I will never play again!

Jeeze, who let all the whiners in here?

@PiratesReally -

Yes, you're absolutely correct.  Nobody has ever figured a way to win this game and we all gave up the first time something didn't go the way we think it should have.  I mean, why play a game if there's a chance of losing?

My question is . . did you have fun getting to the end? 

Were you on the edge of your seat?

Did you stay up way too late or were you late for work or class?

Did you keep playing . .just . . a. . . little . . . bit. . . longer?

Sounds like a GREAT game!

Try again.  Have more fun.

(And post again asking for help with the pirates.  )

Also, try turning off Mega Events in the game setup options. Even for experienced players, they can be game killers.

Especially the 5pc/wk one on large/huge/gigantic/immense maps-that is, until you figure out the workaround.

There's a workaround?

Care to let us know what it is?

Sounds like a good gameexperience. I like those superevents and there are generally ways to deal with that. Furthermore there is worse an generally the other Civs are suffering under it too. Sometime this can be an advantage. For Pirates I suggest simply researching for better weapons and Logistics build a military starbase and finish them off within its influence.

If you do not like the events, turn them off

EDIT: oh and by the way: It is not necessary to whine so intense about your loss. It is quite a good game and you can set the parameters as you want.

As Moosetek said, FIRST turn off megaevents, you might get the Peacekeepers next.

Second, you will not see pirates in ALL games. I have never had them, even in the games where i have megaevents on.

Third, did you try to reload the last saved game? Theres a ghopod chance they will not come back a second time.

Fourth, it doesn't end you game, just your military game. You can still win a Tech victory. You can also build very fast transports to take out the undefended AI planets.

Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.

What is the point of playing against an unstoppable force??????

I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.

Game is un-installed.

I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid.

I doubt you'll be back to read this, since most people who make posts like this one simply vent and never return, but pirates arent unstoppable. Here's a bit of advice.

The pirates only feel invincible when they first arrive on the scene, since they are tougher then whats already on the playing field.  The thing is, they are killing the ships of the computer empires as well.  This means that you can use the pirates as a buffer, and rather then waste money on building ships to get destroyed.  Spend money researching new weapons, hulls, engines and armors.  Then build a bunch at the same time and race them to form a fleet, keeping them away from the pirates.  Once you get a single fleet that can survive a battle with the pirates, you can simply use it to protect your new ships. Its a great opportunity to build up your tech or your economy, or expand, because pirates dont invade planets.

This is the tactic I've used to combat the pirates and its worked fairly well for me.  Military Starbases being quickly built can help alot as well.  The point is, this is a mega event, and like all mega events they are designed to completely destabilize the playing field, you have to figure out the work around to be successful.  Things don't always go the way you planned, and if you take some time to think about the situation, and stop simply being angry, you can find your solution.

Or turn off Mega Events.

Either way, GalCiv is a fantastic game, and its sad to see that you've let one of its better, more challenging, qualities make you so blindingly enraged.

Any Mega-Events are simply there to stir up a "currently ongoing" type of game which (by someone's weird idea of a  tricky simulated chaos) seems to lag in two opposite directions; Peace or War, good against bad, strongest over the weakening, etc.

I took them Pirates to their last corner once, just for kicks, in a swift manner but not after suffering through huge (relatively speaking, since maybe they WERE right to show up if only to prove to me i was actually  behind in my military development - as a warning, in fact) losses like every other AIs... that being the point, we must find THE way to deal with such stuff -- i matched their attack & defense ratios with a specifically designed ship(s), fleeted some where it mattered & went after every last of 'hem. Gone. Start all over again (i know) almost, but problem solved.

I gather you have yet to meet the infamous "Jagged Knife"... cuz, that ONE is even worst -- balance wise that is.

I've had the pirate event once, toward end game tech levels. They were gross! BUT I survived by reloading the game from the previous turn save. USE THE GAME SAVE FUNCTION if you have a good game going and you don't want to lose it... I posted in another thread about that. I've also had peacekeeper event and finally rid the galaxy of them after a huge ship building phase. I just attritioned them to death. One thing about the peace keepers is that they let the Drengin freely move about while attacking my fleets (curious)!

I believe that Peacekeepers declare war on those who have military ships outside of their territory at the time the event starts. If the Drengin were playing nice when it happend, they could then "aid" the Peacekeepers without fear of retaliation.

I've "aided" the Peacekeepers many times in the past.

You are all correct.  I was extremely aggrivated and could see no real point to them being there.  I don't see them as a challenge because they are so overpowered.  How can I research with no income???  No trade ships equals no income, or at least very little.

I am still learning the game, and apparently need to learn more. 

I was going to un-install, but just before I clicked remove, I decided to wait. 

So they can be beat?

How would one have a steady supply of income with out trade ships?

Thanks for the criticism, and the advise.  I will quit whining, and try again.

Thanks guys.

And who the hell is Dave????????

Dave is the guy who unplugs Hal.

Your (main) income is from taxation, and that grows with population.  You can see the numbers from your Domestic screen.  Even with huge bonuses to trade and freighters scrambling madly across the universe, your trade income will probably not equal half of your tax income.

You can also bring in a little extra cash via Economic Treaties with the AI's.  Depending on the number of treaties, the size of the map, etc... this can easily match (and even outpace) Trade income.

And, if you're like me and love to have computer algorithms validate your inherent awesomeness, you can work on Influence, which increases Tourism income.  This can also match/outpace Trade income.

In this game trade ships provide very little of your income, most people create the routs for diplomatic purposes. Your real income is from taxes, which in turn is from a high population. Morale will dictate how fast your population will grow and farms determine the maximum population for that planet. 100% will double the rate 75% will give a bonus and less than 42% you'll have no growth at all. At 21% you start losing people. There is no benefit to having morale levels between these thresholds. Keep in mind that these are per planet and not for your overall empire. THAT is just for elections.  The faster you get more people the more cash you'll rake in. Economic type buildings add bonuses to you income for the planets that they are on and don't forget the economic capital which adds to your taxes from that planet.

Which brings up another economic point, higher government tyoes also have economic bonuses. So move up that branch.

You can also trade other civs for cash.

This discussion can go on and on and on....  If you have specific questions ask them on these forums.

Make adjustments to your tax and production slider as needed.

Can I have all your stuff?

Sorry I beat up on you, PiratesReally. I apologize. Especially considering that from time to time I've felt the same way not only in this game but in a lot of others I've played. Just remember, developers don't have mothers. They hatch from eggs like other serpents!

The Dave stuff is from 2001 AD A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke. In this movie the ship's AI computer, a HAL 9000, goes insane and in a very unfair and unpredictable manner kills off all but one member of the crew, a scientist named Dave. Dave beats the computer by thinking "outside the box" (sort of literally) and then turns off the HAL 9000. Good movie if you have never seen it.

Trivia: IBM would not let their name be used in a movie about insane computers, so Kubrick and Clarke derived the name HAL from IBM by just taking the previous letter in the alphabet for each letter in IBM. I becomes H, B becomes A, and M becomes L.

to defeat the pirates just put defenses on for the two attacks they have and use the attack that they don't have defenses for.  It doesn't really matter how strong those are.

MYTH!  According to Clarke, that was entirely coincidental.  How do I know this?  Wikipedia!

Yes, it does.  Defenses are only worthwhile when you can have defenses on a single ship equal to 75% or greater of the enemy fleet's attack.

Say, what's a good ratio for ATK/DEF, then?  I mean, let's say you're up against a 4a 0d enemy fleet.  Is it better to go 2a 3d or 1a 4d or what?

If you can match his attack with an equal amount of defenses, you're almost indestructable.  Much beyond that isn't necessary, though it can help prevent bad rolls-to an extent.  The 75% rule is in place because apart from early game, that's rarely achievable.

You're better off with 1/4 then with 2/3 against a 4/0. However, you're better off with a 2/4 than with a 1/5, again against a 4/0. Make sense?

hairlessOrphan, you may be right about HAL from IBM being a coincidence. On the side of it being a coincidence, Arthur C. Clarke came to MIT in either 1969 or 1970 (I forget which) and delivered a lecture in Kresge Auditorium. This being a year or so after 2001 came out. Then he opened for questions from the audience. Someone stood and noted the relationship between HAL and IBM and then asked Clarke how IBM had reacted to this bit of humor. Clarke then gave every sign of being completely amazed and stated that he had never before noticed the relationship between HAL and IBM. Certainly the rest of us dimwits with low sloping foreheads had not noticed it and were suitably impressed.

But the next day at lunch, the subject came up again and one of the attendees said that to him Clarke had overacted being amazed, and thought he was "putting on" for the benefit of the guy who had asked the question. Perhaps, he speculated darkly, Clarke had done it intentionally but did not want to summon down the official wrath of IBM for whose computational facilities he might conceivably have some future use.

Well, there it was; one way or the other. But Wikipedia quotes Clarke from Lost Worlds published in 1972 only a couple years after the lecture at MIT as asserting it was indeed pure coincidence. Which would seem to prove your point. Case closed.

Except that, I do remember Clarke's reaction to this revelation during the lecture. It was memorable. Too memorable. He may indeed have been overacting as the fellow said the next day. I tend to think so myself.

So, whilst you are accurate in quoting Wikipedia, and Wikipedia is doubtless correct in quoting Clarke, I think there was more to it than that. I think they "done it on purpose!"