Ray Radlein

Reply to UP council quick question DL in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I left the UP once, when they passed a law mandating "Empire" as a government choice, despite the fact that I was roaring along with a full-blown Federation by that time. I decided that the hit to my economy from falling back to Empire would be a lot more damaging than the loss of my Trade revenue, so I left. And, yeah, there was no going back; what was even more annoying was that I wasn't even allowed to trade with the Minors -- who aren't even members of the UP! Grrrr. <img src="http

Reply to GameSpot: 9.1 & Editors' Choice For Dark Avatar! in GalCiv II News GalCiv2 Forums

And mad props to jpinard for this little shout-out from the article (emphasis mine): Want to play against the Borg? Or would you rather play as Hitler's great-great-great-great grandson? You can design them into the game. An enterprising user has already designed a Shodan opponent (the evil entity from the classic System Shock). The possibilities are practically endless. <img src="http://images.stardock.com/gc2/T_DL/smiles/Congrat

Reply to Clarion SF writers' workship moves to UC San Diego in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

I also have to say that I'm tremendously skeptical about writers who haven't demonstrated the ability to produce short fiction before going on to longer works. I think that there are enough examples of writers who only work in one format or the other to suggest that, beyond the basic skill sets of language use and characterization, success in one bears little relation to success in the other. In addition, the sub-novel marketplace is practically

Reply to GalCiv ll Platform in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I did my bit to help Loki stay alive, but these days I am bummed because I haven't been able to get my old Loki Railroad Tycoon II or Alpha Centauri to run under Fedora Core 6. On the other hand, I did finally get the XP patch for SMAC to work, so I can at least play my Windows versions of Alpha Centauri (and, thanks to Game Jackal, I don't have to worry as much about

Reply to Influence strategies, upcoming 1.5X and starbases in Dark Avatar GalCiv2 Forums

I've thought it would not only be nice to have at least one more building beyond Cultural Exchange Center, but that it would also be nice to have the occasional 300% bonus tile for Entertainment or Influence. I mean, who wouldn't want to stumble across tiles with the remains of a "Precursor Happy Time Fun Pit" or a "Precursor Opera House and Blergball Stadium"?

Reply to Clarion SF writers' workship moves to UC San Diego in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

That's going to make it really odd to talk about Clarion West being in Seattle.

Reply to Detailed Idea for Improving on Espionage in Dark Avatar GalCiv2 Forums

I actually like espionage as is, my only request would be a means to apply an agent without him sabotaging production when desired. One thing I've seen is that often the AI will have planets with several different improvements being constructed in the job queue all at once -- there will be a ghosted out factory, lab and trade center, for instance -- and the game will allow me to place a spy on those tiles, despite the fact that there isn't actually anyth

Reply to What are your ship naming schemes? in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I typically play as a custom race, the Amazons, so all of my ship types tend to have names relating to females and/or Greek mythology (the exception seems to be constructors, which somehow wound up getting names bragging about how fast they were, in French -- no, I don't know why I did that, either). I also change the name of my leader each game to that of a different mythological Amazon, but that's another story. The naming system is, I must admit, a bit of a mishmash by now, with goof

Reply to Mega Event in DA: Speed Limit in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I have noticed one interesting thing about the speed limit event: You can still build faster ships, and they will still go arbitrarily fast -- for their first turn. So that fast constructor ship will rocket away from your planet at 9 parsecs/week or whatever, and slow back down to 5 pc/wk thereafter.

Reply to Ship upgrades in empty space ?? in Ideas GalCiv2 Forums

I will say that I like the idea that upgrades done in orbit or at a space station should be easier and cheaper than upgrades performed in the back end of beyond; I think it would be cool if the former were made slightly cheaper and quicker than they are, and the latter were made slightly slower and more expensive.

Reply to More Minor Races in Modding GalCiv2 Forums

I need someone to stomp on to get my teeth wet (is that even an expression?) It is now! (I think "get my feet wet" was what you were aiming for, of course; but "get my teeth wet" has a lovely vampiric feel to it, IMHO)

Reply to How to Find a Planet? in Dark Avatar GalCiv2 Forums

It's the next-to-last option on the "Game" tab of the setup screen ("Move Camera to Selected Colony in Colonies List"); I think it's just not set by default in DA, is all.

Circuit City in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I just checked out this week's upcoming Circuit City Sunday advertising circular, and noticed that they are featuring GC2:Gold for a remarkably low $27.99 (at least they are here in Atlanta; I assume that the same price will apply elsewhere, as well)! So for everyone who really, really wants that hardcopy manual, or who doesn't want to wait on shipping from the fine folks at Stardock, or who doesn't want to tie up their internet connection for the many hours required to download

Reply to Getting the manual before the core download? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Alternately, you could just go pick up GalCiv2:Gold at retail (which is actually cheaper!). Does the Gold Retail Edition's manual cover both DL and DA, then?

Reply to Galactic Civilizations II 1.3 released! in GalCiv II News GalCiv2 Forums

For me, the big news is that this version finally fixes the "lost turn of production on game load" bug. Wheee! I do, however, have a question: Does this fix support games saved under 1.2? I have a 1.2 game that crashed in progress, and I'd really like to not lose that turn of production when I reload my last save, if it's possible.

Reply to Meet Cari Begle and Paul Boyer at DragonCon 2006! in GalCiv II News GalCiv2 Forums

Well, I never got to see them after all, despite finding out about it on Friday. Between my regular health issues, massive computer problems, and a touch of food poisoning, I only made it to one panel all weekend (the Mythbusters one on Sunday); and then we got a call from Angie's mother late Sunday night that one of our cats, G'Kar, was lying on our kitchen floor unresponsive, meaning that instead of spending Monday frantically trying to cram every last bit of the con in,

Reply to Meet Cari Begle and Paul Boyer at DragonCon 2006! in GalCiv II News GalCiv2 Forums

I am so glad I decided, on a whim, to check the GC2 web site this morning -- from my hotel room at the Hyatt, where we are staying for Dragon*Con 2006. W00t!

Reply to 4x stratigy game?? in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

But he already got a serious answer. The weird sex references were just a bonus.

Reply to Can you use planets with a 0 rating? in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

The one thing you can use Type Zero planets for is also something you can use suns for: Blocking. At least once per game I find myself in a race towards an unclaimed colony or anomaly against another race's colony ship or constructor, and I can scramble a couple of nearby scouts or warships to at least delay the other race's ships by getting in their way and making them go around me. If their path goes through a solar system, I can use the sun and/or a couple of the planets to make my roadblock

Reply to Possible bugs that are known by most people and for the developers to know about? in Bug Reports GalCiv2 Forums

Next, I moved that war ship one space away from the starbase, so that the adjacent stalled-out constructor was once again the nearest ship to the starbase, and ran the second other constructor up to the starbase. Voila! The stalled-out constructor got pulled in to the starbase as well this time, allowing me to build two new modules, bam! bam! , right in a row,

Reply to How old are you? in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

designing the ultimate entropy engine. That would be an electric space heater, right?

Reply to How old are you? in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

42 (but feeling 18) 43 (but feeling 63)

Reply to So - what exactly is the way you're supposed to approach this game? in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I find that the best way to approach the game is slowly, with your hands held down at my sides. Don't make eye contact right away, because the game sees that as threatening. Once you are just within arm's reach of the game, extand your hand slowly towards it, palm down, so that it can sniff you. It's okay to make eye contact at that point, although you shouldn't stare. If the game signals its acceptance of you, you can give it food from your other hand, or scratch it lightly behind the ears.<br/

Reply to Don't expect the AI to get any better. in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Ray, you've gotta be kidding me. Most reviews have said the AI is good. That is for the general gaming audience and in relation to other games. That is not hype. If you are unable to put positive reviews in that context, then, well...I won't say it. But please interpret the reviews correctly before making an ass out of yourself with another reply. </TAB

Reply to Don't expect the AI to get any better. in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

If you want someone to point to "where the AI has been overhyped," it hasn't been by the developers, per se , but by the game press . Nearly every review of GC2 out there talked about how good the game's AI was. In part, of course, this is because the game's AI is pretty damned good, especially compared to most other 4X AIs; but also, in part, it's because it became part of "the narrative" for game reviews of GC2. Game reviewers are generally aware of each other, an