Having some difficulties with DL

Never build galactic structures on good planets!! Remember that once you complete such a project, you permanently kill a tile on that planet. Typically i will rush buy all my early projects on Mars and then move on to the next crapiest planet i can find. There are some projects you will need to build on good planets because they have useful planetary bonuses, keep an eye out for these.

I play on Masochistic level and i can rush buy projects because i focus on my economy. I will probably rush buy a factory on earth but then i just build markets.
Every planet i colonise i will build markets only unless it has scientific or manufacturing bonuses. I only build starports on planets with manufacturing bonuses, i only build reseach labs on planets with research bonuses, all other planets just get markets (later on one morale building and one farm).

I build starbases only after having a sufficient defensive fleet, and then i only build economic starbases with freighter bonuses only.

Once i run out of room for starbases to boost my trade income, only then will i bother with factory imrovements.

I say... "Money really does make the galciv universe go round".

I agree with Mystikmind for the most part. I wouldn't say "never" to anything, but it's pretty close to never as far as building galactic structures on good planets, unless there's a compelling reason for doing so.

Mystikmind's focus on economy sounds right on target too. The economy will make you or break you.

I play suicidal on small galaxies right now, because I don't have time for larger ones ATM. I might go with a larger one after my vacation. Maybe.

For the below line by line comments, I play either all factories or all labs strategies, which is a little misleading. (Most of my structures are economic.) If I see a real good research bonus on my homeworld, I'll go with all labs for the production and set my sliders to 0/0/100. If it's a tie or social looks better, I go with all factories for my production and sliders go to 10/90/0. (I don't like the more expensive 1/99/0 settings, but that's just me). I adjust focus on a turn by turn basis, using the governor screen.

1). For my homeworld, I go full production. Rush buy labs or factories, depending on the chosen strategy. One farm when it looks like it might need it. If I can get a manufacturing or research capital, I'll build or buy that when its bonus outweighs the basic production unit. For new colonies, I build two production units one economy, a starport, then all economy, save one. That last one will be a farm, unless the planet needs one sooner. Only one farm per planet and not on a bonus tile. If I come across a planet with appropriate bonus tiles, I'll use it as a full production planet. I used to buy entertainment buildings, but found them to be relatively useless for my purposes. The exception is when I conquer a planet that already has an economic capital, some other morale boosting structure and a bonus tile for entertainment. In that case, I'll build one and also put two or three farms, until the approval goes way south.

The reason for the stardock on every planet comes into play when I build my "lure", which starts as the colony rush is ending. The planets supply it with fighters and constructors. The lure is a military starbase with every ship assistance module that I can get, focusing on attack first. It'll be close to my initial border, close to an intersection of 4 sectors and its range will encompass at least one lower class planet. (The low class planet doesn't have to be mine yet. I'll have it soon enough.) I surround this starbase with 1 weapon tiny fighters at first. By the time there are two fighters in the 8 squares around the starbase, I'll have enough miniaturization to uprade them to 1 attack and one defense. The lure is almost always attacked by the first aggressive AI on one of its corners. I beef up the corner that faces the most likely aggressor with 3 or more tiny fighters. The lure eats up anything that attacks it and keeps the less aggressive AIs from wanting to start anything. Eventually, the lure will grow to 8 or more starbases. It'll give its assitance to the low class planet when I eventually put a Spin Control Center on it and fill it with Huge 1 defense, no engines, balance attack ships. That gives me the ability later on to decide when I want to go to war and lets me build influence starbases or set troop transports wherever I want with relative impunity.

2). I build my own colony ships. Cargo hulls, one colony mod with two or three engines, one or two support and send them out blind. I grab as many higher class planets as I can until my economy starts to tank. Sometimes, higher class only means 8+. Usually, it's 10+. The lower class planets in my influence area will be colonized by an AI and will flip to my side after the AI builds them up for me. I use an extra colony ship to ferry colonists from my more populated planets to the lower pops, upgrading its engines as I go. That lets me raise taxes while keeping the growing colonies at 100% approval. I build up the planets close to any AI planets that I want to flip first. More pop means more influence as well as more money.

3). Research for me depends on the feel of the game, my race and how close my neighbors are. I generally go for some diplomacy, engines unless the colony rush looks like it's ending, morale, more diplomacy, influence and then production (research for all labs or social for all factories). I trade for my military techs, but will research some of the starbase techs myself.

Tech trading is the major part of my games. By selling everything except diplo, I stay solvent and also keep that money out of the AI's hands. It really bothers me to see an AI with over 1000bc. I see that as MY money.   

When trading, remember that the AI values single items in trade over multiple ones. If you want, say, Warp Drive II, but the AI won't trade, try asking for Warp Drive I AND Warp Drive II. I've had that work for me so many times. Also, ask for 1 influence point before asking for money or tech. That devalues the AI's side and increases your bargaining power. If not 1 influence, remember to try to ask for multiple things for your one thing. You'll come out ahead in the long term, even with lower diplo skills.

If the AI has relatively nothing to offer and you want to bog him down with a trojan horse (say you want to give him Ultimate Invulnerability to bog down his military), ask for a troop transport. That'll give you 1000 colonists to boost your economy while you unload the tech. A double whammy on your part.

Don't trade away soldiering skills if you can help it. Advanced Troop Modules is OK, but not Plantary Defenses. You want as many of those for yourself as you can.

Before you completely conquer an AI, trade the rest of your techs and drain him of money and influence points. He won't be able to trade them away and it helps your economy. If you plan on letting him live through a turn, consider offering peace in exchange for a planet or two. That's more important if your alignment is something other than neutral, since he's likely to surrender to someone else.

So, on most planets, would you recommend ignoring morale, influence, and farming bonuses?

Another question I remembered: is it a good idea to trade techs early on? For example, I tried making my own race, which started with HyperDrive, New Propulsion Techniques, Xeno Communications, Universal Translator, Xeno Engineering, and Xeno Research, then I just traded Xeno Communications and/or New Propulsion Techniques to every other race in exchange for any technologies I didn't have. I ended up gaining about 10 technologies that way.

In a word, yes.

In certain cases, I'd buy influence on a bonus tile for a temporary boost if I needed it. There's always the option to build back over it.



I think it's good to trade as soon as you can set up a three way or better. Just like you described it.

Interesting strategies posted, yes i used to do that 'lure' strategy against very strong AI's. One game i ended up fighting a powerful thalan/arcean alliance where i was on my own... no trade! That was fun,, but i couldn't break out of my military starbase zone without getting slaughtered because my economy could not support enough ships. I managed to conquor a planet here and there over time though and eventually broke them that way, but i did feel it was a bit cheesy.

@ Mystikmind - Sounds like a good game you had there. Breaking out from such a disadvantage had to feel good.

Just an opinion, but I don't see using Military SBs as cheesy. No more so than using Influence or Economy SBs. I've seen the AIs using Military SBs to attack. No reason they shouldn't be used for defense. Evil needs a strong military or it won't survive very long. Neutral doesn't need it as much, but on suicidal, I'll take whatever legal advantage I can find.

In the early game, I sometimes build my attack fleets and park my transports behind the fighter cover. Injured craft that can make it back find a nice place to repair there too.

I've read about some people using the Military SBs to raise the score. That's OK in my opinion too, if you have that sort of patience. I tried playing for points once, but something shiny distracted me.

You would think so, but it became a little monotonous... Incomming Arcean fleet, intercept, kill, replace losses, incomming thalan fleet, kill, replace losses over and over and over and over again.

I was trying to push forward and build more military starbases but my economy couldn't support that strategy, i was only just able to build enough ships to hold them off without going broke,,, since i already had about 30 starbases, building more was not an option.

So in the end, because of the stupid economy preventing me from having fun, i had to sneak around like a coward and steel planets behind the AI's back, thats the only way i could win.

I remembered in galciv1, you could consolidate your position over time and get stronger and stronger, but in Galciv2 once your planets are developed at maximun building technology, thats it, you hit a glass ceiling and there is absolutely nothing you can do to get stronger over time without taking more planets.