Questions/observations/suggestion

Hi

I can try to answer 3.

>> 3) Too difficult to get an alliance - I've never got one!

That is not true. In fact getting alliances is quite easy if you do the right thing. What you have to do is to keep on the good side with the races that you want to ally, give them a present here, a present there. And also have trade routes with them, like 3 trade routes with each race will probably do. With time the relations will get better. And when they are "Close", if you have researched Alliances (which honestly you should have done quite early in the game) then propose and they will accept. It might take time and a bit of patience, but definitely not hard.

Hope that helps.

Q1) A debug.err is automatically created on the crash, transfer this data to your net machine. Don't forget you're allowed this game on every machine you use

Q2) Versions are updated slowly. Beta updates are frequent. V1.1 Beta4 is the latest.

1) They need them to cross the galaxy, same as you do. Also, beta 4 AI is much stronger, and starbases often get fully upgraded.

2) The AI doesn't know the difference between human and AI. It's a weakness on your part. Surgical strikes (Quick, fast attacks, take 3 planets including home world in first 2 turns) are a guaranteed way for them to talk peace.

3) Just wrong, and the poster before me answered.

1) There is, for weapon tech's. This just isn't a needed option. It would potentially damage game balance, and the AI need more reworking on getting you to close, instead of becoming more powerful.

Alliances shouldn't be that hard when you do the following:

Trade - tech and cargo
Aligment - I guess being Good is the easiest to get an alliance
Peace - Don't get into too many wars, especially with the good or neutral races. They might have friends and no one likes a war monger.
Bribery - Give them gifts.

Also it might help if you vote for some race and several other things. Don't pile up your forces near the race you're trying to woo. The computer will notice and might even attack you.

Thanks for the replies guys. Just a few more points to add onto the above

1) Minor races spam influence starbases, why?
1) They need them to cross the galaxy, same as you do. Also, beta 4 AI is much stronger, and starbases often get fully upgraded.

I understand this but what I meant is they have two/three/four in close proimity and being minors don't really need them all.

2) AI gives in to easily to other AI players (I think they do anyway).
2) The AI doesn't know the difference between human and AI. It's a weakness on your part. Surgical strikes (Quick, fast attacks, take 3 planets including home world in first 2 turns) are a guaranteed way for them to talk peace.

Not what I mean. For example in an AI vs AI war one side always seems to give in(surrender not ask for peace) even if they have a significant number of good planets left.

Also

How do I get the most up to date beta? Currently on v1.1 beta 1 but cannot have the game on my net machine and therefore cannot use starforce.

I will try again to get an alliance. How far into the game do you tend to be when you get them?

Thanks

Not what I mean. For example in an AI vs AI war one side always seems to give in(surrender not ask for peace) even if they have a significant number of good planets left.

The number of planets left matters less than if they are militarily dominated. They would rather surrender their good planets to another race to keep the aggressor from getting them if they feel they have no chance of beating them. This is calculated using the military rating. (Which is upgraded in 1.1 beta 2)

How do I get the most up to date beta? Currently on v1.1 beta 1 but cannot have the game on my net machine and therefore cannot use starforce.

Err... Stardock Central does not use Starforce. Infact, Stardock has a lot of bad blood with the company that produces Starforce.
I don't believe that you can update to any beta other than 1.1 beta 1 without Stardock Central. You will need to wait for the release to come out, or go back to 1.0X for a more stable version.
Link

Follow that link and download the "Galactic Civilizations II Bonus Pack" to get 1.0X.

Silly me. I meant stardock not starforce. sorry!

Alliances are also easier to obtain if your military is much stronger than theirs.

And I never set up trade routes. Too expensive. I never recoup the cost of the initial freighters, especially when they all get destroyed at the start of a war. I just let them send freighters to me.

I do send them gifts. And it depends on the race whether a particular gift is valuable enough to get them closer. I usually send a couple trade goods and maybe a defense tech or two.

I have been playing around last night and today with the alliance victory. It was not too difficult.
The Iconian Refuge were the last and most difficult. They really did not trust me too much. They were the first to build up a military,. I had not built a single ship until they declared war, but by then I had my infrastructure set up well enough to build a few ships within 2 weeks that would cream their fleets. Once my overall military strength was about 50% higher than theirs they asked for a peace treaty, which I gave them. Not a shot was fired. Later in the game they built up higher than me and went cool, then wary of me. I sent a few gifts, made I think one trade, then upgraded my initial ships to once again become very dominant. I sent one more gift, which brought them to close, and I asked for the last alliance and won the game.

I can't understand why just wait them to trade with you since it gives nice amount of money and improves the relationships. It's a few ships. Can't be that bad if you might lose some of them in the future.