Terrans are neutral AI.

Not sure what your aiming at with the Trade tech question. You can Trade any tech(with tech trading on), but Trade tech itself is part of the diplomatic tech's in the research tree. Trade, Advanced Trade, and Master Trade. Also if you go neutral you can get a couple extra trade routes with neutral shipping.

Seeing that list, I'm glad there's going to be a public beta! The balancing is going to be completely shot...

Seeing that list, I'm glad there's going to be a public beta! The balancing is going to be completely shot...

Yeah, looks like we will have to completely relearn the game. Some of those super abilities sound way too powerful. I will probably test it on easier settings at first just to see how things develop, and to see how powerful the different races are, then disabled the worst of them when I play games that count, or use them for my own race.

Torian, Thalan and Arcean abilities in particular will be extremely powerful in the hands of the player I reckon. In the hands of the AI, it might only be the Thalans that will be noticeably stronger.

I dont know about anybody else but i dont care much for the addition of these "super abilities" into the expansion pack"
The different attribute make the race distintive enough in my opinion.

It sounds like the Arceans always get to fight the first round, and all ships which survive fire back. Then the battle proceeds as normal.

I think that they would have been nice at the start of the game. Now, while I still like them, as-is they are gonna be huge balance changers. You are truly going to have to play VERY differently when these come into play, and I think that is what the devs are going for. Hopefully they get it balanced some more so that at a glance there isn't one that you HAVE to take. Maybe put in some con's. Thalans have no range issues and can build factories in a turn. But they are less trusted due to their insectoid nature and that they claim to be from the future (or some such that they said in the campaign) so they get -20% to diplomacy.

The problem with applying Diplomacy penalties is that it also applies to how easily you can be cheated by trades. So making a race hated by applying a diplomacy penalty ALSO makes them easily cheated, which is an unintended effect.

Dano

Or instead of a diplomacy then it could be a percent less value on trades. You have to offer them more on trades, and they will offer less for their trades. Kinda the opposite of the galactic wonder (not sure the name).

Super-manipulator and super-diplomat sound very similar. The Drath are big on defense, so maybe their super-ability can involve that somehow. You could do any of the following:

1. Defense Cannons - 10-20% chance to destroy invading transport ship.
2. Planetary Shields - Tactics are less effective or are not allowed.
3. Sensor Grid - +2-4 (or 10-20%) bonus moves for defense-type ships.

I like #2 best, none of the other abilities touch on that part of the game.

This is potentially a great idea, the races really need some unique rules.

Is anyone else concerned about the Korx abilities (start with all trade techs)? I can see what will happen - they will trade them all away ultra quickly and we will end up with EVERY race having all trade techs rather too soon. I think a better ability would be that their trade ships cannot be attacked (like the galactic wonder) and/or that their trade routes are not destroyed when at war, but only receive half income. It fits in with their background story (I remember written in one of the backstories for GalCiv2 that they used terran ships to transport trade goods, plus I can imagine them as smugglers and illegal traders) and I think it will help with their identity as the money making race in GalCiv2 (presently, with the AI playing them they don't seem to make more than most other races)

You are right about the Korx. They will trade away the Trade Techs, and they will loose their advantage. How about the ability to build freighters from the beginning, without owning the trade techs. The korx would research trade techs only to increase the route limit. They all ready have a trade ability of +3, so this shouldn't be a problem.

You are right about the Korx. They will trade away the Trade Techs, and they will loose their advantage.

I agree, also it's not a unique rule, by the end of the game they won't be anything special. Half-income trade routes would be good, but an entirely new source of income would work too. What if the Korx had some way of making money from their influence on other worlds? The Korx could drain a percentage of a planet's post-production income based on the relative influence it holds there.

I don't like that some abilities change a specific rule or set a hard cap, some abilities apply a multiplier to an existing rule, and some just give a head start. There's no way to balance that over an entire game.

Terran Alliance: Super-Diplomat. Super-Diplomats have the ability to get other civilizations to go to war with each other and are better at getting other civilizations to stop being at war with them. They also are much better at getting hard bargains and their culture is much stronger. Drengin Empire: Super-Dominator. When the Drengin asks for money from an alien civilization, they tend to get it. And if they decide to attack, they may also have some minions to help. Altarian Republic. Super-Organizer. If you attack the Altarians, odds are, you're going to have others going after you as well. Korath: Super-Annihilator. The Koranth have access to the Germ Warfare technology. Once researched, they can build a Spore ship that eliminates all life on the planet and turns it into a toxic world. The Yor: Super-Isolationist. Ships traveling through the Yor sphere of influence (other than theirs) cannot travel at greater than 3 parsecs per week no matter what. Yor can also colonize Barren worlds by default. Thalan: Super-Hive. The Super-Hive is an immense power. First, they are no like other life forms. They can literally shut down for long flights which means they have no range limitations. Secondly, all factory-related construction is done in a single week regardless of cost. Arcean: Super-Warrior. Arceans get first-strike in battles. ONLY if the defender survives an attack do they get to fire back AFTER the first round (both sides get to fight back one round). Korx: Super-Traders. They start out with all trade technologies. Drath: Super-Manipulators. Similar to the Super-Diplomat, Super-Manipulators can get other people to go to war with each other. They're better at it than Super-Diplomats but lack the other benefits. Iconians: Super-Adaptable. Iconians can automatically colonize Toxic Worlds and Aquatic Worlds. Torian Confederation: Super-Breeders. The Torians can build up a population like nothing. IF a population is less than 1 billion and approval rating is at 100% they will multiply at a rate of 500%. The Krynn: Super-Spies. They start out with an agent and their worlds are immune from agents.

Okay so like; in addittion to all of this; will we be able to play more than say 9 major civs at a time? First game I tried say six minor Civs and noticed you cant have more than 9 major civs as opponents; like on a Huge map; perhaps it's different for Gigantic?

First game I tried say six minor Civs and noticed you cant have more than 9 major civs as opponents; like on a Huge map; perhaps it's different for Gigantic?

You can only have nine major race opponents at once, regardless of map size.

Now you can set the # of minor races, from zero to, I think, six with random as a choice. You still choose the # and choice of races after that.

These super abilities sound fantastic. I'm on the side of the fence that thought the regular racial abilities just weren't distinctive enough. +10% to this, +5% to that, -100 BC per whatever, never made a big impression on me. It really didn't make me play any differently when I took control of another race.

(Of course, I don't play at the level some of you guys do.)

These super ablities sound like they will really make me adjust my playing style with each race.

You can only have nine major race opponents at once, regardless of map size.

Thanks for the information.

I want the abilities as a toggle on/off, I'd play with them off personally, as I feel they will make the game too easy, and will never be well balanced. This will also be needed for the MP booster pack when it comes.

I'll make another post about toggles/options wanted.

There is a toggle. Just like tech trading.