space599

Join Date 12/2008

Questions after my first GalCiv game

Hello everyone, having played the demo of this game about a year ago, I have recently decided to purchase the ultimate bundle with both expansions. I have just finished my first game, playing the TA chapter on immense galaxy with very slow research speed, cakewalk difficulty, and a custom race of my own that didn't have any bonuses or super abilities (I wanted to explore the game basically). I did a little bit of everything in this game, exploring the different features one by one. I finally achieved a technological victory after over 50 years of gameplay, although to be honest I shoud have lost, since the Dominion of Korx managed to form alliances with all major races, including myself, but apparetly the AI cannot achieve a diplomatic victory. At any rate, over the course of my game I have gathered some questions the answers for which I could not find in the manual. If you know the answer to any of these I would greatly apprieciate your input. So here we go:

General:

1. When I right-click on my Twilight.exe icon, it says that the version of the game is '2.0.0.0', but in the game it says that the version is '2.02'. So is my game up to date or not?

2. When I access the ship designer from the main menu, I can only use templates or update user ships, but I can't update core ships. I can do this in-game. Does this happen to you too?

3. Not important, but do your tutorial videos freeze too?

4. Is there a way to continue playing the game after you've won?

5. Where can I find a list of hotkeys for this game?

Ships and battles:

6. During battle, I can only see two exhaust trails from my Corvette-class ships instead of three. Does this happen to you too?

7. My ships can move two parsecs by default, but in the ship designer it says they should be moving only one. In Dread Lords ships are moving one pc by default. Where does this bonus come from in TA?

8. When designing a ship, Terran Alliance style, where do you place hull points? They don't seem to fit anywhere so as to look nice.

9. What are some good naming conventions for ships? With larger hulls I find there are many designs that I would like to use, but I simply don't know how to name them so as not to get confused in future games. Having these same designs for every generation of defense/weaponry makes things even more complicated.

10. When a space battle ends, there is this statistic 'crew killed' which was always '0' for me. What does this statistic mean?

11. It seems to me that ships' defenses regenerate after every turn. If so, then if two ships with little firepower but humongous defenses fight each other, how will the battle be resolved if neither can damage the other?

Minor Races:

12. What exactly can the minor races do? I've seen them build starbases and trade, but will they ever colonize? I think it would be great if they could become major races, be admitted to United Planets, etc.

13. Can you trade-embargo minor races? When I click 'trade embargo' the check-mark doesn't stick, and thus I cannot embargo them.

14. Is it a bug that you can't purchase starbases and starships from minor races?

15. Can you culturally annex a minor race's only planet? What about major races' homeworlds?

Starbases:

16. When I establish a starbase, it says something about my logistics ability, yet I can establish more starbases then my current logistics. So what do logistics have to do with starbases? And btw, does the game ask you like three times when you are attempting to establish a resource starbase?

17. What is the maintenance cost for starbases?

18. Is there any way you can prevent the AI from establishing starbases in your territory, and can the AI prevent you from doing the same?

19. Starbases cannot defect, right?

Other gameplay:

20. If you leave United Planets, will the AI players still hold meetings and get benefits from passed resolutions?

21. The manual says that with high enough espionage value, you can predict what resolutions will be voted upon on the next UP meeting. Details?

22. Sometimes your espionage data tells you that a certain ship is moving to a certain parsec. What is an easy way to locate a parsec with specific oordinates?

23. What can you do with uninhabited planets except blowing them up with a terror star?

I don't expect any single person to answer all of these, but if you could answer any I would appreciate it.

I have to say I really like this game, I don't remember when was the last time I had so much fun with a video game. Blowing up a star system sure is something else!

Thank you in advance.

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1. Yes. (99.99% of the time if it shows the correct version number in the opening screen, it's up to date.)

2. To my knowledge you're not supposed to be able to modify the core ships. You can of course use them as a basis for your own designs, via the upgrade button, and save them as something else, but I don't recall being over to save over them.

3. Don't remember them doing so but haven't looked at them in ages. What's your video card? Drivers up to date?

4. No, sorry.

5. Try this.

6. Visual effects don't always match up exactly with the actual ship design. I haven't been paying that close attention to my battles, though.

7. TA's base speed is 2pc/wk. It seems the shipyard wasn't updated to reflect this. (DL and DA's base speed is 1.)

8, 9. I'll let someone else handle these. Not my specialty, to say the least.

10. Don't honestly know. I'll take a look.

11. At the end of 50 rounds of combat (300 if fleets are involved), a ship is determined as being the winner based solely on who has the highest attack. This is assuming combat lasts that long in the first place, which in your scenario it may well do so.

12. Already been suggested, already been shot down. They can't colonize. Rumor has it if you give them a colony ship they'll use it but I've never seen this. I've even had some difficulty getting them to use transports to invade that I've gifted them. As of TA 1.95/1.96, however, they concentrate much more so on their military, and if you support them or let them live long enough, they can become a formidable military power.

13. Never tried it, so don't know if that's a bug or not.

14. I can. They're just horrendously expensive. (Note: When I say horrendously expensive I mean several hundred million BCs. Yeah, they like their starbases.) Well, ships not so much, but the AI has overvalued starbases (i.e. hardly ever been willing to sell them) since early DL (1.3ish?). But I know I bought scads of battleships off the Scottlingas not too many games ago for relatively cheap.

15. No and yes respectively. Minor races generate influence, which can be spent in UP meetings (which they can't attend), but it has no effect on the map and planet flipping. They're unflippable. You can however annex a major race's last planet (whether or not it is their homeworld), with the exception if it has the re-education center on it it cannot be culturally conquered (you can still invade it). As a note, the re-education center is not immune to spies.

16. As your logistics goes up, the amount each new starbase costs you decreases based on your logistics (yet it also increases based on how many starbases you currently have, where the first five [if memory serves] are free).

Don't know why it's asking you so many times.

17. Something like 5bc per...it should show it somewhere.

18. No. You can destroy them, though. Or just blow up the constructors. Or, y'know, take the resource before they do.

19. Correct.

20. While I haven't tested this extensively, there appears to be no reason why it would not be the case. Assume it to be a yes until further notice.

21. I believe this was a feature that never made it in-I've never found a way to do it myself, nor has anyone I've seen. You can technically re-roll the UP issue by reloading your save if you'd like.

22. Not my area of expertise, so I'll defer to others.

23. Class 0? Nothing, really, except for wait for an event or mega event that turns it into a class 13/15/20/etc. (There's also a UP event now and then that turns a class 0 into a real planet as well, I think class 15 generally, and votes are on which race to give it to.) Extreme environment? Research the appropriate tech and colonize away.

24. Wait, there's no 24?

3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 22. Guys, assistance?

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WIllythemailboy

Join Date 03/2006

+70

I can answer a few of these.

4. Is there a way to continue playing the game after you've won?

Nope. You can delay winning indefinitely with a few tricks, but once you win it's over.

7. My ships can move two parsecs by default, but in the ship designer it says they should be moving only one. In Dread Lords ships are moving one pc by default. Where does this bonus come from in TA?

In TA most civs have a base speed of 2 instead of 1. Probably the ship designer stats didn't get updated properly.

The infamous tie rule. After 50 rounds of combat, if neither side has been destroyed, the ships are compared and the stronger ship instantly wins.

They rarely colonize. Even if they gain many planets they can't become majors, and I've seen a minor own half the galaxy after a few surrenders. They have extremely high base stats, so giving them a large tech base and manufaturing capability can give a pretty stiff threat.

14. Is it a bug that you can't purchase starbases and starships from minor races?

We could prior to TA, which makes me think it's intentional.

15. Can you culturally annex a minor race's only planet? What about major races' homeworlds?

Minors are immune to influence, but they don't generate it either. That means their asteroid mines are immune to flipping, too. For majors, sure. Everything is game, unless they build the structure that prevents it, and that only protects one planet per civ.

As you build more starbases, the cost to build each new base goes up. Your logistics ability delays the onset of this cost. Example: with logistics 6, the first 4 bases are free, then you pay a few bc for the first "extra" base, then a few dozen bc for the second, maybe 70 for the third, etc. Logistics 60 gets your the first 12 free, then you start paying. NOTE: I pulled the numbers out of my ass to demonstrate the point. Don't trust the numbers, it's the concept that's important.

Don't know what you mean about the game asking for mining bases.

17. What is the maintenance cost for starbases?

I believe it starts at 5bc and increases as you add modules.

18. Is there any way you can prevent the AI from establishing starbases in your territory, and can the AI prevent you from doing the same?

There might be a UP resolution that does that, but otherwise no. I know there's a UP resolution that taxes starbases in other people's territory, I just don't remember if there's one that prevents them entirely.

19. Starbases cannot defect, right?

Correct.

20. If you leave United Planets, will the AI players still hold meetings and get benefits from passed resolutions?

I believe so, yes. Although I know they DON'T have meetings before you join.

21. The manual says that with high enough espionage value, you can predict what resolutions will be voted upon on the next UP meeting. Details?

Manual is wrong. AFAIK this has never been possible.

22. Sometimes your espionage data tells you that a certain ship is moving to a certain parsec. What is an easy way to locate a parsec with specific oordinates?

Usually when you see that there is a colored bar leading away from the ship, indicating it's autopilot path. Follow that to it's endpoint. To find a random coordinate, select one of your ships that has run out of moves for the turn, then play with its autopilot. Select a destination, see the coordinates, repeat until you find what you're looking for. The zero is the bottom corner, and numbers increase as you travel up and right. Sorry, no real easy way that I know of.

23. What can you do with uninhabited planets except blowing them up with a terror star?

Not much. Occasionally there are mega events that will turn all uninhabitable worlds in an area to habitable, or a new minor civ will show up and inhabit one, bot otherwise they are not much but minor terrain features.

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DivineWrath

Join Date 05/2006

+135

I'll try to answer what I can.

________________

1. When I right-click on my Twilight.exe icon, it says that the version of the game is '2.0.0.0', but in the game it says that the version is '2.02'. So is my game up to date or not?

You should be able to see what version you are using by looking at the bottom left corner of the main menu (aka the screen you get, after the intros and stuff, when you get when you first load the game just before you are able to click "new game"). Failing that, you should be able to load up Impulse and read the version on the side (might be hard to read, I always get the version number over the icon).

2. When I access the ship designer from the main menu, I can only use templates or update user ships, but I can't update core ships. I can do this in-game. Does this happen to you too?

I checked it to make sure. It could be a bug, but not likely. I recall reading a post somewhere that the core ships were removed in TA to make room for the "AI ship designer". Anything the AI ship designer makes is considered to be "core" ships. The original core ships were removed (save special cases like the colony ships) because they would be inferior to what the AI ship designer would make, and keeping them around would make things cluttered... and possibly confusing. Its worse when you factor in ship styles with variant weapon techs.

However, the templates were kept, so that both the player and the AI ship designer could make ships from them. You should find a separate tab called "templates" to the right of the "ships" tab (the tabs "All", "Core", and "User" are sub tabs of these).

If you feel that this is still a problem, please contact gc2bugs@stardock.com and try to explain your concerns.

4. Is there a way to continue playing the game after you've won?

No. Not to my knowledge atleast.

17. What is the maintenance cost for starbases?

5 bc. I think. You should be able to see this in the domestics tab as an expense. Try it with one starbase built, otherwise it might list the total costs instead.

18. Is there any way you can prevent the AI from establishing starbases in your territory, and can the AI prevent you from doing the same?

No, but the AI have been known to complain.

19. Starbases cannot defect, right?

Correct, but they can be easily be blown up.

21. The manual says that with high enough espionage value, you can predict what resolutions will be voted upon on the next UP meeting. Details?

I'm not an expert on this, but I've never seen any hints about what the topic might be. The manual might be incorrect. Someone else might now better though.

23. What can you do with uninhabited planets except blowing them up with a terror star?

Hope a random event occurs that makes the planet habitable.

I think terror stars were the solution to the problem of "What can you do with these unihabitable planets?".

I don't expect any single person to answer all of these, but if you could answer any I would appreciate it.

I'll check back later to see if there are some spots I can fill.

I have to say I really like this game, I don't remember when was the last time I had so much fun with a video game. Blowing up a star system sure is something else!

Welcome to the community then.

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Mistralok1

Join Date 05/2006

+22

Welcome to the forums, space599.

Sole, Willy, and Divine are three of the most respected members here, and you can take anything that they post as gospel.

There are a couple/few things that I might expound on.

As soon as you are able, design and build your own ships. The core designs are lame.

If you choose to leave the UP, you lose all trade.

The combat viewer is just something to watch while the game is crunching the numbers. Don't worry that things don't add up. There is no cause/effect in the game.

Why would you want to embargo a minor? I have never embargo'd a major; all this will acomplish is to piss them off, and trust me, you'll be better off not doing this.

There is no way to prevent a race from establishing a starbase in your territory. If, however, you choose to build one in another race's space, you will take a diplomatic hit, which will push you closer to war, especially if we are talking about influence bases.

Again, welcome; and if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck.

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DivineWrath

Join Date 05/2006

+135

Sole, Willy, and Divine are three of the most respected members here, and you can take anything that they post as gospel.

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

________________

Anyways, I forgot to mention my TA 101 guide:

TA 101

It contains a lot of information relating to the TA expansion and might answer some questions that you don't even know to ask about yet.

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Thank you all for the informative replies replies, I find them all very helpful.

Don't remember them doing so but haven't looked at them in ages. What's your video card? Drivers up to date?

My driver is up to date to be sure. My video card is an integrated Intel GM965 for laptops, which isn't impressive although it's one of the newer chipsets. The game works fine otherwise, I can even run it on maximum video settings, perhaps due to my high system memory (3 GB). I just wanted to know whether the videos are broken by default or is it just my card. If it's my card, then I'll have to test it thoroughly.

As a note, the re-education center is not immune to spies.

Hehe, that's great!

Usually when you see that there is a colored bar leading away from the ship, indicating it's autopilot path. Follow that to it's endpoint. To find a random coordinate, select one of your ships that has run out of moves for the turn, then play with its autopilot. Select a destination, see the coordinates, repeat until you find what you're looking for. The zero is the bottom corner, and numbers increase as you travel up and right. Sorry, no real easy way that I know of.

Thank's for the tip, I have also discovered that you can use rally point assignment to locate specific parsecs.

Why would you want to embargo a minor? I have never embargo'd a major; all this will acomplish is to piss them off, and trust me, you'll be better off not doing this.

The reason I wanted to do this is to be able to declare war on them without consequences. In my game the Snathi began trading with me, and when I declared war on them the game said that my reputation has suffered. The manual also says that you suffer a permanent diplomatic penalty for such an act. So if I meet a minor race that I might wish to conquer in the future, I could embargo them to ensure they don't establish a trade route to one of my planets.
I am pretty confident by now that not being able to embargo them is indeed a bug. I mean the option 'trade embargo' is there, but the cross mark simply doesn't stick when you try to select it. I think I will report this in the support forum.

Anyways, I forgot to mention my TA 101 guide:

TA 101

It contains a lot of information relating to the TA expansion and might answer some questions that you don't even know to ask about yet.

Thank you for the guide DivineWrath, it looks like a very interesting read.

If you don't mind, I have two more questions:

If I equip my freighter with weaponry, will it be able to defend itself from enemy attacks during war?

Is there any way to know whether AI has placed a nationwide spy on your civ? And if so, is there any way whatsoever to get rid of them?

Now to read DivineWrath's guide

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-Yes. (But if you build it on a cargo hull it'll still only have 1 hp, making it mostly useless. Then again, there are the hp modules in TA.)

-Not to my knowledge, and no.

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space599 if you want an armed freighter, find the smallest (non cargo) hull that will hold your cargo mod and build it off of that. You won't need engines on it as it travels at speed 1 after it's trade route is established. Once you have your design, modify it (creating a new design based off of it) by replacing the cargo with engines. Send it out to your desired planet. Have it stop short of the trade planet and refit it to your armed speed 1 version. I also throw on sensors and use it as a scout.

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Ok, thanks everyone.

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