OT: Galatcic Civilizations (GalCiv)

[raynor]

Originally posted by Lemmy:

quote:

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Originally posted by Wardad:
GalCiv should arrive at my door in a few days.
Any game play advice?

Start on a small or tiny map.
Starbases good.
In the first few turns set your research to 100%, and get to the Universal Translator (the yellow tech options), that will allow you to commiunicate with the civs you've encountered.
...
Rush buy a colony ship if you see a good planet, but don't lease unless you have to!

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I'm kinda curious about this advice. When I play, I typically set my Military to 100% for the first several turns so that I can crank out Colony Ships as quickly as possible. Also, I would strongly recommend that you purchase your first two colony ships so that you will have THREE new colony ships built in 6-9 turns instead of just one. IIRC, each planet contributes at least 5 BC income which is exactly the amount of the 173 month Mitrosoft lease for a purchased colony ship.

At the beginning of the game, there is a mad land rush to grab every >= 15 quality planet in sight. There is also a rush to grab the galactic resources. But I wouldn't build a constructor until I had colony ships being sent to every planet in sight. Also, you can use Constructors to build starbases to extend the range of your colony ships.

I don't really see a pressing need to get Universal Translator until you have colonized every planet in sight. I think the most important techs to get are Industrial and then Medical and Basic Environmental. The Manufacturing Center is really helpful for your larger planets and perhaps all your planets with only 1 BC upkeep. The Basic Environmental gets you Soil Enhancement which improves the quality and thus your income on all your planets.

If you are just starting out, I would press Control-N until you get a starting sector with a second planet in your home system and a second star system with two >=15 PQ planets in it. I would then colonize the same planet in your home system and purchase colony ships from both planets that will on the next turn give you a total of four planets. IMHO, I think it is a good idea to put your spending at 100% military and build colony ships on all four of those planets and send them out trying to colonize everything you can.

The really nice benefit to having four planets in your home sector comes when you start building tons and tons of starbases in that home sector. Those planets are going to have the best production by virtue of a larger population, etc. When you start building multiple starbases, the production benefit will help all four planets.

[ April 10, 2003, 13:14: Message edited by: raynor ]