Project origins
There was some discussion on the Steam forums as to how to get an update to GalCiv 2 out there.
Draginol popped in and suggested that an update incorporating the expertise of the fanbase would be the best way forward. A bugfixing update would soon be on the way.
I sent a message to the other tech tree modders, and luckily secured the assistance of Gaunathor, and later MabusAltarn, as well as some dedicated members of the community who posted some valuable feedback. They have been instrumental to the success of the community update, and I'm glad to have played a small part along the way.
Progress report
The community update has been released as part of a rollout of Stardock products on GOG.com and is also available as an opt-in beta on Steam!
Downloads and links
Issues which can't be fixed with XML manipulation.
The file archive folder, hosted by MabusAltarn.
The list of bugs which can't be fixed with XML manipulation.
The spreadsheet of data changes, hosted by MabusAltarn.
Initial discussion on Steam forums
Credits for community member and Stardock staff involvement
Gaunathor - Tech tree changes, descriptions and standardisation. AI value adjustment. Planetary improvement changes and fixes. Keeper of the change logs, spreadsheet and file archive.
MarvinKosh - Typo and description changes (English.str, Techtree.xml). Additional spreadsheet analysis.
DARCA1213 - Tech descriptions.
MabusAltarn - UI changes, tech tree changes, AI value adjustment, keeper of the file archive, spreadsheet and change logs.
Maiden666 - Suggestions for improvement (technology victory bonuses).
OShee - tech descriptions.
SiliasOfBorg - tech descriptions.
Frogboy - executable code changes.
I don't remember what the bug was... if I don't write it down there's little chance I'll remember. I'll write stuff down as I come across it.
Thanks for the update though, I won that last round easily and just barely started a new one.
I'm good thank you. I'm also playing a few old games to kill time.
I've installed FW 0.6.5. Starting a game you get a colony ship "prototype", unusable, not upgradable. You can only scrap it for cash. Is that on purpose? Cannot remember.
That's the latest, which had a few minor fixes and changes.
In FW you don't get a starting Colony Ship for many reasons (balance, gameplay, bug-avoiding) so I disabled it. This was one of the most intricate things to do so far with this mod because I had to touch ship-templates and such...
As of now, this ship only acts as a sensory platform so even a race which has bad sensors is still able to see their own system. I found it somehow justified to have this, esp. since starting sensors are nerfed in FW (makes exploring harder, and the research into ensors worthwhile..)
If you don't need it you can sell it - the AI will do so after a time, as well.
I see it's not a 100% neat solution because I cannot change some of the outlays or loading screen hints... and I value your feedback so I need to remember to integrate some hints or tooltips to do away with the initial confusion
But it was absolutely necessary for gameplay because in testgames the AI consistently broke his budget resulting in 0% production/research, and that is SOLELY because of the too fast aquisition of planets in the opening play.
Because of this you can also only have 1 starport initially.
The AI in FW doesn't run broke even on suicidal and has a much stronger overall gameplay, esp. when not abusing diplomacy etc. A typical game in FW also lasts longer and is more tactical esp. when techtrade is disabled under a sparse planet/star setup. Even with techtrade on its less of a risk of abusing because I've made alot of techs untradeable.
Also the Minors are much stronger and a valuable source of techs when befriended, or may get you a unique stolen tech when invaded. With lots of luck... and like this there are many small details hidden in this mod...
I am using version 6.2.4, and I can't place any agents on other civs' worlds. The Place Agent button is greyed out: https://i.imgur.com/VzHUdVR.jpeg Is it supposed to be like this?
Oh Ye Mghty Maiden666! Hear my humble plea..! For I, a mere mortal, cannot download the community update patch. Look down kindly upon me and have mercy upon my plight!
I am trying to use the link you previously listed to download the 6.2.4 community update but either there is some pretty funky reason I keep getting a 1020 cloudflare server error or the link is dead (I don't seem to be the only one who has had issues downloading the update, according to 'nemisisuk' in this link ). Is there any other way to get a hold of a copy of the update off of someone or access it anywhere besides the above link/steam ? (eg google, dropbox? an installer?)
Bit of Background:
Whilst sheltering from the wroth of the current winter snowstorm, I dusted off my old copy of Gal Civ 2. Last time I played must have been circa 2015-16 - so I'm a tad rusty/not up to date, not just with the basic game mechanics, but also latest changes. Whilst playing a custom civ with the Drath tech tree, I realised that even with the 2.20 update (which I had installed before) and my lack of "practice", that there was certain things that I thought were a tad... odd. "The Way of the Drath" seemingly was a completely pointless tech for one; I could not find stellar cartography as an option for custom civs, and most frustratingly, the Drath morale buildings all seemed to be orphan/separate improvements (which was a real pain in the butt to realise after I had already started a game pursuing a super breeder --> econ/pop boom strategy, since I'd kinda banked on having access to those sweet, sweet morale boosting buildings to help maintain that 800% pop growth bonus).
Wondering if anyone else had noticed this, or if there was some explanation for these apparent quirk, I did a google search, which led me to this thread (where Gaunathor raised the same issue in this very first reply on this thread way back in September 26, 2014!)
I was maybe a little (disproportionately) excited when I realised the community had continued to update the game after the 2.20 update. When I heard that there was also a 100 page manual to go with a slightly earlier version of the update I was even more hyped at the prospect of downloading a copy, Unfortunately, fast forward over an hour later, and despite using several different browsers and settings on different computers to try and access the download the link above (in case it was a local problem at my end and not a server issue); and even having used several search engines to attempt to find an alternative source to download from, I haven't been able to download the 6.2.4 update or the manual.
Any help or guidance here would be appreciated - thanks!
The link to the 6.2.4 version works, but the site's firewall is, for some reason, exceedingly strict. I don't know what its criteria are. It may simply be blocking visitors from non-German countries (I'm from the UK), as I was able to access it with a VPN.
You can try here, though it seems most forums don't like Media Fire anymore and they usually delete the link.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5n5aehc7yaufvhh/COMMUNITY_UPDATE_6-2-4.ZIP/file
I love you doctor Zeu... uh I mean, thanks a million Fulano! Cheers!
In a recent game, I was playing as the Arceans. I had some significant problems researching beam weapons.I researched particle weapons (tier 2 beam) and what I got didn't do anything for my ships. Upon inspection, particle beams took up a lot of room. For tiny hulls, they were more than twice the size of lasers 5. For small hulls, they were twice as large as lasers 5. Consequentially, my ships were not improved when I researched the tech. It was not until I got medium hulls that I got a size discount.What seems to have happened was, particle beams was changed into a speed bump, not a destination to rest at. There were no levels 2 or 3 versions. Just particle beams. However, the price was increased to make up for the fact you got to skip a bunch of techs to get to phasors. I don't think the trade was worth it. I thought that particle beams was going to improve my ships. Instead, I researched a worthless tech. Its only useful if you have the time and research to skip it and go to phasors.
I think I figured out a roundabout way to deal with the upgrading, 1 per planet, planet improvements bug. Advanced navigation center and quantum power plant. You design a new planet improvement for each that they could upgrade to, but then don't provide the required techs to build them. Because none of the new planet improvements get used, you should be able to destroy and rebuild the normal top tier versions without problem.
Hello, long time no see
have you tried that out and does it work? Care to post the code I could swiftly integrate it and see by myself... sounds promising got to say )
No. I have not tried it myself. When I got the idea, I was playing other games in my free time, so I never got around to it. Something to maybe do later. I figured that someone else would want to try it themself, so I posted it.I think it would be simple to implement. I'm doing it now.
*Sigh* Its not working. I first tried the mod without the filler tech available for research, but when it wasn't working, I made it available for research. I was doing most of my tests as the Arceans since they get both the navigation centers and power plants. After all my tests, I don't think its the top tier planet improvement thats the problem; its when you upgrade a lower tier one per planet PI to a higher tier version.I'll do more tests later, but I think this is a dead end. Sorry for not testing it sooner, and letting your hopes get up.Edit: I did some intensive testing. Definitely a problem with upgrading. If you simply build or buy the planet improvement, from an empty tile or unrelated planet improvement, then there is no problem. However, upgrading a related PI to another PI seems to flip the switch that causes the related PIs to become unbuildable should you destroy whatever you currently have built.
marks still the best changes in game!
I don't want anyone stealing my seeds! Make the AI unable to steal farm techs! Please don't alter other stuff on preference I like trading.
Is it possible to purchase planets from the AI again? I've found this quite unfair in GalCiv2 v2.20 (based off an earlier Community Update version). I recall that the intent was to prevent abusing this ability, but I also remember myself not succeeding in GalCiv3 at buying a worse planet from a friendly faction in exchange for a much better world I had conquered from a minor faction. I wonder if GalCiv2 allows to fine-tune the trade value of planets...
No, there's nothing what a modder could do about this as most is hardcoded. We could only finetune the diplo-bonuses but once there's too much difference trading can become difficult/frustrating. The game's weakness in that regard are several thresholds that either cause the AI refusing all trades (even good ones for himself…) or offering far too good stuff.
The AI evaluates planets also by their generated income. If good large planets that are freshly colonized show a red economic balance during the first year this can be heavily exploited in some map setups.
But the worst is trading for IPs.
Seriously. I found I can get several terraforming techs, then sell them to the minor races for tons of IPs and I get my way with voting for the rest of the game.
Does buying IPs increase your chance to 'flip' other planets? Or is that just based off of IP production?
Seriously. I found I can get several terraforming techs, then sell them to the minor races for tons of IPs and I get my way with voting for the rest of the game.Does buying IPs increase your chance to 'flip' other planets? Or is that just based off of IP production?
The IPs just increase your annual voting power, I personally just sold them for credits (when playing for score), but the game is actually best when all these bugs aren't in use...
Flipping planets is based on your Influence base stats, your opponents loyality, and ofc all those 2 abilities local power (like, Influence from an Embassy). But the actual flip also luck-based / random.
Personally I find many United Planets decision too weak, considering a game is usually over after a few years. Some are "ok"
I've once tried playing the Dread Lords scenario with the Community Update mod v6.2.4. For some reason ALL other factions, including the Dread Lords themselves, did not build any ships, allowing me to cheese that game. Using some espionage, I've found that all forms of output on their planets are zero, as if the AI was not spending on production at all. Below is the screenshot of such a planet (click to maximize, 1080p). For some reason the starport is halfway done, so maybe the bug didn't trigger immediately?
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