Gal Civ 2 - so where are all the gals in Gal Civ2?

I miss elerians...

Yup. I want a sexy Katherine á la Civ IV!!! Well, OK... The downside is I can never say no if she requests something... Also: my girlfriend always plays as Russia because her name is Katharina....

All "galls" in France if I am not mistaken

The Carinoids are a female dominated race, FYI.

It's okay. This game was designed by boys. And boys don't think about girls while they're writing Conquer-The-Galaxy software. Proven fact.

ELARIANS! Oh, yeah.

Wouldn't it be great if the Altarans were a matriarchy, like that episode of Star Trek: NG?

It would make it that much harder to anhilate them.

It's okay. This game was designed by boys. And boys don't think about girls while they're writing Conquer-The-Galaxy software. Proven fact.

FYI, the Lead Developer (Cari Begle/CariElf) is a woman.

Aside from the Humans, Altarians, and Yor, what's to say that the other race leaders aren't female? (besides your assumptions)


If anything, this thread indicates lack of imagination on the players' parts as to what constitutes female. I'm glad the developers decided to avoid the classic "star trek" error of having every second planet populated green women with large human mammaries.


Humanoid doesn't mean human. These are aliens.

The Thalian ambassdor is female. Their society is hive-mined like the Tholians.

Also Crass_monkey...that was 1966 when women had hardly any rights except for voting.

There should be an option for the Altarians/Terrains to have a female leader as well as a male.

Just like most hardcore strategy gamers, the aliens in GC2 mostly reproduce asexually.

It'd be nice if there was at least an alternate female portrait for each of the main races (even if there's no telling what females would look like with some of the weirder ones...). The leader of my race, at least, usually has a girl's name, and it's a little strange having to use a guy's picture.

I find myself playing as a sentient squirrel pretty often, possibly this is part of the reason why. Though I guess it'd be possible to import my own portraits? I'll have to look into that...

I agree with crass_monkey. How do you know that the Drengin isn't female?

I just hope that if new leaderheads are implemented, that they don't subscribe to Western stereotypes. If I see heavy makeup or heels, I'll be pissed. When do 20-something men or women rise to prominence in any mature government? Heads of state are dignified; they're not supposed to be sex objects. And they tend to be OLD!!!

And caucasians only constitute 11% of the global population. In 200 years, India and China will most likely be the largest economies on Earth, and the US will at least be 40% Hispanic. Why are both the Humans and Altairians white males?

I agree with the elder statesman view.

look at the rebel aliance/new republic run for some time by Senator/ Chancellor Mon Mothma

(Names and Simmilar terms (c) Lucasarts) this is taken from Star Wars (Hence lucas copy notice )

Awesome ... just what we need. Political Correctness in games where planetary battles involve killing every individual/child/egg on the planet. Maybe there needs to be some pillow tech so we can outfit our soldiers in a way that doesn't offend someone somewhere ...

It'd be nice if there was at least an alternate female portrait for each of the main races

Actually that was what I was thinking of. Since there isn't an alternate female portrait, I usually end up using the custom race picture as the leader potrait.

Ambassador Darth Kryo sez:

FYI, the Lead Developer (Cari Begle/CariElf) is a woman.

That's what they want you to think, friend.

(I promise I'll buy Cari dinner some day to make up for this.)

Awesome ... just what we need. Political Correctness in games where planetary battles involve killing every individual/child/egg on the planet. Maybe there needs to be some pillow tech so we can outfit our soldiers in a way that doesn't offend someone somewhere ...

This has very little to do with PC. It's called variety, not to mention that some people actually like some female leaders, especially the females themselves. And a game that brags about it's customization should atleast provide people with that option.

And what's only more annoying is that the game just assumes the leader is always male, which is going to be a pain in the ass to any person or modder who wants to make a race with a female leader.

There are only two races that you can say are males. The rest could be Asexual or could even have more then two genders. Just because none of the aliens look feminem(spl.) to you doesn't meen that they are male. I personaly believe that the Korx and the insects look fem. That being said yes I would be nice to have a female head option, but that doesn't really make the game unjoyable. If somebody that can mod. wants it bad enough, it will come.

When do 20-something men or women rise to prominence in any mature government? Heads of state are dignified; they're not supposed to be sex objects. And they tend to be OLD!!!

Now keep in mind that there are more than one way to win the game.
Diplomatic victory - political - leaders usually old
Technological victory - science - leader usually old by the time the research come to fruitation.. there is that speculation about how most scientists form their groundbreaking theory early in their career. Einstein's general theory of relativity was published when he was about 36, not when he is 60 or 70... but oh well.
Conquest Victory - military - there are records of young and brilliant commanders.. nowadays the leader are usually old though
Cultural victory - if galciv2 defines jeans and mcD as culture.. i would say cultural leader could be from any age category.

So yeah, leaders don't HAVE to be old.

Just because none of the aliens look feminem(spl.) to you doesn't meen that they are male.

True, so the question should be, where are all the feminine looking leaders?

The insects are probably female. Insect hives on Earth are led by queens.

It's not about being PC. It's about being real. You have a 4X game, allowing you to role-play the dictator of an imperial government. The music is majestic. The fleets awesome. And when the diplomatic screen pops up, you are face to face with...

a 21 year old intern with implants and stilettos

It's unrealistic. It takes away from the game. In all mature governments where there are orderly transfers of power, the heads of state are old. And regardless of the type of victory (diplomatic, tech, or conquest) the head of state will probably have worked up to that position over the course of decades or waited patiently for the previous monarch to die. How old is Prince Charles?

In history, young military leaders of note have been monarchs or aristocrats whose parents or other family died under suspicious circumstances. Alexander inherited after Philip was murdered.

And even if someone young happened to be the head of state, they probably wouldn't be going on Nip/Tuck. Madeline Albright looked like hell because she was too busy trying to stop genocide in Bosnia to do Pilates 3 hours a day.

It's not about being PC. What's more realistic, and more deserving of inclusion in the game, than genocide? It's about realistic elements creating the appropriate mood for galactic conquest. Having a caricature of femininity in the game would be as jarring as trading Orbital Bombardment to Bugs Bunny.

Something I'd like to point to Amaevis.

This game is set in the 23rd century. I'm pretty sure that by around that time, scientists will have figured out a way to significantly slow down the aging process, making someone in their 50s look like a 20 year old.

I'm not saying that I want see a super-model pop up on the diplomacy screen, but I don't think it's necesary for the leader to be a butt-ugly hag in order to be "realistic."

hat being said yes I would be nice to have a female head option, but that doesn't really make the game unjoyable. If somebody that can mod. wants it bad enough, it will come.

And if somebody else won't do it, I will. I may try to make a mod or two in the future, and I'll have a female leader or two in said mods. Unfortunately, it appears I might have to dig around the code in order to get the game to recognize these leaders genders. It's actually sad that I might have to make a mod for what should have been a basic feature.

Awesome ... just what we need. Political Correctness in games where planetary battles involve killing every individual/child/egg on the planet. Maybe there needs to be some pillow tech so we can outfit our soldiers in a way that doesn't offend someone somewhere ...

You're making an awful lot of assumptions there. How is it "politically correct" and a bad thing to offer a little more variety in the portraits? Heck, I think it's be nice to have a lot more male pics for each race too, just so you can pick one that fits your style of play for the current game. I guess I wouldn't even care that much if you were stuck with a default leader and couldn't change any names, but if they offer you that much customization, why not a little more? And really, I bet you'd be complaining if the only human picture available looked like Sister Miriam from Alpha Centauri or whatever.

As I said, I tend to play females, and since it's a little odd naming that default human guy Empress Charity Hope of the Terran Samaritans (if I was going for a saintly alliance victory), I'm instead stuck with Abbess Redwall the talking squirrel.

Aside from the Humans, Altarians, and Yor, what's to say that the other race leaders aren't female?

Anyone remember the line from Farscape (the episode with the space pirates) "I am the female of my species"

Madeline Albright looked like hell because she was too busy trying to stop genocide in Bosnia to do Pilates 3 hours a day.

...she failed to stop it, maybe because she looked like hell?

sorry for this one but i think amaevis statement wasnt great either