I would say it was worth buying on release, but it has definately improved with one expansion in, and several updates. The Thalan has been scaled down a little. Never heard of the Iconians being scaleddown. Haven't heard of the Altarians of getting a boost, or the Yor need a boost. As far as Ui wise it looks like two with the intended improvements of three. The constructor system has been improved. The game seems more stable than before, so I think you should jump in.

They are planning on releasing a standalone expansion next year.  So I would wait until that comes out and jump in then rather than having to potentially have to buy the game twice in under a year.

There is one...

just type "turn" into the console

Type turn in console how do you do that.

http://galciv3.gamepedia.com/Console_commands

You have to enable the console via launch aprameter first. Then it is '+' or whatever you set in the options.

Everyone's 5 issues are going to be different, so that's kind of a loaded question.  As an experienced player, the things I consider issues are different from what a new player would find.

The game is WAY better than it was at release.  There's also some really great mods and steam workshop stuff out there to liven up your game experience.

That said, the Ai still needs work in several areas, and Diplomacy, though technically functional, is kind of a mess.  Word is diplomacy is getting a major rework in the expandalone though.

Wait for a good sale if you're going to buy it now.  If you're not in a hurry, I'd agree with Sisko and wait for the expandalone.  

Waiting depends on how long you play these games. If your like me you don't stop playing a game until a new one comes out then I could see a point in waiting, but if your are an average player, and only play for six months then it would make sense to pick up the game. Since it would be like playing a new game with the expansion. Not to mention their will be; also, a second expandable coming out next year if money isn't the issue. Yes I said two games.  I want to remind you if you buy the game you should buy the gold since we are in the first expansion mercenaries to get a proper experience.

I actually wouldn't want to end this, but it would be nice to be able to press the spacebar to skip this. It would also be nice to have a command on somewhere to skip until other notice.

Well I actually like the idea and talked to other people about a game that gets better as you go. But each to their own preference I guess.

I don't think I've seen anyone answer this. Currently you cannot create a customized/unique tech tree in-game. If you meant "can I pick a tech tree for my custom race, from the pre-existing tech trees?" Yes this is very doable. However, you cannot preview what technologies are in said tree prior to loading a game. 

That being said, just load up a game, and cheat, give yourself all the techs, and review the tree... do that a few times and you'll know all the major techs. That being said, I would say half the fun is figuring out each race's tree over time.

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to see this game still got a community kicking. 

Thats a real shame. I remember how with GCII I'd spend countless hours customizing and balancing totally new races with original tech-trees based from the original tech trees, with new custom buildings complete with new pictures. It's a shame we can't do that (yet?) with GCIII. I want my Zergs, my space Orcs and my StarWars Empire. 

If I am not misunderstanding, what you are asking about is allready being done (somebody correct me):

https://forums.galciv3.com/476955/page/1/

https://forums.galciv3.com/466227/page/1/

The only thing that would be stopping you is learning the .xml files a little. But there's a buch of people here, who usually help with that.

Quoting Iggore,

reply 12

Yeah I'm not in a hurry. Maybe my OP gave the wrong impression: the issue isn't the price, but rather the respect that I have for this game, its developers and the expectations that I have. I'l wait it out I guess. Thanks for the reply.

 

Honest question: was this game released too early?

Absolutely not. "Released too early" implies quality control issues and/or massive missing features from core gameplay.  That's not the same thing as a game which hasn't been able to fully replicate all the features of a predecessor (which had 10+ years of development to reach that apex) AND add new things.  It's also not fair to call lack of tuning "unready", since tuning, by virtual definition, depends on having a large amount of experience to draw upon to make those tuning choices, and that experience is really only available with a large AND diverse userbase (yes, the GC3 alpha/beta had a pretty decent userbase, but you're still only talking about several thousand, not multiple tens of thousands, and a *very* different type of user).

Upon launch, certainly GC3 wasn't as complete as GC2 Twilight of the Arnor.  But that's an unfair comparison.  It certainly was playable and enjoyable, and if certain features simply didn't exist, they weren't part of core gameplay by any definition.

The DLC/Expansions will continue to broaden the sandbox, and it will only ever get more enjoyable in the future.  That said, there's an opportunity cost to waiting - you put off playing because it'll get better later, but you deny yourself the pleasure now.   It's a lot like CPUs - there's always something better/cheaper over the horizon, but at some point you need to buy one so you actually get to use it.

Frankly, that "why wait?" point was about the 1.7 patch.  Right now, GC3 is more playable than GC2 ToTA.  They have disjoint featuresets (i.e. stuff in either GC2 or GC3 which isn't in the other), so don't expect to be doing everything in GC3 you could in GC2 (yet).  But outside that, if you're planning on buying it anyway, there's simply not a good reason to do so NOW  (absent any price sensitivity).

In addition, the existence of the "Gold" version on Steam is a great deal:  at any time, it will allow you to "round out" all the DLC/expansions you don't own, at a 25% price break.  You only pay for what you don't have.  You'll also be able to buy that multiple times; think of it as a "Gimme everything I'm missing right now" item - you'll never have to rebuy some piece you already have.

If you're price sensitive, wait until the base GC3 game goes on sale (it'll sells for half off regularly).  Buy that, and play that to get familiar with it - being aware that a lot of very fun things are in the DLC/Expansions - and then go buy the Gold bundle to get all the DLC once you're satisfied you like the game.

For me, I kinda like the way it's being released. It always leaves something neat and new for just around the corner (every month or two there's some new DLC), which gives me plenty of time to play the EXISTING configuration and enjoy that (not to mention figure out how to properly play those features) before I'm presented with a new batch of challenges.

And a final poke-in-the-eye to those of who complained about the "ridiculous" $100 Founders' version -  to quote Lord John Whorfin: "Laugh-a while you can, monkey-boy. "