How Rare/Balanced are The Games/Planets?

Class 26?

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hi all,

I'm pretty new, from reading the manual I thought that Class 26s were extremely rare, as was just about anything over class 14 or so.

I had a bunch of games previously where I had Habitable planets set to 'Common' and I think I managed to find a grand total of 2 Mars and Weber on my side of the map. I am playing on Medium at Beginner difficulty, and I set it for Abundant and I'm finding a heck of a lot more.

Here is my empire as of 22 Sept 2225:

Vizzard III - Class 26
Lenz V - Class 18
Andersonia IV - Class 17
Class 12
Class 12
Class 11
Class 11
Class 11
Class 11
Class 11
Class 10
Class 10
Class 10
Class 4

And I'm racing for another Class 10, and I just barely missed 2 more Class 12s, another two Class 10s, 2 class 8s, a Class 9, and a couple Class 11s, along with a few lower (Class 5 or so). Is this unexpected or is this just typical? I still have about 30% of the map to explore. I had such a hard time finding anything habitable my first few games, this game I started dead center on the map and I'm finding too many for me to take over without bankrupting myself...is it paradise or just a normal thing?

Thanks,
Peter

P.S. And am I doomed to die now since I'm overextended?
10,373 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well, on a low difficulty setting the AI won't be able to colonize nearly as quickly as on higher settings. So that's probably one of the reasons you're seeing so much real estate for the taking. I'd say that if you set habitable planets to "abundant," you should expect to find an abundant amount of planets, no? But I'd guess that you'll usually not find such a ratio of good quality planets. Is this DL, or the expansion?
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ahh Dread Lords as opposed to Dark Avatar you mean, its Dread Lords. It's sad, I was going to set it to Intelligent, but I had such a bad time finding planets, even on abundant previously I couldn't find any or I was stuck in a small pocket where I couldn't get at anything. The game seems really unbalanced in terms of how you start off. It's taking me some time to get into it, I always liked BOTF...but I'm finding either the game turns out to be way way too easy or too hard and with nowhere to colonize...
Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Pipeter, search these forums for advice to new players, or general strategies. It might seem daunting at first, but you'll be able to be doing consistently well with a little practice. The first few months of the game are extremely important, so having a decent strategy for those turns can make all the difference.

I'd give you a detailed strategy, but others have done it on these forums in ways that are better than I could, so I'll leave it to your search abilities.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
True, I've read the beginners strats and stuff. I'm mostly an AOC player, who likes to do some BOTF, Civ and other 4X games on the side...really I think I enjoy those more when I can get into them : ). I'm just having some trouble getting it going on this because some games I start out and I have tons of possiblities...other games theres almost no where to settle. Is it normal for an empire on a medium map to only be 3 or 4 mostly mediocre planets? That's really what I'm asking : )

Thanks,
Peter
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The random map generator is definately capable of delivering you complete garbage, rediculously unworkable geography. That's what 'CNTRL+N' is for.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Good to hear : ) - I would do that a good 3 or 4 times in Civ4 b4 I'd get a good game going, and I'd look for a good 400+ pop system in MOO 2.5 b4 I'd really get into it. It took me 5 games to get to a map I felt I could play so I was wondering if they were all like that lol... guess the enemy might be screwed from the start no matter how smart it is . Too bad there's no Regenerate Map button like Civ4 but that's fine thanks : )

Peter
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Have to say, the heuristics of the comp at the beginner level...it's just too stupid lol. It just values distance and takes the planets closest to it, even if that means taking a class 4 when I class 17 was 1 tile away. What difficulty level do you have to set it where it doesn't do such stupid things but can still be beaten by a lucky rook?

Thnx,
Peter
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well if you set habitable planets to common, that's what you should get.
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
With Common on Medium I searched half the map and found only 2 habitable planets, Mars and Weber II. I also had a bunch of othergames where I found a maximum of 3 planets anywhere near me outside my system. Abundant I get planets coming out of my ears... Can you play a good game with only 3 or 4 5-12 level planets with 6 races on a map with Common set? Or am I getting screwed and all the AIs have a group of 20+ good planets on some corner of the map?

Peter
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
With Common on Medium I searched half the map and found only 2 habitable planets


I would say on average that you would need to press CNTRL+N at least 10/15 times to get an 'average' map.

Out of say 100 starts you might get 10 fantastic maps and probably 20 or 30 horriffic maps. What you want, is somewhare in the middle so for your medium map on abundant planets, you should be able to colonise at the very least, 10 planets.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
On Common though? I hate using abundant because really its overkill. I only did it because Common was giving me nothing lol. How many planets should I colonize on Common on Medium ?

Thanks,
Peter
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
How many planets should I colonize on Common on Medium ?


you should get a good game out of 10 planets, i have done well in the past with just 6 planets but also i had 9 players.
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ok thanks - 10 minimum for Abundant, and 10 on Common - sounds good. So if I end up with more of those only 3-4 planets on my side of the galaxy games, CTRL+N is my next move

Thanks for you help ,
Peter