Stardock: Better help please?

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hi,

Stardock, when it comes to designing great games, you guys rock!  When it comes to providing documentation and in-game information access to help players make intelligent decisions however, your games often leave a lot to be desired.  =(  A strategy game is all about making decisions, so adding a few simple ways to allow players to access information required to make INTELLIGENT decisions (as opposed to just guessing) goes a long way towards making a the gameplay experience much more fun and involving.

Examples:

You look at the tech tree and see technology X will give you access to a widget, a foozle, and a whatchamadingy - but there is no way to click on any of those things to see what they actually do!  WHY?  How do I know if I want to research my way to that tech if I can only GUESS what tangible benefits it will actually give me?  This problem is compounded now that each race has it's own tech tree, because there are so many more tech and benefits...not knowing what many of them do undermines all the cool stuff you guys have put in the game!

Why can't I look at a starbase and know EXACTLY what modules are still available to be built there and what they would contribute if I added them?  Sure I know I can build one module, but is it the expensive weapons platform I cannot afford right now or the next mining upgrade, and what exactly will those things do when I add them?  Please don't make me waste time sending a constructor there to find this out only to realize I actually sent it to the wrong side of the universe and want it somewhere else!

Finally, it's so easy to forget about a starship once it enters orbit around a planet.  There should really be a way to request some ships to activate for orders each turn when they are in orbit or something.

I've been asking for some of these features since the original GalCiv shipped.  I have loyaly purchased every iteration and expansion for all the GalCiv games despite the omission of these relatively basic features.  The first two would be so easy to add (I don't know about the ships in orbit thing).  PLEASE give us the information we need to make intelligent decisions without forcing us to just guess?  When guessing replaces strategy, the best features of your games are undermined!
36,630 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
signed

absolutely signed

absolutley positively signed!!!
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If you right click on the tech, you get lots of info. There's also a button on the tech screen that gives you more info along with tool tips that explain even more.
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If you right click on the tech, you get lots of info. There's also a button on the tech screen that gives you more info along with tool tips that explain even more.


Ok thank you very much! That will help a LOT with my research decisions. Sorry I assumed you had not thought to put this in the game when in reality it was MY fault for not knowing that feature was there.

Is there any way on the starbases to know which modules remain available to be built and what they do (without sending a constructor) that I was ignorant about?
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Is there any way on the starbases to know which modules remain available to be built and what they do (without sending a constructor) that I was ignorant about?


No, sorry. You'll just have to learn the tech trees. Some of the modules are easy to find, having their own branches, but some are sprinkled here and there, and not so easy to find.

The easiest way I can think of to learn all of these is to download the "Galactopedia". It is a small, stand-alone program that reads the game files, and displays a list of all of the techs and improvements in the game. You can choose which tech tree you are interested in, and tick the starbase modules box, which will provide you a list of all of them, what they do, and any prerequisites. You can find it here:WWW Link

As far as the individual starbases go, the modules will only become available as they are researched/unlocked, and you should know when that happens, so I wouldn't worry about this too much.

Hope this has been of some help. Good luck.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Wow I had the "galactopedia" before the expansion, but could not find an updated version for Twilight when I checked for it. This will help a lot, thanks. =)
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Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If you double-click on the base, you can see what is installed. You can't see what is left to be installed, though.

BTW, you can right click on techs in the diplomacy screen, too.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Regarding forgetting the starships orbiting a planet... I've solved this problem by not sending the ship to the planet, but sending it right up to the planet. I would always forget about transports that I had sent out to pick up troops.

Now I just send the ship up to the planet and once it gets there it will show up when I click "find". Then I can just drop the transport into orbit, load it up, and send it on its way.

Perhaps a programming solution would be that ships just entering orbit during a turn will show up with the "find" function.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Regarding forgetting the starships orbiting a planet... I've solved this problem by not sending the ship to the planet, but sending it right up to the planet. I would always forget about transports that I had sent out to pick up troops.Now I just send the ship up to the planet and once it gets there it will show up when I click "find". Then I can just drop the transport into orbit, load it up, and send it on its way.Perhaps a programming solution would be that ships just entering orbit during a turn will show up with the "find" function.


Yea I do this too, but it's a real pain - that's why I was hoping for a solution built into the game. LOL