Jason
chasing a bee
<strong>[ Article ]</strong>
<p>Stardock's Brad Wardell has posted another one of his rambling <a href="http://www.galciv2.com/Journals.aspx?AID=118239" title="Journal">journals</a> on the main <a href="http://www.galciv2.com/" title="GalCiv2">Galactic Civilizations II</a> site. The most important section comes at the end when he discusses future updates.</p><blockquote><p>The betas of 1.2 should still show up sometime this month. The main features of 1.2 can be listed as:</p></blockquote><blockquote><ol><li>UI to choose mods (such as total conversion mods) </li><li>Sample mod </li><li>Significant UI improvements </li><li>Some AI fixes/enhancements </li><li>Memory optimization </li><li>New Combat system (ships fire at the same time)</li></ol><p>I am thinking of putting in a request so that the attacker gets a 25% attack advantage for that first round so that there is still an advantage in being the attacker.</p><p>For 1.3, it'll be fairly modest tweaks and improvements. After that, the team will be working on the expansion pack. The art team is currently split between making cut-scenes for the expansion pack and making ship-content for an $8.95 ship component pack. The idea is to be able to lower the cost of the expansion pack a bit. People (like me) who love having cool looking hulls and ship parts can get those (And I've seen some early stuff, it's far better than what's in the game, the art team has really mastered how to do this stuff). And the people who don't care about the ship design stuff can skip that if they want.</p></blockquote><p>There are also a couple new GalCiv2 reviews. The first is at <a href="http://www.gameplaymonthly.com/reviews/galciv2.php" title="GM">Gameplay Monthly</a>.</p><blockquote><p>Overall, it is a fun game, though a bit simplified in ways. Many fans of this game have said it is MOO 2.5 (Master of Orion) or said that this is what MOO3 should have been. I disagree with both sentiments. Master of Orion 2 had a deeper espionage game, a deeper colonization system that allowed you to colonize any planet in the game, even create planets out of asteroid belts! It had a far more intricate combat system, greater weapon and political diversity, better race distinctiveness (races could be water dwellers, immune to radiation, etc., unlike GC2), more intuitive ship construction in terms of ship components and equipment, and you could conduct your own battles using tactics built on your ship designs, which are much deeper than anything in GalCiv2 (ships could extend shields over other ships, you could have carriers with fighters, and more). Galactic Civilizations is Master of Orion's little brother. Not as mature or deep in many ways, but it has enough good things to warrant a purchase. Additionally, the last two updates have significantly fixed or updated features. </p></blockquote><p>The next is at <a href="http://reviews.gameapex.com/pc_game/galactic_civilizations_ii_dread_lords.php?page=1" title="GA">GameApex</a>.</p><blockquote><p>Space strategy games can be interesting, and can potentially be overwhelmingly complex. Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords is complex, no doubt about it, but it wouldn't be quite as interesting if it wasn't. However, the manual is a decent help, and the website is a valuable resource for those who want to explore how far the game can be taken. The game is designed to be modded, so there are already Dr. Who and Stargate SG-1 mods available for download. Based on the scope and the depth of the game, plus the updates that can be downloaded directly from Stardock with a valid serial number, all of which add up to make it an extremely strong contender for top strategy game of the year. Now if they would a) make combat more interactive for the player and b) make a multiplayer capable add-on, it would receive complete top marks from me. </p></blockquote><p>Thank God for those Dr. Who and SG-1 mods. That's the only reason I got the game in the first place. </p>
<p>Stardock's Brad Wardell has posted another one of his rambling <a href="http://www.galciv2.com/Journals.aspx?AID=118239" title="Journal">journals</a> on the main <a href="http://www.galciv2.com/" title="GalCiv2">Galactic Civilizations II</a> site. The most important section comes at the end when he discusses future updates.</p><blockquote><p>The betas of 1.2 should still show up sometime this month. The main features of 1.2 can be listed as:</p></blockquote><blockquote><ol><li>UI to choose mods (such as total conversion mods) </li><li>Sample mod </li><li>Significant UI improvements </li><li>Some AI fixes/enhancements </li><li>Memory optimization </li><li>New Combat system (ships fire at the same time)</li></ol><p>I am thinking of putting in a request so that the attacker gets a 25% attack advantage for that first round so that there is still an advantage in being the attacker.</p><p>For 1.3, it'll be fairly modest tweaks and improvements. After that, the team will be working on the expansion pack. The art team is currently split between making cut-scenes for the expansion pack and making ship-content for an $8.95 ship component pack. The idea is to be able to lower the cost of the expansion pack a bit. People (like me) who love having cool looking hulls and ship parts can get those (And I've seen some early stuff, it's far better than what's in the game, the art team has really mastered how to do this stuff). And the people who don't care about the ship design stuff can skip that if they want.</p></blockquote><p>There are also a couple new GalCiv2 reviews. The first is at <a href="http://www.gameplaymonthly.com/reviews/galciv2.php" title="GM">Gameplay Monthly</a>.</p><blockquote><p>Overall, it is a fun game, though a bit simplified in ways. Many fans of this game have said it is MOO 2.5 (Master of Orion) or said that this is what MOO3 should have been. I disagree with both sentiments. Master of Orion 2 had a deeper espionage game, a deeper colonization system that allowed you to colonize any planet in the game, even create planets out of asteroid belts! It had a far more intricate combat system, greater weapon and political diversity, better race distinctiveness (races could be water dwellers, immune to radiation, etc., unlike GC2), more intuitive ship construction in terms of ship components and equipment, and you could conduct your own battles using tactics built on your ship designs, which are much deeper than anything in GalCiv2 (ships could extend shields over other ships, you could have carriers with fighters, and more). Galactic Civilizations is Master of Orion's little brother. Not as mature or deep in many ways, but it has enough good things to warrant a purchase. Additionally, the last two updates have significantly fixed or updated features. </p></blockquote><p>The next is at <a href="http://reviews.gameapex.com/pc_game/galactic_civilizations_ii_dread_lords.php?page=1" title="GA">GameApex</a>.</p><blockquote><p>Space strategy games can be interesting, and can potentially be overwhelmingly complex. Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords is complex, no doubt about it, but it wouldn't be quite as interesting if it wasn't. However, the manual is a decent help, and the website is a valuable resource for those who want to explore how far the game can be taken. The game is designed to be modded, so there are already Dr. Who and Stargate SG-1 mods available for download. Based on the scope and the depth of the game, plus the updates that can be downloaded directly from Stardock with a valid serial number, all of which add up to make it an extremely strong contender for top strategy game of the year. Now if they would a) make combat more interactive for the player and b) make a multiplayer capable add-on, it would receive complete top marks from me. </p></blockquote><p>Thank God for those Dr. Who and SG-1 mods. That's the only reason I got the game in the first place. </p>
