Finding out ToA is harder than I first thought.

Need Strategy Guides

from GalCiv2 Forums
After a brief recess from playing GalCiv, I'm back again.  I was playing that other Sins game.  I love ToA but making adjustments to my strategies is proving more difficult than I first imagined.  I have been playing DA since it came out and I got pretty good at it.  My favorite race to play was the Iconians.  I figured I would start with them again in ToA.  I am finding very quickly that all my old playstyles will not work.

For example, I get two major precursor science buildings at the beginning of the game.  But they both have that one-per-planet rule and are very expensive.  I have to weigh how important they are for my science needs.  It takes a while to get up to the research facilities, so in the beginning they are my only option.  Did I mention that I get no market centers or any equivilant buildings until farther up the tree?  Keeping my economy in the black is very difficult.  I am just glad one of the science buildings has an economy boost of 10%.  (I forget which one, but names are not important.  You know which one it is if you play this race.)

How about those factories?  Sure, they are really cheap, but they don't produce much early in the game.  I decided to trade for some factory techs and got my production up much higher.  The cost ended up being too much maintenance for my civ to handle and I quickly had to retire due to mismanagement of resources.  Yuck.

Lastly, after taking a look at my tech tree, I noticed that I could not research any new government types.  The tree stopped at Alliances.  I guess I will have to do a lot more trading to change governments later on.  This is one aspect I never expected to run into.

My point is this:

ToA will be frustrating in the beginning.  Once I figure out how each race works, it will be a great experience.  I will be searching the forums or maybe the wiki site for some strategies on how to play the races.  For example:
Terrans = Fairly Standard Play
Drengin = Offense oriented
Torians = Breeders = Good economy???

These are a guess because I have not been able to test the races yet.

If anybody knows a good wiki site or forum link, it would be very helpful.  I would like to thank the devs for putting out an expansion that feels more like a full game than something added on.
strategies
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Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I might as well bump this :)
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Try the Korx or the Krynn until you get the hang of it, they have fairly manageable economies.

On a smaller map with a lot of opponents, War Profiteering is fun.

And the Krynn have crazy morale and influence boosts, making ehe econ aspect pretty easy.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's funny though. I am usually a good observer as to what the race's weaknesses are and working around them. Need money, get some trade going or buy those market centers. A little weak on offense? Study up on the weapons techs. I also thought that since I have been playing 4X games since Civ I, I had enough foresight to just jump into the game. Or so I thought. Dumbing down the AI and dropping a difficulty is always an option, but I am not ready for that yet. I definitely appreciate the advice. I'll give that a try. Having to look wayyyyyyy down the tech tree to find the solution to your problem is a pretty daunting task.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well, TA changed quite a few things, and most related to economy.

1. Starting cash is lower. The Korx have a solution in that they can rush buy ships cheaper, which is nice, and you can get it in the first 2 turns or so, its a tech you research. Anomolies also help a lot, so speed can be important, and neither the Korx nor the Krynn get a speed penalty, like the Arceans (lame)

2. Some races have population growth penalties now. But not the Korx or Krynn.

3. Buildings are more race-specific. But some, like the Iconians and Thalans, are almost not worth it, due to the maintenance to output ratio. Korx/Kyrnn have pretty standard labs and factories, like in DL/DA.

4. Trade (arguably) is slightly more important, especially on smaller maps, to keep your econ afloat, which the Korx excel at obviously.

5. On that same note, taxes and morale are more important, at which the Krynn excel.

6. Maintenance costs on ships are now higher. Which can really screw your economy. That just sucks for everyone actually.

So, all that being said, I dont actually think those 2 races are the "best", but if you are getting back into the game or struggling with cash, those 2 do have somewhat of an advantage.
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Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
For the next few games, consider spending some ability points on economy, morale or both. As proven by some experienced players this is by no means necessary but it makes managing your economy easier.

Is it the early or mid-game that gives you the most difficulties, as this will impact the suggestions that people can give you?
Consider that maybe you are losing too much during the colony rush? The changed economy and reduced starting cash are specifically designed to make a big colony rush harder - if not impossible.

Dropping a difficulty level is not a shame for TA, as the developers themselves have said the AI has been improved so typically with the same settings it's perhaps 1 level better than before.

There was a really great thread recently (I think it started max. 1 week ago) discussing per race the major changes compared to DA; I haven't been able to find it back, but keep an eye open for it as this is probably the best summary of the race-specifics in TA until now.