Sole Soul

2500k or 2600k with the unlocked multiplier (k signifies it) so you can actually overclock it. Difference between i5 and i7 quad-core parts on the desktop is negligible (6MB to 8MB L3 cache); only reason to get an i7 is if you're throwing away money or if it's a laptop (no i5 quad-cores in laptops). 2500k is also typically cheaper than 2600. Saving money is always good, right? Other than that, looks good. 560 ti isn't price competitive here last I

I believe all the Good choices have a negative modifier to them, so if you input it as a negative number, it -should- do what you want it to. Can't guarantee it, though. I thought it was possible to change the attributes, but I'll have to look into it again. Will get back to you on this in a couple of days.

Try rebooting, that normally fixes it. Something to do with the fonts not being loaded by Windows, if I remember correctly.

You may have to edit all three event files in order to get the desired results (the one for DL, the one for DA, and the one for TA), but I'm not clear on what the folder structure looks like for UE, so I can't direct you appropriately. However, assuming that it's anything like non-bundled, it looks like you may have been just editing the Dread Lords event file, which may well have no effect by itself if you're playing the Dark Avatar or Twilight chapter. I apol

I have purchased Elemental but don't yet have a code/know if I'm in the system-I picked it up at Amazon just before noticing that Stardock put it on sale as well. Since I forgot to pick expedited shipping it won't arrive until January, and I'm curious what effect that'll have, if any, on whether I'll qualify for a discount when FE is actually released. Thanks :)

Try deleting your sig.bin file in the DA program folder, then opening it via the launcher and clicking on change serial? I'm positive there was only one 2.x update for DA, and IIRC EU shipped with a different version number for TA that didn't show up elsewhere in the system, so it's probably mostly a visual difference, designed so the servers can keep track (for whatever reasons they need to). Edit-Yup, my DA is 2.01 as well.

You've been hit by the Plague or Disease Mega Event, which reduces all of your ability bonuses to 0 until you research the cure. There's a new tech in your choosable research tech list called either Disease Cure or Plague Cure (I've forgotten which is which); research it immediately-and then trade it to the AIs...for lots of cash, of course. ;) You can-and probably should-turn Mega Events off (in game setup)...at the very least until you're comfortable with the r

[quote who="Xela Namyt" reply="2" id="3040650"]You mentioned that your influence is reset when loading. Is that a bug? Does it correct itself after the next turn or is it a case of its not worth playing games that will take multiple sessions to play?[/quote] Yes, it does correct itself after a turn has been played, which means it's not typically a problem unless you reload every 3 turns or less. Tourism income is also generally a smaller component of your income as compared

SDC is outdated, but being resurrected soonish, at least in name. In the meantime, Impulse was sold to Gamestop but will still work for all of your games purchased through it-at least, it works for me, within the past two weeks. It appears they've fixed it now, but they had for some reason inadvertently removed the link from the main page (and it didn't appear anywhere else). This is what you're lo

Have you tried rebooting your machine? This sounds similar to the issue where fonts weren't showing up (I think), and it fixes that problem.

You've been hit by a Mega Event that restricts all ship speeds to a maximum of 5 for the duration of the game. There aren't a lot of things you can do about it, but it only takes effect on the turn after a ship is built, so your first turn with each ship will be full moves. You may want to consider using all-engine designs in order to move your ships the most distance possible in that turn, and then upgrade them into what you really want them to be-although this will be mo

DL/DA: Colony 0, HW 30. TA: Colony 0, HW 50. In PlanetImprovements.xml. And q did actually answer your question: Homeworlds do get a bonus, simply for being homeworlds. However, I am aware of no separate under-the-hood, unlisted, unspecified factor for HWs, minor or major-if that was your question. :) I believe population also contributes, and the minors tend to have decent populations (must be the lack of colonizing ;))

I'm almost positive that it does-the only uncertainty because it's been quite some time since I've been able to play a game.

It has to do with component similarity as well as difference in component cost, but I never took the opportunity to spend potentially dozens of hours working out exactly how it works. Constructors (and miners, I think) also have some value inserted to increase their (upgrade) cost, that I've forgotten the number of, whereas transports are IIRC ~50 more expensive to upgrade than their build cost would suggest.

Since there is a hard cap on range, unless you effectively cover the map with your influence, there can still be pockets (which your survey ships are likely to find) that you may not technically have enough range for, even if you have sufficient components on the ships in question. But this probably isn't relevant to your situation, since you've stated other out-of-range problems. If you're getting an out-of-range message when your ships are next to your planets, the

Ferrel, glad you're still with us. :)

I didn't get around to doing any research on that, so I don't have actual numbers. You're right, it does feel like there are more higher quality planets that are extreme, but there's no hard evidence as of yet (to my knowledge) to suggest that it is actually so. All I can really suggest is that you give it a shot and report back. :) @Publius That option is also available in DA.

If you need your ships to repair ~200 hp in a very small amount of turns, you need better ships-which may mean that you need better techs. They shouldn't be taking that much of a beating-or rather, they shouldn't be taking that much of a beating and still surviving (for instance, about the only scenario I can see where they might take that much damage would be against DL ships, in the campaign or something, which tends to destroy them outright). But there is nothing else

TA has quite a few less planets than DA-somewhere in the vicinity of 25% or 30% less, even-and, if memory serves (it's been a very long time, apologies), tight clusters has less planets than either scattered or loose. I seem to recall scattered working better in TA and loose working better in DA, as far as consistently getting large quantities of habitable planets, but I could very easily have gotten that backwards as I can't presently locate my research on that.

[quote who="Fair_Play" reply="2" id="3007596"]Search for the race config files. If you start a new game and set sensors ability as 100 than you see the whole map.[/quote] Sensors have a hard cap (game engine) at 15. There may be maps where that won't quite show you the whole thing. But it's a nice idea. :)

[quote who="Fair_Play" reply="4" id="3006781"]Yor are blessed with an efficiency tech that only they get up to 45% boost in economy, and you can trade for stock markets/farms. So they get the best economy in the game. Plus they get charging stocks, so 4 of those for 80% taxes with 100% loyalty means no worrying about riots (as far as I can tell.) this works on every planet. stick on 4 stocks x 3 food each for a max pop of 20M with 80% approval boost and ship in colonists to tiny planets and y

The simple answer is to do everything you can do as big and as fast as possible. You score will be significantly better if you can fit everything into a year less than you're used to-but as I don't know what you're even used to, I can't exactly provide an expected percentage increase value. Dread Lords aren't necessary for this, which is good, because the community has agreed that they are not to be used, although they won't actually trip a cheat flag at

That's a common AI tendency, yes. I seem to remember one AI-probably the Terran variant-pursuing yellow techs more than the others, but not to the extent that the player can. Research treaties are not nearly as valuable as you might think; they only operate off of base research. This means that even if I have 6x39%=234% mining SBs, 40% customization, 20% Technologists, 10% Nano Recorders, all of my planets surrounded by at least 8x24%=192% economy SBs,

[quote who="foxthree" reply="1" id="3005389"]what version of gc2 are you using if its TA than nothing hardcoded it might be something as simple as deleting There are PLENTY of things that are still hardcoded, even in TA-and this is one of them. 1. The ability to speak to other civs is hardcoded into the UT tech, yes. Sorry. But you can of course change the display name, and in TA, you can even change the display name for ea

1) Get a better computer. More specifically, a better video card and more memory will help more than a faster processor, in my experience. 2) Exit GC2, restart it, and then load your game. I've never seen half hour load times except on systems with integrated graphics and under 512MB of RAM-and on Gigantic maps, to boot! 3a) Yes, as you do more, and build more improvements, and take over more planets, and build more ships, the savegame gets larger-and so it t