Galactic Civilization III v2.61 Patch (Released 11/09)

from GalCiv3 Forums

Hello,

We have prepared a patch for you focused on squashing bugs and improving balance.  Read below for details

Performance

  • General improvements to turn times.
  • Improved performance on lower end video cards.

Gameplay / Balance

  • [Crusade] Factory output increased.
  • AI much better about prioritizing construction of transports if they have military dominance.
  • Assassination event made more common
  • Fixed issue where the AI move limit was being doubled multiplied.
  • AI now has a separate mid and late game strategy system rather than relying on a single strategy the entire game.
  • Shipyards are no longer transferred to a player when a given player surrenders.
  • More techs provide administrative points.
  • AI bonuses at higher difficulty levels reduced due to improvements in AI.
  • Yellow stars are more likely to have habitable planets than previously.
  • Culture Module balance pass (slight decrease in culture output).
  • Adjacency bonuses for factories made to be the same as research buildings.
  • Cities now require Durantium and Promethion to construct in addition to food.
  • Changed Work Camp from base 5% manufacturing bonus to 2.5%, which makes upgrading to a Forced labor camp (5%) more appealing
  • Added morale bonus to Slave Works upgrade so you didn't lose that bonus from the lower tier improvement 
  • Updated Yor tech tree so they can build the advanced research and economic starbase modules.  

Multiplayer

  • [Crusade] Unit's gender is now the same on the peer and the host (prevents desyncs)
  • "Word on the Street" calculates the same number of planets for each player  (prevents desyncs)
  • Fixed various other desyncs
  • Custom maps once again load for multiplayer games
  • You can no longer eject ships from starbases you don't own.  Nasty cheaters!

Bugs

  • [Crusade] the planet window now only shows a Legions Available stat, instead of Garrisons and Legions as two separate stats on the screen
  • Fixed incorrect texture on relic ship part
  • Stationing a transport at a starbase will no longer kill everyone on board. 
  • The Alerts listbox scrollbar will no longer  scroll past the bounds of the listbox
  • Starbases now correctly show up in the ship style set editor
  • Fixed typos

 

612,693 views 139 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Cities now require Durantium and Promethion to construct in addition to food.

Seriously?    designed resource restrictions are one thing, but this is somewhat ridiculous how everything in the game now needs one resource to advance...  

He or she who has the mines now wins....  

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Taslios, reply 1

Cities now require Durantium and Promethion to construct in addition to food.

Seriously?    designed resource restrictions are one thing, but this is somewhat ridiculous how everything in the game now needs one resource to advance...  

He or she who has the mines now wins....  

That's not a problem as such. I thought it was intended to make resources something that's worth fighting over ;)

The newly discovered problem with the AI not building farms bugs me a lot more, isn't that something that could also be fixed in this patch?

ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

lyssailcor,

Can you refresh my memory on the issue?

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

While you are at it, would you mind reverting city level bonus from +10% to +0.5 flat? +10% makes cities ridiculously strong. The faster this is gone the better.

I think research improvements need a boost, too.

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting pshaw, reply 3

lyssailcor,

Can you refresh my memory on the issue?

I agree with L.  many games with 2.6,  I see a few (2 max) on a world, and very few worlds have a farm.  Hence few AI cities. Ai has no farming planets, which you kinda really need.

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting a0152570, reply 5


Quoting pshaw,
reply 3

lyssailcor,

Can you refresh my memory on the issue?



I agree with L.  many games with 2.6,  I see a few (2 max) on a world, and very few worlds have a farm.  Hence few AI cities. Ai has no farming planets, which you kinda really need.

Thanks for the additional information.  We'll look into it.

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I believe the problem was written out in another thread... looks like it was the Beyond 2.6 thread:

Quoting zuPloed, reply 246


Quoting starhunter83,
reply 245

In the early game, cities aren't even available, and then when they are available, there is probably no food to build them and so the AI just fills all the tiles with other buildings. If the AI ever did build farms, by the time it built them, all its tiles would be full anyway and thus it would have no room for cities.

Something like that, but:

From what I can tell from the moddable files and having worked with them some months ago, the AI does something like this:

The AI kind of has a shopping list (GovernorDefs.xml). There items are addressed like 'Manufacturing', 'ManufacturingHub', 'ManufacturingUnique'. These types are linked to the PlacementTypes in the 'ImprovementDefs'. The AI will pick the highest available item on its shopping list, select an improvement of the right PlacementType and build it in the spot witht he highest adjacency bonus for the improvement. '-Hub' and '-Unique' Types can actually replace normal types, so no the AI isn't helpless when the planet is full.

Farms and cities have the PlacementTypes 'Food' and 'Population'. 'Food' is not an item on the recent 'GovernorDefs.xml'.

It does not even consider building farms, and what few cities it considers, it is out of food for those.


 

So the issue is a disconnect between food as a global resource and population as a local resource? Or am I missing the boat here.

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Ok, EazyWin beat me to it, I just looked for the original post he found ;)

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

AI definitely builds farms. No changes were made in that area. 

In my long game over the weekend, the AI built lots of them.

Reply #10 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 9

AI definitely builds farms. No changes were made in that area. 

In my long game over the weekend, the AI built lots of them.

How does that then correlate with zuPloed's XML observations (and those of other players that just don't see a lot of farms on enemy planets)? Can you explain how farm building works if it's not determined by this "shopping list" in GovernorDefs.xml?

Reply #11 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Another one that I just found and that probably is easy to fix (is it?):

Mercenaries that give a flat influence bonus still don't work (e. g. "The Auspicious Start", "+150 points to the base influence of any colony while ship is stationed there").

Reply #12 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I feel like the game just gets more and more imbalanced with every patch. I think the Farms and Cities mechanic is cool, but I have had much higher populations in every game since this change. It's much easier to build up population with cities than it used to be with Farms.

Reply #14 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Thank you for the update!

 

A few comments:

1. I think it is a good thing for balance to increase the costs of cities. Given how powerful the population factor is now, increasing the opportunity cost of investing in lots of cities makes the choice more meaningful.

2. Could we get more detail on what the AI does now, and how that justifies the reduction of bonuses they're afforded? Pretty excited to see what they do.

3. I've definitely seen the AI build farms and cities. They just don't go out of their way to dedicate entire planet of two to food production, which some players do to build up a high number of cities. Maybe the AI could benefit from a dedicated food governor?

Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top

Seriously,  1 Promethion and 10 Durantium to build 1 synthetic population.   :(

Reply #16 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 9

AI definitely builds farms. No changes were made in that area. 

In my long game over the weekend, the AI built lots of them.
I would also be curious to know
1) If the AI still uses the GovernorDefs.xml (and how) simpley from a modding standpoint
2) If your local build is identical with the opt-in 2.6/2.61 versions

If people have observed farms my theory is false. Unless:
in 2.33 the AI still has Food in the GovernorDefs.xml but I presume the people having observed it play on more recent versions?

Reply #17 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Moser_Alchemist, reply 15

Seriously,  1 Promethion and 10 Durantium to build 1 synthetic population.   :(

Durantium is really needed for too much.

Reply #18 from GalCiv3 Forums Top


Cities now require Durantium and Promethion to construct in addition to food.

Why the HELL this???

So it the final nail into the coffin of diversity and variability of the game. What is the difference between carbon based and synthetics right now?

Very bad "balance" (i.e. dumbing down) decision.

Reply #19 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Moser_Alchemist, reply 15

Seriously,  1 Promethion and 10 Durantium to build 1 synthetic population.   :(

Wow! That might be a bit too much. On large maps no, but on smaller maps, that is a serious handicap. 

Reply #20 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Synthetics should use Durantium in the same way Organics use food.....

Rather than a one time expense it should be a constant use based on population....    No per turn cost  when TOTAL population is 5 or less...  and then 2 durantium per turn per population point above that....   Research can lower that to 1 and then .5  or something.

soft walls and steps are so much better than hard stops that look and feel artificial.   

**and yes I know the 2 per turn is rediculously expensive even on big maps or late game**  

Reply #21 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Moser_Alchemist, reply 15

Seriously, 1 Promethion and 10 Durantium to build 1 synthetic population.

Missed this one! So, that is a super nerf...

Reply #22 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Taslios, reply 1

He or she who has the mines now wins....  

I see that as a feature, not a bug. Providing a reason for conflict is great compared to just random warmongering.

Reply #23 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

How could I opt in for this 2.61 patch if I am using GOG Galaxy?

I tried to update it but it still says Patch 2.60 (12 October 2017).

Reply #24 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting EmperorVir, reply 22


Quoting Taslios,
reply 1

He or she who has the mines now wins....  



I see that as a feature, not a bug. Providing a reason for conflict is great compared to just random warmongering.



If every game is nothing more than an incentive to go to war... why have other victory options?     


We've asked multiple times for balance in other ways of winning...  but everything seems to push towards forcing the game to only be a slugfest...

why have races if everyone ends up the same?   and war is the only option?   this is not a feature  this is boring. 

Reply #25 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Taslios, reply 24


Quoting EmperorVir,
reply 22






Quoting Taslios,

reply 1


He or she who has the mines now wins....  



I see that as a feature, not a bug. Providing a reason for conflict is great compared to just random warmongering.



If every game is nothing more than an incentive to go to war... why have other victory options?     


We've asked multiple times for balance in other ways of winning...  but everything seems to push towards forcing the game to only be a slugfest...

why have races if everyone ends up the same?   and war is the only option?   this is not a feature  this is boring. 

You do not have to fight for resources, you can just buy them from other civs.