Does Culture need slight expanding?

from Sins Forums

Having figured out the Vasari pretty well I have moved onto Advent and I have to say, I am underwhelmed by the cultural power focus. I like that it provides a no colonize zone when your culture has expanded and the whole taking down of the allegiance thing, but the problem is that doesn't really do to much to help someone win. Taking down the allegiance of a planet seems slow and easily countered by an aware enemy, hence, not really useful.

Now I know we can't have culture flipping planets or cap ships, that would make it way to powerful. But what about culture flipping things like crystal extractors or perhaps a small group of frigates in a system with no capital ships? Some potentially cool ideas around using captured enemy frigates in your fleets, perhaps they don’t count against your fleet cap? Perhaps in an expansion Sins would allow for reverse engineering and acquiring certain adversarial technologies?

It wouldn't be a game ender for the enemy, but it would make fighting the culture battle a hell of a lot more annoying as well as provide some immediate gratification for someone who focused on culture. You would have to scramble some fighters, or fleet ships, take out the rebelling mining installation/fleet and then spend the resources to rebuild a new one/ones all the while the cultural player is reaping the resources of the flipped extractor or new ships.

I think a small tweak like this could make culture more of a viable early strategy and certainly would put it towards being on equal footing with the TEC's economic advantage and the Vasari phase mastery advantage.

10,071 views 16 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Don't forget that each faction has a tech that unlocks a bonus to ships fighting in friendly culture. If I remember right, TEC get increased antimatter recharge, Vasari get a damage bonus and Advent get a mitigation bonus.

If your culture is strong enough to be dropping the allegiance of an enemy world, I'm pretty sure you'll get those bonuses fighting in that system, which can give you a definite edge.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
I wouldn't mind seeing some sort of economic bonus (something more obvious) for culture. I.e. if you get culture over 100%, you start to see the planet's income increase by the % that it is over 100%.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
I'm pretty sure that's already how it works :D Check your homeworld's allegiance tab once when it's at 110% :P
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
I'm pretty sure you'll get those bonuses fighting in that system, which can give you a definite edge.



I am thinking more along the lines of making culture expand in a way that doesn't equate back to direct combat between fleets, it's great and all that you get a combat bonus but then culture is just like the other race's combat buffs. I would like to see culture effect the game in a way that is more unique (non-fleet specific) so that Advent become a more unique faction.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
I think culture flipping of planets - especially neutral ones - would work - it doesn't have to be an immediate thing, it could take a while to flip. That works out pretty well in GalCiv2.

The problem I have is that on maps with a lot of uncolonizable nebulas, gas giants, etc or with long space lanes, culture spread is very very slow/limited - even with all the boosting techs.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Well, the way it already works is that culture increases allegiance, thereby granting you extra tax $$
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Well, if you did put planet flipping in there, it would either have to be very slow, or tech specific (e.g. you research a tech that allows for planetary occupation), it would need to be pretty high tier as if it came in with tier one and the culture centers, I could see it getting pretty well unbalanced in favor of Advent...

The problem I have is that on maps with a lot of uncolonizable nebulas, gas giants, etc or with long space lanes, culture spread is very very slow/limited - even with all the boosting techs.


Even when you stack the culture building? I find with Advent fulled maxed culture tech wise and a couple of tech buildings stacked on a frontier world, it moves pretty fast. I play the game on fast speed though, and wish i could make it go even faster....
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Well, the way it already works is that culture increases allegiance, thereby granting you extra tax $$


so if the end benefit is increased credits, how does this really differ from the TEC's trade focus? I don't think having a trade centric race and a culture based race should end up basically giving the same bonus...
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
so if the end benefit is increased credits, how does this really differ from the TEC's trade focus?


I agree. We should give the Advent a unique cultural ability. Maybe something like gaining vision where their culture spreads. We should call it "Eyes of the Converted"

Btw, I'm pretty sure that planet flipping is in the game. I won my last game vs AI without launching a single attack against their home planet. :D
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top


Well, if you did put planet flipping in there, it would either have to be very slow, or tech specific (e.g. you research a tech that allows for planetary occupation), it would need to be pretty high tier as if it came in with tier one and the culture centers, I could see it getting pretty well unbalanced in favor of Advent...


No more so than Returning Armada is unbalancing in favor of the Vasari or the Novalith is unbalancing in favor of the TEC.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
No more so than Returning Armada is unbalancing in favor of the Vasari or the Novalith is unbalancing in favor of the TEC.


I agree that Armada and Novalith at the current moment are a tad overpowered, but the creation of more overpowered items seems counter productive. I think a small buff to cultural powers with a tiny nerf to Armada (maybe longer between returning ships) and Nova (item cap at maybe three cannons or serious cost increases) creates more balance and less game ending techs....
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
I think the entire point of game ending techs is to end the game. I mean, frankly, games have to end at some point.
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top
I'd like the idea of a world turning to you

because right now it's kinda silly to see a 344/344 Terran world suddenly lose all population and upgrades if it's 'converted', perhaps have a timer start that gives you 10-60 minuets (depending on population and starting alligance)In that time, you'd maybe see revolutions occurring on the planet, like small battles of loyalists vs rebels (think of real history, like the United States revolting to become their own collective.). The timer would allow the player the planet is still controlled by to call in a fleet to quell the rebellion, perhaps a third ability of the colony frigate?

Quell Rebellion
150 anti matter, 120 cool down.
Deploy troops onto a rioting planet to put down would-be uprisers.

That or have capital ships able to send troops to maintain order. This game could be so much more in depth ^^.

Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
If they did the world turning they couldn't hand over the planet and all the population and upgrades, that seems to powerful. How about a random amount of infrastructure is destroyed to take into account fighting on the ground and any sabotage efforts of the non-turning population?

I like the timer idea but it would have to be adaptive, if the player throws down more communication buildings or starts teching up bonuses or firing the advent super gun, that timer is going to have to change.

Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top
I like the idea of the planet flipping. Perhaps once an enemy allegiance gets to a certain point a superweapon should have another extremely expensive skill that flips the planet.

Perhaps this could take say 10 minutes to finally take effect once the skill is activated so the enemy still has a chance to regain their planet. During the time the planet would make no creds or resources for wither faction. The enemy still holds the planet, but could easily use it. Might something along those lines balance it a bit?

As suggested before, perhaps only for Advent.
Reply #16 from Sins Forums Top
The culture system is already fine, it just too slow and/or not overall very powerful in his effects in the game. A boost to the actual amount of culture that it spreads would be the best.

Someone could say you can speed up things building lots of propaganda centers in your empire, but in a competitive game you need your resource mostly to build your fleets and attack and defend with them, you can't divert a good % of your resources in something so slow, without inmediate effect and easy to counter.