GalCiv Expansion?

[sabotai]

Has anyone tried the expansion pack for Galactic Civilizations yet? I heard about it awhile ago, and apparently it's been out for a few weeks.

It comes with two new alien races (complete with new AI engines for each), a map editor, scenario editor, campaign editor, new goodies, etc. etc. Looks like it could be something to add some replayability to it. Just wondering if anyone else tried it.

[Axxon]

Has anyone tried the expansion pack for Galactic Civilizations yet? I heard about it awhile ago, and apparently it's been out for a few weeks.

It comes with two new alien races (complete with new AI engines for each), a map editor, scenario editor, campaign editor, new goodies, etc. etc. Looks like it could be something to add some replayability to it. Just wondering if anyone else tried it.

I tried it when it was still in beta. I have downloaded the full game but haven't tried it yet. The coolest part should be the campaigns. They work great in theory but at the time I tried it, they were oddly unbalanced and had some loopholes.

You do get a lot of new techs to play with and the new aliens and these were all working great. I'd say if they have the engine polished for the campaigns it's easily worth the effort. I would say worth the price but I don't know what that is honestly. I'm on Drengin.net. ;)

[sabotai]

The price is $19.95 I beleive. And the best part is you can buy it and download it (I think) so I don't have to go to the store, hopign they'll have it.

I've been playing it again recently. I was just about shelf it (for all the same reasons that have been mentioned in other threads, ie lack of ship design), but saw this on their website when I went there looking for MODs. I'll think about it a little more. Hopefully the campaigns thing works out and we get a lot of user created campaigns. That would easily make it very replayable...if it works well, that is. :)

[Axxon]

The price is $19.95 I beleive. And the best part is you can buy it and download it (I think) so I don't have to go to the store, hopign they'll have it.

I've been playing it again recently. I was just about shelf it (for all the same reasons that have been mentioned in other threads, ie lack of ship design), but saw this on their website when I went there looking for MODs. I'll think about it a little more. Hopefully the campaigns thing works out and we get a lot of user created campaigns. That would easily make it very replayable...if it works well, that is. :)

If you liked the original and the campaign thing works out it's easily worth 20 bucks in my opinion.

I was like you, at first I was not happy with the no designing ships thing but then realized that there was strategy in researching to the right ships. After all, where was the unit construction in Civ 2 and that game was a blast. Now, with the new races and the mods already there, theres a healthy variety of ships and not having to micromanage construction all the time gives me more time to plan my production and conquest of the enemy.

Of course, it gives the AI the same thing and I think a part of the stronger AI is because they didn't have to try and teach it to design to beat a pesty human design that they hadn't considered. IMHO, this alone is well worth the tradeoff.

[sabotai]

I'm a freak when it comes to unit design. If a game came along that let me design my own swords for my knights...I'd jump all over it.

And it's very clear that the reason the AI in GalCiv is above all other Space 4x games is because of the lack of ship design. The thing is, the basic stuff that comes with the game....there's not a lot of ships. Not nearly enough.

That's why I was heading to the Library on GalCiv's site, so I could download MODs for more techs, more ships, more events, etc. etc. I think with enough ships, considering how basic the battle system is (far more of a complaint of mine that lack of ship design. 1v1 space combat just doesn't make sense. I lose 20 Corvettes against a space shark. If I could have attacked it with 20 at once, it would be much better than 20 1 on 1 battles.....I'm ranting, anyway where was I...) With enough ships, the design thing becomes a non issue. I'm hoping for that anyway.

[Axxon]

I'm a freak when it comes to unit design. If a game came along that let me design my own swords for my knights...I'd jump all over it.

And it's very clear that the reason the AI in GalCiv is above all other Space 4x games is because of the lack of ship design. The thing is, the basic stuff that comes with the game....there's not a lot of ships. Not nearly enough.

That's why I was heading to the Library on GalCiv's site, so I could download MODs for more techs, more ships, more events, etc. etc. I think with enough ships, considering how basic the battle system is (far more of a complaint of mine that lack of ship design. 1v1 space combat just doesn't make sense. I lose 20 Corvettes against a space shark. If I could have attacked it with 20 at once, it would be much better than 20 1 on 1 battles.....I'm ranting, anyway where was I...) With enough ships, the design thing becomes a non issue. I'm hoping for that anyway.

I really can't deny ANY of the above and they're all disappointing but sometimes a games whole is better than the sum of it's parts and eventually, that's how I felt about GalCiv. I don't consider it the best game ever but it moves quickly, has some interesting tech choices and a challenging AI. In the end I had more fun than frustration playing it.

I wouldn't count on the new ships making that much of a difference unfortunately. It's still a simple battle system so it's like choosing the difference between a 3-1-2 attacker and a 1-3-2 defender. It really needs different special technologies not just bigger or smaller or differently balanced ships to appeal in this direction.

I fully agree with the combat too but then again, it works just like it worked in civ2. It's not like they didn't get the idea from a successful game and again, the whole of civ 2 was greater than it's parts.

One of the appeals to me oddly enough about not being able to design units is because I love doing that too and in games like Moo2 and Alpha Centauri often I'd spend more time prototyping units and designing them than I did fighting. :)

Sometimes it's just nice to get on with it. ;)

[gstelmack]

I'm a freak when it comes to unit design. If a game came along that let me design my own swords for my knights...I'd jump all over it.
Some day someone is going to put out "Trillion Credit Squadron" for the computer. If only I had some more spare time...