The Best Game I've Played so far (Additional Bugs, Feedback, & Suggestions)

from GalCiv3 Forums

First off, I know Stardock is hard at work cracking down and fixing many issues as they come up, so I have no doubt that anything I'm putting in here that is an issue will be fixed and corrected if it hasn't already for the pending Beta 6 :)

My game... (feel free to share your game experience and exploits you've used.)

This is and has been my game experience so far with many of the games that I've played, I will point out my strategy and how I have been using the AI's weaknesses to my advantage, either by design or a weakness.  All games I've played with 20+ players, I have never finished a game as eventually sometime between turn 130-170 I tend to get non-stop crashes which I have submitted tickets on. :)

I started the game using the following settings...

  • Large Map
  • 42 Major Races
  • All minor races
  • Abundant all resources except black holes...
  • Abundant all planet types.
  • Challenging difficulty (all AI gifted)
  • Custom race based on the Thalan home world, ship type and tech tree.  (various traits too many to name here.)

Okay here we go, started off on one edge of the map (offset by 1-2 stars) have my colony ship and survey ship and here we go....

I start by putting my manufacturing and research at 50% (manufacturing evenly split between ships and social production)  I research the first tech on the list, place my buildings on my planet, don't rush build anything.  Rush build myself a second colony ship.  (After all a Large map isn't that big with 42 races plus minors and I need to colonize).  Manually surveyed anomalies and sent my first and second colony ships in the area of the nearest star system.  

Great a system with two habitable worlds.  First one I choose the Pragmatic trait to give myself 3 constructors...  (Exploit 1) (With these constructors I place them in orbit around my home world and immediately upgrade them to colony ships, cheaply might I add at 81 credits a pop...  Awesome being they cost almost 2000 credits outright, 3 cheap colony ships.) I send them off and start colonizing additional planets along the galaxies edge,  After the third planet I get another ideology choice, this time I choose the Benevolent free colony ship...  

Now in all I've gotten 5 colony ships very quickly and have 6 colonies before most other races have 3 :)  This is a great start...  I now  have researched universal translator and have met several races so let's chat.  I chat with the 5 or so races I've met, (Exploit 2) (I trade one for several techs I don't have with these races, the majority of their trade resources and have them give me extra credits besides.)  All in all I give most of the races all the technology I have, plus a few of them open borders treaty but, I plan on being peaceful so no real issue to me.  

A few turns more and I have met several more races, at this point I now have more techs than most of them :).  So I go for it, time to attempt to get some more colony ships as I see a few more planets that no one has colonized.  (Exploit 3) (A.I. is trading away colony ships to me for low price, a few techs, open borders and most of the time that's enough.)  I quickly now have around 10 colonies when the most any other player has so far is 4 :) so far so good.

Now most if not all habitable planets have been colonized, I don't see anymore. So I figure I need some Constructor ships, get me some of these galactic minerals.  (Exploit 4) (I trade a few more AI players for any constructors that any of the races I've met have, costs me about as much as the colony ships did.)  I now have several mining bases getting some artifacts and some elerium and durantium.  

Now that I'm fairly set I decide to start cranking out constructors with multiple construction units and build culture starbases a few tiles in enemy space.  So far so good the AI doesn't care and I'm slowly creating bubbles around their planets of my influence. :) (Suggestion 1) (The AI should see that I'm starting to flip their planets and either tell me to stop diplomatically or declare war.)  They don't and I start flipping planets.  

I now have built the Benevolent ideology building and collecting points per turn, I increase my influence 100%.  Wow, now flipping colonies faster :)  I continue down this path and unlock the Ideology Prominence III Enticing (Suggestion 2) (I would recommend that this be changed to not flip home worlds or make minor races not effected as once I got this the game was over.)  Now not actually, however, at this point I now control half the map with my influence.

I continue down this path until around turn 150 when the game now has unrecoverable crash, continues to crash every time I reload :(.  Good game.  Looking forward to Beta 6 when I hopefully will be able to complete a game :)  Good job so far Stardock, keep up the good work.

**Update, I've tried to figure out what was causing the crash after turn 151, at first it was hanging up at turn end when showing shipyard idle, I removed all star bases that were completing ships that turn, to eliminate that, still crashed...  Then I took over via trade all AI's starbases but two (as they would not give them up no matter what).  Still crashed, only thing I can see that I am unable to alter is one planet has a pirate ship stuck sharing the same tile as a planet, I am unable to destroy or trade for it :S  Oh well... added information to existing ticket.

Throughout the game I noticed the following bugs...

Pirate bases show up as 0/0 hit points in the battle screen when you decide to auto resolve or show combat viewer.

213

When flipping a planet I see a ship is occupying the same tile as the planet is.

9783

Otherwise just the others I've already reported diplomacy crashes/ unrecoverable crash.

 

19,085 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Still can't wrap my head around this "you're influencing us too much with your culture, we're declaring war".

so, you like me so much, you hate me?

You're so overjoyed, you want me to stop?

Does. Not. Compute.

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting drakkos137, reply 1

Still can't wrap my head around this "you're influencing us too much with your culture, we're declaring war".

so, you like me so much, you hate me?

You're so overjoyed, you want me to stop?

Does. Not. Compute.

There should be something that they see though that your taking over and going to flip them, maybe not declare war but, should stop you somehow.  Right now it's way too easy to do that, as I had half the map by turn 100 on a large galaxy.

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Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Well, if we could choose whether to influence planets or not, then sure. But if they start a war by colonising a planet in the middle of your empire, then it's hardly your fault, is it?

I agree with drakkos. Influence is exactly what it says on the tin - that planet finds you more influential than their native side. Them flipping is a decision by the colonists of that planet, not your actions - though perhaps pushing influence might play a part in it. If I had some colonists who went over to the other side on a whim, well then I hardly deserve them.

You can't suddenly stop causing a rebellion, except by destroying or selling off any nearby planet and starbase. That'd be a fine way to do things now, wouldn't it?

What the AI should do is protect its interests by fighting fire with fire - they need to push their own influence to revert any rebellion. Otherwise, while you have so many victory options, it just turns into war-fuelled conquest. Expand too quickly? No! Make them declare war! Too many votes in UP? WAR! Majority of Ascension crystals? Ignore the 5 extra it could harvest and become the majority, let there be war!

 

(I know you said "Maybe not war", but still...)

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Niedzielan, reply 3

What the AI should do is protect its interests by fighting fire with fire - they need to push their own influence to revert any rebellion. Otherwise, while you have so many victory options, it just turns into war-fuelled conquest. Expand too quickly? No! Make them declare war! Too many votes in UP? WAR! Majority of Ascension crystals? Ignore the 5 extra it could harvest and become the majority, let there be war!

Exactly protect it's interests, if it notices you (me) building culture (influence) star bases in their ZOC then they should take that as an act of war, I would.  Take the remove it or I'll remove it for you attitude.  

On the other side if I'm not building Culture star bases and their just flipping they should build culture star bases around their planets to attempt to protect their interests that way, no war declared or diplomatic contact needed...

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Nice feedback Seilore. I never thought of the 3 Constructors = 3 Colony ships. That was clever! I play on 'uncommon' and rare planet so you can hit 6 or 8 systems before you find a planet. On the Excessive I am on now I have 19 and I am #1 in power but I have a lot of stations.

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Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Do those colony ships upgrade with a full load of colonists or do you have to park on a planet for a turn to pick up your people, then out for another turn then another to get moving? If so it becomes a less attractive strategy but still arguably good. That's what I used to do with asteroid miners.

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Franco, reply 6

Do those colony ships upgrade with a full load of colonists or do you have to park on a planet for a turn to pick up your people, then out for another turn then another to get moving? If so it becomes a less attractive strategy but still arguably good. That's what I used to do with asteroid miners.

I just tested it, it doesn't upgrade with any colonists. I sent a upgraded constructor ---> colony ship to a planet to colonize. The planet became colonized but had 0 population. No idea if the colony will grow.

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Franco, reply 6

Do those colony ships upgrade with a full load of colonists or do you have to park on a planet for a turn to pick up your people, then out for another turn then another to get moving? If so it becomes a less attractive strategy but still arguably good. That's what I used to do with asteroid miners.

Those ships do not have colonists aboard which is why I just place them right away in orbit around my home world upgrade them while in orbit (takes one turn) then eject them next turn with whatever population I want.  After all said and done only 1 turn lost.

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Seabrook, reply 7

No idea if the colony will grow.

I haven't tried it in GCIII but in II no growth period, until you populate.

Reply #10 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Franco, reply 9

I haven't tried it in GCIII but in II no growth period, until you populate.

That's why I upgrade while ships are in orbit around my home world, then eject them next turn.  This isn't a problem being that when you get them they are located right next to your home world.  Then the next turn you just eject them and load them with some population.  Doing it this way only costs you 1 turn and you can send them any direction you want the next turn with colonists aboard.

Reply #11 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Culture flipping making people mad isn't because the people like it and are crazy, it is because the leadership hates it.  They see it as undermining their power; many times they are right.   Friction and wars because of culture clashes are rather the history of the world.   Not hard to imagine the same in space.

 

 

Reply #12 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting drakkos137, reply 1

Still can't wrap my head around this "you're influencing us too much with your culture, we're declaring war".

so, you like me so much, you hate me?

You're so overjoyed, you want me to stop?

Does. Not. Compute.

I think it's more you are subverting my people, because they like you more than they like my enlightened leadership  :grin: , so I'm going to have to kill you before they all defect.