Galactic Civilizations marathon...
Friday, January 14th, 2005 - 11:17pm
Having previously sworn to complete Galactic Civilizations to my own satisfaction, I'm beginning to a grow a little frustrated at the slow going. This is not an easy game; on medium difficulty levels, the AI is amazing. I like to work on my civilization's cultural aspects, but my neighbors get VERY unhappy if it seems to them that I'm overstepping my bounds. On the other hand, if I focus on my military, my neighbors will often team up on me in response to the greater threat I pose. Meanwhile, this lets the more isolated civilizations thrive, and it leaves me embroiled in a taxing war on my own doorstep from which it is very difficult to recover.
It is quite clear to me that in order to excel at this game, I shall need to work very closely with one or more allies. For example, if I ally with a strong military power, I may then be free to expand culturally as I see fit. That's not something I'm used to doing; in Civ 3, for example, it's quite possible to dominate on the medium difficulty levels with little or no allied assistance. All it takes is some shrewd budgetary allocation and some cleverly timed invasions of nearby civs, and before long you're in the clear. The same can be said, I think for the well-balanced Heroes of Might and Magic 3/4 maps, as well as for Master of Orion II. So GalCiv is definitely bringing something new to the table with respect to its difficulty, and the tactics needed to overcome it.
I am right now steeling myself for a marathon session of GalCiv. I've played around with some of the campaigns released by Stardock, and while they're certainly nifty to have, I've determined that on most days I'd rather just play a random scenario. I therefore need only complete a game on medium difficulty, with a medium galaxy size and five or more AI opponents in order to free myself from my self-imposed bonds. I've already managed to conquer a medium galaxy on Simple difficulty (the range is Cakewalk, Easy, Simple, Beginner, Normal, Challenging, Tough, Painful, Crippling, Masochistic), as well as several small galaxies on Normal (albeit with fewer than five opponents). If all goes as planned, in about eight hours I'll be able to set GalCiv aside and move on to something else. I have a bunch of new acquisitions that I haven't been able to play yet: Rise of Nations Gold, NOLF2, Combat Mission 2, MechCommander 2, the Icewind Dale trilogy, and others. There are also plenty of fantastic older titles that I never did finish; Thief and SS2 probably take precedence here. Or maybe Divine Divinity, actually.
I'll be playing as the Technologists, with a fairly well-balanced set of civilization specialties: Weapons+15, Defense+20, Hit Points+20, Repair+20, Planet Quality+5, and Creativity+25. I find that the bonuses to defense, hit points, and repair combine to give my ships very nice staying power in combat.
Wish me luck! And if your wish holds true, then I'll be resurfacing here in the morning hours with a report on my progress.
The market has much to answer for as to why gaming is NOT an art. -- illum
Let us know what happened! Sounds like fun.
"Sometimes I go around saying, 'Kommisar Paulson has seized the commanding heights of the economy!'" - Paul Krugman, asked if recent changes to banking are socialistic.
I stand victorious! Short summary:
Things turned out quite differently than I expected. I had intended to win largely through diplomatic means, using my good diplomatic standing, my far-reaching trade agreements, and my huge cultural influence to get my way. Things started out well, as I spawned into a pretty expansive star cluster with seemingly nobody else nearby. This allowed me to expand rapidly in the beginning stages of the game.
However, once I did locate my neighbors, I ran into problems. I was playing as a good-aligned civ, whereas both of my neighbors, the Drengin Empire and the Dominion of Korx, were evil. Without a trustworthy ally on my borders, it was clear that military conflict was in my future.
I lucked out a bit, however. One of my planets uncovered hidden resources and went from ~level 18 to level 27 (good planets are generally considered to be those that are level 15 or higher). This gave me a major manufacturing base, thereby allowing me to really crank out the warships. I also managed to build a star base atop a military bonus resource, thus giving me a further edge. Finally, knowing that bitter warfare lay in my future, I decided to orient myself more toward short-term survival than long-term, and so I decided to switch from good alignment to evil.
I soon eliminated the Drengin, while luckily the Korx stayed out of the fight. Once the Drengin were out of the picture it gave me some room to breathe. At this point I devoted myself toward building constructor ships in order to acquire new star bases. Before long my economy was in good shape due to increased trade via star bases. The Korx went to war with the Altarians and the Torians, and so I attacked the Korx from the rear, securing several of their worlds. By this point I had become one of the single largest civs in the galaxy. This was good, since before long a showdown with the Altarians was inevitable, and as usual they had some strong allies backing them up.
I formed an alliance of my own with the Yor Collective, another evil race. I had to bribe them pretty heavily to get them to join with me, but I needed their military might. Side by side we engaged the forces of light in an epic battle that encompassed every major civilization in the galaxy. The conflict was undecided for quite some time; for although we had more ships and manufacturing capability, our enemies had better ships and their technology was constantly a step ahead of our own. Through sheer attrition we began to wear them down.
Then the treacherous Yor turned on me. The best way to form a permanent alliance is to make sure that your allies are heavily dependent upon you for trade, protection, or some other feature. I hadn''t done this; all I''d done was to offer gifts to the bastards. Fortunately, it was at that time that the Altarians launched a major offensive against the Yor, seizing several worlds. With those two powers distracted, I was free to focus on the Arceans and the Torians. Over many months I pressed the fight, raping and pillaging all the while, until finally nothing was left of their pitiful societies. The rest of the game was essentially a big showdown between myself and the Altarians -- a formidable foe. However, with so many worlds now within my borders, I was able to roughly match them in research output, thus eliminating their major advantage over me. The endgame was secure. Although, I did have to hunt down the miserable Drath Legion, which had been hiding out in a secluded corner of the galaxy. They posed no significant challenge, and amidst their death cries could be heard the terrible laughter of Lobo the conqueror, the subjugator, the awesome; whose inimitable strength doth bring the whole galaxy to its knees.
My original prediction, that I would need at least one ally to win, proved correct. I couldn''t have done it without the help of the Yor. At several points in the game my survival was placed in jeopardy; early on, when it seemed I''d be forced to fight the Drengin and the Korx at once; later, when the Yor turned against me and it seemed my enemies were closing in from all sides; and in the end-game, when the Altarians brought the entirety of their forces to bear on me. All in all it was a rousing session of a truly spectacular game.
I''ll post here when I manage to decide what to play next.
The market has much to answer for as to why gaming is NOT an art. -- illum
Now that I''m awake again: NOLF2 it is! The NOLF2 thread made me ache to try it out.
The market has much to answer for as to why gaming is NOT an art. -- illum
You make GalCiv sound like a really awesome game. I''ve always wanted to try it but could never find a description of it''s gameplay other than ""it''s like MOO3 but doesn''t suck"".
Thief and SS2 are worth finishing, I''m currently playing through Thief (after a few false starts) and having a great time. My only complaint is that the codec that plays the movies keeps getting overwritten somehow.
Wow, sounds epic Lobo! And you still have time left in the weekend! Woot!
"Sometimes I go around saying, 'Kommisar Paulson has seized the commanding heights of the economy!'" - Paul Krugman, asked if recent changes to banking are socialistic.
Hehehehe... he wants to finish these games, yet has the Icewind Dale games to come. Those are some long games.
Nice description of GalCiv. You''ve made me want to go pick it up...
[edit] - Then again, Nexus (AKA Imperium Galactica 3) comes out in Febuary. Do I have the stamina for 2 space TBS games in just a month''s time? Hmmmm...
"PEACE ON EARTH. GOOD WILL TO MEN. PUBLIC SHELTER. ADMISSION 50¢"
I know! It''s crazy. I honestly don''t know how I''ll fare the next time I get the urge to play a long RPG. I know I have within me the strength, as I managed to play through the entirety of Neverwinter Nights last summer, but it''s still going to be tough.
Great! You both should do so. There are many, many aspects of the game that I didn''t even gesture at in my previous post. For instance, I never once mentioned the difficulties I faced in trying to keep my own political party in power. On several occasions, the Senate was poised to switch to another party majority, which would have crippled my own party''s research bonus. Since that research bonus was the only thing keeping me competitive with the Altorians, this turn of events would have been disastrous had it come to pass. I ended up diverting a sizeable portion of my funds toward propaganda; this loss of funds was itself a great harm to the war effort. The amount of depth and intrigue that GalCiv presents is simply remarkable. And yet, you can pick it up and start playing very quickly, especially if you''re already familiar with the genre. The planet and research management work like MOO2, and the galaxy map and combat work like Civ.
Plan for the future! Buy them both, and save one for a few months down the line. It''s what I do... or, more accurately, it''s what I can never seem to keep myself from doing.
If it''s any help, know that Stardock''s content distribution system (dubbed Stardock Central) is everything that Steam should be: useful, effortless, flawless, and best of all, completely optional (you can still patch your games the old-fashioned way if you so choose).
The market has much to answer for as to why gaming is NOT an art. -- illum