The Altarian Incident

I recently purchased GC II Gold and so far have had nearly flawless gameplay (only 1 CTD in over 200 hours of playing) - except for one consistent, insidious issue.

I play Dark Avatar, sandbox mode. The problem goes like this:

As you know, several times during a game, you will get a pop-up message that informs you that so-and-so has decided to go to war with...well, whomever - and you are asked if you will join them since your race is of a like kind. You have a yes / no selection box. No matter which box I click on, the next turn I get the message that I have joined the conflict. 'No' just doesn't work. I get this same result every time regardless of alliances, treaties, or any other factor.

In my last game the Altarians had been reduced down to one star system (due to earlier wars) and were on their last leg. The Thalan empire had expanded to cover almost 50% of the galaxy and were clearly in the number one spot. About mid-game, the Altarians decided to go to war against the Thalans. This very act in itself took something away from the game, since any race intelligent enough to develop hyperdrive would not be stupid enough to make that kind of mistake (Brad Wardell, where are you?). Anyway, I got the message asking if would join the Altarians, clicked 'No', and, yup...you guessed it, the next turn found myself at war against the most powerful empire on the board. I took a beating before I could finally arrange a peace.

Sorry for the long post. My thanks to those that take the time to read it, and for any advice or input. Is this a known bug? Is there a fix? Any ideas? Peace   

4,253 views 8 replies
Reply #1 Top
mid-game, the Altarians decided to go to war against the Thalans. This very act in itself took something away from the game, since any race intelligent enough to develop hyperdrive would not be stupid enough to make that kind of mistake (Brad Wardell, where are you?).


The Thalans must have declared war on the Altarians, not the other way around, and so this was not an example of bad AI. The message about joining the Altarians only appears when someone declares war on them, not when they decalre war. Perhaps the Thalan war declaration wasn't properly displayed because of the Altarian Super Ability. Sounds like the Thalans wanted that last planet.

Reply #2 Top
Thanks for the reply, and you may be right about who was actually starting the war, but the real issue for me is the fact that I cannot choose to stay out of it.
Reply #3 Top
Wyndstar...to clairfy what I'm saying - the 'yes/no' box doesn't work. I am always forced to go to war regardless of which box I select.
Reply #4 Top

The Alterian super ability forces races of a similar alignment to go to war with anyone who attacks them. My suggestion is if you're in the same game as the Altarians, pick Evil or Neutral.

Having said that it's pretty misleading giving you the option of saying "no", it should really just pop up with "the alterians were attacked and have convinced your military to come to their aid" or something.
Reply #6 Top
The Altarians are just bullies anyway. They seem to always start a war with me just because I don't have any military ships at the beginning of the game, but they start to think differently once my smaller fleets and ships start ripping into their larger fleets... and of course, once the transports start landing on their planets. The Altarians have always seemed quite aggressive for a "good" civilization. So... just start playing neutral or evil civilizations. The Altarians shouldn't come knocking on your door for aid then.
Reply #7 Top
Well damn, as if the Good alignment wasn't already gimped. That's just silly.
I usually play evil or neutral so this is the first I've heard of this.

And yes, the Altarians are stupidly aggressive for a "good" faction. In my last game they declared war on me for no reason, and I was on the side of the map opposite theirs on a huge map. They were stuck between the Drengin and the Korath. Guess who decided to come to my aid after the Altarians declared war... hilarity ensued.
Reply #8 Top
Well, they follow the 'Destroy all non-Good faction' Good philosophy, the purification philosophy, whatever you want to call it.