Post beginner tips here!

[Drakan]

1. Playing on tough in a huge galaxy with max AI opponents with the first 5.000 gold you cash-rush 3-4 colony ships and colonize asap. You put the military slab to zero for obvious reasons. You put the social production slab and research slabs at max possible with spending allocation at 100%. It is of paramount importance to focus on social production at first so as to build the planetary improvements asap. Playing with a custom civilization I choose it +30 social production and Industrialist political party (+20 social production). There is just no reason or need to cash rush a factory at firts because you'll be building social improvements at a crazy speed. Even in the "tough" diff level you'll outbuild improvements faster than any other AI civ.

2. It pays well researching all the diplomatic techs so as to get an edge on diplo tech trades (you'll get away with more money in every tech trade, be sure to build the Galactic bazar and research the governtment techs). Once you have the Diplomatic Translators commodity (which you don't trade, in fact any commodity or trade good you build don't trade it If it's not for another trade good so as to deny the AI the huge benefits they produce,think Aphrodisiacs for example...). Forget researching any military tech, concentrate on the diplo techs first, economy, industry,types of government techs and farming techs.

Once you have the diplo techs you put the research slab to zero and trade every couple of turns techs for money or for other inferior techs. Although you'll be losing money every turn (due to 100% spending allocation) you can make it up for it trading cash in exchange of your techs. You become a "galactic tech broker". Trading inferior techs for cash to fuel your deficit due to massive social spending on planetary improvements. As you'll be more skilled diplomatically than your AI oponents you can get away with more cash in each negotiation which helps to finance your cash deficit whilst you build up your planetary improvement infrastructure very quickly. You ought to be cranking out planetary improvements every 3-6 weeks.

3. You'll notice that after 2 years or so you'll be 20 techs ahead of everyone (you'll also be the most affluent). You stop trading techs in exchange of cash to finance your spending allocation deficit and concentrate in the Economy. You play around with slabs so as to level off your losses.

4. You can build 4 starbases in every parsec. So in the key galaxies where you have your manafucturing, technological, economical capitals you can build 4 economic starbases whose effects are cumulative it seems.

5. In the planet where you have your Economical capital don't build stock exchanges as much as farms (research the three farm techs). Remember: more population=more tax revenue, or so the IRS says. A healthy Economy is the backbone to Galactic Conquest.

 

[Vizzini]

4. You can build 4 starbases in every parsec.

Methinks you meant to type "sector", not parsec.

 

[alco75]

In the planet where you have your Economical capital don't build stock exchanges as much as farms (research the three farm techs). Remember: more population=more tax revenue, or so the IRS says.

I wouldn't go farms-only though because a) tax income is the root of the population - it's not proportional - so it's a case of diminishing returns and b) morale problems.

 

[Vizzini]

New tip (although me being a Starbase Freak this should come as no surprise)

During times of intergalactic peace, park a Constructor within one turn of every AI owned resource starbase.

Eventually an AI is going to go to war with another AI - when they do they make those resource bases a priority target, but neglect to bring a Constructor along with them before they attack. They're fast tho - someone is gonna have a constructor plopped onto that resource within two turns.

You being smarter than the AI planned ahead and parked a Constructor right next door. Watched the AI this morning stomp another AI's Military Resource, Influence Resource, and Economy Resource into space dust and I vulched all three right out from under both of them when they did.

 

[Ovidian]

Here's a very odd thing that I do when conquering the galaxy. At first, I problems remembering the location of all my planets. Somewhat hard to plan attacks when I didn't even know where my own troops are. So, I devised a system to help me.

I look at my homeworld as the center of America. From that point, I divide the map into 4 sections (North, South, East, and West). Then as I conquer them, I give them names of big cities. If that section is huge, I go to countries. For example, if I'm going East, you'll see Philly, Boston, and New York on my map. If it really extends, you'll start seeing England, France, etc. This way, I always know where every planet is without looking.

Odder still, if I snag a lower level planet (7 or below) for Research, I give them names of smaller towns. So for example, if I'm going North and I get a great planet and a smaller planet, the first is Chicago, and the second is Lansing (a small suburb where my parents live).

I find using this system has really helped me in coordinating attacks and in planning on what goes where and when.

 

[Vizzini]

New tip for post 1.1 and the changes to population growth play:

I used to buy a factory on my homeworld on turn one if I had a manufacturing tile bonus. I no longer do so. Doing so really tanks your economy because that high-production tile costs a buttload to operate each turn while your population is low due to colonization efforts and your approval is low which slows growth.

Now? Now on turn one I always buy an Entertainment Center - which immediately puts my approval at 100% (double population growth) Even better, an E-Center is cheaper to buy than a factory. Now your homeworld can sustain your colonization efforts a lot easier with that 100% approval.

Related note: Never ever build a factory on a Precursor Artifact (700% Mfg Bonus) on turn one. Just don't do it. Trust me on this one.

 

[Roxlimn]

Firstly:

Trade routes are an important part of the game. Even at the start of the game with no trade bonuses whatsoever you can rake in upwards of 100 bc per turn if you max out your basic trade routes. That's a whole 'nother planet's worth of taxation right there.

If you're Human and are Mercantile with advanced trade tech, you can rake in 2000 bc per turn in the mid-end game with trading. In many of the games I've played, my entire profit per turn was so dependent on trade that I fluctuated between deficit and bonus depending on where the ships were on that turn.

Secondly:

Economic management is everything. You can't just build Research planets all over the place, nor Manufacturing Planets. The moolah you'll spend on them has to be coming from somewhere, so you need population centers to tax for revenue. If you can't run your spending at 90-100% most of the time, then you're just wasting tiles - factories and Research facilities that could be running at 100% are running at 50% and you have nothing to show for it!

Better to halve the spending buildings and build morale and pop boosters in their place - you won't lose industrial steam, since you weren't using the capacity anyway. That's a basic thing that one has to realize about GalCiv2 - buildings are only capacities, not actual production. The actual production comes from bcs, which comes from taxes.


Relating the two points, trade routes can push your GalCiv into a more powerful Civ than you otherwise would be by adding revenue. Unlike in MOO or Civ where trade routes only impact revenue which could be spend on potential buildings and job shifts, money in GalCiv pours directly into production. The extra 50 bc you earn in trade can be used to directly fuel more infrastructure building on your worlds.

This means that early trade earnings are important because they accelerate your industry in all ways that are important. In addition, Economic Starbases you build in center sectors give your ships added range and enemy ship movement intelligence.


If you think you can get Trade fast, you can queue up a Colony or other expensive ship to prepare for it and crank out a Trade Ship as soon as Trade is researched. Make sure to get it the best engines you can buy. This, in turn, can help to dig you out of the potential economic headaches of expanding too rapidly.


IMO, the most important techs you can have right at the start are New Propulsion Techniques and Universal Translator. One provides you the drive to meet other races, the second gives you the means to trade techs. After Universal Translator, Ion to Impulse Drive are good investments because they speed up colonization, trade and exploration, and because you can trade them off for very handy gains.

After Impulse Drives, I generally go for weapons tech and diplomatic techs immediately. There's only so far trading techs will go and the AIs typically refuse to give you relevant weapons technology. Planetary Improvements you can buy, Planetary Invasion - not so much. Plus, weapons technology on a diplomatic advantage can be leveraged into an unbeatable technological edge.