Ok. I bought the game (Galactic Civilizations II Ultimate Edition thinking that I love Civ IV and that it would be even cooler in space. I began to read the entire manual. After that I watched every single tutorial video. I thought that the game looked a little complicated so I started on a small map. When I began my first game I figured that I would be a little confused at first, but that after I got some experience playing, that the game would become easy to use (like Civ IV). I was wrong. I began the game and I swear, my head blew up. I could not understand...anything. I read the entire manual and tutorial videos and yet it was as if I knew nothing when playing the game. I'm not even going to start asking all of the questions I have, considering how every single thing I have a question about. All I want to know is if their is a GOOD manual for this game out their. The one that came with the game was...useless. I understand that Galciv II is nothing like Civ IV, but I really want to be able to play this game (or at least begin to understand it!!).
My head blew up!! (I'm a newb to galciv 2)
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RichPowers
Chieftain
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Heh, I have the same problem. I read the GalCiv 2 forums occasionally and played the demo, but couldn't "get it" enough to warrant a purchase. GC2 is a game I should like (and Stardock's a fine company), but it seems incredibly obtuse, even for a genre known for its obtuseness 
I'm still hoping to find a mystical GC2 beginner's guide. Sisiutil's Civ IV guide was a godsend.
Edit: You should read Tom Francis' GalCiv 2 diaries. Think of them as well-written and extremely funny AARs that were published in PC Gamer UK. Some of the finest videogame pieces ever, IMHO.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=195920&site=pcg
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=161570&site=pcg
I'm still hoping to find a mystical GC2 beginner's guide. Sisiutil's Civ IV guide was a godsend.
Edit: You should read Tom Francis' GalCiv 2 diaries. Think of them as well-written and extremely funny AARs that were published in PC Gamer UK. Some of the finest videogame pieces ever, IMHO.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=195920&site=pcg
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=161570&site=pcg
You can get most of the mechanics from the galciv wiki.
http://galciv.wikia.com/wiki/Galactic_Civilizations_Wiki
Seriously, it's not as difficult as you think. You can start with the Campaigns first as they start off on tiny maps with a limited goal. Some features are also disabled (e.g. United Nations), simplifying things for you.
One of the main challenges is the economy. Whereas in Civ4 you can expand to a few cities before your economy crashes on you, in GalCiv2 you need to start thinking about your economy early because the maintenance costs will cripple you even if you don't do much.
Other than this, just build a few things, research some techs, and a Civ4 player will soon get the hang of it.
http://galciv.wikia.com/wiki/Galactic_Civilizations_Wiki
Seriously, it's not as difficult as you think. You can start with the Campaigns first as they start off on tiny maps with a limited goal. Some features are also disabled (e.g. United Nations), simplifying things for you.
One of the main challenges is the economy. Whereas in Civ4 you can expand to a few cities before your economy crashes on you, in GalCiv2 you need to start thinking about your economy early because the maintenance costs will cripple you even if you don't do much.
Other than this, just build a few things, research some techs, and a Civ4 player will soon get the hang of it.
KaiserElectric
Total Freakin Besties
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Glad to hear it. And glad to meet a fellow gal civ II noob as well! 
Sarcasticon
Warlord
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Some of the best "manuals" to the game can be found at the official galciv2 forums: there are many topics there discussing what to do in the first weeks of the game, step by step.
Of course, if you have specific questions, feel free to post them here
I managed to play the game without a manual, but I played GalCiv 1 before which was easier. Still, the manual does give useful pointers where you'll think "aha, that's where I go wrong" so it's still worth reading after you got the hang of the basics.
Of course, if you have specific questions, feel free to post them here
I managed to play the game without a manual, but I played GalCiv 1 before which was easier. Still, the manual does give useful pointers where you'll think "aha, that's where I go wrong" so it's still worth reading after you got the hang of the basics.
GoodGame
Red, White, & Blue, baby!
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Most important thing is to learn not to let your treasury stay in the negative for very long, and to never hit neg 500bc. Also don't overtax because that hurts popularity and future tax revenue.
My advice is start a very small game, devise a simple strategy, and test it. If it fails, come up with some alternate strategies. Eventually you'll have a feel for how the game works and the mechanics. I feel the key to mastering GC2 is having a grab-bag of strategies and playing them under appropriate situations.
My advice is start a very small game, devise a simple strategy, and test it. If it fails, come up with some alternate strategies. Eventually you'll have a feel for how the game works and the mechanics. I feel the key to mastering GC2 is having a grab-bag of strategies and playing them under appropriate situations.
Jazzmail
King
Here's a couple of hints:
1. you are totally immune until an AI race gets planetary invasion
2. attacking is pointless without planetary invasion (and arguably you need the whole invasion tree)
3. colony rushing is everything and worth going into debt for
1. you are totally immune until an AI race gets planetary invasion
2. attacking is pointless without planetary invasion (and arguably you need the whole invasion tree)
3. colony rushing is everything and worth going into debt for
TC01
Deity
I'll address some of the differences.
One of the most useful (and different) things in GC2 is that your planets can work on buildings and ships at the same time.
It's also different in that your planets can't build an infinite number of buildings, they can only build the planet quality - 1. PQ determines how many tiles are available to build on- it's the number like Class 10, Class 4, Class 26, etc.
To make up for this, you can build as many factories or laboratories as you choose, as opposed to Civ, where you can only build 1.
As Jazzmail said, you can't invade other planets until you research Planetary Invasion. So the only danger a war poses is the destruction of ships and starbases, but you are safe until that tech is researched.
Finally, ship designing is fun, but as a beginner, it's better to put ship designing on "auto" and let the computer design ships for you, or use the default ships.
One of the most useful (and different) things in GC2 is that your planets can work on buildings and ships at the same time.
It's also different in that your planets can't build an infinite number of buildings, they can only build the planet quality - 1. PQ determines how many tiles are available to build on- it's the number like Class 10, Class 4, Class 26, etc.
To make up for this, you can build as many factories or laboratories as you choose, as opposed to Civ, where you can only build 1.
As Jazzmail said, you can't invade other planets until you research Planetary Invasion. So the only danger a war poses is the destruction of ships and starbases, but you are safe until that tech is researched.
Finally, ship designing is fun, but as a beginner, it's better to put ship designing on "auto" and let the computer design ships for you, or use the default ships.
GalCivII is one fine game... Love the music too (shame the music in the menu screens doesn't get more use).
Three pointers:
1: The build time listed on each planet's screen is wrong (this definitely applies to social construction, but also I think to military construction). Instead, go by the information on the screen that summarises all of your planets. (It irks me that Stardock have not fixed this bug...)
2: Factories and research buildings add to either your Military and Social capacity, or to your Research capacity. The key word here is capacity. You split resources between Military, Social and Research capacity - you cannot use the maximum of all three at the same time. So if you want to use 100% Military, you cannot use any Social or Research; if you want an even spread, you can use 33% of each. This is totally different from Civ and far from obvious.
3: To use your Military, Social and/or Research capacity you have to pay (1GC per point of production, although some bonus production is confered for free). Having all the factories in the galaxy is worthless if you cannot afford to use them (in fact, it is detrimental, as each one has an upkeep cost just to sit there doing nothing!) In addition to being able to distribute funds between different types of production, you must also choose how much money to pump into production in general (this is the slider under the tax slider, I cannot remember the name). So your total production of each type equals the % of that slider times the % of the production type's individual slider. Make sense?
Three pointers:
1: The build time listed on each planet's screen is wrong (this definitely applies to social construction, but also I think to military construction). Instead, go by the information on the screen that summarises all of your planets. (It irks me that Stardock have not fixed this bug...)
2: Factories and research buildings add to either your Military and Social capacity, or to your Research capacity. The key word here is capacity. You split resources between Military, Social and Research capacity - you cannot use the maximum of all three at the same time. So if you want to use 100% Military, you cannot use any Social or Research; if you want an even spread, you can use 33% of each. This is totally different from Civ and far from obvious.
3: To use your Military, Social and/or Research capacity you have to pay (1GC per point of production, although some bonus production is confered for free). Having all the factories in the galaxy is worthless if you cannot afford to use them (in fact, it is detrimental, as each one has an upkeep cost just to sit there doing nothing!) In addition to being able to distribute funds between different types of production, you must also choose how much money to pump into production in general (this is the slider under the tax slider, I cannot remember the name). So your total production of each type equals the % of that slider times the % of the production type's individual slider. Make sense?
SewerStarFish
King
The only proviso is, from the start, pay attention to your battles as this habit will help you when you are playing higher levels.
Eventually you'll run into a game where the AI has a big lead in one form of weapon or another and you'll need to have ships that can counter that. The same goes for defensive tech. If you are consistently losing space battles to a laser firing AI, you can design a ship with extra shields; or if only your missile ships are doing damage, you may need to build one with extra missiles.
All in all, GalCivII is a nice little change of pace from
![[civ4]](/images/smilies/civ4.gif "Civ4 [civ4]")
but not as a steady diet.
KaiserElectric
Total Freakin Besties
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Another piece of advice: Pour money into espionage (assuming you have the appropriate expansion) and observe the enemy ships. If they have lasers and armor, design yours with missiles and shields. The custom shipyard is your friend. The perfectly designed ship for battle can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
I played galciv 2 for some time and I'm honestly disappointed, the first part's expansion, altarian prophecy made this 4x at least a little bit realistic, currently if You'll look at Your greatly modelled galaxy You'll see a lot of planetary systems, the stars are basically all the same, and all systems have 5 planets [sic!] from an astrophysicist's point of view this is so so so totally wrong
but the gameplay is entertaining
I always go like this in the start -> colonize as many planets as You can, I do my own custom race and make it with this special ability (growers or sth like this) and morale, It's a simple way to economically thwart other civilizations, later on when I have lots of cash everything is possible, enjoy the game
but the gameplay is entertaining
I always go like this in the start -> colonize as many planets as You can, I do my own custom race and make it with this special ability (growers or sth like this) and morale, It's a simple way to economically thwart other civilizations, later on when I have lots of cash everything is possible, enjoy the game
RaidforBBQ
Chieftain
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The ratio can change constantly throughout the game but recommend starting out with ships with a single engine and as much weapons you can cram on it. Early defense modules are bulky and not worth placing on early to mid game ships until you get better weapons over your enemies.
Sarcasticon
Warlord
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Moreover, too much defense with too little offense will result in your ships doing too little damage to take out the enemy fleet, even if your ships survive a few rounds of firing.
I'd also recommend to research down the offensive line first (+ hull size and miniaturization) until you have decent weapons before considering any defenses.
I'd also recommend to research down the offensive line first (+ hull size and miniaturization) until you have decent weapons before considering any defenses.
Ok. Now I have played a couple of games and I think that I am really starting to get the hang of it. The only thing that still confuses me is the tech tree. Its so incredibly massive that it is really confusing. I just don't know what I should research first. So far I have not been able to win a game but I have come close a couple of times.
Sarcasticon
Warlord
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Are you playing Twilight of the Arnor? Then my suggestion would be to start by playing the Terrans - they have the most standard tech tree, of which plenty of technologies are also used in other races' tech trees.
There are plenty of topics discussing the order in which to research techs over at the Galciv 2 forums, however I can give you some general pointers that work for most games:
1) At any given time, scroll through the cheapest (i.e. fastest to research) available techs and choose which one would bring the most benefit at that point in time
2) In the very beginning of the game, focus on cheap techs that give you percentage improvements in social production, military production, research, economy, morale or population growth.
3) Next it's often a good idea to research yellow techs from universal translator until trade so you can build an econ capital (great econ bonus, helps a lot to get your early economy back in the green)
4) Then on to (blue) advanced computing so you can build a tech capital.
5) Then some more orange production techs (forgot the exact name) so you can build a manufacturing capital, both for the production and for the econ bonus
6) If you're playing a galaxy of medium size or larger, now might be a good time to research down the light blue engine branch (nothing that takes you over 5-6 turns, but at least get to impulse driver or the next in line so your colony ships can grab those planets faster)
7) Keep an eye on the military rating of your foes. As soon as you see them go above zero, it's usually a good idea to research (red) space weapons, preferably also (pink) medium hulls and a basic weapons tech such as (red) laser / mass drivers / missiles. That will allow you to get some military up, which in turn will help to deter the AIs from attacking you.
8) After that the choice becomes much broader and depends heavily on what you need the most... Here I would recommend to revisit point 1) and see what's most vital for you to research, yet doesn't cost you ages. In my opinion for a traditional playing style it's often good to first advance a bit in production technology; once you have that it will be faster to transform any buildings into more advanced ones (e.g. transforming basic labs into more evolved ones)
If you post what usually causes you to lose a game (are you falling behind in production, in weapons tech, in hull size; is the AI expanding too fast or influence-flipping your planets; ...) we might be able to give more tailored advice.
There are plenty of topics discussing the order in which to research techs over at the Galciv 2 forums, however I can give you some general pointers that work for most games:
1) At any given time, scroll through the cheapest (i.e. fastest to research) available techs and choose which one would bring the most benefit at that point in time
2) In the very beginning of the game, focus on cheap techs that give you percentage improvements in social production, military production, research, economy, morale or population growth.
3) Next it's often a good idea to research yellow techs from universal translator until trade so you can build an econ capital (great econ bonus, helps a lot to get your early economy back in the green)
4) Then on to (blue) advanced computing so you can build a tech capital.
5) Then some more orange production techs (forgot the exact name) so you can build a manufacturing capital, both for the production and for the econ bonus
6) If you're playing a galaxy of medium size or larger, now might be a good time to research down the light blue engine branch (nothing that takes you over 5-6 turns, but at least get to impulse driver or the next in line so your colony ships can grab those planets faster)
7) Keep an eye on the military rating of your foes. As soon as you see them go above zero, it's usually a good idea to research (red) space weapons, preferably also (pink) medium hulls and a basic weapons tech such as (red) laser / mass drivers / missiles. That will allow you to get some military up, which in turn will help to deter the AIs from attacking you.
8) After that the choice becomes much broader and depends heavily on what you need the most... Here I would recommend to revisit point 1) and see what's most vital for you to research, yet doesn't cost you ages. In my opinion for a traditional playing style it's often good to first advance a bit in production technology; once you have that it will be faster to transform any buildings into more advanced ones (e.g. transforming basic labs into more evolved ones)
If you post what usually causes you to lose a game (are you falling behind in production, in weapons tech, in hull size; is the AI expanding too fast or influence-flipping your planets; ...) we might be able to give more tailored advice.
SewerStarFish
King
I agree with sarcasticon with maybe one or two exceptions.
Planetary Invasion is usually needed when it is still a long research tech, don't be afraid to spend the time on this one as you will usually be able to trade it for quite a few techs. If the AI is agressive, the medium or large hull also becomes an issue.
Play with 8 minors as they are the easiest to trade with (and to conquer) and will help you through the early games. As you get better you can turn off tech brokering and trading.
Planetary Invasion is usually needed when it is still a long research tech, don't be afraid to spend the time on this one as you will usually be able to trade it for quite a few techs. If the AI is agressive, the medium or large hull also becomes an issue.
Play with 8 minors as they are the easiest to trade with (and to conquer) and will help you through the early games. As you get better you can turn off tech brokering and trading.
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