wickworks1

Reply to New AI cash-for-tech in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I think Elkabong makes some good points, especially r/e the 'change to military victory' at the last minute hack. It's a decent game, but the patches are plugging holes in a leaky bucket, with the fun running out fast. I really don't mean to be a pug about it. I do agree though that these fast fixes are not really improving game enjoyment as much as they are attempting to address the underlying strategic weakness of the AI. You built a fine AI. These fixes are making the game more shallow. It ma

Reply to Metaverse submission does not work, 1.2 bug? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

You are not alone. Too bad for us! I'm a bit pessimistic about ever getting it to work for me (same problems). I think the upload interface is pretty lame actually. There needs to be a dialogue to help the player de-bug. "Connecting to metaverse..." "Uploading game #xxxxxxx to your account#xxxxxx" "Upload failed: Data incorrect format" etc.. Why is this information not displayed? Poor CariElf doing all the work alone? -Smack

Reply to Beginner Tips? in Strategies Stardock Forums

Don't know if everyone caught Peace Phoenix's tip. It's a good one: "And if you have a nice PQ 26 planet, you may want to have settle at least 1 colony in order to trigger an event on colonization." That is, the first colony settled NEVER has a planet event, thus, it's good to aim for settling a lower PQ planet first, if you are going to consider neutral or evil choices. Good tip. And I'll leave off the 'rush buy' argument now as well ;) . The issue is settled: "longe

Reply to Beginner Tips? in Strategies Stardock Forums

Terran Manufacturing. Something like 320 + 16bc for 8 months. At masochistic. -S

Reply to Beginner Tips? in Strategies Stardock Forums

I guess I'll keep defending this concept, as arguments against are not persuasive. Take the speed pick, AND rush build the first colony ship, in some instances. Lemme give another example: Starting Sector: Sol is the only nice star, but Earth is a PQ 16, while Mars is a PQ 20. Rush half your population to mars. Double production in one turn. Rushing is best done on turn one, as the effect adds logistically. As to cost, sometimes it's best to rush, sometimes not. Getting a few P

Reply to Tech Stagnation Anyone? in Mods Stardock Forums

Sounds gread Bard of Prey, keep us informed -Smack

Reply to Beginner Tips? in Strategies Stardock Forums

PJ, I do agree that in most situations it's fine to just build the darn ships. But there are maps where speed is everything. Also, it's worth considering settling a nearby planet initially with half your population to keep morale and growth high while churning out twice the ships! If the nearest planet/star is really nice, the initial rush helps quite a lot: Turn1: move initial colony ship away, or to a local 15-16 planet, as it's only 100 million colonists. Rush-buy your

Reply to Tech Stagnation Anyone? in Mods Stardock Forums

GM, you miss the point... PJ, ah, so it's quite easy then? O.K. Stardock, put this as an initial game choice! -Smack

Your first time.... in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Hey all, I've really enjoyed hearing stories about people's games at masochistic, especially Sirian's, on his 'Restaurant of Eternity' website. I was wondering if anyone would like to swap stories of their first games at Masochistic, or whatever level is your 'Oh ****!' level. If you don't have stories, but find them enjoyable, I reccomend Sirian's site, and would offer up my first successful game at masochistic, for fun reading.... -Smack

Reply to Strange Drengin Tactics? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

All I can say is, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. It's kinda pathetic if you ask me. -Smack

Reply to Bug Reports for Gal Civ 1.20 in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

PJ, it seems to me that starbases are kept in your sensor memory for a few years, then dissapear. I doubt it's a bug, and is a nice feature, IMHO. -Smack

Tech Stagnation Anyone? in Mods Stardock Forums

Before I ramble too much on this, it's worth asking: Is it possible to slow the research rate across the board? Slower research rates would mean longer games, more wars that drag on forever, and an increased importance on trade vs. research. As a Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri fan, I've long enjoyed the ability to change the shape of that game by choosing 'tech stag', at the beginning. Frankly, I'm rather surprised it's not a part of this game yet. I would suggest a rate 1/3 to 1/8th as fas

Reply to Beginner Tips? in Strategies Stardock Forums

And here's what I'll say about political parties and racial picks. This isn't even a principle, just a personal opinion: It's easy to increase local production, with improvements, starbases, or wonders. It's far more difficult to improve local economics. Take economic pics and enjoy keeping your spending at 100% for the whole game. Did I mention speed? -S

Reply to Beginner Tips? in Strategies Stardock Forums

Doh, I forgot the most important: 21. Trade routes improve your relations with the aliens. This has some implications: a. if you are the first civilization that an alien meets, give them 'Trade', if they don't have it. They'll promptly send all their frieghters to you. b. get to know the other empires quickly for diplomatic/trading victories. Keep away from their sight if you are opposite alignment, until you are ready to negotiate and send them frieghters. c.

Reply to Beginner Tips? in Strategies Stardock Forums

Tips for the beginner, by drunken Smack: 1. Play a few games at low difficulty. Masochistic will spank you, no matter how smart you are, until you know a few things. 2. Make sure there are 'balanced' alignments in the game. All good aliens will unite. As will all evil. A mix allows you to play them off each other. 3. One resource, maxed out, gives you a 68% bonus (with late game techs). That's a heck of a lot better than any wonder or trade good. 4. Attack rat

Reply to Maso strategy with no military. in Strategies Stardock Forums

Thanks PJ. I hope that's definitive. It's just a bit strange sometimes how after a big diplomacy session trading techs, the current one drops from say, 8 turns, to 5 turns. Perhaps it's just then updating for new population... -Smack

Reply to Colonizing PQ 13 and 14 planets in Strategies Stardock Forums

Considering that the early improvements can get a planet +20%, I'd rather spend those points raising something much more difficult, like economy or speed, or influence, or diplomacy. With no certainty that I'll get any galactic resources to help with the above, I'd rather focus on them. -S

Reply to Luck in Strategies Stardock Forums

that would do it.

Reply to Bug Reports for Gal Civ 1.20 in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Not sure if it's a bug or feature, but while rally points load into a save game, the planets that are using them no longer are using them. With 40+ planets that's 120+clicks to get them back. On the other hand, it's a nice way to clear the rally points! -Smack

Reply to I finally finished a game, and I can't upload to metaverse in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

It seems a few games were uploading, but unknown to me! Is there supposed to be a reply, like 'Game uploaded to the metaverse'? Secondly, games are not under the player name, but under the ______ name, the name that appears to have logged in to the website, ie, probably the name I registered with originally, Wickworks1. I'd been searching for the player name on the metaverse. The instructions seem to indicate that only that player's scores will be there. However, when I just tried chang

Reply to Luck in Strategies Stardock Forums

67! The best PQ booster event I've seen is 60%. Is not 26, the best starting planet? -Smack

Reply to Colonizing PQ 13 and 14 planets in Strategies Stardock Forums

PQ 12-14 are your friend for a culture bombing attack. Just be sure to check the 'details' tab, and up their 'spending on propaganda' locally, if they are in the heart of the enemy's empire. Other than that, 14's are quite decent even in the early game. With terraforming, 13's. The PQ racial picks are not worth it, IMHO. -Smack

Reply to What starting choices do you like? in Strategies Stardock Forums

Well it might be in the general forum, but it belongs here. Speed +1 Diplomacy +50% Luck +25% Federalists (+20% econonmy) Speed really does make a difference. It's actually unbalancing. In the early game, duh, get more star systems. In the late game, dance around the enemy, drawing them further from home space, which you quash. That's the unbalancing bit. Speed also helps get those constructors and frieghters out early, smoothing relations and grabbing resources.<br

Reply to Maso strategy with no military. in Strategies Stardock Forums

Oh, and the other thing. The Torians and Drengin were both Good in that game mentioned above. Actually, everyone happened to be good except the poor YOR, and me. I quickly changed alignment and accepted the Yor surrender. -Smack

Reply to Maso strategy with no military. in Strategies Stardock Forums

Two things. A question: It seems that having more techs lowers the cost of further techs? How is this true/not true? Secondly, I have yet to have dreads offered for something like drones, but I did get Rangers offered for cultural trade! I havn't had to bribe anyone yet (2 maso games so far). I stay neutral until I have anti-matter-missiles, for th military rating. Then, they just lay off, even when I culture bomb (which is silly). -Smack