lordsurya08
class-A procrastinator
I've heard the AI is good, just wanted to know how it is otherwise.
Is this game better than Civ 4,5, Starcraft?
- Thread starter lordsurya08
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Sparthage
Fighting Tyranny
I don't have Starcraft but the AI in vanilla GCII is better than Civ5's AI. I have some experience with Civ4 but wouldn't be the best person to compare the two.
jacyp
Winter Lover
It's foolish to compare game between genres and Starcraft and GalCiv2 belong to completely differente game genres.
It's kinda foolish to compare even GalCiv and Civ cos although it might appear that they are similar games, they aren't.
But comparing objective stuff, like the AI as already mentioned, Civ 5 loses to GalCiv 2, it's a more complex game that excels in many areas where Civ 5 falls short.
It's kinda foolish to compare even GalCiv and Civ cos although it might appear that they are similar games, they aren't.
But comparing objective stuff, like the AI as already mentioned, Civ 5 loses to GalCiv 2, it's a more complex game that excels in many areas where Civ 5 falls short.
Sparthage
Fighting Tyranny
I believe he was asking about the AI difficulty, but in looking back, the idea of fleets is one that I enjoy greatly. Implementing that into civ is something that I'd love to see, though not with the fleet battle view. A simple view similar to what we have already would be nice.
jacyp
Winter Lover
If he's talking only about the AI, then GalCiv 2 > All.
I also would like to see the idea of fleets, or genericaly speaking: mixed troops working together, implemented somehow in Civ without the separated battle view.
Sparthage
Fighting Tyranny
Yep, that's pretty much what I meant. It would fit well into the game without making Civ into too much of a war game.
scratchthepitch
King
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Voted better than Civ4, which I never found to be interesting at all. I have not played Civ5 or Starcraft, so I cant comment on whether GC2 is better than they are.
I'd say Civ3 and Civ4 are better overall games than GalCiv2, and I haven't played Civ5 or Starcraft. The main issue I have with GalCiv2 is everything's so spaced out that it seems less dynamic - it's kind of like Civ might be if you had only Sea tiles and one-square islands. A lot of space to cover, and a lot of ships slipping by (unless you build only slow ships). I kind of like the closer-style combat. But the ability to customize ships is cool.
The planet upgrades also seem to be less exciting - there's not as many buildings to build in GalCiv2 as in regular Civ (I don't really consider upgraded farms, factories, etc. new buildings). Universal wonders do address this some.
I find these changes to make GalCiv less engaging, but you may find the opposite.
The planet upgrades also seem to be less exciting - there's not as many buildings to build in GalCiv2 as in regular Civ (I don't really consider upgraded farms, factories, etc. new buildings). Universal wonders do address this some.
I find these changes to make GalCiv less engaging, but you may find the opposite.
headcase
Limit 1 Facepalm Per Turn
I'm just a few hours into my first game myself, but can back Quintillus. It's a little more "isolated" than, say, Civ 5, and invading planets (which are basically the city equivalent) requires some technology, so you can grow a bit before the game's Alex equivalent starts badgering you. Also in my experience, playing on the default (easy) difficulty and with Earth's Super Diplo UA, no one wants to mess with you anyway, from a combination of fear and love.
The diplo is much more like Civ4 than Civ5; in fact, there are diplo enhancing techs and buildings which just make the AI like you more, clearly a big reason why this game is single-player.
Another change is that borders are defined right from the start (though they can and will change), and borders are always open; the AI has no problem stealing your asteroids and resources.
Trade routes are a big part of the game (with actual automated freighters zipping back and forth). Both sides get money but the establisher gets more (two civs can establish with each other, multiple times if they have enough routes available). For improvements, there are contructors which make star bases; they are consumed whenever they create or upgrade a starbase. Starbases have a range and can enhance trade, steal borders, or help warships.
The tech tree looks pretty crazy at first but most of the techs are quite useful in one way or another, and the default difficulty is easy enough that you can goof around and still be ahead (AI not only plays weakly but also gets a huge nerf). I found that getting medium-sized hulls is key before getting too many weapon techs, and of course there's a tech line which lets you build better tech buildings, which is always in style.
I bought it after Civ5 went on the fritz again (for the second time, my game shuffled the yield icons which required re-install to fix last time), so far I can say I like it but would have to play a harder game of it to really dig the strategy.
The diplo is much more like Civ4 than Civ5; in fact, there are diplo enhancing techs and buildings which just make the AI like you more, clearly a big reason why this game is single-player.
Another change is that borders are defined right from the start (though they can and will change), and borders are always open; the AI has no problem stealing your asteroids and resources.
Trade routes are a big part of the game (with actual automated freighters zipping back and forth). Both sides get money but the establisher gets more (two civs can establish with each other, multiple times if they have enough routes available). For improvements, there are contructors which make star bases; they are consumed whenever they create or upgrade a starbase. Starbases have a range and can enhance trade, steal borders, or help warships.
The tech tree looks pretty crazy at first but most of the techs are quite useful in one way or another, and the default difficulty is easy enough that you can goof around and still be ahead (AI not only plays weakly but also gets a huge nerf). I found that getting medium-sized hulls is key before getting too many weapon techs, and of course there's a tech line which lets you build better tech buildings, which is always in style.
I bought it after Civ5 went on the fritz again (for the second time, my game shuffled the yield icons which required re-install to fix last time), so far I can say I like it but would have to play a harder game of it to really dig the strategy.
Tambien
Theseus, Duke of Athens
I think that when you play on the balanced difficulty it becomes a great game.
I have one reccomendation, however. DO NOT PUT THE TORIANS IN YOUR GAME. They are what is known as "Super Expanders who push you ou of your own planets and soon dominate half the Galaxy and when they finally come after you their weapons are inferior but there are just so damned many....."
I have one reccomendation, however. DO NOT PUT THE TORIANS IN YOUR GAME. They are what is known as "Super Expanders who push you ou of your own planets and soon dominate half the Galaxy and when they finally come after you their weapons are inferior but there are just so damned many....."
Sparthage
Fighting Tyranny
Oh the Torians. One of my favorite games ever was one in which I had peaceful relations with them and was expanding almost as fast as they were (only through conquest 
) and then the Assassination Random Event or whatever it's called comes up... Their new leader vowed to avenge the old leader's death (which apparently I orchestrated). They got hundreds of these little "Vengeance" ships that popped up all over the place. They were very weak compared even to my fighter-class ships, but combined with their regular fleet it took forever to fight my way through them. That's when I started adding the military and defense modules to my non-military starbases. And then at the end, I forced them to give me all of their remaining "Vengeance" ships. They had 170+ at the end, I had been killing at least 20 per turn for a while.
) and then the Assassination Random Event or whatever it's called comes up... Their new leader vowed to avenge the old leader's death (which apparently I orchestrated). They got hundreds of these little "Vengeance" ships that popped up all over the place. They were very weak compared even to my fighter-class ships, but combined with their regular fleet it took forever to fight my way through them. That's when I started adding the military and defense modules to my non-military starbases. And then at the end, I forced them to give me all of their remaining "Vengeance" ships. They had 170+ at the end, I had been killing at least 20 per turn for a while.
Tambien
Theseus, Duke of Athens
I controlled the southern half of the galaxy, they controled the upper quarter. Then they went all mega culture and conquest. They almost had pushed me out of Vulcan when the pirates appeared. Gotta love those pirates.... 
MaxWar
King
Ive been playing this game some much, but its been a while now 
Torians, in Twillight of the Arnor, have this Turbo population growth bonus called super breeder. I usually make a custom civ but use this trait. When your approval rate is 100% pop growth goes over the roof. In the first part of the game, just keep your taxes very low and watch your population boom exponentially and reach several orders of magnitude above you opponents
, its totally OP actually
Torians, in Twillight of the Arnor, have this Turbo population growth bonus called super breeder. I usually make a custom civ but use this trait. When your approval rate is 100% pop growth goes over the roof. In the first part of the game, just keep your taxes very low and watch your population boom exponentially and reach several orders of magnitude above you opponents
, its totally OP actually 
Buddhafish
Abbey Road
I never really got the hang of it. I tried, but in the end I ragequit and went back to playing civ.
MaxWar
King
Did you play it with the latest Expansion Twillight of the Arnor?
I played this game so much... Its better than Civ4 In some regards (Like the AI), Civ4 Is better In some regards....
One thing civ4 has over GalCiv however is an ungodly amount of awesome mods.
Nowadays i exclusively play Civ4, but galciv is worth it.
I played this game so much... Its better than Civ4 In some regards (Like the AI), Civ4 Is better In some regards....
One thing civ4 has over GalCiv however is an ungodly amount of awesome mods.
Nowadays i exclusively play Civ4, but galciv is worth it.
scratchthepitch
King
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Visited a friend over the holidays who has a copy of GalCiv2, but not the Arnor expansion. I tried the game again, still very disappointing in comparison to MOO2, but there is addiction possibility to it. I would like to eventually try the game with the last expansion.
My friend also has Civ4, but there was no reason to try that game again.
My friend also has Civ4, but there was no reason to try that game again.
MaxWar
King
The arnor expansion adds unique tech trees to each civs, you also have asteroids to harvest, unique powers for each civs... the possibilities are incredible.
scratchthepitch
King
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The version I played of GC2 was called Avatar. I don't think it had a separate tech tree for each race, but it did have asteroids. It had something called super powers, or something like that, which you could select for custom races, but I don't remember unique powers specific to each race. The races were fully customizable, and that is what I played.
If you played a custom race, did you get to select the tech tree and the unique power? The separate tech trees alone makes it worthwhile to check it out. I've thought for a long time that having different tech trees for each race and having those tech trees variable (not totally random, but with enough randomized that no game had the same exact tech trees as another) would be a major improvement for these kinds of 4x games.
If you played a custom race, did you get to select the tech tree and the unique power? The separate tech trees alone makes it worthwhile to check it out. I've thought for a long time that having different tech trees for each race and having those tech trees variable (not totally random, but with enough randomized that no game had the same exact tech trees as another) would be a major improvement for these kinds of 4x games.
uat2d
ಠ_ಠ
Perhaps the best asset Firaxis has is this community and others like it.
I mean it, the content produced by modders far exceeds their DLCs and expansion packs, and all the discussion about the game helps people sticking to it, learning it more easily and enjoying it more, which undoubtedly helps their revenues more than any ad they might make.
It's a luxury other game companies like Stardock just don't have, and it's quite sad that Firaxis is ignoring the game's flaws and criticism and is instead trying to appeal to another audience with Civ going Facebook and all that.
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