Galactic Civilizations III Released!

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Moat_Man
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Moat_Man »

Pro tip, if you own all the DLC and are just missing Crusade then buy the Gold Pack. It gave me 42% off the cost and the only thing it included was Crusade. That has to be a mistake.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by baelthazar »

Moat_Man wrote:Pro tip, if you own all the DLC and are just missing Crusade then buy the Gold Pack. It gave me 42% off the cost and the only thing it included was Crusade. That has to be a mistake.
Yeah... I see that now (and I agree, it is likely a mistake). I already bought it, but I am alright with the extra $8 going to Stardock. I do, however, wish that I had waited to buy the other DLC if Crusade was going to be included in the Gold sale.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Island Dog »

Moat_Man wrote:Pro tip, if you own all the DLC and are just missing Crusade then buy the Gold Pack. It gave me 42% off the cost and the only thing it included was Crusade. That has to be a mistake.
Nope, that's correct. :)

Here is the features trailer for Crusade.

https://youtu.be/F4SCASKRFks

Angry Joe is streaming Crusade until 6pm ET with Brad.

https://www.twitch.tv/angryjoeshow
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Zenn7 »

Island Dog wrote:
Moat_Man wrote:Pro tip, if you own all the DLC and are just missing Crusade then buy the Gold Pack. It gave me 42% off the cost and the only thing it included was Crusade. That has to be a mistake.
Nope, that's correct. :)

Here is the features trailer for Crusade.

https://youtu.be/F4SCASKRFks

Angry Joe is streaming Crusade until 6pm ET with Brad.

https://www.twitch.tv/angryjoeshow
Oh sure... I wasn't going to play it right away (bit involved with Totalwar:Warhammer currently), figured I'd wait for a sale, get some reviews and patches...

And you have to go and release it with a good sale price. Thanks a lot! :P :D

(Still won't get around to playing it until I get some more TW:WH time in, but now it'll be taunting me... Was really getting into GC3 before I got new pc fixed so I could play TW:WH).
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by tgb »

I'm loving this expansion so far but one thing I'm not grokking is how to keep the economy in the black. With the sliders gone, how do you adjust spending vs. income? I don't see a way to directly control it.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by jztemple2 »

I'm wondering that myself. Also, how do I produce a Legion? Is it a tech tree thing?

UPDATE: Nevermind, I unlocked the ability to train a citizen as a general which allows me to build Legions.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by jztemple2 »

tgb wrote:I'm loving this expansion so far but one thing I'm not grokking is how to keep the economy in the black. With the sliders gone, how do you adjust spending vs. income? I don't see a way to directly control it.
I'm thinking that you don't directly control it. To adjust income, build income generating buildings, assign a citizen to boost wealth, and build a starbase to boost planet output. To control spending... well, I guess don't build stuff that costs you too much money.

It's still early days on how I feel about the expansion, but I don't miss the sliders being gone. I never was any good at tweaking them, I prefer this new method of discrete objects (citizens, buildings) to create and spend wealth.

I'm still overwhelmed by trying to manage my empire. I'm running a quick game using the Quick Start settings just to get a feel for it. But I know I'll never get really into the game till I manage all my planets myself instead of using governors and design all my own ships instead of using the given ones.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Freyland »

I'm new to GC3 in general, never got around to playing it before Crusades.

How to increase happiness? I'm playing the tutorial, and my homeworld happiness is dropping slowly and my new colony started in the dumpster. I don't see any buildings that specifically affect happiness. My new colony specifically seems to be bitching about being crowded (not sure how that is possible, since its a brand new world!).

Is there any other way to cycle between ships than using the "idle ship" button that is also the end turn button?

Thank you.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by jztemple2 »

Using the tech tree you'll find techs that provide happiness via buildings. Also can result from events.

I'm not sure about the hotkey that cycles through ships.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by tgb »

I'm pretty sure there's a happiness "specialist" you can unlock via a tech for training purposes.

Here's another change I just discovered: you no longer use constructors to upgrade starbases. Instead it takes specific minerals.

Speaking of which, does anyone else find it odd that minerals are used to "promote" your citizens? I get that Stardock wanted to avoid the cliched use of XP, but is seems kind of gamey to me.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Freyland »

For being "rare", there sure are a lot of special substances in my galaxy. I feel like I'm practically tripping over them. It takes away a bit from that joy of exploration when all the high-value things are laying around like sweets in the Willy Wonka factory.

If I have to wait for tech to make my people happy, I suspect I will fail the tutorial due to rebellion. :?
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tgb
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by tgb »

Freyland wrote:For being "rare", there sure are a lot of special substances in my galaxy. I feel like I'm practically tripping over them. It takes away a bit from that joy of exploration when all the high-value things are laying around like sweets in the Willy Wonka factory.

If I have to wait for tech to make my people happy, I suspect I will fail the tutorial due to rebellion. :?
The map in my first test game yesterday was like that - I couldn't build mining stations fast enough. Having started another "real" game with the same parameters, I'm finding just the opposite - luck of the RNG, I guess.

So what I'm saying is you can always start over if it bothers you that much.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Lorini »

Freyland wrote:For being "rare", there sure are a lot of special substances in my galaxy. I feel like I'm practically tripping over them. It takes away a bit from that joy of exploration when all the high-value things are laying around like sweets in the Willy Wonka factory.

If I have to wait for tech to make my people happy, I suspect I will fail the tutorial due to rebellion. :?
Sounds like something in Distant Worlds. Getting ready to start my first Crusader game.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

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In my Quick Start game one of the things I'm not having problems with is money, I have gobs it from artifacts which keep popping up even in areas I have already explored.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by baelthazar »

I am really terrible at this game - consistently coming in last on all fields. What am I doing wrong? Perhaps I am not specializing my planets enough? I try to build a nice mix of buildings, but it never seems to work. Perhaps I do not build enough economic buildings? Any tips would be great, because I seem to be inept.

I was a master at Gal Civ 2. But here I just seem to really struggle.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by tgb »

Is that on normal? I'm playing a Large galaxy, and just about everyone I meet has 4-6 colonies and 6+ star bases to my 3 and 2, respectively.

As I explore farther and farther out, when I do find the occasional decent colonizable planet, by the time my peeps get there someone has already hung the occupado sign on the door.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by baelthazar »

tgb wrote:Is that on normal? I'm playing a Large galaxy, and just about everyone I meet has 4-6 colonies and 6+ star bases to my 3 and 2, respectively.

As I explore farther and farther out, when I do find the occasional decent colonizable planet, by the time my peeps get there someone has already hung the occupado sign on the door.
Yup, on normal and large galaxy. I have the same experience. I managed to snag quite a few colonies in my last game as the Krynn, enough to keep me middling on production and military for a while. But I was quickly outpaced once the dust settled.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by tgb »

You probably already know this, but when playing the Krynn I've found the best approach is to put as much effort into culture-flipping the neighbors as possible.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by tgb »

Another question - can someone explain the background colors on the diplomacy screen? I had assumed that the closer to green the friendlier, but now (according to the tooltips) factions with a red background are described as "cordial".

Also, once assigned to a planet, is there any way to get a citizen moved back to the government?

(I guess that's two questions)
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by tgb »

Having played 100 turns into 4 or 5 different games with different races (all on medium or large maps) I've noticed a couple of trends that indicate things may not be working right.

1) The same 4 or 5 events keep firing (in my current game I actually have 2 instances of Flag Waving running concurrently).

2) Despite having colonizable planets set to "common", I never find more than 2 or 3 available. While it's possible the AI is snatching them all up, no faction has more than 4.

3) Minor races are set to "occasional", yet I've yet to encounter a single one in any of my games.

4) Resources are set to "uncommon", yet the map is teeming with them. I can't build star bases quickly enough.

Some of this can be attributed to the RNG, but not all of them, particularly the events and minor races.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Island Dog »

They are getting an update ready to address stability, balance, and general tweaks. It's available as an opt-in now but should be released soon.

Changelog: https://forums.galciv3.com/482986/
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by jztemple2 »

Island Dog wrote:They are getting an update ready to address stability, balance, and general tweaks. It's available as an opt-in now but should be released soon.

Changelog: https://forums.galciv3.com/482986/
Looks like a lot of changes! I'm still tinkering with Crusade, as I knew the inevitable tweaks would arrive :wub:
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Island Dog »

That update went live so you should be able to update. :)
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Freyland »

Really could use a primer on combat. Also wish I understood why it costs a significant project to put a single troop, which was already built, on to a planet.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Moat_Man »

First major update to Crusade released (v2.2). Change log here.

Island Dog's going to be pissed that I scooped him. :lol:
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by jztemple2 »

Insane [map size] renamed to Ludicrous
I have been desperately waiting for this change :D

Seriously though, a whole boat load of changes. Glad I'm not deep in the middle of a long campaign. Most of the changes look pretty excellent.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Island Dog »

Moat_Man wrote:First major update to Crusade released (v2.2). Change log here.

Island Dog's going to be pissed that I scooped him. :lol:
Ha!

But yeah, aside from the map update there lots of other balancing, fixes, etc. in this update. :)
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Island Dog »

There was a balance update released today. :)
  • New improvement: Galactic Mainframe. Can't be built on one's homeworld. Acts as a hub for other research buildings.
  • core mine base social production increased from 1 to 3, provides a universal manufacturing bonus to adjacent tiles.
  • Various reclassifications of improvements for the AI
  • Hyperspace project provides a +3 to neighboring research
  • Brindle's Observatory adjacency research bonus increased from 2 to 3
  • Kimberley's Refuge is now indestructible, provides +3 to the neighboring population.
  • City population cap reduced from 16 to 9.
  • City food cost increased from 2 to 3.
  • Cities provide +2 level bonuses to Research, Manufacturing, Wealth and Influence improvements!
  • Colonial hospital is now indestructible
  • Colonial hospital population growth increased to 0.1 flat per turn
  • The GIA provides a +1 influence adjacency bonus
  • Consulate now provides a flat +1 influence per turn bonus
  • Consulate goes up by +1 influence per turn for every other influence improvement that is adjacent
  • Various higher level influence buildings receive the same benefit as the Consulate plus keep their existing benefits
  • Changed most galactic events to only occur ONCE rather than once for each player. This should also eliminate the Pirate spam.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Island Dog »

The v2.3 update is out today with substantial AI adjustments, game re-balancing, bug fixes, and more made to both games with some additional Crusade-only features.

Video overview: https://youtu.be/2Cm2K1lMnT0

More info and changelog: https://forums.galciv3.com/483664/

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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Island Dog »

GalCiv III is in the Steam daily deal today. There's also a bundle where you get the base game free if you purchase Crusade.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Zenn7 »

Island Dog wrote:GalCiv III is in the Steam daily deal today. There's also a bundle where you get the base game free if you purchase Crusade.
Not that $19.99 is bad for Crusade and base GC3, but the gold bundle for ~$30 that include both of those as well as (I believe) all the other DLC available for GC3 is most likely a better way to go. Some of the DLC varies in value but on the whole, $10 for all 11 other DLC is a pretty good deal since if you are buying this much, you probably want to play the game and would want the other stuff anyhow. Unless you really have doubts that you might like this game and really don't want to waste a penny more than you have to (in which case, why not just buy the base game (!$9), or if you own either GC1 or GC2, get the discounted upgrade (~$5).

Whatever way you go, if you are interested and don't own it, a great price.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Kraken »

Zenn7 wrote:
Island Dog wrote:GalCiv III is in the Steam daily deal today. There's also a bundle where you get the base game free if you purchase Crusade.
Not that $19.99 is bad for Crusade and base GC3, but the gold bundle for ~$30 that include both of those as well as (I believe) all the other DLC available for GC3 is most likely a better way to go. Some of the DLC varies in value but on the whole, $10 for all 11 other DLC is a pretty good deal since if you are buying this much, you probably want to play the game and would want the other stuff anyhow. Unless you really have doubts that you might like this game and really don't want to waste a penny more than you have to (in which case, why not just buy the base game (!$9), or if you own either GC1 or GC2, get the discounted upgrade (~$5).

Whatever way you go, if you are interested and don't own it, a great price.
Well it sounds like it's finally time for me to jump in. I see that all of those deals are good until 7/5 but the gold bundle doesn't have a date. Does that mean it's today only?

I find the pricing confusing. I own GC1 & 2 so I could upgrade for $4.49 and then buy the expansion for...um...looks like $20. Whereas GC3 + Crusade is $20. As for the other DLC, I don't care about scenarios or ship design and it looks like that describes half of the DLC. Dunno if the rest is worth an additional $10 to me.

If I've played previous GC games but not GC3, should I start with vanilla or just go directly to Crusade?
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Island Dog »

The sale from the daily deal carried over into the summer sale, so they should all be the same.

I think you would probably enjoy jumping right in with Crusade. :)
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Zenn7 »

Kraken wrote: Well it sounds like it's finally time for me to jump in. I see that all of those deals are good until 7/5 but the gold bundle doesn't have a date. Does that mean it's today only?

I find the pricing confusing. I own GC1 & 2 so I could upgrade for $4.49 and then buy the expansion for...um...looks like $20. Whereas GC3 + Crusade is $20. As for the other DLC, I don't care about scenarios or ship design and it looks like that describes half of the DLC. Dunno if the rest is worth an additional $10 to me.

If I've played previous GC games but not GC3, should I start with vanilla or just go directly to Crusade?
Had the impression that Crusade will radically change game play. Not just some new features/enhancements but relearn the game different.

As for the rest - there is some cosmetic stuff, but there are some features as well - Mercenaries are added, more events, think 2-3 racial abilities/cultures. Not sure how much of that Crusade gives you if you don't have the DLC.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Kraken »

Well I finally got paid today for an invoice sent out in March for work done in February, so I reckon I can buy this before the deals expire in July. Will probably go for the whole enchilada since I'm feeling rich.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Redfive »

Anyone play this multiplayer?

I do stuff with my dad online and Civ V and the new MOO are part of that rotation. We've determined based off of a fair bit of forum research that the constant disconnects we get while playing MOO are a problem with the game and not our connections so we're kind of looking for a new space 4X.

I think it has come down to this or Sins: Rebellion.

My main question I guess is--do you find the game playable for just the base version or is Crusade simply too important now that it has been out for a bit?

I've become a real cheap skate with PC gaming due to these sales and I'm a little averse to spending even $20 if I'm not sure I'll get a lot of time out of a title. It's not a money issue as much as it is a money spent for the time I'll invest.

I of course could play it single player but I'm primarily asking from a multiplayer perspective.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Kraken »

My PayPal account had $29.84 of the needed $29.99, but my Steam wallet came through with $0.30 to cover the difference. Downloading the gold pack now with 15 cents left over.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Kraken »

Island Dog wrote: I think you would probably enjoy jumping right in with Crusade. :)
There is no choice that I can see. The desktop icon launches Crusade, and there is no menu to enable/disable DLC, or even a list showing you what DLC is active. I had wanted to start out basic and add things in.

The tutorial leads me to believe that I'm not in over my head, though...so far it plays a lot like GC2.
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Kraken »

It took me a couple of starts to get into this, but it finally clicked, and I think I'm going to enjoy it at least as much as GC2.

Playing as the Terrans on normal, the AI is pretty docile. It's good at claiming resources but it hasn't done much since the land rush ended, and six out of 10 races allied with me as soon as I got the alliance tech. I'm currently exterminating the Drengin, who don't seem to mind too much. They aren't putting up any fight to speak of, anyway. I'm going to wipe them out with one modest fleet and three transports.

Probably ought to bump my next game up a level now that I mostly know what I'm doing.

Couple of interface questions: Now that the sliders are gone, how does one change one's production allocation? My colonies are all pouring more points into social production and filling their tiles faster than I would like.

Is there a way to zoom out on the tech tree? Mouse wheel doesn't work. I like the huge trees, but I can only ever see a tiny portion at one time. I want to zoom out and see the big picture. This worked in GC2 and it's hard to believe that they would yank that functionality.

Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of rudimentary control over ship combat -- choosing a formation or giving a general order or something like that? The only options I see are Autocalc or Watch an animation. Combat is particularly anticlimactic now that a tooltip tells you in advance whether you're going to win or lose.

I'm a little shaky on how to best choose and deploy citizens. Anyone know of a decent strategy guide for that?
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Re: Galactic Civilizations III Released!

Post by Zenn7 »

Kraken wrote:It took me a couple of starts to get into this, but it finally clicked, and I think I'm going to enjoy it at least as much as GC2.

Playing as the Terrans on normal, the AI is pretty docile. It's good at claiming resources but it hasn't done much since the land rush ended, and six out of 10 races allied with me as soon as I got the alliance tech. I'm currently exterminating the Drengin, who don't seem to mind too much. They aren't putting up any fight to speak of, anyway. I'm going to wipe them out with one modest fleet and three transports.

Probably ought to bump my next game up a level now that I mostly know what I'm doing.

Couple of interface questions: Now that the sliders are gone, how does one change one's production allocation? My colonies are all pouring more points into social production and filling their tiles faster than I would like.

Is there a way to zoom out on the tech tree? Mouse wheel doesn't work. I like the huge trees, but I can only ever see a tiny portion at one time. I want to zoom out and see the big picture. This worked in GC2 and it's hard to believe that they would yank that functionality.

Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of rudimentary control over ship combat -- choosing a formation or giving a general order or something like that? The only options I see are Autocalc or Watch an animation. Combat is particularly anticlimactic now that a tooltip tells you in advance whether you're going to win or lose.

I'm a little shaky on how to best choose and deploy citizens. Anyone know of a decent strategy guide for that?
All comments below are pre-Crusade (still haven't tried Crusade - stuck in TotalWar - Warhammer land).

AI aggression:
I thought I only played on normal (all the campaign missions, one random map), but I distinctly recall getting my fleets attacked regularly as I was invading. Them invading me was a little slower but they did reclaim their planets and stuff. AI loves to destroy my asteroid mines.

Thought with the sliders gone, the citizens were supposed to be your adjustment tool for production?

Ship combat - nothing during fights. But you can assign ships different roles like ESCORT. I believe ships in the ESCORT roll are targeted first (so that's the ship type to pile on all your defenses and automated repair and everything).
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