Claymation

Ctrl+N is a cheat?!? I thought it was a convenience for when you get dumped in the corner with just your home system in range.

I've never seen a coalition of AI players go to bat against me if I'm at peace with everybody. If I'm stomping somebody, though, I've gotten dogpiled by multiple races before. I think it would be nice if there were "from peace to world war" where some of the AIs would decide that they need to clip my wings and take some planets... Especially if it led to the AI squabbling over the trophies.

The only two things I thought were cheesy (and got fixed in the latest upgrade) are: 1) being able to by mining starbases from a computer player that gave you a ridiculous advantage. 2) Running up a 6 figure debt upgrading warships because the debt would automatically fall to 2000 credits the next turn... which could be erased by selling a minor tech to all the other players. But I gotta admit, the starbase buying exploit was fun. You could go from painted in a

It's an anagram for "ass in a tao."

Back to the question at hand.... So, would a cruise missile always be treated as a missile? Or a mass driver screaming in at hyper velocity? How do I balance my defenses against it? does it mean every time I build a big ship I have to counter that weapon type? GalCiv 1 was just "weapons" and "defenses" and cruise missiles worked well against it... But would it work well here?

I'm thinking its broken at the moment. I think it's fixed. Finding and buying all the influence and military resource starbases from other races was the easiest, cheesiest win ever. I still did it, but it was easy and cheesy.

Are you putting your ships together in fleets? Are your fleets big enough (that is, do you have the best logistics tech trade or research can get you?)

And I, for one, miss it. Destabilize is a valid and fun way to annoy your enemies.

I need a copy of CitizenStrategist's version. I'm in a game now where the Drengin have declared war on me 3 times. The first time I stomped their fleets and took a planet or two, and about half the transports I encountered were unescorted. The second time I was superior but not overwhelming (we were both upgrading stuff) most of his transports were escorted. The only time I see unescorted transports or single fighters is when it's pretty clear the

I like to think of it as a lava lamp with death rays and stuff.

heh. That's the way I've played ALL the races so far.

I was under the impression (based on the numbers in the combat box and afterwards) that seizing a planet by force is a genocidal affair; so where do alien populations come from? Planets that rebel from other empires and join me are zealous followers of my culture, so I don't see a need to differentiate them.

As a matter of policy, I don't use my rear as a deposit box, for drivers or anything else.

I like trading techs just the way it is. I've had bright opponents say, "You know, I'd love to trade you the game-winning death missle, but my pesky senate won't let me do that. Even for good friends like you. It sucks, but my hands are tied." Also, it's a good (if minor) advantage you can have over other major races with The Korx. Trade with them and they'll love you, apparently because they're too treacherous for the other major races to bother w

I always start my challenging games this way: 1) buy colony ships, don't wait for them to build. Use your survey ship to sweep through your cluster to know which systems are worth colonizing. 2) research the 2 (or 3, depending on the race you select) diplomatic techs you need to get Diplomatic Translators 3) buy dip translators for cash. The advantage they give you means you can tech trade your way back to positive ca

I'd like to be able to scroll through Recent Posts to see stuff that is, well, recently-un-recented.

You really need to make sure you build 1 or more farms on each of your planets. That's a great way to move your tax base up. I usually have at least 2 on a planet (unless it's a sucky "Mars" type world)

I think it's a matter of the AI majors wising up and stomping the minors before I can encounter them. I see lots of inhabited planets named after minor races that I never encounter, and I think it's because setting tha AI on Bright or higher makes the minors great quick prizes for the majors. My personal favorite is to stack up a pile of constructors, then take a minor that's in another major's sphere of influence with an instant big-influe

Well, from the planet name it's probably a minor race that the Drengin captured, so the minor race probably built the econ capital and there's no reason to level a free one of those.