Destroying a star, or even a planet, is pretty freaking cool. I hope they bring it back.
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amaevis
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Reply to
The Ulimate Showdown: Galactic Civilization 2 vs Civilization 4
in Galactic Civilizations II
Stardock Forums
Stardock Forums
I've only experienced slowness in the UI, and I attribute this to the way the UI is written in Python. So IMHO, the performance hit really comes from keeping a flexible architecture that is easy to mod. I really think they should have released fully compiled versions. How many people play mods? It's tiny, just like the portion of people who actually MP.
18 Replies
27,759 Views
Concentrated Server Feeding Operations (CSFOs) are highly controversial. They allow companies to maximize efficiency at the cost of the basic dignity of servers. In addition to violating common decency, each CSFO generates enough forum waste to overload the forum waste treatment capacity of New York City, which has 17 such treatment plants. Various species of microbes have been found only in this highly toxic waste, including dinoflagellates (such a
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18,664 Views
A defense only strategy makes you a punching bag. You want to rely on attack, supported by an appropriate military doctrine. Engage on your terms, not the enemy's. This is true on land, but is especially true for a navy. Starbase bonuses are nice, but unless the areas that you need to cover are static, they aren't that helpful. They really only allow you to decrease the number of ships dedicated to covering a particular area so you can u
21 Replies
13,331 Views
As technology becomes more important and cannon fodder less important, the need for a truly specialized professional army arises and the need for a universal draft decreases. Training is expensive; why waste it on someone who will only serve 2-4 years?
21 Replies
13,331 Views
It really comes down to convenience and quality. But convenience is for the wealthy. College kids have plenty of time and not a lot of money, so what do they do? Waste hours finding a cracked torrent. And protecting IP is one of those issues that you only really get religion about if you have a white-collar job that creates IP. For many, especially kids, the need simply isn't there. A teenager working at Cinnabon just assumes that programmers lik
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18,897 Views
LOL!!! Thanks for the first substantial conservative rant. Patiently awaiting mod to shut this thread down. The only problem with the "as local as possible" ideal is that many issues have regional, national, and global impact. Pollution has impact far away from its immediate source, which is why we need effective global and national policies dealing with pollution. So does national defense. So does health care, especially epid
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39,242 Views
I completely disagree that a person who pirates wouldn't have bought it if forced to. Back when I was in high school and didn't have disposable income, I pirated lots of great games. These were games like MoM, MOO, Civ, and CivII, the kinds of games that I wished I supported. If I were forced to buy back then, I would have found some way to scrape up the change to do it. It takes a special kind of person to consciously say "Oh, this is a
32 Replies
18,897 Views
I hate copy protection but I definitely see a need. There are many real fans who won' t pay for a game unless they're forced to; it's a fact of the Internet-era, I-should-get-everything-for-free-because-I'm-entitled-to mentality. Stardock is different because its games are catered to a well-established, hardcore audience. People like you and I are willing to financially support this company, but then again, 4X is well established and we know exactly
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18,897 Views
Ah, Lord Doom. First substantial liberal rant. Patiently awaiting the first substantial conservative one. No nation on Earth is a true democracy, but the US holds to democratic ideals, by which I mean libertarian ideals: free speech, religion, press, habeas corpus, illegal search and seizure. Many European democratic countries (and Canada) lack one or all of these. A national government has a responsbility to serve the interes
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39,242 Views
Congrats on the banner month! I hate it when a developer releases an awesome game and then disappears, discontinuing support. We all want a happy and healthy Stardock. I'm a data warehousing and business intelligence programmer, and I've always wanted to launch my own business. I would love to go into game development, especially strategy game development, and I think I could sustain myself with productivity apps and widgets. I
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13,390 Views
I believe that I understand your point, and that you understand mine. I'm glad we can have an intelligent and civil discussion about this. I disagree about your interpretation of American history. The separation of power between levels of government, and the separation of power between branches, has always been and continues to be a point of contention. The division still remains unclear, and the founding of the USA didn't make it truly c
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39,242 Views
Kudos to Stardock for honesty and for an extremely high-touch customer service policy. Is there any documentation available on performance settings yet? I think listing the performance setting tweaks that you can do would help answer a lot of questions.
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64,927 Views
Star Pilot, how is what you described any different than any federal or confederate system? When the US was young, the culture less homogenous, and transportation and communication networks less solid, individual states bickered against each other, using the federal government to enrich themselves and tear each other down. It wasn't until the ultimate rebellion against federal unity, the Civil War, was settled, that states' rights were curtailed, fed
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39,242 Views
Thanks, GreenReaper, for the reply. Was this product mix originally intended for Stardock? If so, it shows incredible vision and foresight in an industry that lacks both. Civ3Fanatic, most existing indie developers are dead. New companies have to find a new way. There's been a lot of hand-wringing online about the current state of the games industry, especially the relationship b
8 Replies
13,390 Views
The UN isn't simply about peacekeeping. It's humanitarian efforts are very valuable. In countries not torn by war, WHO, UNICEF, and UNESCO have done much to do the real grunt work in establishing local governments that work and instilling progressive democratic ideas. Democracy is not about the price of sausage; it's about people taking responsibility for their own government, about people not shrugging their shoulders when faced with corruption and
37 Replies
39,242 Views
Thank you so much! Dell Latitude D600 is exactly what I have! Graphics are nice, but I'm looking forward to the enhanced game mechanics. Did you try ALT-TAB during Beta? I want to see what I can get away with at work...
56 Replies
36,412 Views
Hmm, I'm concerned. My laptop is an 1.4Ghz Pentium-M with 512Mb of RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 for video, and onboard sound. Civ IV runs OK at the lowest textures; it was unrunnable before the latest patch. How will GalCiv II compare? What kind of options are there to increase performance? Will there be a low-res mode that will make GalCiv II bearable on my machine? How about ALT-TAB performance?
56 Replies
36,412 Views
Reply to
SW Empire at War, 2 great space games released within a week of each other!
in Galactic Civilizations II
GalCiv2 Forums
GalCiv2 Forums
Just a thought... It's like drinking unicorn giggles!
18 Replies
25,483 Views
I wonder if someone internally will comment on this... It seems that a key part of Stardock's ability to survive is the fact that the majority of its revenue streams come from non-game applications, particularly productivity-type applications, which seems to me to be cheaper to produce and returns a more stable, consistent revenue stream. (This is pure conjecture on my part; I'm not in the industry.) If this is the case, then maybe this is the model that new indie game developers ca
8 Replies
13,390 Views