GalCiv / SEIV

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:21 pm

I would like to discuss the games Galactic Civilizations and/or Space Empires IV on this BBS, but want to make sure before I do that there's anyone out there who would participate in said discussion.

So, is there?

bruce · Post by **bruce** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:12 am

pinback wrote:I would like to discuss the games Galactic Civilizations and/or Space Empires IV on this BBS, but want to make sure before I do that there's anyone out there who would participate in said discussion.

So, is there?

Yes. I have played Galactic Civilizations and like it very much. I also like Brad Wardell and Stardock very much--I think they are a company worthy of emulation, both in terms of their products and (more importantly) in terms of their philosophy.

Bruce

Casual Observer · Post by **Casual Observer** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:37 am

Pleased to be hearing about the wonders of Galactic Civilizations.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 6:15 pm

Casual Observer wrote:Pleased to be hearing about the wonders of Galactic Civilizations.

Certainly. Galactic Civilizations ("GalCiv") is a space exploration/conquest game in the direct lineage of such timeless classics as Master of Orion, and its closest relative, the grandfather of "Civ-style" games, Civilization itself.

Victory can be gained in any of four ways:

Military Conquest: The standard "kill everyone else in the galaxy" path.

Technological Conquest: If you can research the last thing in the tech tree, you win.

Cultural Conquest: In many ways the most interesting path, you can conquer the galaxy by force of sheer cultural influence alone. If everyone becomes impressed enough with your empire, they'll just happily join up.

Diplomatic Conquest: Form an alliance with any/all remaining civilizations, and you all live happily ever after.

GalCiv distinguishes itself from other games of its type in a number of ways:

1. Its diplomacy system is richer and more rewarding than any that have come before it. Your rival races all have a distinct "flavor" (with separate AI personalities for all of them), and much of the joy of the game can be found in the Diplomacy/Trade screen, wheeling and dealing your way to victory.

2. It's got just enough "personality", light humor and wry wit to it to keep it interesting, while never crossing the line into campiness or overt silliness. Each game evolves like an epic story, with a constant ebb and flow of universal power, rather than a spreadsheet of production numbers and weapon ratings.

3. The user interface is so clean, so easy, and such a breeze and a pleasure to use, that you genuinely run the risk of being ruined for any other game of its type. I've recently tried once again to get into Space Empires IV, but after the joyous experience of navigating through GalCiv, the prospect of sorting and clicking through SE4's maddening array of indistinguishable buttons and haphazardly organized (and tiny) numbers and statistical outputs is daunting at best, and nauseating at worst. GalCiv just plays faster than any other "4X" game out there. If you shy away from SE4 and Civilization III and the like because even a small game will take over ten hours to slug through, GalCiv will be right up your alley.

4. Everything just works. This is the most pervasive, endearing quality of the thing. It's difficult to quantify, but there's just a sense while the game is playing out that everything just makes sense, without ever becoming needless complex or overwhelming. Diplomacy works like it should. Production feels right. Research (while subject to an enormous tech tree) flows along at just the right clip. Everything just works, and as such, the game is a nonstop joy to play.

This is all not to say that GalCiv is a panacea for anyone who likes this sort of game. In particular, there are a few design choices some might characterize as shortcomings, so I'll include them here for completeness:

1. You can only play the humans. So if you get off on crafting a weird alien species to portray, you're out of luck. You're the Terrans, and you'll always be the Terrans.

2. There is no multiplayer. Only the fact that the AI is so solid and "organic" feeling keeps this from detracting much from the game's overall value.

3. There is no emphasis on tactical combat. There is no spaceship design. There are a handful of different ship types that all the races can build, and if you don't like them, you're out of luck. Space combat consists of you moving your spaceship into the same square as the enemy's ship, and waiting to be shown which one wins (as in Civilization.) The emphasis is purely on overall civilization management strategy. Combat is just one possible way of enforcing the strategy, not the other way around. (Note: If you WANT tactical combat and ship design, then get Space Empires IV, because that's where the focus of that game lies.)

4. The documentation is shaky at best, and to this day omits several fairly significant elements of the gameplay and the interface. However, a few hours on the GalCiv Forums should answer any questions left by the PDF manual, and several more you didn't think of.

The support for the game is exemplary, as Bruce mentioned, and any problems or issues are quickly answered or addressed by the folks at Stardock.

It's not the most complex, or most in-depth, or most feature-filled, or most customizable 4X/conquest game ever made, no. But for my money, it's by far the most fun.

Enjoy it, won't you?

Casual Observer · Post by **Casual Observer** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 7:30 pm

Sounds fun. I'll look for it on usenet.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 7:44 pm

Come on, man. Download the demo, and if you like it, buy it.

www.galciv.com

Casual Observer · Post by **Casual Observer** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:15 pm

I don't know. . . man. . . I'm pretty cheap. I haven't purchased any software in almost ten years.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:20 pm

Well, it's doubtful I can convince you to quit stealing, if you're determined to steal.

So, have at it, I guess. Dirtbag.

Casual Observer · Post by **Casual Observer** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:51 pm

Well, we can't all afford to take months off while we get plastic surgery and learn to fly planes and waste time playing video games and posting on bbs's.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:05 pm

No, but most of us can afford a $30 computer game.

Casual Observer · Post by **Casual Observer** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 8:22 am

Guess I'm a bad person then. Loser.

Worm · Post by **Worm** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 8:33 am

Casual Observer wrote:Guess I'm a bad person then. Loser.

As a public service I put the "cutting barb" part of the post in yellow.

Comeback Carter · Post by **Comeback Carter** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 8:33 am

Oh yeah? Well, you.. you, I mean, your mo..

fuck

Lysander · Post by **Lysander** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:47 am

Pinback's a loser because he does his part supporting GAEMing companies to do the best they can at making more games for you ungreatful snobbs to play?

Just for that, I'm going to download some music at you.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 11:51 am

You have to appreciate the humor of a bunch of people sitting around stealing software and then bitching about how bad games SUCK (or "SUXX0R", or the like) lately.

You have to. I demand it.

bruce · Post by **bruce** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 1:39 pm

I appreciate it.

My favorite part of GalCiv was that you can pretty much pile whatever modules you want onto whatever space station you want.

So--I think I've mentioned this before on here sometime--there's the Death Star equivalent, called a "Terror Star". It enables you to blow up the sun in a star system.

But there's nothing stopping you from also putting, say, the "Galactic Waterpark" on it. I have this wonderful vision of Darth Vader wading up to one of those floating bars they have at resorts, getting a little drink with an umbrella in it, and saying to the bartender, "While you're at it, could you please put out their sun? Kthxbye!"

I find the cultural conquest to be the most fun too.

Bruce

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 3:01 pm

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the starbases! They are indeed the best, just for the reasons Bruec mentioned. You can either make 'em lucrative trading outposts, or fearsome military installations, or (as I tend to do) GIANT OUTER-SPACE KEGGER PARTIES WITH COKE AND HOOKERS AND COKE ON TOP OF HOOKERS!!

Casual Observer · Post by **Casual Observer** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 3:34 pm

Lysander wrote:Pinback's a loser because he does his part supporting GAEMing companies to do the best they can at making more games for you ungreatful snobbs to play?

No, it's because he's preechy about it.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 4:30 pm

This thread is for discussion of SE4 and GalCiv. Please take all non-SE4 and non-GalCiv material to a separate thread. Thank you.

k. roo · Post by **k. roo** » Tue Aug 24, 2004 4:42 pm

So, I went and saw Garden State on the weekend. For some reason or other I had wanted to see it without really knowing what it was about, and I'm sure because it's the only movie playing right now in the Princeton Garden Theater -- and it's a movie about Jersey, man! Anyways, friend called up and wanted to go, so I went.

Jesus christ what a whiny teenie bopper flick. Here's the scoop so you won't have to subject yourself to the two-hour long yawnfest.

Guy (26) comes home to NJ from LA to attend mother's funeral. He's a nutcase because he'd been medicated for most of his life after shoving his mother and injuring her, causing her to be paraplegic for the rest of her life. His dad's his shrink, so there's this whole circular guilt trip wankery going on. Guy catches up with friends from school, bumps into chick, and adolescent awkwardness ensues. In the end he "forgives" his father for being such an accusatory dick, gets on the plane back to LA, but decides to jump back out to live happily ever after with chick. The end.

It probably would have been considered "thought provoking" or "romantic" or "touching" about, uh, 25 years ago.

So don't go see it, ok?

GalCiv / SEIV

GalCiv / SEIV

Re: GalCiv / SEIV