I don't get to play very much. I do alright when I can get a good map. I started out with the original game on OS/2. Looking at the GalCiv forum (the NNTP based one), I see a few posts for 2005, none for 2006. To move with the community seems like a compelling reason to switch to the new game. Is there anybody out there who wished they had stayed with the original game?

I have played all versions of Galciv with the exception of the first one on OS/2. Was a big fan of the later Galciv games on OS/2 and I must say that everything has developed nicely. Even though I was sceptical in the beta phase of the game, I now think that Galciv2 is a big leap from the other games in the series. IMHO, the first Galciv for Windows was closer to the OS/2 games than Galciv2 is to its predecessor.

Is GalCiv II resource hungry? How realistic is the PIII 800 mhz requirement?

I really don't know. I have run it on a laptop with a P4 2Ghz and a 32MB video card, but in that setup the video card was the primary bottleneck. It was still very playable even if I had to run it without any of the graphical bells and whistles turned on.

I really don't know. I have run it on a laptop with a P4 2Ghz and a 32MB video card, but in that setup the video card was the primary bottleneck. It was still very playable even if I had to run it without any of the graphical bells and whistles turned on.

i run it on a notebook   can be slugish but defo worth it  

i played the demo for the first game and after that i had to buy it. when i heard the second was coming i kept track of it on gamespot till the day came when i had to beg the miss's to get it  but yeah man its worth it.  

I like GalCiv I a lot. I think they are sufficiently different from each other that you'll be glad that you had GalCiv I.

But overall, I think GalCiv II is a better game.

Is GalCiv II resource hungry? How realistic is the PIII 800 mhz requirement?

I actually play GCII on a Celeron 900Mhz to no ill effect. I have issues with slow turns towards the end of the game if I have 1000 ships on autopilot at the same time, but it's definitely playable. Your video card performance is probably a bigger concern. I had to go buy a new card myself, I bought a Gforce 5500 for $80. It's probably a bit underpowered but it works fine.

I bought GalCiv1 based on the good reviews and my love of space strategy and was sorely dissapointed. Having fond memories of MoO2, I found GalCiv1 just didn't measure up to the older game.
I picked up GalCiv2 for similar reasons and am happy to say that MoO2 finally has a successor. I love GalCiv2, especially the ship building, which is just awesome. I actually spend nearly as much time in the ship-builder as the rest of the game.

Short answer- play GalCiv2, its much better.