After 30 Hours of Play: For Those Not Yet Sure About A GalCiv Purchase!
from 
Stardock Forums
Stardock Forums
[Intended for those sitting on the fence about GalCiv. I'm not trying to preach to the choir!]
We are seeing the makings of a classic here, folks! A quick summary of my plus and minuses after some serious play time (30 hours+, 4 games --3 on 'Normal' AI and 1 on 'Tough') should make this clear.
If you care to, you can also see what my very first impressions were here: http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81866
The Good (so many!):
--The summary report that starts each reload of a saved game really helps to reorient you to how you left things off. This screen also drops you back to your current research item so you don't forget.
-- Version 1.01 is already making nice UI changes. For example, if your planets already have a next item in its Social queue, you don't drop to that planet's production screen (you used to drop down to it for no real reason). I do think, though, that a little note should appear on the 'production complete' screen telling you what the next item in the queue is!
-- "Bright" AI level is much more savvy than "Normal" in how it values tech! However, once the AI falls behind you, it still seems too easy to make a killing on tech trades. Still, the AI levels actually have a marked difference on gameplay without AI cheats!
-- They incorporated a fan's idea to add 'Star Density' options to the startup screen! This is very nice as you can now decide if stars come in tight clusters or scattered. This makes a *huge* difference in the way you play the game. Other options are being suggested as well, such as a corner starting location, a central starting location, etc. I'd be surprised if some of this isn't incorporated soon!
-- They've already improved the startup screen in other ways as well. While the first version was usable enough, this one is more polished and user-friendly. Watch for similar updates over the coming months!
-- The Governor system rocks!!! I think Stardock is dead-on when they say that a smart governor is a UI problem not an AI problem. Right on! By having templates setup for my planets, I get the result I want very single time. Sure, depending on circumstances, I might tweak individual planet's priorities, but that's it. Clean. Simple. And you can set up to 4 different governor templates for your planets, so some can be set to focus on one thing over another.
-- Different United Planet issues come up for votes, and some of these are serious issues, like the number of trade routes (trade is your #1 money maker). And the number of morale choices you have to make seems varied as well. In other words, there is almost always something fresh in each game!
-- The options screen shows your current completion of any of the various victory conditions you set. Of course, you don't see how the OTHER guy is doing, so this is not quite the insight you might think...but it's very nice nonetheless.
-- Again, the AI *really does* notice your weaknesses and works on them, particularly your military weakness. If you don't have at least a good defensive force, be prepared to be attacked by evil and perhaps by good if you don't spent time keeping your relationships close.
-- Yes, relationships actually matter! For example, a friendly AI civ gifted me, on his own, some ships when I went to war in my 'valiant attempt against the Drengin!' 'We believe our destiny goes and [sic] and hand with humans. Therefore we are joining the war on your side against the Drengin Empire." And you know what? It actually went to war on my side by sending in an attack force!!! Think about that a moment ...
-- When war starts, a warning video starts remind you of the importance of protecting your trade routes. Nice, because losing your trade routes is a sure way to put yourself in big, big trouble.
-- The AI really does know where there has been a power shift. The Drengin declared war on me because my military was weak. After I got a big force ready (I had been sitting on lots of money so I could do this), and after I got other good guys to go against him with me, they came back and begged for peace. The message here was really funny, something like: "We completely misjudged you and now beg for mercy." LOL!
-- There are PEACEFUL! ways to resolve many issues. For example, as I had begun to clear out some of the Drengin space, I took out one of his starbases on a key resource. However, a friend closer to the war location sent in his constructor ships to claim this resource the starbase was on for himself. Now, normally you'd have to attack HIM to get it back, but instead I called him up and bought it off him (at a high price, of course). But this allowed me to avoid another war with a friend and had the benefit of making that friend a bit more helpful in the war!!!
-- Anti-matter missiles, which can effectively take out any of one thing -- like a monster ship -- are a wonderful way to kill that civ that is 'turtling' before it dies. For example, as I got the Drengin cornered, he put some Dreadnaughts on defense on his planets. These suckers have lots of hitpoints, etc. Now, this would normally have taken a lot of losses for me from my own ships to clear out. But with anti-matter missiles --blam!-- removed. This rewards, that is, the guy who has air superiority. Since he was no longer strong enough to field ships in space against my own to take out my anti-matter missiles, he deserves to get whooped. Loved it!
-- Civs can break off to form a "Free [civ name]" empire! In other words, the game can and does shift in interesting ways all throughout.
-- Civs can also miraculously find huge, unique techs when there are nearly dead. But you are given warning before they 'bounce back'--this means even a dead civ can't be left alone for too long without some resolution cause you never know if it will rebound!
-- These splinter civs can form the League of Non-Aligned Worlds and pool their resources against you! Wow. That one is awesome...
CONCERNS/SUGGESTIONS:
--AI needs to use its survey ships throughout the game. They seem to operate a while and stop.
-- Would be nice for the mini-map to show which areas of space have been explored, are currently in view, etc.
-- AI sometimes lets resources sit forever in space.
-- B.C. (money) slider won't go in increments of 1 at higher levels of money! Let us type in an amount or please fix the slider!
-- You can setup proxy attacks with no repercussions? For example, I can have a friend attack a friend, yet we all stay friends? Needs a fix.
-- AI's declaration of war isn't clear!!! It will make threats but never (hardly ever?) actually say "We are at war." So you have to click to another screen after each threat to see if he actually declared war. Needs a fix.
-- On the military governor screen, please let me multiple select items so I can switch A, B, C to X all in one try! Currently you can only switch A to X then have to repeat for each item one by one...
--Need a way to have offers turn green *as you adjust the slider* so you don't have to adjust, submit, check, adjust, submit, check, etc. In fact, I see no strategy to the bargaining process at all. The AI should simply say: "We will accept an offer of xxxxb.c.'s. Is this agreeable?" As your diplomacy rating goes up, show should the offers they make.
-- Starbase text that explains the improvements get truncated.
-- BIG ONE: The option to offer an Alliance does not show up unless you are in 'Close' relationship. This might make sense at first, but it looks like a bug otherwise! If I have the tech to offer an alliance, let me offer it!!! Just have the AI refuse. This one really hurt me in my current game.
Well, my current game on 'Challenging' was winnable because one of the bad guys had a really bad starting position and this allowed me to be on the good side and call in friends to attack the one viable bad guy. But I can say that the larger map (I had been on small before and went with medium or something on this one) really affects the game in dramatic ways! When you can't start tech trading early, you also can't go into debt so easily otherwise you'll bottom out and have nothing being produced! I found myself in this position and loved it!
Also, since I was going for an alliance victory, I had to be really smart about how to manage when and where I'd fight. I spent a good amount of time keeping the right folks happy with me. I also kept good defenses up so I wouldn't be an opportune target. It all makes 'human' sense and plays naturally...as such, winning is very, very rewarding.
My only big complaint is the Alliance option not showing up. In this game I've got civs as 'Friendly' to me, yet I saw no way to offer an alliance. I seriously thought this was a bug, but the folks on GalCiv tell me that the option to offer alliance is only open when they are 'Close' to you. Huh? What's the point of negotiations if I can only offer something that will be accepted? Makes no sense!
On a plus side, this alliance victory option is awesome (if I get it to work, that is!). I'm exactly at that moment in the game where I don't want to fight anymore and everybody but the dead guy is happy with me any way. So an allied victory will take away the hours and hours of unwanted war!!! I really hope the 'Close' issue will solve my problem.
While I still want to play the next AI level up (Tough), I think I'm awfully close to giving GalCiv the highest review of a strategy game EVER!!!
We are seeing the makings of a classic here, folks! A quick summary of my plus and minuses after some serious play time (30 hours+, 4 games --3 on 'Normal' AI and 1 on 'Tough') should make this clear.
If you care to, you can also see what my very first impressions were here: http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81866
The Good (so many!):
--The summary report that starts each reload of a saved game really helps to reorient you to how you left things off. This screen also drops you back to your current research item so you don't forget.
-- Version 1.01 is already making nice UI changes. For example, if your planets already have a next item in its Social queue, you don't drop to that planet's production screen (you used to drop down to it for no real reason). I do think, though, that a little note should appear on the 'production complete' screen telling you what the next item in the queue is!
-- "Bright" AI level is much more savvy than "Normal" in how it values tech! However, once the AI falls behind you, it still seems too easy to make a killing on tech trades. Still, the AI levels actually have a marked difference on gameplay without AI cheats!
-- They incorporated a fan's idea to add 'Star Density' options to the startup screen! This is very nice as you can now decide if stars come in tight clusters or scattered. This makes a *huge* difference in the way you play the game. Other options are being suggested as well, such as a corner starting location, a central starting location, etc. I'd be surprised if some of this isn't incorporated soon!
-- They've already improved the startup screen in other ways as well. While the first version was usable enough, this one is more polished and user-friendly. Watch for similar updates over the coming months!
-- The Governor system rocks!!! I think Stardock is dead-on when they say that a smart governor is a UI problem not an AI problem. Right on! By having templates setup for my planets, I get the result I want very single time. Sure, depending on circumstances, I might tweak individual planet's priorities, but that's it. Clean. Simple. And you can set up to 4 different governor templates for your planets, so some can be set to focus on one thing over another.
-- Different United Planet issues come up for votes, and some of these are serious issues, like the number of trade routes (trade is your #1 money maker). And the number of morale choices you have to make seems varied as well. In other words, there is almost always something fresh in each game!
-- The options screen shows your current completion of any of the various victory conditions you set. Of course, you don't see how the OTHER guy is doing, so this is not quite the insight you might think...but it's very nice nonetheless.
-- Again, the AI *really does* notice your weaknesses and works on them, particularly your military weakness. If you don't have at least a good defensive force, be prepared to be attacked by evil and perhaps by good if you don't spent time keeping your relationships close.
-- Yes, relationships actually matter! For example, a friendly AI civ gifted me, on his own, some ships when I went to war in my 'valiant attempt against the Drengin!' 'We believe our destiny goes and [sic] and hand with humans. Therefore we are joining the war on your side against the Drengin Empire." And you know what? It actually went to war on my side by sending in an attack force!!! Think about that a moment ...
-- When war starts, a warning video starts remind you of the importance of protecting your trade routes. Nice, because losing your trade routes is a sure way to put yourself in big, big trouble.
-- The AI really does know where there has been a power shift. The Drengin declared war on me because my military was weak. After I got a big force ready (I had been sitting on lots of money so I could do this), and after I got other good guys to go against him with me, they came back and begged for peace. The message here was really funny, something like: "We completely misjudged you and now beg for mercy." LOL!
-- There are PEACEFUL! ways to resolve many issues. For example, as I had begun to clear out some of the Drengin space, I took out one of his starbases on a key resource. However, a friend closer to the war location sent in his constructor ships to claim this resource the starbase was on for himself. Now, normally you'd have to attack HIM to get it back, but instead I called him up and bought it off him (at a high price, of course). But this allowed me to avoid another war with a friend and had the benefit of making that friend a bit more helpful in the war!!!
-- Anti-matter missiles, which can effectively take out any of one thing -- like a monster ship -- are a wonderful way to kill that civ that is 'turtling' before it dies. For example, as I got the Drengin cornered, he put some Dreadnaughts on defense on his planets. These suckers have lots of hitpoints, etc. Now, this would normally have taken a lot of losses for me from my own ships to clear out. But with anti-matter missiles --blam!-- removed. This rewards, that is, the guy who has air superiority. Since he was no longer strong enough to field ships in space against my own to take out my anti-matter missiles, he deserves to get whooped. Loved it!
-- Civs can break off to form a "Free [civ name]" empire! In other words, the game can and does shift in interesting ways all throughout.
-- Civs can also miraculously find huge, unique techs when there are nearly dead. But you are given warning before they 'bounce back'--this means even a dead civ can't be left alone for too long without some resolution cause you never know if it will rebound!
-- These splinter civs can form the League of Non-Aligned Worlds and pool their resources against you! Wow. That one is awesome...
CONCERNS/SUGGESTIONS:
--AI needs to use its survey ships throughout the game. They seem to operate a while and stop.
-- Would be nice for the mini-map to show which areas of space have been explored, are currently in view, etc.
-- AI sometimes lets resources sit forever in space.
-- B.C. (money) slider won't go in increments of 1 at higher levels of money! Let us type in an amount or please fix the slider!
-- You can setup proxy attacks with no repercussions? For example, I can have a friend attack a friend, yet we all stay friends? Needs a fix.
-- AI's declaration of war isn't clear!!! It will make threats but never (hardly ever?) actually say "We are at war." So you have to click to another screen after each threat to see if he actually declared war. Needs a fix.
-- On the military governor screen, please let me multiple select items so I can switch A, B, C to X all in one try! Currently you can only switch A to X then have to repeat for each item one by one...
--Need a way to have offers turn green *as you adjust the slider* so you don't have to adjust, submit, check, adjust, submit, check, etc. In fact, I see no strategy to the bargaining process at all. The AI should simply say: "We will accept an offer of xxxxb.c.'s. Is this agreeable?" As your diplomacy rating goes up, show should the offers they make.
-- Starbase text that explains the improvements get truncated.
-- BIG ONE: The option to offer an Alliance does not show up unless you are in 'Close' relationship. This might make sense at first, but it looks like a bug otherwise! If I have the tech to offer an alliance, let me offer it!!! Just have the AI refuse. This one really hurt me in my current game.
Well, my current game on 'Challenging' was winnable because one of the bad guys had a really bad starting position and this allowed me to be on the good side and call in friends to attack the one viable bad guy. But I can say that the larger map (I had been on small before and went with medium or something on this one) really affects the game in dramatic ways! When you can't start tech trading early, you also can't go into debt so easily otherwise you'll bottom out and have nothing being produced! I found myself in this position and loved it!
Also, since I was going for an alliance victory, I had to be really smart about how to manage when and where I'd fight. I spent a good amount of time keeping the right folks happy with me. I also kept good defenses up so I wouldn't be an opportune target. It all makes 'human' sense and plays naturally...as such, winning is very, very rewarding.
My only big complaint is the Alliance option not showing up. In this game I've got civs as 'Friendly' to me, yet I saw no way to offer an alliance. I seriously thought this was a bug, but the folks on GalCiv tell me that the option to offer alliance is only open when they are 'Close' to you. Huh? What's the point of negotiations if I can only offer something that will be accepted? Makes no sense!
On a plus side, this alliance victory option is awesome (if I get it to work, that is!). I'm exactly at that moment in the game where I don't want to fight anymore and everybody but the dead guy is happy with me any way. So an allied victory will take away the hours and hours of unwanted war!!! I really hope the 'Close' issue will solve my problem.
While I still want to play the next AI level up (Tough), I think I'm awfully close to giving GalCiv the highest review of a strategy game EVER!!!
confront the Civ and demand it stop. This could include, for instance, trade: "As your close friend, we ask you stop trade with the Yor." If they refuse, you can decide whether or not to lower your relations.