GalCiv2 Expansion

[Warshed]

The one thing I like about GC2, which SE4 or 5 won't have is wonders. I really wish SE5 would have something equivalent to wonders, even if it is a building that every race could only build once, and if it gets destroyed you could never rebuild it. What I find with SE4 and probobly with SE5 is that planets really don't distinguish themselves as being something unique or special. If it was a planet that had a very unique building on it or some rare mineral that improves the whole empire (like resources in Civ 4), then one would feel like that planet is really special.

What would also be cool is to have super giant planets that are ultra-rare but could fit like 40-50 buildings on them, so that when you lost them, it would be a large blow to your empire.

[Yimboli]

Aside from wonders, planets in galciv2 seem to be lend themselves more distinctly to specific functions. I can't quite narrow down what makes me feel that way. Maybe it's simply because in gc2 you have fewer planets, so it's easier to keep track of their individualities.

In se4, there were the resource percentages which determined, at least in my case, whether the world was going to be mineral organic radioactive or research. there were also ruins, which only made the planet a higher priority to colonize - this little bit of individuality was lost once the ruins were discovered. Also, in some mods, bigger planets are your best space yards due to the higher population.


In gc2, you have specials in the different facility sites on the planet, so if I get a planet that has a 700% bonus to production in a square, I know that's going to be a production powerhouse... similarly, a planet with lotsa farm boosters can have a high population so I'm going to build economic boosters to increase tax revenue.


Typing it out has helped me think through it- I think gc2 has slightly more planet individuality, which is amplified by the fact that my games have always been on a smaller scale and with fewer planets than in se4...

any thoughts?

[Suicide Junkie]

Although I have no objections to allowing wonders, I personally think they're silly.

If you can build it once, obviously you can do it again.
If I can build mine while you're still building yours, clearly I can do it after you finish yours too.
Artificial scarcity, pfft!

What I would enjoy seeing is a system where if you build it, you get an advantage. If someone else builds one too, then they cancel each other out until you go on a napalm crusade and reduce the number of them in the galaxy to just one again.

And of course, the ones you DO make would need to be logical. Not like Civ's Hoover Dam, for example.

[Fyron]

Suicide Junkie said:
Although I have no objections to allowing wonders, I personally think they're silly.

That's just cause you look at them entirely wrongly.

EDIT: I wonder how AI's would deal with planets with that many extra facility spots...hmm...

Fill them up with that 200 catchall type most use in their Construction_Facilities files, then possibly nothing if you have even more slots than that.

[Renegade 13]

Warshed said:
What would also be cool is to have super giant planets that are ultra-rare but could fit like 40-50 buildings on them, so that when you lost them, it would be a large blow to your empire.

That'd be easy to do with SEIV! All you'd have to do is create a new entry in PlanetSize.txt, add another couple entries in SectType.txt, then since you want them to be scarce, only put a few entries for your new planet into SystemTypes.txt.

EDIT: I wonder how AI's would deal with planets with that many extra facility spots...hmm...

[Renegade 13]

Well, your point about minefields is a little incorrect; sure you can block warp points with mines fairly easily, but there's a cheap and easy way of eliminating that threat...minesweepers

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Warshed said:What would also be cool is to have super giant planets that are ultra-rare but could fit like 40-50 buildings on them, so that when you lost them, it would be a large blow to your empire.

One word: Sphereworlds.

Building a Sphereworld takes up a lot of time and resources. Losing it would mean a very serious blow to your economy, especially if the enemy actually captures it, especially if you've just finished building it up to its full capacity..... owch.

[Renegade 13]

I agree. I'm not sure how gravity wells, etc would provide any benefit to gameplay. I'd think it would make things more complicated without any real gameplay reward to justify the pain in the arse it would likely turn out to be.

[Captain Kwok]

You could also argue the 1-month lag in communications in the SE series represents the delay in transmitting messages.

And at this point, I will envoke the Fyron equation:
realism not= good gameplay always