Does map size have a different effect on Gal Civ II v. other 4X games?

from Stardock Forums

Hi all,

 While a relatively new player to Gal Civ II, I am a veteran 4Xer, and I’m wondering how you think map size affects the type of game in Gal Civ II.

 In most 4Xs, a smaller map size generally means a faster-paced game and often one that is decided before the end of the tech tree is reached, even when taking into account low tech cost to map size inflation.  In contrast, a larger map usually hosts long, epic games that reach high levels of technology, but have a great deal of micro-management as well.  Do you find this is the case with Gal Civ II as well?  How do you feel the map size affects the game and how you play it?

 I bet that many respondents will say that they enjoy playing huge-ass maps with many colonizable planets. 

 (Aside: Is there technology cost inflation caused by an increased map size in Gal Civ II?  Is this effected by the frequency of habitable planets?)

 -BvBPL

20,391 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

There's many ways to play but you seem to have the gist of it. The big thing is really which version of the game you're playing and how ship speed works in that version.

For example in DL ship speed and more importantly the size of engine components means that you can at some level of tech get ships that can go large distances within only a few turns.

In DA the size (and cost) of engine components have been greatly increased and the speed (a misnomer actually the distance you can travel in a single turn) has been reduced so much that it can take quite a few turns to go from one end of a map to the other.

Many folks have argued that there should be at least some function of map size in ship speed but that has never happened.

As far as TA is concerned I think the nerfing of speed that occured in DA was relaxed somewhat but not quite back to the levels of DL, however I can't be sure as I've never yet played TA.

But there is not contribution of map size or number or frequency of planets to tech cost so clearly as you get more planets you can run through the techs more rapidly because of having a higher level of reseach than with fewer planets.

And I personally use the largest maps possible but then I might take 6-8 weeks to finish a game.

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top


(Aside: Is there technology cost inflation caused by an increased map size in Gal Civ II?)

Is this effected by the frequency of habitable planet???

In DL I can't say, but in DA there certainly is. Though I didn't look hard at the numbers, but in a tiny galaxy technology research can be done ~30% faster (even without PreCursorLib-tiles) than in the gigantic one.

No.

Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

In DL I can't say
In DL no, or more correctly I've never heard of or experienced any.

but in DA there certainly is.
I did not know that. Thanks for the correction.

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

On larger maps, increasing the body count of AIs and upping their bonuses both help speed up the apparent pace of the game.  Micromanagement does become a serious issue, but it can be mitigated some by extensive use of the colony spreadsheet page.

I have seen posters here assert that the AI scripts are optimized for medium size galaxies.

Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

In TA: Approximately 33% more tech cost on Gigantic than Tiny.

In DL/DA: Approximately 77% more tech cost on Gigantic than Tiny.

But then there's TA's new tech inflation (based on the number of techs), which happens to be more painful than DL/DA's inflation.

These numbers are all taken from the most current versions, for what it's worth.

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Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting LTjim, reply 4
\Micromanagement does become a serious issue, but it can be mitigated some by extensive use of the colony spreadsheet page.

 

My Gal Civ II games seem to indicate that the potential level of micro-management is pretty comparable to other 4X games, but the level of micro-management necessary to play well is significantly lower.  In the Civilization games, for example, you really need to manage your settlers individually to obtain a reasonable level of return.  In Gal Civ, the constructors are a lot easier to manage.  I am so happy that constructors are a one-off item, rather than a persistent ship that can act multiple times.

Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I have played a few 4X games and I do not really disagree.  With that said, you might read the accounts of games played for high score at the highest difficulty.

As I got more experienced, I found I could relax and not micro-manage and win.  That's when it became time to up the difficulty another notch or two, and rinse and repeat.

Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Hi!

How do you feel the map size affects the game

The AI was optimized for medium-sized maps. IMX bigger maps were warfaring-wise significantly more easy to play than smaller. There are also some other built-in modifiers:

- the already mentiond tech speed modifier;
- the ship range modifier. The larger the map the longer ships can travel (up to 7 sectors, that's a hardcoded limit).
- the trade revenue modifier. Trade revenue used to be liner: +1 parses = +1 BC. In DA it was nerfed and "normalized" to the galaxy size. If you can make 50 BC from 3-sectors trade route in a small galaxy, you can't make 5 times as much trade revenue from 5 times longer trade route in a gigantic one.

BR,  Iztok