Thonnaral

The point that really stuck out for me was this by E.S... "But I have never seen a game that needed so many updates and patches, ever." Heh. I can't tell you how buggy some software is, because it's just too painful to discuss. Most of the time, an astonishing amount of software goes straight from buggy to unsupported. It does seem like we are in a different kind of game world now though. A few years ago you could reliably say that if you bought

They are more like the net in tennis. They are obstacles that prevent you from having unlimited resources. They also add a random element to the game. I'm going to explore over there... will I find lots of juicy high-PQ planets, or will I find nothing but junk? Like the net in tennis, they are a difficulty that you must overcome.

Cheeze. This strategy exploits the AI, and can drastically limit the challenge the game can provide. No challenge = no fun, so many players intentionally won't do these things. Colonize quick. It's been said many times before, but if you want to improve your game, you need to improve your first ten turns. I play on small and tiny galaxies at the tough difficulty level. Strategy can be VERY dependant on your galaxy size and how difficult your opponents make it on you.<b

Sid Meier (creator of a little game called Civilization, among others) was asked what made a good game. He replied, "Interesting choices". This, to me, is the most important thing about game design. A game has to provide me with meaningful, significant choices on a regular basis that lead towards a desireable result. Whether that result is winning, or gaining, or helping others isn't as important as the frequency and significance of the choices. It's the

Most people create the ships they need. For instance, I want a defender. I'm going to produce it on the planets, so it doesn't need engines, but I want a little defense. I just select 'new' ship, a hull, click over to defenses, double click on the defense item I want and it's auto placed... it doesn't have to be pretty. Then it's over to weapons. Again, double click on what I want and keep clicking until the hull is full. The system auto-places the weapons on t

Just got my metaverse 'Racial Victory' medal... I played a metaverse game with each type of race. Yeah, the Drath get amazingly good racial bonuses, but I agree with Azrune that as an opponent, they go down quick. There are probably a lot of AI reasons why they play badly, but the one I notice is that they pay WAY too much for tech trades. I love those guys... I can suck all their cash into my bank account with just a few cruddy sensor techs. Having played all th

The Torians have this one quote that I really thought had a lot of flavor. I'm typing this from memory, so forgive me if it's incorrect... We were slaves, so when we conquer you we know how to make sure that you will never be free again. Oooohh... Nasty little guys! But yeah, some civ's are pretty boring. Fortunately, this game allows you to start up a game with any combination of opponents you want. Can't stand the Yor? Just choose to start with all

I'm still solidly in the 4X fantasy strategy game camp. MoM was great in it's day. I loved it. But what I'm dreaming of is something that has the flavor of MoM but the 'polish' that Stardock can give the concept. And it has to be multiplayer. I'm all with V1m's post above. He says: here's what I want: I want the game you really want to make. I have a huge respect for and trust in your capability and judgement. You work on the game that you feel you can

I'm good with Galciv2 being single player. But when they do a fantasy turn based strategy game, I'd REALLY REALLY REALLY like that to be multiplayer. I LOVED Master Of Magic sooo much. I can't wait to see what Stardock could do with the idea... But IT has to be multiplayer.

- still about structures, is there a way to set it offline (while in a fund crisis) without destroing it, and setting it back online later ? This is actually a good question. There is a 700% factory bonus tile, and if you build a factory on THAT tile, if you aren't careful you can bankrupt your economy. In that situation I have used the 700% bonus factory to build my first few colony ships and intentionally destroyed it, leaving the tile blank and using a few other f

Stardock did a good job explaining the case against multiplayer... [link="https://www.galciv2.com/Journals.aspx?AID=114051"]https://www.galciv2.com/Journals.aspx?AID=114051">Link If the rumors are true that Stardock just MIGHT be considering remaking Master of Magic, (I'm going to pause here while I close my eyes and say "I wish, I wish, I wish..."), I DEFINITELY would like THAT game to be multiplayer from the start. I like Galciv II just fine as it is.

Nice guide! Glad to hear that most of what I'm finding on Tough is going to work well on Suicidal. Interesting to me that you advocate getting Galactic Bazaar before you get Spin Control Center... I've always rushed through the diplomacy techs, figuring that a higher level of diplomatic ability would be almost as important as the Bazaar, and that Spin Control is THE most important Super Project in the game. I figured that once I've got Spin Control, I've g

Ship designs? I use the standard constructor and freighter, but most everything else depends upon what techs I have on hand. Sometimes I like playing with the ship designer, but mostly I just double click what I want on the ship and end up with something lopsided and ugly, but takes only a moment to design. I guess the real problem is that each ship requires a lot of different things: Two engines One (or more) support moduals The specia

Having a first rate military can keep the AI off your back. Build 'dummy' warships. Cargo holds with nothing but weapons. Fill the sky of your secondary world with them, and then upgrade them all with new weapon tech whenever you get close to dropping from 1st place militarily. At 'tough' level you can almost always keep your military at 1st place and thus out of war by doing just a few weapon tech upgrades of your dummy cargo holds. Dunno how well this works on le

I'm making the jump to 'tough' from 'challenging' myself, and the newest patch made a fair difference in how difficult it is! The cheezy way to win: Quick Colony rush. Gotta be competitive in the number of worlds you have. It's been said before, but if you want to improve your game, you need to improve your first 10-20 turns. Build cargo hulls packed with nothing but your highest weapon. Beam works good here, because the AI evaluates your military streng

Welcome to your new obsession... Muhuhahaha!

I had a planet hit twice by the 'double your planet size' special event. PQ 54. Kind of embarassing amount of stuff can be put on 54 tiles...

Heh. Just got creamed. Let my guard down for a couple of turns, and there were the Drengan with fleets of 60 power beam weapons attacking three different systems at the same time. Heh. Might have to tone down the difficulty for a game or two until I figure out how to work with the new AI. Good job Stardock!

Seems simple to me... The dev's could just program a check for an 'end turn' sound in the mods folder. If there is a file there, the sound is played. Then the dev's could just have a normal installation not put a file there, and those who want no sound will be happy. Those who want a sound would have to copy one into the folder and name it appropriately. Personally, I WANT the sound... because it seems to me that sometimes my turn ends without my pushing

Welcome to your new obsession! Be sure to check out the beginners guide: Link and the Wiki: Link Other than that, play a couple of games on 'cakewalk' difficulty to learn the ropes and see how the game works. The best way to learn this game is to PLAY IT! There is a 'MANUAL' button on t

Heh... no nano rippers? Dude! You gotta get that fixed! Dunno what the problem might be. I've never had any difficulty. To see if it's possible to use mass driver weapons, or if your game is somehow crippled, start a new game. The first screen is Galaxy Setup. In the upper right, chose Scenario 'Battle of the Gods'. Then continue to start the game normally. This gives you all techs from the start. Then get to the ship builder. Create a 'ne

One thing stood out for me: Driver Version: 4.14.0010.7772 Driver Date: 6/15/2005 17:20:00 There is a good thread about the instability of Nvidia MX400 drivers under win 98 here: Link Nevertheless, you NEED NEED NEED to have updated graphics drivers to play this game! Try this link: Link

Ooooh... Down this path lies Moo3... (shudders)

General wisdom is that while AM2 and 939 aren't a revolutionary increase in performance, the 754 processors are now older technology. If you plan to upgrade to a faster speed processor two years down the road, you won't have good choices unless you buy AM2 now. Of course, two years down the road you'll probably be buying a new motherboard/processor combo anyway. Personally, I'm waiting for 939 processors to dominate, then I'll buy a quality mobo for the older 754 processor

There is a cheezy strategy to consistant (if boring...) wins. Get a few planets, and research diplomacy all the way to Total Majesty at the end of the diplomacy tree. Immediately build a Spin Control Center, and create a new ship by filling a Cargo Hold with nothing but your highest weapon. Then make a few more. Keep them in orbit around your planet with the spin control. Go to the 'Statistics and Graphs' section of your foriegn relations screen, and make sure your