What Galactic Civilizations Can Learn From Beyond Earth: Rising Tide & Other Games

from GalCiv3 Forums

I think we can all agree that GalCiv 3 is a solid base. We'll all probably disagree with what we think it's missing or needs help with.

Rising Tide was a fantastic expansion for a sub-par game. It wasn't enough to fix all of Beyond Earth's issues, but it went a long way towards making it fun. First and foremost was its overhaul of diplomacy, something I find is seriously lacking in Gal Civ. The diplomatic currency that's used to build relationships and make agreements is fantastic and fun, but could be improved further, even. Seeing GC adopt a system like this would be fantastic. Not only could you use a diplomacy currency to work with other alien races, but seeing the return of political parties and using that currency to strengthen your party and its political foothold within your empire would be fun. The stronger your party, the better your benefits - benefits you could in part choose with your diplomacy points.

The War Score mechanic - nearly entirely lifted from games like Europa Universalis - would also be a welcome addition. It its current form, Rising Tide's War Score mechanic is fun and organized and frankly, makes sense of war spoils. 

I also like that RT brought about new ways to colonize. Imagine a GC race that focused on building starbases as colonies, instead of colonizing planets? That type of "outside the box" gameplay is something I'd welcome with open arms to GC3.

Also RT's affinity system, similar to GC's on paper, is an awesome way to quickly identify a rival faction's path. Seeing a system like this in GC would be great. Your opponent tales the path of Malevolency? You'll start noticing their ships have skulls on them and their designs start looking more menacing. Maybe they even start having a particular visual effect, like flames or something.

What are games YOU think GC3 should take inspiration from?

Endless Space, Master of Orion, Endless Legend, StarDrive 1/2? 

39,231 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Nothing? No one has any suggestions?

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

While I haven't played BERT, I do like the ideas that you proposed. I'm not sure what the war score mechanic, but the other ideas I think would improve an already really good game.

I'd also like to see some type of progression or veteran ranks applied to ships/fleets that win battles. Some of my more stalwart ships can be involved in many battles, and I'd like to see some type of acknowledgement of that--whether through some type of visual feedback or power progression.

Galactic Civilizations III
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Board_walker, reply 2

While I haven't played BERT, I do like the ideas that you proposed. I'm not sure what the war score mechanic, but the other ideas I think would improve an already really good game.

I'd also like to see some type of progression or veteran ranks applied to ships/fleets that win battles. Some of my more stalwart ships can be involved in many battles, and I'd like to see some type of acknowledgement of that--whether through some type of visual feedback or power progression.

 

Oh yeah, I'd love to see power progression/visual feedback, too! I'd also like to see heroes occasionally generated through battles, as if someone rises above challenges and becomes a hero that can lead, etc. 

 

 

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Hmm, thought this would raise a good discussion. The forums here are more dead that I expected...

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Haven't tried CivBERT yet... Waiting for a big sale to pick up the expansion. But I like the suggestions.

 

Something I would like to see are the distinctive racial paths to victory from Armada 2526.

 

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting XWerewolfX, reply 4

Hmm, thought this would raise a good discussion. The forums here are more dead that I expected...

Everyone is playing Fallout 4. ^_^

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Some of the features I would like to see are ones that weren't carried over from GalCivII: political parties, espionage, asteroid mining, a decent editor.

 

When ship captains are finally introduced, perhaps giving them something to do along the lines of what Sorcerer King offers with its very robust quests.

 

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Beyond Earth was a terribly boring and uneventful game. Firaxis really lost the plot with that one. No real strides in new ideas or even good mechanics. Even the graphics are a huge sleep walk. Lack luster, crappy. You never felt like you were on a new planet with new techs and new alien worlds. Even they themselves said they played too `safe`. Biggest disappointment ever.

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

More interactive diplomacy. I thought 2 had the abilities set up better. Abilities were better with two. Super abilities better with three except I would like to see a super instigator option. I miss the Drath they kept the game from being boring. Miss espionage. Better pirates. Distant worlds had a nicer pirate option. I miss a one place to download mods. Two was easier to delete custom races, Now the game won't let me. Don't get me wrong I like the super mod option. I just think it would've been nicer to have two mod buttons like the one they have in three where multiple mods work as one, and an option to choose between mods like in two. I sure would like to be able to download multiple custom tech trees. Almost any game as far as an editor not just modding capability. We have a map editor, but even the editor from 2 did more than this. I would like something more like civilization where you can work most game mechanics from something like a menu driven system. Allying with races to combine tech research. In the custom race option to make your own tech tree. Basically picking from all the different tech paths on the game. This may have you picking from different buildings, starbase modules, and ship parts. Maybe between player achievements. You could pick kits for things like player achievements. You would have to class the tech trees and limit how many of certain classes to balance this out. I would like to see adaptive ship module building based on relations with other players and if at war with them. Tech stealing race where they steal don't research after they meat someone. A side game where both the starting planet. other planets in the system were random based on class and type of planets. More modding options. Adaptive Ai. Leader based. Different leaders have different abilities. Civics instead of ideologies. I like the tech ideas except there should be a way to shut you out on the paths you haven't chosen. Civics where more fun than ideologies. Great people. Even though civilization dumped it I still think how their citizens ran  their empire was a nice addition to the game. Choosing abilities as you level up. From two where you could opt from new and old improvements. Space creatures. Economics more like two. More custom tech trees. An option to replace the player achievements in the selected tech tree with a custom pick.

Reply #10 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Space... its big, and empty, and boring.

 

Wait... that doesn't sound right.

Reply #11 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I never got Beyond Earth Rising Tide (fool me once), but I`ve watched several utube `Let`s Plays` and I`m still not impressed. Diplomacy is only slightly better, but certainly not any better than CIV3- And what`s with the Leader silent voices, considering Civ 5 had audible speech in their authentic languages - that was a back step for Firaxis. The diplomacy screen doesn`t even feel like future tech to immerse you. The leaders themselves are also animated very poorly, yes, I know CIV3 has pretty much no animation to its leaders, but i`m comparing to Civ 5 which were much more lively and showed character. BE Leaders look asleep and they seem incapable of really showing emotion. Again every thing else is just boring, it does not feel like a futuristic imaginative game of exploration. Even wars are terribly lack lustre- Aliens are boring also.

 Nah, too little too late. Too crap and too boring.

Reply #12 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Warscore would be a welcome addition. Diplo currency, not so much imo; it's really gamey and feels like a big step backwards from the 'standard' 4X diplo interface (I recall diplo currency systems from the late 90s). There's many possible improvements for diplo, but I don't think that's a mechanical problem so much as an AI one.