the only hard part is AI tweaking to they would reconize and reaction to blockades. I would add to your idea that a blockade isnt a decloration of war. You can blockade without declaring war but it would be risky. You could use blockades to intimidate races without going to war, make em give you stuff and junk.

12. It would be nice if something could be done with some rating 0 planets. Nothing which can be used to base for ship range (that would change the game too much) but something. Perhaps a mining outpost. Perhaps some resources could be on planets instead of free floating in space.

Another great idea. Maybe in some class 0 worlds (or any world for that matter) your survey ship could perform scans on the surface of that planet. It would take 1 turn to scan a world which could uncover anomolies, random events or extra tile bonus'. Maybe some tile bonus' cant even be seen or used unless a planet is scanned.

I always hate to compare games because I know the developers are not trying to creat a 'clone' of some game but in Imperium Galactica 2 there were alot of RP elements. Random stories that could affect the entire galaxy in one motion and events that lead into other events that couldnt be possible. GalCiv has things and junk like this but it doesnt 'feel' like a breathing story. It feels like a exciting math equation which is fun mind you but a involving story would be nice too.

...And characters! Heros! Villans! leader units that you can get through random events or maybe one of your units when reaching a certain level becomes a hero unit. Basicaly they would have increased natural logistics able to create impressive fleets giving bonus' and what not, maybe even a con or two depending on the hero. Maybe add some personality to the hero unit. Be able to 'chat' with him or her. Basicaly like a worked over diplomacy interface with conversational paths. These conversations could range from advice on a certain situation to maybe even plots that could affect things to come.
Well these were my two cents of the things I want the most...and junk.

2 - When I conquer a planet I expect them to revolt and be all rebbelious and junk. Another thing that bugs me is that when you get a planet taken away and they barely win with only a 100 or less troops left and then go to take it back a turn later they have a full compliment of BILLIONS of troops? If they did take those hundred of millions from my population you can be sure as hell when I would land assault troops they wouldnt fight me they would join me. I think it would be interesting if when you take over a planet depending on the allignment of you and the subdued populace, the way you took over the planet (ie. atrocoties) and the number of surviving troops would lossly determine how much of a production penalty you would get while the population 'adjusts'. All that could just be simple code lines that doesnt really need to be made aware to the player as a player can just think about it in common sense. aka "I just conquerd the Drath homeworld with the Altarians and used mass drivers to obliterate and destroy the surface...Ya their pissed."

Well, the simple reason that they don't revolt is, you've killed everyone to the last. Actually, if you invade a planet you can't really make a worse atrocity that you anyway are doing. Killing billions of people is imho hard to topple.

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For what I would like for an expansion:

- Improved space map with more objects:

--Longer lasting worm holes
Two-way wormholes which would spawn seldom and would last for a certain time, or for a certain amount of ships which go through them (measured in logistic points, so if you send lots of large ships it would close sooner). Shortcut for the Drengin to my homeworld.

--Nebulas, Asteoridfields and DreadLord-Minefields
Nebulaes would damage every ship, which hasn't at least 5 points in shield defense.
Asteoridfields would damage every ship, which hasn't at least 5 points in armor defense.
DreadLord-Minefields would damage every ship, which hasn't at least 5 points in point defense.
Those fields would cover small patches of the galaxie and be obstacles for lower tech ships, but easily passable by higher tech ships, as they won't get damaged if they have the appropriate defense.

--Black Holes
Smaller ships which would go near a black hole, ie. three fields, would get damaged. Larger ships wouldn't be affected, since their Q-field would protect them from the strong gravitational forces.

--Super Novaes
Ships which end their turn inside or next to a super novae would be severly damaged. Ships which would only pass through this region, wouldn't be damaged, since they wouldn't be affected much from the radiation in just a short time, ie. when they're just passing.

--Neutronstars
Everyonce this star sends out a strong gamma-ray burst which would destroy or damage every ship in a certain angle and distance to the star. (For example, the gamma-ray burst would only destroy ships which are in the south of it (the galactic map taken as plane for this example), or which are north of it and not more then 1 parsec away, etc.


Stuff like this used in moderation (a black hole, one or two supernovaes and about 50 pc^2 in asteorid-,nebula- and minefields for a normal sized galaxy) would imho give space a bit more of distinction and would perhaps make some different tactics possible. (Lure the Yor near a Neutronstar and then watch with delight when they're fried from the gamma ray burst. )
Those values I proposed would need to be set accordingly by the devs, of course.

It could probably be quite hard to make the AI cope with that, but I've got the confidence that Draginol will be able to do something about that.


As for multyplayer and tactical combat... as a strategic single player, I don't need them and wouldn't wan't ressources be wasted for the creation of them, but that's just my oppinion.

1. Be able to control my ships in combat like MOO3. I was disappointed that I couldn't. Hate it when one of my ships is about to blow up and I can't retreat.

2. Every race can build some flagship/mothership. At first I thought the "flagship" at the start was it. I'm talking about a very huge mothership. You can only build one per faction. Lots of space on it. It the mothership gets destroy, you might get some penalties. You CANNOT buy this ship and takes very long to build but you can still refit and upgrade it. Maybe have stat bonuses once this ship is built. Influence, econ, military, etc?

3. More colonizable planets in each solar system. I'm playing on only 1.0X but there might be more colonizable planets in 1.1? Be able to colonize some unhabitable planets through research. But they should be PQ 2 at the start. Higher PQ though more research. Max of 5?

4. Range on weapons and more options. This will make combat a lot more fun. Hit and run tactics on ships with longer range weapons.

5. More research items instead of the mark 1, mark II, mark III, mark IV, mark V, etc
Some weapons go up to Mark VI. That's too repetitive. Say Laser, Improved or Enchanced laser, Advanced or Superior laser, Ultimate laser?

6. Speaking of weapons I think they should be more damage. 1,2, 3, 4, 5 damage by each lvl of their weapons. But increase the HP for ships and armor techs.

7. Be able to restore lost PQ after you invade a planet using tactics.
Say planet has a PQ10 but goes down to a PQ 7 through planetary invasion. New option after the invasion end. "Restore Quadrant"? You CANNOT buy this and could take years to restore back the PQ/Quadrant/Tile.

1) A serial number less than 380 chars long, since I've had to type it out about 30 times by now (and still can't get a char registered on metaverse).
2) Each planet should have a triple slider for economy, not just the governors. This would make more sense and work much better for the game, as well as enhance our ability to make and utilize dedicated worlds such as research planets, etc.
3) We should not be able to fly a huge fleet up to an opponent's capital and decapitate their empire when they don't even know a war is coming. I'd like to see something like Civ has, where you must declare war first & when you do it removes your units from enemy territory (preventing sneak attacks). This would make the AI even more awesome by giving them at least a little time to prepare for an attack.

+ more AI options for minors
+alot of the good ideas others have mentioned
+keep up the good work

More visual feedback in the main display to reduce the amount of clickage to find information. Starship/drone/etc traffic between starbases and planets they affect to show bonuses, visible ships in orbit to show defence, things like that. Make the galaxy look alive! Starbase modules that repair ships stacked with them, or in their influence.

1. More diplomacy options.
2. More races.
3. A Mature Galaxy option (Where all the colonization is already done, and planets already buily up with the basic buildings)
4. Tweakable AI
5. More ship modules
6. Ships able to retreat
7. Being able to select target priority before combat.
8. A never surrender option. Even when the last race of a race's planets are conquered, they fight on as long as they have ships and starbases. Like the show Battlestar Galactica or the game Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion.

1. more jewelry
2. pirate bases
3. custom races useable by the AI
4. anomolies spawning throughout game.
5. more tech tree

I would like the ability to tell other races to get thier ships out of my area, and other such options. It would be more realistic, and be a good diplopmatic option.

add anything, but multiplayer and it'll be great

Yes I totaly agree with that. I hate having freakin enemy colony ships with 4 movements zip through my territory to colonize behind me and then trap me. When that happens I just restart. I freakin hate how the computer expands sometimes and all that junk.

I would like, in fleet combat, fleet admirals on both sides make more brilliant first moves or tactical blunders which would affect the outcome. Its kinda dull seeing both sides squaring off equaly and bash each other until one side wins. Some examples would be:

1.) The enemy fleet is tracking a large asteriod formation, mistaking it for us. Their rear is expose, shall we attack?
(Player gets a free turn in combat before bashing begins)

2.) We jumped too close to the system and the enemy's bearing on us, you thought surprise was wiser?
(Shields and Point defence inneffective for X turns)

3.) We looked and looked and looked and looked and looked, but all we could find was your car keys.
(No combat)

4.) Where's yellow alert? WHERE'S YELLOW ALERT?
(Enemy fleet gets one free shot and your shields ineffective)

Some features I would like to see in the game (just for fun):

1 - Option to prevent ship designs from carrying over to new games.

2 - Option to randomize home systems.

3 - Optional patches of "Impassable Terrain" (thick asteroid belts, space storms etc.) to add tactical options.

4 - Option to start without flagships (or perhaps any ships at all).

5 - New star distribution options, such as random donut-shaped galaxies (ring of systems with a central void).

6 - Optional 'space monster' random events, with a cash/influence prize for the person who kills it.

7 - More ship jewellery (preferablly additional hull sections to expand the ship, rather than the 'cosmetic' type).

8 - A new race or two (perhaps we could have a design competition on the website?)

9 - Ability to request that your opponents respect your sphere of influence' so that you can restrict movement.

10 - Much prettier 'borders' (they are quite ugly, and screw up in places), and the option to turn them off!


I would say that 1-5 and 10 are my most wanted features (not for any particular reason of course) *starts whistling Xmas tunes*

1> Multiplayer (hotseat/lan).
2> New jewelry including some animated hull parts (engine can already handle it apparently, be nice to have that B5 ship actualy rotate the life support section). Perhapse a whole extra race that has animated hull and animated texture parts...
3> improved diplomatic options such as threats (it would be nice to offer the ai the choice between going to war with me and giving me some cash). I know they do it sometimes anyway...
4> a use for those uninhabital worlds, such as if they are dead worlds but not dangerous why not mine some resources from them or something... no population level (easy to destroy) but they benefit the other worlds in that system with a small boost to production (better than a moon but not much).
5> related to 2, have some lights that actualy act as light sources. The current lights are nice for a little show but it would be neat to actualy have a light source on the ship itself (without removing the current lights as they are). This is just supper fluff though.

thats all that is on the top of my mind right now...

I would like, in fleet combat, fleet admirals on both sides make more brilliant first moves or tactical blunders which would affect the outcome. Its kinda dull seeing both sides squaring off equaly and bash each other until one side wins. Some examples would be: 1.) The enemy fleet is tracking a large asteriod formation, mistaking it for us. Their rear is expose, shall we attack? (Player gets a free turn in combat before bashing begins) 2.) We jumped too close to the system and the enemy's bearing on us, you thought surprise was wiser? (Shields and Point defence inneffective for X turns) 3.) We looked and looked and looked and looked and looked, but all we could find was your car keys. (No combat) 4.) Where's yellow alert? WHERE'S YELLOW ALERT? (Enemy fleet gets one free shot and your shields ineffective)

Wow thats actualy a preaty good idea. Random events in and before battle. Your right though it does get kinda boring just watching them bash each other with NO control whatsoever. You cant even tell your guys to retreat. Im sorry to say, even though I love GalCiv game, Birth of the Federation had a better combat system. I would almost say that for the expention revamp the combat system. I dont mind the graphics so the engine can still be there but just spice it up a bit. Give the player choices that can help or hurt you in battle.

To me - the biggest thing of all would be (as they've already mentioned) - racial tech trees - the amount of possibilities that that alone would open up would be massive...

Oh - and the ablility for a tech to have have more than one parent would be good too....

There are currently 5 'flavours' of ship hulls that races can choose from, but what if each race also had a unique hull shape for the medium+ sized classes? They could still use the generic ones for their 'flavour' too, but it might make races stand out from each other a bit more.

things i would like to see:

building and expansion:
-use class 0 planets as resources (mines factories but no population) essentially they'd be bigger starbases
influence and economic starbases should be combined

-colonizable moons of planets (or use then as recources as above)

-more terraforming ability (some harsh environments will reduce population, prodution and econ)


game play:
a more adustable ai:
-currently the ai algorithm and the ai economy are "throttled" together meaning that in order to have the ai use its most cunning strategies it also recieves massive economic bonuses
-what i'd like to see is the two abilitied to be separated so the ai can be very intelligent but not get 200% economic bonus

a more interdependent tech tree

boarding parties (to steal ships)
battle salvage (to steal techs/weapons or inprove repair speed)

other
-planets orbit their stars (would be nice but unlikely)

-3d galaxies (a small amount of thickness would be nice (kinda like homeworld))

I'd like to see more emphasis on exploration. Currently this 4X game is missing 1X, as far as I'm concerned. The initial "colony-rush" phase is vaguely interesting in the way the distribution of your colonies sets the tone of the rest of that game, but I wouldn't characterize that phase as exploration. It's more like "wander around stone-blind and hope to god you find enough useful planets before the computer ties up everything else"... It kind of skips eXploration and goes straight for eXpansion.

I've been trying to put my finger on a way this might be corrected. Maybe the computer's ships shouldn't roam so far and wide that I run into virtually every race within four or five turns, even on Large games. I would like to say there should be better reasons to put more time into developing the first few planets you colonize (that is, de-emphasize the colony-rush by slowing down exploration), but it's hard to imagine how that could be done without deep, major changes. Or maybe colonizing a planet should simply take a very long time and be a lot more expensive than it is now. Perhaps colonization should be a multi-step process. Send constructors, then multiple colony ships until you hit a certain threshold, at which buildings become possible, etc.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but of the X's in the 4X tradition, I'd say eXplore is pretty poorly represented, and fixing it would go far to change the one phase my friends all agree is mostly just annoying, into something more interesting and long-lasting.

Heh, and maybe the "all ships can survey" wonder will finally gain some meaning.

I’m new here I just bought the game last Friday and I came to the forums too see if Carriers were in the game and I just missed them or what.

Marcathonas wrote
“Doubt there will be carriers”

I see from the posts here that there are no carriers and Marcathonas seems to think there won’t be any. I was wondering if there was information his opinion was based on or if it’s just his opinion?

(First post!)
I think that there should be a "terraforming" module for ships that would allow them to spend a good while (four or five turns, at the very least) hovering over a planet to make it a low-class planet. Further techs means better planets, up to maybe class 8 or 9, plus the habitat improvement techs.

I think that there should also be a tow-ship, a ship that could move a starbase around, pretty slowly, but it's nice to shift that super-duper military starbase to the new front line, y'know? Also, being able to capture ships and reverse-engineer is a pretty swell idea, I think.

Lastly, I'm all for carrier modules.