Thanks great job!!!!

Is there anything you guys think needs to be added?

May I suggest a tutorial in the manual, with screen shots and cross-references to the full manual? My kids (16 and 9) are both very PC game savvy, but neither of them have played a 4X space game before. They voted thumbs down on the game simply because it was too hard to get into. I think the game interface is fine. The problem is that the genre is complex; you can't just start playing without bothering to look at the docs. But most people don't want to read a big chunk of the manual trying to figure out which parts they really need to get started. A thorough tutorial right after "Installing the Game" would have been perfect for my kids.

I'd offer to write you one, except that I don't have time. I'm sure there are some budding tech writers out there in the 18-25 crowd that would be happy to whip you one up over the holidays.

Hello, great job on the game and manual so far, everything is really coming together!

I read through the second draft of the manual quickly while at work and found three errors:

p. 18 The cropped image of the display buttons contains a small white line on the Domestic Policy button. (It's probably left over from the full screen display on p. 15)

p. 37 "Temple of Balance" should be in quotations.

p. 56 There is no benefit description for "Omega Planetary Fleet."

Page 14 - Understanding the Galaxy
Manual Reads:
Stars may be orbited by up to five planets, each rated from class 0 to class 15 (or higher when you've researched certain technologies).

What I've seen however are planets that often range above a class 15 rating, sometimes up to 18 or 19 near the early part of the game before I've researched planetary improvements. Which is wrong?

Also, my first save spot (usually considered game 0) crashes to the desktop anytime I try to load it. All other saves function normally, but game 0 is useless because of that bug.

Consider Double-Saving your games, in any game, because of exactly this bug, ad others. I once had a corrupered save in "Evil Genius" (Great Game, btw). I just loaded my other save.

I know Prima or Brady Games will probably have an aftermarket strategy guide, but I'm afraid that those having as much trouble as I am may never get to that point. Beginning strategy, at least to the point that one understands how the basic components work together would really help.

Beta Tesla, thanks for the tip! I did finally save a bogus game there and put all the other saves beyond that one, but it is a shame that that spot is where the autosave game goes. If I don't save frequently, I lose a bunch of turms back! It basically makes the autosave useless, except for previous autosave.

I've played twice more since the last post and lost to forces whose tech was over 7,000 when mine was 777...but I did finally have a positive cash flow! LOL!

TekGreg, I'm thinking of starting up a wiki for GC2 strategy and such, and posting summaries of the stuff here. Doesn't take much, just a question, and you'll be flooded with opinions.

Ooh, ooh...where do I sign up? LOL! I just tried a game taking tips from others here and using a different race than the Terrans. I did get my tech over 3,000 this time, and had four systems and two starbases with positive cash flow! But guess who I was defeated by....the TERRANS! With a tech over 32,000....if the AI can do it with the game set as "Beginner", I should be able to do it! Sheesh.

I would suggest a "Quick Start Guide" in addition to the Manual, for players that just want to jump in and get started.
This way players get a feel for the game before reading a large manual which can be a little daunting.

Also, the "Basics" section of your manual could be broken down further into common groups or themes.
Eg.
THE BASICS
Start Here -
   Creating a new galaxy
   to...
   Understanding the Galaxy.

Controls and Interface -
   The Main screen
   to...
   Video Options

Planet Economics -
   Galactic Economy
   to...
   Influence

Ships-
   ...etc, etc

Keep up the great work.

Updated to draft 3.

Page 22: Disable engine trails in full battles - Display the exhaust from engines. This effect is fairly GPU intensive.

Shouldent it say CPU?

Secondly it should also say: "Toggle displaying the exhaust from engines"

EDIT on page 33 - There is no such government as Dictatorship, Only the Imperial system

EDIT AGAIN, Page 42 - "Influencer" starbases should be changed to "Influence"
MORE EDIT: Page 45 there is 2 lines of text overlapping each other
EDIT AGAIN: More overlapping text on P49

Once more, An edit: On page 56, It says "Galactic Shocase" not "Galactic Showcase"

I don't know if it's an error in the manual or a bug in Beta5, but the manual says that the "Smart Drones" modules becomes available for Economic starbase with the Advanced Computing tech (mis-spelled, by the way, as "Advaned"). Anyway, in my latest game I have the Advanced Computing tech but the "Smart Drones" module is not available. Is Xeno Facotry Construction also required?

Manual says you need one Megaton of food for each miliion. I have a 10.98 billion planet that is producing 20mt and is still increasing. Manual should say 1 mt needed for each BILLION right?