Complex - How Should a Beginner Get Started?

I'd just play a Medium on Normal and mess with it. =0 But I play only TBS/RTS type games so I may pick it up faster than most people.

Make sure that you update to the latest version. Looking through the wiki at specific game concepts would be good (the manual is not useful since the game has changed significantly since then).

Part of the fun is "learning" some of the good techniques and strategies as you move up on the difficulty level.

As far as the knobology and button pushing goes to get things done, the tutorials are probably your best bet...they aren't tooo long but are tedius and boring.

Start on an easy difficulty level first, to get used to the interface, and screens. It's also a good playground for learning some basics. Afterwards, play it on Normal a few times until you get to grips with it, eventually working up to "Tough" (the first level where the AI and player are on equal ground). After that, try out whatever takes your fancy.

The economy is the most important part of the game. Try not to bankrupt yourself by over expanding. Build markets and establish trade routes ASAP.

The tutorials are good, but a few may be out of date. One example I can think of is that the ship designer screen has been updated a bit, so it won't look exactly the same in the video.

Yeah, most of the tutorials are actually from the version right before 1.0

Search through the forums, particularly the Strategies forum. Just be sure to take advice with a grain of salt. The beauty of this game is that there are many different ways to play it. Just be careful that the advice you take fits together as a coherent strategy. If you take part of your strategy from someone playing gigantic galaxy military victories and other parts from someone playing medium galaxy technological victories, it’s pretty sure that these strategies will not complement each other.

Play a lot of small and easy games gradually moving to bigger galaxies and more difficult opponents. There is a point somewhere around painful where the AI suddenly gets more aggressive, that’s a good place to hang out for awhile until you master the colony rush. Feel free to ask for advice on these forums, you’ll get plenty of good advice, just make sure to use what fits your style and if something doesn’t work for you move on to the next. Also when you ask for advice on the forums the more specific you can be the better the advice you will get. Some folks ask some very open ended questions that can be very difficult to answer without writing a thesis about the subject.

Play, ask, play, ask, then play and ask some more.

Play, ask, play, ask, then play and ask some more.

Simple words, but oh, so true. There are a great bunch of folks on these forums who will be glad to answer any question you might have. GalCiv2 has a big learning curve; don't get discouraged, you'll get there eventually. This game can be an awful lot of fun to lose. For more detailed information on game specifics, read the Wiki, which can be accessed through the 'Databanks' tab on the top left part of the forums.

Thanks for all the great advice. I'm going to start with some easy games and take it from there.

Hello all. I'm a beginner as well and have a similar question. However, instead of playing with random maps and players, I started with the Dread Lords Campaign. I think the default was set to beginner so I played that for a a few of the scenarios and pretty much breezed through them. (I must admit one or 2 of the scenarios were actually won by my allies before I could successfully complete my planetary invasions - apparently trading tech really helped them with their battles.)

I just started the "Apocalypse" scenario and bumped the AI up to Normal. I've read that at this level the computer military AI still isn't enabled. Should I kick it up another notch to enable AI or do you think playing the rest of the campaign out at Normal is fine? Getting through the story line is really fun, but at the same time I don't want win complete the campaign by way of "cheese." Also, how many scenarios are there in the campaign?

Lastly, any reasons I should put the campaign on hold and play random map games first?

p.s. I think the game is great so far. I love the complex strategies that you can employ. I remember having both the original Civilizations game and the first Master of Orion game and losing tremendous sleep playing both, and am looking forward to doing the same with this game!

Lastly, any reasons I should put the campaign on hold and play random map games first?

My opinion on the campaigns is that they aren't the heart of the game. The true heart lies in the 'sandbox' mode, which is by far more enjoyable to play (IMO) than the campaign. Also, since the campaign scenario's are 'scripted', you can't truly get a feel for the game mechanics and strategies unless you play the sandbox mode. I don't know about anyone else, but I believe I've seen a few posts from some seasoned veterans regarding the sandbox vs. campaign modes... and all the vets chose the sandbox for maximum replay value and gameplay options/strategies/etc.
So in essence, cut your teeth in the sandbox and once you learn the game pretty well, try the campaign if you want to. I think you'll find more fun in the sandbox though, but at least you will have the skills to complete the campaign if you choose to do so.

I've been playing PC games since before color displays were common, so I have a kind of long term view. With luck, Stardock will be around long enough and manage their growing prosperity well enough that we'll see a GC3 or GC4 that has a more accessible and interesting scenario/story layer.

Meantime, the sandbox is the place to play, IMO

heh, I haven't even played the Dread Lords campaign yet. Is it worth playing at all or should I continue to give it a "pass"?

I played from easy and kept going up difficulties until I could no longer beat them. They still play a real hard game.

I haven't even played the Dread Lords campaign yet. Is it worth playing at all or should I continue to give it a "pass"?

The campaign is a good learning tool. Most of the skills you need to be successful are illustrated in there. It has been a long time since I played those scenarios, but I remember a couple that were challenging. Give it a try.