kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

GC2 Endless Universe: FAQ

We've been getting a number of questions lately concerning Kalypso's recent release of GC2: Endless Universe. Here are some of the most common ones, and their answers.

1) What is GC2: Endless Universe?
GC2EU is a standalone retail bundle of the Dark Avatar and Twilight of the Arnor expansions. GC2: Dread Lords is neither included nor required. GC2EU is also translated into a number of languages for the areas that Kalypso covers.

2) The box/press release seems to imply there is new content?
There is no additional content in GC2EU beyond that already present in DA and TA. So if you have already purchased DA and TA direct, you do not need to get GC2EU unless you want a second copy of the game or the translations.

3) Will GC2EU be released in North America?
No, we have no plans to do that or anything similar. Since credit cards are much more common here than internationally, and the translations are not needed, interested GC2 owners should be able to purchase DA and TA directly from Stardock. DA is also available at US/Canada retail as part of GC2 Gold.

4) I can't register GC2EU in Impulse?
As of this writing it is not available to be registered or updated through Impulse. We do plan to have it supported around the final release of TA 2.0. Please note that at present, GC2EU is already at the latest non-beta version, so updating is not yet necessary. Please do not try to register and update GC2EU as regular TA to get the beta update, as it does not include the localization changes and will break your installation.

Update: As of Dec 5 GC2EU is on Impulse, and may be registered and updated normally.

5) What are the system requirements?
GC2EU requires Windows XP/Vista, a Pentium 4 1.5 GHz CPU or better, 512 MB RAM, and a 128MB DirectX 9.0c compatible video card. Please note that Windows 2000 is not officially supported, and the installer will not run on W2k.

If you have any further questions about GC2EU, please post them here and I'll add them to the list.

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I'm running GalCiv2 on Windows 2000. As Twilight of the Arnor works on W2K as well, I was under the impression that I would be able to install Endless Universe on my system.

I got it today and tried to install it. But the installer doesn't run on W2K. It tells me that I'd need XP or Vista.

Will I be able to register and install GC2EU via Stardock Central when it gets supported by Impulse (Impule doesn't work on W2k either)?

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

As of TA, Win2k is no longer officially supported (thus the installer's refusal to run). As well, new products aren't being put in SDC, so it's doubtful GC2EU will be available there.

You may be able to manually copy it over if the files are uncompressed on the disc, though as I don't have one to check myself, I couldn't give any details on that.

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I just wanted to add an interesting info to the 'wording on the package' issue.

The German retail of EU says clearly '...beinhaltet erstmals die beiden Erweiterungspacks Dark Avatar und Twilight of the Arnor'. Translation: '... contains for the first time the two expansion packs Dark Avatar and Twilight of the Arnor'.

It seems that Kalypso (they're German?) made a simple translation error with the English marketing texts.

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Will customers be locked out of future support for this product due to region restrictions? I'm a customer in the US who recently bought GalCiv2, but not yet the expansions. There's currently a sale going on for Endless Universe, but it wouldn't be such a great deal if I purchase it and later find out that updates will only be for region-specific customers.... folks in Europe, where the game was marketed to.

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I've been wondering about whether this thing is official or not. So, Stardock does plan to support EU down the road? If I, as a North American resident, purchased and installed EU, would it eventually show up on Impulse?

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

See #4 above.

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Quoting kryo,

reply 6

Um, kryo, I appreciate the quick response, but I don't know what bookishboy's reponse is supposed to tell me about this. He seems to be asking very similar questions, but no one's answered them yet. . . .

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

I meant #4 in the top post

As with any of our stuff, there is no region-locking or anything like that.

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Quoting kryo,

reply 8

I meant #4 in the top post

As with any of our stuff, there is no region-locking or anything like that.

Okay, thanks!

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Thanks for this info, I just picked up Endless Universe after wanting GC2 for a long time and I was wondering exactly what it contained (information seemed to be lacking elsewhere). Two questions:

1) Now that TA 2.0 is out, any updates on when I can activate this product on impulse to get the update?

2) I'm a new GalCiv player so I'm not sure about this, but are the missions/content from The Dread Lords worthwhile and interesting enough to warrant a purchase of the original (since I hear it's playable within TA 2.0)? Is this even technically possible to add?

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Quoting nickv2002,

reply 10

Thanks for this info, I just picked up Endless Universe after wanting GC2 for a long time and I was wondering exactly what it contained (information seemed to be lacking elsewhere). Two questions:

1) Now that TA 2.0 is out, any updates on when I can activate this product on impulse to get the update?

2) I'm a new GalCiv player so I'm not sure about this, but are the missions/content from The Dread Lords worthwhile and interesting enough to warrant a purchase of the original (since I hear it's playable within TA 2.0)? Is this even technically possible to add?

EU is supposed to be in the system some time soon (think the next few days) so that it can be updated to 2.0. They have people working on it.

You can play the DL campaign from TA, it'll just have TA mechanics-and probably tech trees. (This is after you get the 2.0 update, anyway.)

You're not exactly missing anything, per se, by not having the base DL game, but DL had drastically different mechanics from DA & TA. The most noteworthy being super abilities, asteroid fields, TA's tech trees, mega events, extreme environment worlds, and the fact that the economy has gotten a reworking in each expansion-it's considerably easier to manage in DL than DA or TA, and more so in DA than TA. The approval/morale system also changed slightly in DA as opposed to DL-the biggest difference is the floor is 10% now from 20% (IIRC), and as this is factored in both as a multiplier and an absolute, the primary effect this has is to no longer make planets over >20B pop manageable.

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A new reatail version of GC2 is being released soon, called GC2: Ultimate Edition, which contains DL and the two expansions. It's made by Kalypso, the same people as Endless Universe. I'm thinking of buying it, but will I be able to update the game? I really don't want to buy it if I can't update it.

Also, since I already have DL, is it worth me just buying EU? My original copy of DL and EU are not incompatible or anything are they?

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

Also, since I already have DL, is it worth me just buying EU? My original copy of DL and EU are not incompatible or anything are they?

They won't combine together, but you'll have everything that GC2 Ultimate will have.

For those looking to update GC2EU, this was being worked on over the past couple of days. It should be available for registration and update as soon as testing is completed.

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Any chance of an estimate of when it'll be possible to register GC2EU on impulse? I've been booting to windows and checking impulse every day, but no luck so far.

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Quoting vidarsk,

reply 14

Any chance of an estimate of when it'll be possible to register GC2EU on impulse? I've been booting to windows and checking impulse every day, but no luck so far.

V.2.0 for Endless Universe is announced for next week (late monday or tuesday).

https://forums.galciv2.com/329371

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I purchased Dread Lords in North America years ago, and have been looking for the expansions ever since but don't have a credit card. Now I have the opportunity to purchase Endless Universe. Does the fact that I have two different versions cause any issues. Presumably the fact that they can't combine makes it that I can't use my saved games from one to the other. Would I have been able to do this if purchased the others from via download somehow? I can't remember, If that was the case, Is there anythng else i would miss out on by having "Galactic Civilizations 2: Dread Lords" and "Endless Universe" seperately on my PC?

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Presumably the fact that they can't combine makes it that I can't use my saved games from one to the other. Would I have been able to do this if purchased the others from via download somehow?

DL, DA, and TA are all completely different games. They're not just updates to the original game. They're not cross-save compatible.

As far as I'm aware you wouldn't be missing anything by doing things that way.

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I've never played GC, but I think it is the kind of game I will like.

I'm just confused which pack to buy.

Shall I buy Ultimate Edition or Endless Universe?

Which are the diferences between them?

One of those has languages beside english. Which languages?

Thanks

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I am confused.

I bought the boxed german version from Paradox to have a localized game, but it turned out the translation was not up too far. Nevertheless I had a lot of fun with the game as it could be easily registered on Stardock Central to get the english original instead.

Unfortunately purchasing Dark Avatar and Twilight of the Arnor didn't turn out to be straight forward now. I don't care which is the cheapest distribution, but I don't want to buy it twice because I made the wrong decision.

As far as I can see there are three opportunities for me:

* Galactic Civilizations II: Expansion Bundle from Stardock via Impulse
https://www.galciv2.com/Purchase.aspx

Is it possible to play the game in German after installing via Impulse using the translation I-Mod made for Kalypso? If it isincluded, will language files receive updates or is it just the best to play GalCiv2 in english if purchased directly from Stardock?

* Galactic Civilizations II Ultimate Edition from Kalypso
http://www.kalypsomedia.com/de/games/endless-universe/index.shtml

FAQ: 1) What is GC2: Endless Universe?
GC2EU is a standalone retail bundle of the Dark Avatar and Twilight of the Arnor expansions. GC2: Dread Lords is neither included nor required. GC2EU is also translated into a number of languages for the areas that Kalypso covers.

Okay, there was a lot of confusion if there will be support for the Kalypso versions from Stardock or from Kalypso themselves. Acocrding to this forum you finally found a solution with Kalypso and it sounds to be the best one for customers as we will be able to register our game on Impulse.

Does that mean improved versions of the localization (needs fixes badly from what I've read and all the love it can get btw) will also be availiable via Impulse or will you just support the game engine and we will still have to look for updates to the german language files at Kalypso or play the english version?

As a owner of Galactic Civilization II: Dread Lords, if I register the standalone bundle on Impulse, will it turn out the same as purchasing the Expansion Bundle or is it in any form a different branch because of its standalone nature?

* Galactic Civilizations II Ultimate Edition from Kalypso (January 2009)
http://www.kalypsomedia.com/de/games/ultimate-edition/index.shtml

I want to get the best out of it, namely german translation from I-Mod and the great Stardock support via Impulse. Which version should I aim for?

Quoting MeliBee,

reply 9

Maybe someday we'll publish the games we develop in other countries ourselves, as we do in the US.

Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas Stardock!

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I installed both the gold edition AND endless universe, did I install two "dark avatars" now?

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A question: I understand that the DL engine is not included in Endless Universe, but I read somewhere that the DL campaign is included; is this correct?

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Quoting PearlChoco,

reply 21

A question: I understand that the DL engine is not included in Endless Universe, but I read somewhere that the DL campaign is included; is this correct?

Yes. You can play the DL campaign from the DA game, with the DA engine. If you've updated to 2.0 (server's down at the moment but to my knowledge EU is updateable now), you can play the DL campaign from the TA game, with the TA engine.

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I have been playing for the last couple of days and it works like a charm.

Great job there, Stardock and Kalypso.

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Quoting Keravnos,

reply 23

I have been playing for the last couple of days and it works like a charm.

Great job there, Stardock and Kalypso.

I felt like playing over my holiday but at least for the German version of EU Stardock and Kalypso fucked things up. It seems as of December 24th patches for Endless Universe German still are not up to date, so buying from Kalypso will get you a version that probably will be always behind upstream patches:

http://forum.kalypsomedia.com/showthread.php?tid=586&pid=4664#pid4664

On the other hand, I-Mod (the modder team who did the german translation for Kalypso) is forbidden to give away the language files to use them with DA and ToA bought via Stardock, so they couldn't keep their promise due to legal issues:

http://www.i-mod-productions.com/showthread.php?t=1029

I am really sorry Stardock, but your efforts to get a localized retail version into german shops failed again. Yesterday I gave Dread Lords (german retail from Paradox) another try and although updated to 1.53.xxx via Impulse the translation still stinks (still not completely translated, atmosphere killing word by word translation, ...). I fear it will turn out the same with Kalypso and their lousy german distribution, but getting EU seems to be the only chance to try out I-Mods translation at all. I hope registring on Impulse will give me the chance to switch to the english original in case (remember, users of EU want to get updates the same time as all the others), but there is no way to find out how "EU German" behaves.

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I finaly got the German version of GalCiv2 Endless Universe and played around a bit, here is what I found out:

I could register Endless Unviverse in Impulse.
I was able to install without the game disc directly via Impulse. Impulse installs version "2.02.010 English "then, no german translation included and no option to choose your language.
I was able to install the game from disc (version 1.97.001 German). I consider it unplayable due to crashes and lousy localization.
I was able to install the game from disc and the update via Impulse. The game updates to version "2.02.010 German". There are also localization updates included. The crashes are gone and while the translation still has it's quirks, I would call it bearable.
If you archive a fresh install from disc (version 1.97.001 German) within Impulse, restoring it will always give you the english version (Bug in Impulse?). So the only way to play with german translation is to do a fresh install from disc and then update via Impulse. Also note that the patch availiable at Kalypso is no longer needed, the fix is included within Impulse.
Quoting puntarenas,
reply 19
As a owner of Galactic Civilization II: Dread Lords, if I register the standalone bundle on Impulse, will it turn out the same as purchasing the Expansion Bundle or is it in any form a different branch because of its standalone nature?

According to this forum the most recent version of ToA is 2.02.030, while Endless Universe German only updates to 2.02.010 as released on 12/18/2008. I would say Stardock indeed uses a seperate branch for Endless Universe and so you have to wait until patches are ported over.

I am curious if the english version of Endless Universe is behind when it comes to updates too?

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