upgrading core ships only way to go?

from GalCiv2 Forums
Just got GC2DL, I noticed that all the core ships have more space to add components than their hull class should allow. So given the choice between upgrading a core ship or making a new design with less space it seems there is no use for new designs. Am I missing something?
3,679 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Perhaps a miniaturization tech or two?

Does that extra space remain when you actually upgrade the ship?
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yes it does. All the upgraded core ships have more space than they should. Makes making a new design from scratch a bit pointless.
Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I just started up a game of GC2DL. I did not find that upgraded core ships have more space than a ship from scratch. Then again, I have a full patched copy of GC2DL.

Are you fully uptodate? If so, start a new game and then talk us through how you create an upgraded core ship with more space than a ship from scratch. I'll be happy to try to replicate your claim.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yes it does. All the upgraded core ships have more space than they should. Makes making a new design from scratch a bit pointless.
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Bear in mind that the actual functionality of the core ships is not actually linked with their appearance. So they may graphically have more colony modules, constructors, weapons, etc, than they actually do. You can rest assured that there's no actual space advantage (they're all defined using the same components available to you in gc2ships.xml).
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Oops I see the problem - the listed capacity in the ship builder is not the real one. Eg a small hull says capacity 26 but actually has capacity 36. The core ships have the same capacity as the new ones. Sorry for the misunderstanding...
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Yes it does. All the upgraded core ships have more space than they should. Makes making a new design from scratch a bit pointless.


Bear in mind that the actual functionality of the core ships is not actually linked with their appearance. So they may graphically have more colony modules, constructors, weapons, etc, than they actually do. You can rest assured that there's no actual space advantage (they're all defined using the same components available to you in gc2ships.xml).


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Speaking of, where's Kryo's hull mod for TA? :D
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Oops I see the problem - the listed capacity in the ship builder is not the real one. Eg a small hull says capacity 26 but actually has capacity 36. The core ships have the same capacity as the new ones. Sorry for the misunderstanding...
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Miniturization increases the size of your ship hulls with higher levels.

Long story short: don't ever, ever bother with the core ships. They ALWAYS have outdated technology, less than optimal balancing versus your opponents, and inefficient designs. Design your own. That way, you not only tailor them to your needs, but you get to put them together and make them look cool (and frankly, that's probably the most fun part of the entire game).
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Don't forget to factor in the continued advances of technology. Some part types simply gets much better over time. Their price might increase, but they usually get improvements to stats to go with it, thus improving the price to stat ratio. The net result is, eventually equally powerful ships can exist that are both cheaper and use less room than the core ships (though I suspect that most players perfer to max out the stats of their ships instead of making them cheaper).