bleh, the demo, while cool, is difficult to understand

[smjjames]

while it looks cool and I like the ship designer, the demo just says here, do whatever and doesn't give any help at all, a demo usually should help players understand what the game is about, this doesn't help me at all.

I wonder if Moo2 would be better than this or something....

 

[Vizzini]

while it looks cool and I like the ship designer, the demo just says here, do whatever and doesn't give any help at all, a demo usually should help players understand what the game is about, this doesn't help me at all.

One wonders if you perhaps clicked on the Quick Start Guide / Beginners guide thingie? Should be in the GalCiv2 programs group menu. I dunno, with a name as misleading as that it might not have any info for you...

 

[Phoenix_56721]

Yes its hard to get use to demo, there no tutorials and not very much mouse-over help to know what icon is for what. After I bought full version I noticed there was a lot more mouse-over help and the tutorials helped alittle, But what GalCiv2 is really lacking is a GalCivapeadia and a better Tech Tree layout maybe they will add one in one of the upcoming bonus packs. But once you get the hang of the game it's a blast!!!!!

 

[smjjames]

yea, but I'm still confused. maybe I just need to look more into it actually

 

[Supreme Shogun]

Well there's the wiki and galactopedia too. Plus the interactive tech tree that was posted here, all way cool.

I feel the game is simple to learn in its nuances, but kicking butt on a high difficulty is another matter. I guess you don't get the tutorials in the demo, but there are a number of tutorial videos to help beginning players that come with the game itself.

 

[smjjames]

yea, no tutorials in the demo

 

[alco75]

The tutorials are crap. The best way to learn the game is to a) sit there playing with it for hours and b) read stuff on sites like civfanatics.com and apolyton.net and, obviously, the official forums too.

 

[alco75]

But I agree with you - the game is very difficult to understand. However, my general experience has been that the overall quality of a game is directly proportional to the time it takes to learn it.

 

[Gunner]

I think that the best way to get a good feel for the game is to read some of the play accounts on the site posted by Brad (the main designer of GalcivII). Go to the website and look around in the journals section. I think there might also be a specific section on the site about game play examples. Just look around a little bit.

 

[smjjames]

well, I'm starting to understand it, but I have absolutely no strategy, its a demo anyway.

and despite the limited number of parts and the fact that I can't change the part color (not sure if you can do that in the full game) isn't too limiting, although the amount of space available on a ship is a problem. Havent managed to start any battles though, the demo might be too short to really do this. although I'd like to see one of those battle movies.

still, there are some things I don't entirely get which I'll probably learn properly in the full game.

 

[Phoenix_56721]

well, I'm starting to understand it, but I have absolutely no strategy, its a demo anyway. and despite the limited number of parts and the fact that I can't change the part color (not sure if you can do that in the full game) isn't too limiting,

You can choose the color of you're ships in the demo. When you start a new game and setting up you're Civ there's a tab called Appearance in there you can choose you're Hull, Trim, engine, Civ and Interface colors, each one has over 16 million different colors you can create (yes 16 million) you can create your colors just like you would in windows- Paint program.

although the amount of space available on a ship is a problem. Havent managed to start any battles though, the demo might be too short to really do this. although I'd like to see one of those battle movies.

You're ships get bigger as you progress in the tech tree, but in the demo its hard to get that far.The Battle screen is great especially after you create large fleets. You can get into a decent fight in the demo but you have to focus on mainly military techs, MAKE SURE YOU RESEARCH "PLANETARY INVASION" otherwise you won't be able to attack a planet!!!

 

[smjjames]

I meant in the ship design screen you can't change the colors, but I guess its like Civ4, the color you pick is the one you're stuck with.

 

[Phoenix_56721]

I meant in the ship design screen you can't change the colors, but I guess its like Civ4, the color you pick is the one you're stuck with.

Yeah you have to pick you're color scheme up front, it would be cool if you could make different color patterns in game though. I would like to make my different ship class different colors to help to easily identify them.

 

[einherjar_LC]

I agree the game may seem like it has a pretty steep learning curve to start.

But just by sitting down and fiddling with it for a bit and reading what's been posted here and on the GalCiv main site, you should get the hang of it rather quickly.

 

[smjjames]

I agree the game may seem like it has a pretty steep learning curve to start.

But just by sitting down and fiddling with it for a bit and reading what's been posted here and on the GalCiv main site, you should get the hang of it rather quickly.

yea, I am getting the hang of it, and I really like the ship designer. theres still some things here and there I don't get like how to make starbases fully functional or how to use them properly, what exactly I should be building on a planet, etc.

the diplomacy screen is also great, its built in a similar way (how the options are layered and the interface in general) to Civ4, but there is more feedback because they will say thats basically something like 'no I won't give you military techs' or 'I won't give (name of a specific tech)' and they'll also observe your trends as well. I actually like the GalCiv2 diplomacy screen as you get more feedback and it tends to give more what they are thinking than it does in Civ4.

 

[JJMax7]

I like this game WAY better then MoO 2 and 3. The only thing I think MoO has over this game is specialized planets. I really liked having the civ. that ate rocks, or lived underwater. Why do all 10 civilizations go for the same kinds of planets?

 

[malclave]

Why do all 10 civilizations go for the same kinds of planets?

So the different species will be in competition with each other.

I remember reading some old science fiction novels by Poul Anderson (the Dominic Flandry novels). The primary conflict was between the Terrans and the Merseians, who both needed the same kind of planet to live. There was also a race which lived in gas giants (can't remember the name of the race), but they were almost never in conflict, since there was no competition for living space.

 

[Murky]

Tried out the demo. It is a good game but not as good as MOO2.

Since we are limited to only one race and a small map, why not let us finish the game in the demo?

 

[Newbunkle]

Why do all 10 civilizations go for the same kinds of planets?

Well, when the expansion pack comes out next month all 12 civilizations will go for a variety of planets, and you'll need to reasearch tech to colonize outside of your normal habitat zone.

*Disclaimer* Only 10 of the 12 races can play in the same game at the same time.

 

[TyranusBonehead]

The demo sucks bigtime.

Makes me wonder if I really want to purchase GalCiv2