Quick Newb Questions

1. The higher the planets manufacturing capacity, the faster everything builds on that planet.

2. If the planet has a bonus tile you should probably focus on that area. So if I have a 300% research tile on a PQ5 planet, it would probably get one factory, 3 research buildings and an economic building. And once everything is built I might replace the factory with either another research or econ structure, depending on if I need more research capacity or more money.

Manufacturing only affects the planet it is built on, but research goes into a general pool. So each planet manufactures only as much as it can by itself, but research is for everyone.

3. Nope. Anomalies are spawned at the start of the game only. When they are gone, they are gone for good. So find them as early in the game as possible.

Hey all,

This is part of my question. How do I build survey modules to explore these anomolies??? So far I can only bult constructers and scouts...Thanks!

Lee

Hey all, This is part of my question. How do I build survey modules to explore these anomolies??? So far I can only bult constructers and scouts...Thanks! Lee

hurray for research.

Research to sensors mark 4 or 3 i forgot you can look when you highlight the tech.

Also make sure to make your own ships for they are much better then those that are created for you.

And don't forget to get some more advanced engines. That will help you snag many more of those anomalies.

And here I thought Moosetek was an upgrade to research labs in the
Canadian System...

Outstanding answers and a quick response, thanks much Moosetek13 !!

This is part of my question. How do I build survey modules to explore these anomolies??? So far I can only bult constructers and scouts...Thanks!

You should research "Sensors 1" tech. It will unlock the survey module. You can make your own survey ships then.

Research to sensors mark 4 or 3 i forgot you can look when you highlight the tech.

Sensors 3 & 4 merely unlock planent structures. I believe Sensors 3 unlocks Nano recorders and Galactic guide book, and that Sensors 4 unlocks Eyes of the universe.

1. Is it a complete waste to build Manuf capacity on planets that will never get a starport or do they help you in some more generalized way?

Below 6 PQ I don't build them. On 7-11 I build them but then build over them once I have the top build for econ/res/morale.

2. If the planet has a bonus tile you should probably focus on that area. So if I have a 300% research tile on a PQ5 planet, it would probably get one factory, 3 research buildings and an economic building. And once everything is built I might replace the factory with either another research or econ structure, depending on if I need more research capacity or more money.

2. So low capacity planets (say 4-5 usable squares) can best be used for tech which can be used off planet, is that right? Or what?

You only have four buildable tiles on a PQ 5. Personally I would put 2 econ and 2 research. Even if one of the tiles is a manu bonus. Of course this depends on the number of planets you have. If you only have a few then you may need a different set up.

3. Do any anomalies appear after the very early game? I tried a medium sized playing field and after the initial rush to exploit never saw another anomaly. But then there is the option to build the Galactic Guide Book which allows all ships to be survey vessels, which made me think there must be some reason to do this so maybe there are more that appear at random later in the game. Or is this just a pretty worthless use of a planet space?

No they don't . The GGB is useless to most as the anomolies are usually gone by the time you can get it. I did so a post once that someone was rushing sensor tech to get and use it but most don't. Random or regenerating anomolies have been asked for at least since GC I. Maybe back to the OS days. This Chief is still hoping we get them.

This is part of my question. How do I build survey modules to explore these anomolies??? So far I can only bult constructers and scouts...Thanks! You should research "Sensors 1" tech. It will unlock the survey module. You can make your own survey ships then. Research to sensors mark 4 or 3 i forgot you can look when you highlight the tech. Sensors 3 & 4 merely unlock planent structures. I believe Sensors 3 unlocks Nano recorders and Galactic guide book, and that Sensors 4 unlocks Eyes of the universe.

Yup. Build a cargo hull with impulse engines and the survey module(or 3). Even playing against 9 AI you will still get over half of the anomolies. Remember that getting to these anomolies not only helps you but more importantly will not help your future enemy.

1) Yes. Let's explain that military production is ships and social is buildings. Factorys and Factory enhncements give you more building power which can goto military or social, depending on what sliders are set to plus what you focus on or not.

What it boils down to is, even on the sucky PQ planets you should have at least one to help you build the labs. On a good size planet you'll probably have plenty of factorys and a starport to focus on military after every building is built.

2.) IMO Yes. PQ <=5 I use 'em as Lab worlds. I start off with a factory, an entertainment network and the rest labs.

3.) There has been talk about making it so that anomaly can 'appear' during the course of the game randomly like but to my knowledge it hasn't been implemented. So basically it's a goody rush at the beginning of the game.

You are welcome. Hope you like GC.

Again, many thanks for all the help. I'm sure I'll be back for more

You should research "Sensors 1" tech. It will unlock the survey module. You can make your own survey ships then.

Strange thing you start off with one such ship if you don't have the tech to build it...    But that goes for the cargo (large) hulls too. The techtree, oh the techtree   

Strange thing you start off with one such ship if you don't have the tech to build it...

Wow, I am not the only one who thought this was strange as well.

Wow, I am not the only one who thought this was strange as well.

Well, we also don't have medium hulls either...

I like to think of it as a precursor ship that we found in the ruins of the pyramids in Egypt

Ah, good, a Quick Noob Questions thread! Handy since I'm a Noob and like quick answers

My questions are:

1. Does Terraforming (or later advances) allow you to transform & colonize uninhabitable planets? I mean, that's what terraforming is supposed to do . . . . . and that reference to the Genesis machine would seem to support that. Playing in a tiny or small galaxy, it would seem that once all the habitable ones are gobbled up, your only recourse is war or cultural domination.

Or does it just open up more productive squares on already habitable planets (boo!)

2. I have just tried one game so far. Everything seemed okay, I focused on a cultural campaign and research, with a small military in the event of hostilities. The problem was, no matter what I did, my popularity dropped like a stone. I built all kinds of entertainment perks, even one on Mars (which could scarcely afford that space) and it still dropped. I lowered taxes to no avail (it'd help, a little but not nearly enough).

Was this because of overpopulation (I did always build farms first), or because I remained a dictatorship ( I preferred to think of it as a Benevolent Monarchy )?

Or does it just open up more productive squares on already habitable planets (boo!)

Yep, in DL that's all it does. So the name is misleading...   

Approval decreases as population in a planet increases (it gets crowded in here...).

I like to think of it as a precursor ship that we found in the ruins of the pyramids in Egypt

So all those cargo hulls, they belong to a cache in the pyramids too, huh?   Nice folks, the precursors.

Hijacking with another noob question.

What size map and number opponents do you guys play with typically.
I have been playing normal size with me + 3, but it basically feels like I can run one of them over pretty easily and then it is just pushing on to the end game. Should I be playing on a bigger map with more enemies, and if so what do you find to be the optimum size?

What size map and number opponents do you guys play with typically. I have been playing normal size with me + 3, but it basically feels like I can run one of them over pretty easily and then it is just pushing on to the end game. Should I be playing on a bigger map with more enemies, and if so what do you find to be the optimum size?

It all depends on *how* you like your challenge. If you add in more opponents, most likely you'll probably just take longer rolling them over. Try bumping up the difficulty level of your AI. It doesn't add bonuses and just improves AI algorithms up until masochistic (I think... somewhere around that). As far as map size and opponent number mixture... that doesn't necessarily make the game more or less difficult, but different strategies are definitely necessary for tackling significant mixtures of such.

I am a vet of the civilization line of games and always find the AI advantage annoying to say the least so I am playing at "Tough" (I think that is the setting) where it is supposedly even with the player. As for the map size anyone have a basic size to number of players list they seem to like?

To me the following seems right
Tiny 1 enemy
Small 2 enemies
Medium 3 enemies
Large 6 enemies
Huge or Gigantic all the enemies.

That sound about right?

at "Tough" (I think that is the setting) where it is supposedly even with the player.

No, it's higher than tough. Tough has full AI capability, but here, straight from the wiki:

* Cakewalk = 15 (Fool)
* Easy = 20 (Dunce)
* Simple = 30 (Beginner)
* Beginner = 40 (Sub-Normal)
* Normal = 50 (Normal)
* Challenging = 65 (Bright)
* Tough = 80 (Intelligent) *Full AI capability from here on*
* Painful = 85 (Gifted)
* Crippling = 95 Genius)
* Masochistic = 100 (Incredible)
* Obscene = 120 (Godlike)
* Suicidal = 150 (Ultimate)

So technically, although the AI is still just as smart, it still gets 80% of the economy you do.

And if you find the game too easy, turn up the difficulty, even if it gives the AI an advantage you "don't like." Isn't that still better than rolling over your opponents in your sleep?

ah I see. That will help thanks. Also does setting the high CPU algorithim help the AI significantly. I have a slightly older CPU with a lot of RAM (P4 1.7 w/1 GB of Rambus DRAMS) so was keeping it off not to kill the CPU, but it seems from a few things I have read around here that it really helps the AI's game play.

I will definitely kick it up a few notches on the "pain chart".

What size map and number opponents do you guys play with typically.

Gigantic Abundant Loose. Suicidal level. Playing to long with out bumping up the difficulty will impact your ability to play at higher levels (if you ever wanted to play at higher levels).

It does help the AI predict moves. So if you play fairly and don't have ships that can cross the map in like 2 turns, it will help. Basically it's like increasing the move depth of a chess AI.

Tough has full AI capability, but here, straight from the wiki:

I'm not sure it's totally clear that the AI level numbers relate to economic bonus. This was discussed in another thread and no one had a definite answer. The devs have been silent on the matter.

What do the different AI levels do?

AFAIK the AI Intelligence of Incredible still relates to the 200% bonus level which again AFAIK gives an "extra" 100% bonus in *everything* including SP, MP, RP, sensors, miniaturization, speed, etc., *not* just economic bonus. What the 80 on Tough or the 150 on Suicidal or for that matter what Godlike and Ultimate mean are unknown.

The complete text of the Wiki Difficulty Level article follows.

As of v1.31:

Difficulty = (AI Level) (AI Intelligence)

* Cakewalk = 15 (Fool)
* Easy = 20 (Dunce)
* Simple = 30 (Beginner)
* Beginner = 40 (Sub-Normal)
* Normal = 50 (Normal)
* Challenging = 65 (Bright)
* Tough = 80 (Intelligent) *Full AI capability from here on*
* Painful = 85 (Gifted)
* Crippling = 95 Genius)
* Masochistic = 100 (Incredible)
* Obscene = 120 (Godlike)
* Suicidal = 150 (Ultimate)

Notes

And as Kblore mentioned, we really have no idea how the bonuses run these days. But those are the numbers from the debug.err file along with their associated game settings. Brad has yet to fill us in on the details of what exactly the AI does at each of these levels. In the past it has been economy bonuses past a certain point. This is suspected to still be true but the exact values are unknown.

Exact levels for your current game can be viewed in the debug.err file in the installation directory.

AI Intelliegence Level

AI Intelligence level is per AI controlled race. When you select a game each race has a varying degree of intelligence based on the game difficulty selected above. Exact details are not known. In older versions prior to v1.31 it was known to be the following.

Fool - The AI's economy is run at 10% of normal, no higher level algorithms are enabled
Beginner - The AI's economy is run at 25% of normal, no higher level algorithms are enabled
Sub-Normal - The AI's economy is run at 50% of normal, no higher level algorithms are enabled
Normal - The AI's economy is run at 75% of normal, AI evaluates common human tactics
Bright - The AI's economy is run at 100% of normal, AI evaluates most known human tactics
Intelligent - The AI's economy is run at 100% of normal, AI expertly picks abilities and all known human tactics are searched and countered
Gifted - The AI's economy is run at 105% of normal, All AI algorithms in place (same as above)
Genius - The AI's economy is run at 125% of normal, All AI algorithms in place (same as above)
Incredible - The AI's economy is run at 200% of normal, All AI algorithms are in place (same as above)

Retrieved from "https://www.galciv.wikia.com/wiki/Difficulty_level"

Also does setting the high CPU algorithim help the AI significantly

It also allows the AI to redesign their ships twice as often to counter yours.

Strange thing you start off with one such ship if you don't have the tech to build it... But that goes for the cargo (large) hulls too. The techtree, oh the techtree

Actually, initially you don't have *any* of the techs required to build the survey vessel (medium hulls, sensors, survey module, advanced support, basic support, ion drive)!

You and any other race, that is. Oh, but the Yor, the Korx and the Drath do have Ion Engine, which is rather strange, considering the storyline... so the humans invented the HD, but these guys after all were already way ahead.   

Another thing I find very weak in the game is the mixing and matching and the cumulative effect of different levels of sensors and life support in a ship. Yuk! Make them increase in size with each level, and become more powerful, and have only one per ship, like logic dictates (not the right game for logic, I know). I dare not say, do the same with... engines.