Compelling Features

[Sandman]

A small bump for this thread.

Is anyone actually anticipating this game?

[General Ludd]

Not really.

[LDiCesare]

I have access to the beta and right now it's pretty uninteresting as a game since there's little ai and little or no tech tree. But the game looks it will be good. I'm really waiting for the ai to show up. If it's as interesting as that og Galciv, then it'll prove to be a good game.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by Sandman

Is anyone actually anticipating this game?

I am.

Particuarly with regard to the expanded editting/scripting features.
GC is a bit of a joke in this respect (the only 'triggered' effect available seems to be to end the game) but I'm hoping Dreadlords will actually have some functionality.

[LDiCesare]

Did they say something about more triggers for events? I don't remember it.

[Darkstar]

I long ago pre-ordered this game. Been enjoying the betas, seeing the changes. It's got a lot of promise, and it is slowly living up to it. At least, so far. But we still have a couple more phases to go, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[ravagon]

Originally posted by LDiCesare
Did they say something about more triggers for events? I don't remember it.

I went back to the GC2 forum looking for the thread where it was mentioned but I can't find it.
You've got me worried now.
I hope it isn't something they've dropped ...

[Darkstar]

I remember they stated that you would be able to string together events. And that modders would be able to do the same thing. Don't recall seeing any precise details given other then that, though.

[Sandman]

Having examined some more screenshots, I'm a little disapppointed by some of the stuff I've noticed.

For example, I don't think there's any need for 'farms' in a space strategy game. It's just pointless busy-work for the player.

[Kloreep]

Originally posted by Sandman
For example, I don't think there's any need for 'farms' in a space strategy game. It's just pointless busy-work for the player.

Whereas there is a need for factories? I'm not sure I understand.

I think it's much better than GC1 where you could build one of everything.

[Sandman]

Did I say there was a need for factories? Farms just annoy me more. Space-faring civilizations with anti-matter, neutronium and nanobots shouldn't have to worry about whether they're producing enough wheat.

[Mart]

I think providing food for population is one of the most interesting elements of empire building games. Games do not have to be completely realistic, but you would not form colonies of your empire in places where your people would starve to death. Farms, their number or quality just further represents how good is a colony or planet in maintaining sufficient food supply.

Some RTS do not worry about that aspect of empire building, but TBS can.

[Sandman]

You can signify a planet's suitability for colonization without resorting to tedious build-a-farm minigames.

[Kloreep]

Originally posted by Sandman
Did I say there was a need for factories? Farms just annoy me more.

I thought you were complaining about farms specifically; but it sounds like it's actually the planetary management system in general you don't like?

Originally posted by Sandman
Space-faring civilizations with anti-matter, neutronium and nanobots shouldn't have to worry about whether they're producing enough wheat.

People do still need to eat, but I agree one could argue that it would be a trivial task compared to the other manufacturing, research, etc. buildings that compete for space. There are plenty of points of realism where GalCiv fails. Space for example.

Originally posted by Sandman
You can signify a planet's suitability for colonization without resorting to tedious build-a-farm minigames.

Yeah. That's what they did in GC1, and it seems to me it ended up making empires quite dependant on the map generator. Granted, balance is not so much of a problem in a single player-only game, but everything being so dependant on the map generator was not a good point of 1 IMO.

Of course, I suppose they could have different kinds of PQs for farming, manufacturing, etc. Like in MOO2 with the difference between planet fertility/habitability and minability. Thing is, that determines the planet's limits and focus for the player rather than giving them an opportunity to choose.

I agree there's potential for tedium and mind-boggling micromanagement, but Stardock has said the governors will be quite capable of upgrading structures by themselves. Hopefully, the game will meet the ideal of being able to set out the building infrastructure when first colonizing, and then forget about it whenever there aren't soil enhancement-type stuff or wonders to think about.

[LDiCesare]

Since you can plan all your constructions in advance, it's not really tedious to put farms and factories on the map. The problem in the current beta is there's so little tech and little discontent that it's quite hard to see what it'll give in the finished game, but I think having planets with nice production spots (for food or tech or industry - mining I've still to understand or they need to put mining buildings) makes planets separate and more interesting than the simple figures they were in GC. You had PQ17 and PQ22, now you will have planets that you can care about.