How do I remove the 20000 credit cap?

from GalCiv2 Forums
Is there any way (mod, something hidden in a file/option menu) what would allow me to either disable or increase the 20000 credit cap?  And please don't just say spend it.  The game doesn't arbitrarily (and severely) limit how many ships you can have or the planets you can own, credits should be no different.
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Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You have to build up a tremendous economy. If you use the money, at first, to fund economic endeavors, than eventually your economy will be strong enough that no tarif can stop it. I've done it before, but on larger maps. I don't know if you could get this to work on a small map.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hi!
Is there any way that would allow me to either disable or increase the 20000 credit cap?

Find in game exe file where the 4E20 (20000 in hex) pattern is and change it to FFFF (64k). If the cash is stored in long integer you can even check for 00004E20 and change it to FFFFFFFF...
Umm, not sure but I vaguelly remember the hex numbers are stored in "reverse" order, so if you'll not find 4E20, try searchiong for 204E. Anyway, before you change the exe make sure you made a backup of it.

BR, Iztok
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Anyway, before you change the exe make sure you made a backup of it.

I assume Iztok is being a little tongue in cheek here because hex editing the executable is not really a very good idea.

I assume that he makes this suggestion because the bottom line is that there really is no way to do this. This is a hard coded function of the game that is not moddable.

So you have act's suggestion which is basically to try and make enough money so that you don't care that you're losing some percentage of your income each turn.

You have Iztok's suggestion of hex editing the executable.

And finally you have the suggestion that you don't want to hear which is to spend the money each turn.

I know it's not a good set of choices but what I and I'm sure everyone else has done is to spend the money each turn and do your best to find relatively efficient and hopefully painless ways to do this.

I know that none of these are particularly good answers but I know of no others.

Generally one reasonable thing to do is to have a bunch of ships and use your extra money to upgrade them to your highest level of technology. Upgrading is less expensive than rush buying ships so that a more effective way of spending your cash.

However the easiest way is probably to rush buy a top line ship every turn or so. If you have a number of these in production then you have some flexibility as to how much you need to spend.

Anyway 20K buys a pretty nice ship.

The bottom line is what else are you going to do with money anyway. They don't give you a refund in dollars at the end of the game for money you don't spend. The only good thing excess money does is to rush buy social projects and/or rush buy ships. If you don't want to do either then you may as well waste it and lose 20% to graft, it's not the end of the world.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
However the easiest way is probably to rush buy a top line ship every turn or so. If you have a number of these in production then you have some flexibility as to how much you need to spend.

Anyway 20K buys a pretty nice ship.


Unfortunately, I've not yet managed to design a ship that costs over 1million bc - so that I only have to buy one each turn  :) 
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Hi!
I assume Iztok is being a little tongue in cheek here because hex editing the executable is not really a very good idea.

A little bit. ;) However game has to store that number somewhere, so searching for the pattern should give a result - under some assumptions:
- integer, not float or some other data format for stored data,
- reasonably low number of occurences, so changing one by one and checking with the game is feasible.

Alas, the first conditon can't be proved, and the second condition can't be met. There are way too many 4E20 and 204E patterns in the exe file to check them all. So you're stuck with 20k limit. But as Mumble said: if you have big enough econ, this nerf doesn't matter at all.

BR, Iztok
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The game doesn't arbitrarily (and severely) limit how many ships you can have or the planets you can own, credits should be no different.


Unlimited accumulation of credits moves away from the whole basis of a Strategy game, by passing the checks and balances built into the whole business of building an Empire, into what I call "WalMart Shopping". Mass purchase of anything and everything, to me, seems pointless, its hardly strategy. However there are many many views on this, and it comes up on a frequent basis.

Suggest you read this thread - it pretty well goes over all the issues.
20K Thread.

Bottom line tho, is Stardock are unlikely to change the limit anytime soon - if ever.

Regards
Zy
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The bottom line is what else are you going to do with money anyway.


Save up enough to finally buy a resource mine from a minor? Rescue a weakening civ from your strongest rival with a single, massive gift?

For those of us who don't run maxed-out economies and aren't masters of the mysteries of trade, the 20k thing is a problem, not a feature.

At the very least, I really, really, think it should scale upwards with the number of habitable worlds on a map. Comparing economies on smaller maps with ones on larger maps is definitely an apples-and-steak thing (oranges are too similar, IMO).
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
At the very least, I really, really, think it should scale upwards with the number of habitable worlds on a map. Comparing economies on smaller maps with ones on larger maps is definitely an apples-and-steak thing (oranges are too similar, IMO).


Had not thought of that angle, and you make a good point, gets my vote.

Regards
Zy