Gal Civ N00b. . .

[Caesar_Augustus]

I've never played this game. I know nothing about it. I've only read some of the posts here, and a few pages of Bam-Bam's training day game.

The feeling here is that the game is 'broken.' Yet to my n00b eyes the game seems like a mix of MOO and CIV3, and I'd like to try it out. BUt before I shell out the $$$, I'd like to know if you guys think this game is worth it. I've avoided reading any in-depth strategy threads on this game, since I don't want to 'ruin' it. Can a n00b have fun with Gal Civ?

A few random questions:

-The good vs evil thing sounds intriguing. What are the pros/cons of each path?

-How well balanced is the ship design aspect? In MOO I like how there are almost no 'uber' ship builds - even the Death Ray is only useful in certain situations? Is this the same for Galciv?

-Are there races in MOO? What are their bonuses like?

Thanks in advance

[Kylearan]

Hi,

BUt before I shell out the $$$, I'd like to know if you guys think this game is worth it.

In my opinion yes, it definately is worth its money. It has not the long legs of civ3 or MoO for me, but it's still a good game I played for a long time.

The good vs evil thing sounds intriguing. What are the pros/cons of each path?

There are some techs that are only available for one side. For example, the good get more trading while the evil get terror stars, IIRC. Then, the AIs behave differently: The evil have more respect for power and will bully you or attack if they sense you're weak. The good don't like evil and often will attack them just because they are evil.
The game can be won via an "allaince" victory, so sensing beforehand which of the sides will become the stronger one in a given game can be important. Choosing the right side is important for the player to win an alliance victory, which is the quickest type of victory which need the least amount of mop-up once it's clear who has won.

Of course, a conquest victory (eliminating all others) can be fun, too, but the other two victory types (culture, tech) are a bit broken. The AIs don't know how to defend against culture properly, and the tech victory is just plain boring, a thing you do once to see it, then never again because it needs a lot more time and won't give you more score (which you shouldn't play for anyway, as it's broken too :P ).

How well balanced is the ship design aspect?

There is no ship design. It's like civ: Certain techs enable certain predefined units you can build. And like civ, there are stronger units (battleships, overlords...) and weaker ones.

Are there races in MOO? What are their bonuses like?

Ah-hah! A freudian slip! Sure there are different races in MoO, which you really should play :D , but I guess you mean GalCiv. In GalCiv, you only get to play the humans, but you have to choose a party and certain picks before the game, which brings variety. You can choose to give them militaristic boni, or cultural, or trading, or scanner etc. etc., or you can do a mix. But every game, it's the humans.
You have to face several major races and several minor races in the game. The major races are the ones you have to defeat, while the minor races have their own systems and fleets, but expand/research slower, and sometimes a new minor race is spawned during a game. They get swallowed by you or a major race most of the time.

If I remember correctly, there's a free demo of GalCiv, probably available at the GalCiv webpage - maybe you should download the game and try it out for yourself before buying it. Apart from that, I recommend reading some of the excellent spot reports linked from the RBGalCiv page.

I think it's a good game worth buying, but unfortunately has some weaknesses (scoring system; AI once you've found out how they "think").

-Kylearan

[Caesar_Augustus]

Hi, thanks for your answers. I'll definitely download the demo and give it a spin.

Ah-hah! A freudian slip! Sure there are different races in MoO, which you really should play

Oops, slip indeed :laugh: . I have played 6 games of MOO, most on average, some on Hard. I enjoyed exploring the game, REALLY enjoyed the shipbuilding aspect, but it just didn't 'bite' me and I don't think I'll be playing the Imperia.

Thanks again

[Sirian]

I got six months out of it. More than fifty games. That's a good run.

It's worth your money, especially if you do as you said, and avoid reading about it to find out what the magic formulas are and how to exploit the game's flaws. One really does need to play a lot to "outgrow" this game. There's a great game in there, in fact. I'd say its chief weaknesses lie in its AI, and you simply won't find them until you've played quite a bit.

GalCiv is especially good for anybody who is tired of micromanaging, babysitting, bean counting. The economic model is all but directly inspired by MOO, even if it does handle a bit differently. You can automate the build order for planets. There's a very MOO-like feel to the economic controls, although you have to get used to "one control fits all". (Zed never did like that, but I don't mind it. Does make for some need to have your colonies "grow up together", and late bloomers will never ever shine, but... well, you'll see, if you decide to get the game).

Hope this helps.


- Sirian