Galactic Civilizations 2
Posted: 13 Mar 2006, 19:37
Best space TBS ever. Read a review - any review (assuming it's for galciv2) - then buy it. I have never, ever heard of such a stable, functional initial release version for any PC game in the last 5 years, with the exception of Galciv 1. If you only buy one game a month, or even every 6 months, make sure that this is it.
I wrote a program to analyze Galciv 2 and report on all its good points, but it crashed my computer. When it started again, my computer was suddenly 500 mhz faster and had an extra 512 megs of memory loaded into it. Also I had a new printer. No shit, it's really that good.
Galciv's developer, Stardock, supported the original PC Galciv game for several *years* following its release, possibly longer. By the time they were done with it, it had twice the features and was three times as good. This is a purchase you can make with confidence, knowing you will not get screwed over because the publisher moves on to their latest greatest product and won't fund another patch.
The game's only failing is its lack of multiplayer, but considering its explosive success thus far, and the fact that stardock said they left things open in the code for a multiplayer addon, you can expect that sometime in the future a cheap expansion will be available.
Also there's no copy protection of any kind. Install it on both your computers and your laptop too, they don't care. You don't even need the CD in the drive. Entering the serial number is optional during install in case you lose it (tho you can't update without a serial).
If you are a fan of the TBS genre, especially the likes of Master of Orion 1/2 (NOT 3), this game was made for you. The developers actually give a damn what you think of their game and are willing to make changes to suit the best interests of their customers.
The developers are so thoughtful that the game's minimum specifications are a Pentium 133 with 128 megs of ram. But at the same time, you can also increase graphical options to the point where it will fully utilize a modern system.
The AI is fantastic and evidently only cheats on the highest level(s). There are like 10 difficulty levels, and up until the point where it cheats (the last one or two), all it's doing is disabling more and more features of its intelligence. At the "intelligent" AI setting, any gamer will have a hard time keeping their empire afloat due to the aggressive nature of the AI - not that it will even attack you overtly. A rich and powerful civilization might pay off several weak ones to wear you down, only to come in at the last moment (sending a gloating message to you as well) and wiping the lot of you out.
Other times, depending on what the AI civilization's priorities are, it will simply wage a culture war, pushing its own values and ideas on your citizens until they all rebel and you're left with no power base.
Oh, did I mention that the game is also priced $10 below the standard cost for new PC games? That's because they are both the developer and publisher - all their profits go to them. You're supporting people who create games for the love of the game, like how it was in shareware days, rather than giving 98% of the money to EA or whoever while the developer gets whatever pennies are left over when you buy any other title.
If you thought MOO3 was shite, get it GC2 while you can, if you can, since it is sold out almost universally now and the next re-manufacture is going to be a few weeks at least.
I wrote a program to analyze Galciv 2 and report on all its good points, but it crashed my computer. When it started again, my computer was suddenly 500 mhz faster and had an extra 512 megs of memory loaded into it. Also I had a new printer. No shit, it's really that good.
Galciv's developer, Stardock, supported the original PC Galciv game for several *years* following its release, possibly longer. By the time they were done with it, it had twice the features and was three times as good. This is a purchase you can make with confidence, knowing you will not get screwed over because the publisher moves on to their latest greatest product and won't fund another patch.
The game's only failing is its lack of multiplayer, but considering its explosive success thus far, and the fact that stardock said they left things open in the code for a multiplayer addon, you can expect that sometime in the future a cheap expansion will be available.
Also there's no copy protection of any kind. Install it on both your computers and your laptop too, they don't care. You don't even need the CD in the drive. Entering the serial number is optional during install in case you lose it (tho you can't update without a serial).
If you are a fan of the TBS genre, especially the likes of Master of Orion 1/2 (NOT 3), this game was made for you. The developers actually give a damn what you think of their game and are willing to make changes to suit the best interests of their customers.
The developers are so thoughtful that the game's minimum specifications are a Pentium 133 with 128 megs of ram. But at the same time, you can also increase graphical options to the point where it will fully utilize a modern system.
The AI is fantastic and evidently only cheats on the highest level(s). There are like 10 difficulty levels, and up until the point where it cheats (the last one or two), all it's doing is disabling more and more features of its intelligence. At the "intelligent" AI setting, any gamer will have a hard time keeping their empire afloat due to the aggressive nature of the AI - not that it will even attack you overtly. A rich and powerful civilization might pay off several weak ones to wear you down, only to come in at the last moment (sending a gloating message to you as well) and wiping the lot of you out.
Other times, depending on what the AI civilization's priorities are, it will simply wage a culture war, pushing its own values and ideas on your citizens until they all rebel and you're left with no power base.
Oh, did I mention that the game is also priced $10 below the standard cost for new PC games? That's because they are both the developer and publisher - all their profits go to them. You're supporting people who create games for the love of the game, like how it was in shareware days, rather than giving 98% of the money to EA or whoever while the developer gets whatever pennies are left over when you buy any other title.
If you thought MOO3 was shite, get it GC2 while you can, if you can, since it is sold out almost universally now and the next re-manufacture is going to be a few weeks at least.
