I'm losing patients with this game, yeah I suck too.

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hello all this is my first post; though I've been coming here for about 6 months now just to read some of the post to get an idea what this game is all about and read about what strategies are being used.

I play this game every now and then and usually even just on normal and always abandon each game after a night or two..or sometimes three. It's just that I see how far behind I am and don't want to do much more work micro managing and expanding only to find I'm too far behind and it is impossible to win. This game requires a lot of work. Sometimes seems like managing a company or doing income tax (no seems harder)

Most the time early on I'm way down the latter on who is the most powerful and get threats from other colonies to transfer them some money for my own good.

But nonetheless- maybe I'm just a masochist- this seems like an interesting game and is why I keep coming back to it.
Lately I'm playing the expansion Dark Avatar. What I don't like about it of course is not seeing any chance of wining. And I don't always particularly like the slow pace and long tedious hours of trying to get the game going or just trying to accomplish a simple task like taking over another planet and making all these adjustments confidently only to find out I'm at the bottom three in power.

Now I've read all the basic strategy guides for getting started. I seem to know it like I could right it all myself, but for some reason its not working. Yeah, I know colony rush and don't wind up in debt, buy your first ship or buy you first factory etc.

What other advice can you give me if any. (is there some gamey a cheat you haven't told me)
about)

Ok, one of the problems I seem to be having is with the slider bars I keep compulsively wanting to put all my spending into research, I want to get way ahead technically, though you say this is wrong- yeah, I know not balancing my budget.
I've read where it is suggested that in the beginning you want military,social,and research about one third and spending 100% or whatever I can afford and taxes preferably at least 70% and some say no lower than 50%.(How do the other alliances get so many techs so soon without doing just this in the beginning?) But what do you do after you've build enough factories and what about making colony ships to grab those planets? Can't do that if your military spending is like 20-30 percent it takes for ever! Yeah and put your focus on social on your home planet etc I'm playing the terran alliance by the way, which is also suggested along with making star bases and then upgrading them blah blah blah none of this is helping much.

Research, hyerdrive all the way up to at least impulse drive, and or gallactic warfar
commincations. well what about when you need to colonize the only planet available in the beginning do you abandon the above techs to go with extreme colonization and heavy gravity so you can colonize that planet?
That's another thing I can't seem to find any planets to colonize on I send colony ships in every direction there are either no planets at all or there are those which are class 0,and by the time I get past my own my own solar system there is nothing but what is beyond still further where I find some other alien has colonized.

Ok, I've rambled on and loaded this post with questions but maybe you can give me some useful suggestions that really make wining a possibility.






strategies
9,688 views 19 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
colonies=people=money
This cannot be overstated. The more colonies you have, the more you'll be able to do with research, and military and the like. without specifiying your games settings, this will be a shot in the dark but are you playing a high difficulty level with perhaps planets set on rare? this would explain no planets. I'm talking about DL, I haven't moved up to DA yet. maybe try to change your settings around when setting up your game. This might make it a more winnable game. Also keep in mind your difficulty settings. Anything over tough and the Ai gets a significant advantage. Don't be worried about falling behind at the beginning, it's going to happen. An important tip to keep in mind is find out what your potential enemies are building for there military. If they have missile 3 and armor 3, design yourself something like laser 1 and point defense 5. that way, you can sit there all day and hammer him but he won't be able to penetrate your defenses. hope this helps.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thank you for the advice Pitsnipe.
I will give your more information about my settings but for now its just normal difficulty
and 6 opponent colonies with me as Terran.

I know about choosing to research weapons the enemy doesn't have and making sure I have defense shields with points high enough to protect me from the hit points of their weapons. But I'm also concerned with researching as quickly as possible the most powerful weapons I can and planetary invasion.

Yeah, maybe I should give up to soon in the game just because I'm way behind most of the other colonies. But at what point do I know its impossible to win and to start another game.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Oh, and did I forget to mention: I always start by building at least 3 factories (usually 4) for production on my starting planets. So no need to tell me this, I've read it enough times.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Oh, and did I forget to mention: I always start by building at least 3 factories (usually 4) for production on my starting planets. So no need to tell me this, I've read it enough times.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Lower the difficulty level. You'll find it is much easier to get a grasp of things; once you master the basics then you can increase your level. There is no shame in learning on a lower setting.

Also, stick it out - I've played games were it looked like I was a goner - and events happened that I was able to take advantage of to rescue the situation.

You will always seem to be behind early in the game at the higher difficulty levels - the aI has a head start you must overcome - and until you get a good grasp of the basics, you will find it hard to catch up.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Clearstar,

One part of GalCiv2 that I like is that I can try different strategies. I tend to get stuck in as rut and have found that the AARs and strategy posts are very helpful to see what other people do.

For instance, as PitSnipe said, population is everything, and to get more population you have to be competitive in the colony rush. Perhaps you are spending too much time and resources in technology and a lower grade of propulsion would work. Getting spd 3 or maybe 4 colony ships would be perfectly fine, especially since the AI is spamming the galaxy with spd 2 ships. After you get this you could abandon or significantly cut back research, focus on social for a while, and then set military to 70+% to crank out colony ships.

Another strategy that I’ve used is to build 3 or 4 factories at my home planet (as you do), increase military until I’m producing a colony ship every 5 turns, and then buy the colony ship when I’ve got two turns left. This means you get a colony ship every 4 turns and still have some allocation to research and social. I can generally get away with 50/25/25 mil/social/research here. I do NOT rush build factories at my new planets except my first one or two planets to conserve cash. If I hit an anomaly jackpot or my cashflow increases then I’ll go for it, but not otherwise.

Consider playing with races besides Terrans. For instance, I’ve had great fun with the Krynn (high morale = high taxes, good defense ship bonus, nice race stats) and Altarians (terrific researchers, excellent economy bonuses), and custom Super Breeder (+2 speed, eco and morale bonuses).

If what you’re doing isn’t working then try something Completely Different. You may be surprised!

Hydro
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Clearstar,

I think one of the problems your having is you pay too much attention to the intelligence reports. I am usually ALWAYS rated as one of the least most powerful empires because I dont keep a strong standing navy. I usually focus on social and research and dont create a large navy until I am in danger of getting attacked by someone else. Once someone attacks me I divert my resources into cranking out ships and kick the guy who was rated as the most powerful empires butt because my infrastructure and research is superior to his. Ignore their threats. As long as you have a good infrastructure and superior research you can crank out ships that are better than his if he follows up on his threats. Make sure you are researching the proper defense for the weapons that your closest aggressive neighor is using.

I dont think the terrans are the best race personally. I think the thalens are the easiest to learn with (thats who I learned with). In DA they build factories like they are going out of style!! So you can get up and running pretty quick on new colonies.

Once you get the hang of it this game is not that hard on most difficulty levels. I usually play on painful and I win most of the time.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hey Clearstar - welcome to the galaxy

I'm quite new myself to the game, been playing only a few weeks or so. SOme things in your post thuogh, I recognize in the game I play/played though.

The lack of planets is probably because of the game settings when you start. I could never find anything to colonize other than Mars. Bump the Habitable Worlds and # of Worlds up to Abundant. That should get you more worlds to colonize.

I started learning the game on a Medium map size, and recently moved up to a Large one. IMO, this does change the game a bit. A Medium game I could finish in a day, playing a few hours. Large is about 2-3 days of the same play time. I would suggest starting on a Med map with 2-3 opps, if for nothing else, to get a feel for the game. That 'feeling' will serve you well as you continue to play.

Also, to echo what others have said, do not worry at all about your ranking, especially your military. The last game I finished I was ranked 4th out of 6 in military, yet I won the game by conquest - decimating the civs that were 1,2 and 3 ! That military rating is only counting quantity not quality.

For the sliders,Turn 1 - I set taxes to 39%, Production to about 70%, M/S/R to 30/30/40. Taxes and production I bump up whenever I can. I keep the 30/30/40 setup throughout the game. I move the 40 to whichever category is more important to me at the time. Early on I like to research to get my feet on the ground. As I colonize, I might switch to 30/40/30 to build up worlds a little faster. When in war its 40/30/30. You get the idea. It is by no means the "best" (prolly isnt even good) strategy, but it works for me, for now.

Good luck
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Poor patients .
Like others said.
Try something different if your original strategy doesn't work. I have no problem admitting I learned to play this game at lower settings, try that if nothing else helps.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
One other thing about the relative power of each civilization... the way i see it, much of your positioning comes from military. You may appear at the bottom of the list on the GNN's reports because you have a weak military, even when you are light years ahead of the competition in industry, population and research. That's the way it usually works for me.
Then i decide to finally make some ships and in 4 or 5 turns i catch up with the strongest race because i am making much more technologically advanced ships. Don't give up just because of your relative power.

It ain't over till the fat lady sings

Have you tried creating trade routes with everyone? Trading will make opponents think twice (or should i say "compute" twice) about attacking you because they will lose trade income. Also, since i usually play neutral (love those Neutrality Learning Centers) i am always far ahead in research. So iIf there's a race that doesn't appreciate me, i don't mind giving them some free technology to placate their fury. Stuff like Trade techs, Alliances, Sensors, etc.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Thanks, everyone, I see a lot of good experienced advise here all of which I will definitely keep in mind and experiment with.

And yeah, I just kept all those Galaxy settings on default: habitable worlds is on occasional-jeez why didn't I notice this! But isn't it all relative? The Galaxy being set this way all other colonies are likewise going to find habitable planets scarce as well.


Glad to read that its not all that unusual to be listed as one of the bottom three in the beginning and still to have a chance to win. I'll try not to pay too much attention to those reports I keep thinking "oh no I'm falling too far behind" I need to be the most powerful colony so I can conquer everyone. I think it would be interesting and maybe less time consuming to win in a way other then simply conquering- having to take over every planet by every colony and to create all those colony ships and escorts; Yes, I've done it before on the beginner difficulty setting. But from what I gather its much harder to win without conquering most of the major colonies. Is this true?

Another thing, are there unlimited turns per game? As long as of course you stay alive and don't let any of the other colonies fullfill any of the other victory conditions?
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Look at all your other stats by using the graphs. Economy, research, population, etc. You might be surprised at how well you're actually doing. I'm usually dead last in the power rankings until I decide to gear up for battle and crank out some warships, at which point I catapult near the top. Unless you're in imminent danger of being attacked, a lower power ranking is a GOOD thing. It means you're not wasting all that lovely productivity on ships that are doing nothing except becoming obsolete. And remember that you need to tailor your ships to the race you're doing to do battle with. It's not always obvious which race that's going to be until things start heating up, so there's no point in building up a massive military until you have a good idea who you're going to be stomping.
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yeah, I agree, power rankings for me are typically feast or famine. I spend the early game as the least powerful civ, and then when I'm ready to expand and start swallowing the universe I quickly jump into the top spot.

The game would do well to take a more comprehensive view of an empire's power. It would help the AI better judge which empire's it could really take down. It would help the AI know when it was winning or losing a war. And it would help new players see how they REALLY stacked up against the other empires. Basing everything off of military rating creates a lot of North Korea type AI states... huge militaries and no infrastructure.

Not surprisingly, this is a recipe for disaster.
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
But from what I gather its much harder to win without conquering most of the major colonies. Is this true?


I don't find that true. I find that Influence Victories are the easiest to acheive - (and for me the least satisfying).

Tech Victories are next in difficulty.

Conquest the third hardest...

And a "True" diplomatic win (My definition, not SD) the hardest of all - by that I don't mean one where you ally with one aI and then destroy all the others...but instead one where you actively try to prevent the slaughter of ALL the other aI's and ally with all of them. (Both are Valid Diplo victories - the first type is pretty easy, kind of a hybrid conquest/diplo win; and an option if you want to end a game that has gone on too long.)


Another thing, are there unlimited turns per game? As long as of course you stay alive and don't let any of the other colonies fullfill any of the other victory conditions?


That is correct. You can play until the Universe succumbs to it's theoretical Heat Death...

Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
But I'm also concerned with researching as quickly as possible the most powerful weapons I can and planetary invasion.

Then go early on for a Neutral alignment, and build as many Neutrality Learning Center's as you can afford. They are your ticket to faster research. And faster research means higher capacity weapons and defenses and economics and...

The earlier you can get it, the better. And early in the game the AI is more concerned with colonization than war ships. If you can gain a research advantage early enough, you can outpace them when it really matters.

Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
On your threats from other civs, try this. Every time you meet a civ, either try to make a deal for their Research treaty (if you have cash, its easiest to just buy it); or if that is too exorpitant, at the least trade them 100 bc for however much influence points (or anything else) they are willing to give up. This gives you a working relationship with them.

Every once in awhile, when you can afford it, reinforce the relationship by doing another minor deal. You can also send trade routes to everyone you can reach to get them to view you more favorably (although sometimes there are reasons to to tailor your trade approach more.)

On Normal, Challenging, or Tough (at least), if you have been practicing the above, when some civ sends that extortion threat, REJECT it. But before you leave that diplomacy screen, do another minor deal.

This approach appears to me to keep most of the AIs off my back for a very long time,...usually. Also, if you play as Altarians / Super Organizer, if they decide to mug you, about 4-5 big friends will jump their heinie, so at least you can go down smiling (heh, heh, heh).

drrider
Reply #17 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I think it would be interesting and maybe less time consuming to win in a way other then simply conquering- having to take over every planet by every colony and to create all those colony ships and escorts; Yes, I've done it before on the beginner difficulty setting.




You can trade for the planets, buy them or my favorite - offer up a Peace Treaty in exchange for some of their worlds. Then attack them again next turn
SOmething else that I'm finding out now too, I'm getting more practiced in my wars, attacking and invading.

For instance I used to send a fleet, destory ships in space, then destroy ships in orbit, then launch transport (1 at a time mind you) and send them over. Now I send that fleet in and destroy their military, disband the fleet and have the ships pick of orbiters. Transports ships are launched en masse, fleet up and sent right behind the attack fleet. It used to take my a few turns to take a single world, now I take several worlds ina single turn usually. (and I understand some around here take whole civs out in a single turn :shock: )
Reply #18 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
And yeah, I just kept all those Galaxy settings on default: habitable worlds is on occasional-jeez why didn't I notice this! But isn't it all relative? The Galaxy being set this way all other colonies are likewise going to find habitable planets scarce as well.


Of course the AI will also have problems finding habitable planets. However, the AI is quite effective during colony rush and most players seem to fall behind the AI during this phaes (I certainly do). So increasing the number of habitable plantes should make things easier for you, since you will be able to grab some of them.

If you are able to get several colonies, it is often a good idea not to develope them all at once because this might kill you economy. Give them some time to build up population and only develop colonies when your economy is strong enough. Maxing the number of colonists on a colony ship usually is a good idea, since population will grow much faster starting with 500m than with 100m.
Reply #19 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
This may seem obvious but... Have you tried custom designing colony ships? Even adding +1 speed helps tremendously in the colony rush.

Also, try spending money on espionage. Even 10 to 20bc per week is enough to get some useful info by turn 20.

Finally, trade can be used to ensure you're neighbours don't declare war on you too soon.

Hope this helps, good luck.