Crusade first impressions

from GalCiv3 Forums

I got to play my first 50 turns yesterday as The Slyne in a Large galaxy with 7 normal opponents. Boy what an enjoyment! Almost all of my GalCiv III vanilla pet peeves are gone. This is really getting close to my ideal 4x space game.

1) No more min-maxing through sliders! This was my biggest problem with GalCiv III. Having to set these and constantly tweak these, but still having the feeling I'm not doing it right. It was too tedious, so I stopped bothering, concluding in me playing a pretty sloppy game. It's much more straightforward now, but seems much more strategic too. I love it!

2) Resources really matter! Big jeeej. Claiming resources was always a fun part of GalCiv, but it's now a necessity, yet also a challenge. Of course there's always too much durantium around, except from my first game with the Slyne, who actually need durantium to grow their population. Loving my quest for more durantium. I've put down a starbase for just 1 single source of duratium. Would have never done that in vanilla and it was quite a big decision in this game too. And no more constructor spam for starbases but modules also cost you resources so you can't mindlessly throw modules on every starbase.

3) Decisions, decisions, decisions. Those first 50 turns took quite long, because I had so many relevant decisions to make. About my citizens, buildings, resouces to claim, ships to build, planets to colonize, trading, diplomacy, first look at espionage and the list goes on. It really feels like almost every turn matters now.

4) Citizens. Best invention since sliced bread. I only have 5 of them, but the pondering that went into which one to take and where to put them was a game in itself. 

5) The UI. What fine improvements here. Much clearer than it ever was. I can easily find all the information I need. Only thing I've missed so far it a message that some building completed, but perhaps that an option I can turn on or off. Haven't checked that yet.

And I still have the rest of the game to look forward too! I've only scratched the surface in the first 50 turns. Invasions, decent spying and fleet buildup is all yet to come!

93,116 views 21 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Firsrly i must commemd Stardock with there bravery to basiccally rebuild a game from the ground up.  it was a bold move that paid off in my opinion.

I played GalCiv 3 from alpha stage but my interest significantly wained after Mercs.

Howecer Crusade has totally reinvigorated the game dor me and maddiction is back with a vengence (much to my wifes dismay).

I love the new citizen mechanic but more than that I love how resources matter now!  

Ive only scratched the surface  (havent tried out the new invasion or espionage mechanics yet) but so far its awesome!

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I agree with the comments above.  I am really liking this game now.  A big learning curve for me, but enjoying my failed decisions 8C .  Will learn from those next time.  I'm at turn 95 in a huge map with 14 civs and my custom civ.  I am 3rd from the bottom in rankings and only have 2 colonies.  Will play this through so I can continue to familiarize myself with the new features.  The game did crash during a diplomacy  dialogue, but went right back ( have the game save every 2 turns) and picked up from there with no problems since then.  A big thumbs up from me.:congrat: :congrat:  

Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

it seems that all the tech have changed, but the existing icons are re-used for something else.  Was that intended or is it a glitch?

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

First impressions, i have played 90 turns and i hate it.

  • I don't like the new tech tree.
  • Can't be arsed to work out star bases, they just don't work. I built one and can't add modules.
  • Administrators are annoying as hell, just let me build what i want dammit.
  • Why did things have to be re-named?
  • Why do farms just produce food and now you have to seperately build cities to increase population? it's just fiddly.
  • I had to copy accross all my ship designs and created factions.
  • The maps are jammed so tight together it's ridiculous. 90 turns in and i can reach the whole galaxy on immense with no tech researched.
  • You could have added all the new features without ruining the rest of the game.
  • At this stage i can't be arsed learning all the crap that has been changed for the sake of it.

I am seriously disappointed.

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

seriously  disappointed  also

the tutorial was more easy than  eating a cake 

maps to small

no upgrade for multiplayer

graphics looks like a 2 year old did them 

invasion ok 

explorers are not surveyers as it a diffrent meaning , 

farms should count to population  growth per planet and why you need cities there no point in cities really spoils the fun

other aspects were ok , but in all lack of content makes it not worth the money

have removed  crusade from my version and am thinking of getting a refund 

 

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

How do you go about getting a refund?

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

simple  steam support then you pick game and it say it not what you thought it be and offers a refund

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

yeah i just found it. Kinda sad really but it's been so fundamentally changed and after two years they hadn't even managed to fix the original game. I just don't think i have the patience to wait for these guys tio fix it. I've loaded the old game and it's just far superior to this rubbish.

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

i agree with you and i got over 458 hours on gc3 

me and my friend would like a bigger multi map like insane but it stuck on gigantic , i wonder if they ever sort that

Reply #10 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

They won't give me a refund because i played over two hours. Looks like i'm stuck with it.

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Reply #11 from Stardock.net Forums Top

Map sizes were updated today. They are now exactly the same as the base game.

next week a new, bigger map,size called ludicrous that's about 4X bigger than insane is expected to be released.

You upgrade starbaes by selecting them and buying the modules you want.

 

Reply #12 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I am a few hours in and I love it so far.  Resources and citizens are the two standout improvements in the game, but its almost as if the entire flow of the game has changed, for the better. As someone posted earlier - the decisions you have to make when playing is very gratifying.  Super job on the xpack! 

Reply #13 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

 

wi

Quoting Frogboy, reply 11

Map sizes were updated today. They are now exactly the same as the base game.

next week a new, bigger map,size called ludicrous that's about 4X bigger than insane is expected to be released.

You upgrade starbaes by selecting them and buying the modules you want.

 

will it apply to base game n other dlc?

what of  multiplayer?

i real don't want bother with cities ,  food should be based on planet farms per planet or it is a waste of time unless you use it to cap the ground based forces or it not worth it. the time i played it was nothing diffrent to base game to me just irritation and not getting it going faster , resources to me as i did before were really irrelevant

i also noticed that i can play insane on base but not on crusade as it requires more physical memory ram than the original

who did the graphics a 1 year old or 2 year old , also noticed you do same as stellaris in showing territory  when zooming out with stellaris being superior due to  gc3 looking rather like you released a baby to do it graphicly.

i ask this you say join humanity's crusade  yes on some of the selling adverts right , but exactly how do you do battles in the crusade without a  campaign or a big senario?

 

Reply #14 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting VladelMC, reply 10

They won't give me a refund because i played over two hours. Looks like i'm stuck with it.

I though you can't refund DLC and Expansion in Steam? Did they change the policy?

Reply #15 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I'm loving the changes. I really like a resource based economy and still getting the hang of the citizens.  I will say that it needs a lot of polish and balance though. The map resources are very unbalanced right now. Not sure about the AI yet but I am NOT happy with the massive cash infusions the AI seems to be getting. 

Reply #16 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting FreedomFighterEx, reply 14


Quoting VladelMC,
reply 10

They won't give me a refund because i played over two hours. Looks like i'm stuck with it.



I though you can't refund DLC and Expansion in Steam? Did they change the policy?

yes you can or you can have it permanently removed

Reply #17 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Tooonz, reply 15

I'm loving the changes. I really like a resource based economy and still getting the hang of the citizens.  I will say that it needs a lot of polish and balance though. The map resources are very unbalanced right now. Not sure about the AI yet but I am NOT happy with the massive cash infusions the AI seems to be getting. 

They need to change how resources distribute so it spread evenly, logically. Everyone should get a bit of all resources near their starting area but if they want more, they need to venture out into rich area. Or distribute them evenly but make that you would lack one type of resources to encourage trading with another faction. I did have a game where i can't get any Thulium and it gimp me pretty hard since i can't produce any Mass Driver ship to counter my opponent. It turned into number vs number slug fest.

Reply #18 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting FreedomFighterEx, reply 17


Quoting Tooonz,
reply 15

I'm loving the changes. I really like a resource based economy and still getting the hang of the citizens.  I will say that it needs a lot of polish and balance though. The map resources are very unbalanced right now. Not sure about the AI yet but I am NOT happy with the massive cash infusions the AI seems to be getting. 



They need to change how resources distribute so it spread evenly, logically. Everyone should get a bit of all resources near their starting area but if they want more, they need to venture out into rich area. Or distribute them evenly but make that you would lack one type of resources to encourage trading with another faction. I did have a game where i can't get any Thulium and it gimp me pretty hard since i can't produce any Mass Driver ship to counter my opponent. It turned into number vs number slug fest.

Yeah, it seems that after restarting a few times, for some reason different resources get seriously gimped. I typically have more thulium and promethium than i know what to do with, but other resources are much harder to come by.

Reply #19 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

It would be nice to have somewhat more Durantium and Elerium. I agree there's much Promethium and adequate Thulium.

Reply #20 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Where are the Precursor Relics? I have them set to be abundant but have yet to see one!

Reply #21 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting neilkaz, reply 19

It would be nice to have somewhat more Durantium and Elerium. I agree there's much Promethium and adequate Thulium.

Resources spawn also dictate from the settings. It is hard to strike a balance until you play a game or two or try all possible combination of them. Heck, the map size itself should have recommended resources spawn settings as a default to balance thing out.