Solder don't give up on this game. It is hard right now mostly because you do not understand all the game mechanics.

Read through the GC strategy forum for ideas. There are many good ones. Message #11 of this thread has a link to EBZ's Cranking Guide. It has ideas that are useful for almost any style of play.

Here is a bit a of guide that you may find helpful.

- Make sure that you have the latest version of the game. Available in the download section.

- Try picking Federalist as your Political party. This gives you good production capabilities.

- You have 10 points to spread out for abilities. Try Planet Quality (PQ) +5, Speed +1, Social Production +2. This will set you up for playing all map sizes except for tiny. If you like to play tiny pick some other attribute than speed +1.

-Map size is important. I like Tiny and Small so I can get through a game in one sitting. If you are a beginner playing a map larger than Medium is asking for trouble. You can get overwelmed quickly by what is going on.

- Star Density can make groups of stars or spread them out. Habital Planets allows the possibility of more good planets per star.

- To get a good understanding of the game keep the AI all at the same intelligence level. If you are having trouble with the game set the intelligence of each AI to Sub-Normal. This sets the game to Beginner. If you are still having trouble set the AI one level below. This will help you out, trust me.

- Play Evil. Evil has an advantage over Good. The events that come along randomally during play can usually grant you very sweet bonuses such as production and planet quality which are my favorites. The disadvantage of Evil is that all of the AI will not like you, even other Evil AI.

- Before you move a ship you need to set up your empire. Set your TAX rate to 50% and your spending to 100%. Set your military slider to 100%. Having done this you will notice that your income is a negative number, Don't worry about this yet. Set your planet to build colony ships. On the governor page and set the build order as Soil then Entertainment.

- Now you are ready to start your first turn. First notice the Treasurey window in the lower left corner of your screen. You have 1000 credits and it is colored yellow which means you have a negative income. This is a very import window to watch as you play your game. When it is green you are making money. If you go below -500 you lose the ability to manufacture anything until you are above that number.

- The first move is to explore the nearby stars for habital planets. Send your survey ship and any untasked colony ships to a nearby stars. Colonize on planets that have a Planet Quality of 15 or greater. Every star you colonize should be set to build colony ships. You should be getting new colony ships every 3 - 4 turns maybe faster.

- At some point you need to switch your production from military to research and social. On a small map you will have to do this very soon as you may only get 2 - 5 stars. A larger map you may have 8 - 12 stars in a very short time with many more left to colonize. Here is where strategies will diverge greatly. There are many variables that will determine your next move, I am going to give you a very basic strategy that will work. On medium and smaller maps set military to 20, social to 30 and research to 50.

- If you have run out of stars to colonize change your builds to constructors.

- Our plan now is to build our selves up so that we have some strength to bargin with and a good trading partner. Research the techs in this order. Communications theory, Universal Translator, Diplomacy, Trade, Industrial theory, Medical Theory, Basic Environmental Control, Weapons theory, photons, corvettes. This will give you a good start to building the right social and military projects.

- Once you have researched Trade select 2 planets to build 1 freighter each. Once these are built you want to select a close AI to send them to. Do not send them to the AI that has the most planets as these guys will get too big too fast and may go to war with you. A smaller AI will most likey not go to war because of the trade. As the game progresses and you get more trade routes keep sending freighters to the same AI.

- Starbases. On a Tiny or Small map they are not critical until mid point of the game and it is quite possible they are never critical depending on your skill. Resource mining is very important on medium and larger size maps. If resources are not close to your stars leave them alone you can get them later when the AI's start fighting each other. You should build starbases in the same sector as your planets and upgrade the social and military production as high as you can. This helps greatly in your planets production. If freighters pass through the sector your starbase is in, upgrade it's trade economics so you get a greater income from trade.

- As soon as you research corvettes set some planets to build some. One per star is a good estimate. This gives an illusion of strength. The AI's will usually not start a war with you if you have a fleet of a good size.

- When your ship gets damaged send it back to your planet to repair.

- A common mistake new Galciv players make is to build every social project on every planet that comes around. This is a mistake because most social projects cost money to maintain which is a drain on your income. EBZ's Cranking guide has a good list of what to build. The order I use is Soil, Manufacturing Center, Habitat improvement, fusion power, banking, entertainment, research lab, antimater plant, economic center ....

- Eventually you will need to adjust your Economic spending slider to be less than 100%. You will also want to adjust your tax rate to be around 39 to 45%. This will bring in more people to your planets which translates into more income. EBZ's cranking guide shows you how to keep your spending at 100% for quite a long time. This does not work very well for AI's set higher than Normal.

- Trade goods and Galactic Wonders. I think that a beginner player should ignore them until they have a few wins at this level. Then chase them. One of the best trade goods to get is Diplomatic Translators which makes your dealings with AI's easier.

- Once you have researched Impulse Drive to get Transports you can invade planets. For the most part the AI poorly defends stars. Your best mileage for a quick war is to plan your attack so that you take over 2 or 3 stars in one turn then try to get a peace treaty with that AI. If they grant you a peace treaty demand techs, cash and influence points.

- Once you have established your empire it is time to start shadowing the AI's resources. Build a constructor and send it to a resource. If you see that an AI is in a war there is a good chance that the starbase may be destroyed by the enemy. When that happens take the resource. Cheap and sleezy ... but it works.

- Corvettes won't last you long as your main ship. I like frigates as my main ship until I get dreadnoughts. On a tiny or small map I usually win before I need dreadnoughts.



There is a lot more to Galciv than this small guide but I think that you can win with this.
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instead of doing a cowardly "bribe" to keep your enemies at bay, strategically use the money and pay someone to attack them. preferably their major trading partners. that way they get weaken militarily since they are at war and they lose trade income. it's always funny to have someone threaten me and then i make their empire fall apart.

Soldier, if you can beat Civ 3, you can beat Gal Civ. I've played both, and, if anything, I think Gal Civ is a bit easier to beat. But, then again, I stoop to bribes (though, I admit, I'm not sure they work).

Civ 3 is definitly easier than gal civ, because its not as deep. At first civ 3 was somewhat hard to play too, but its just basically building the strongest armies to protect yourself. once you have a large enough army, its tempting not to take over everything. civ 3 was a great game, but basically, war based. the ai declares war on you no matter what, it has a dumb declaration war thingy, even if your forces outnumber and out gun the entire world's combined, even if your culture is much better, they still declare war on you. the editor was a nice addition though. gal civ requires more thinking and you should be a good strategy player, currently im now playing on normal, and i no longer get defeated easily, ive only been in two wars and becuase of them, i have the greatest culture and military, but not that good tech and stuff.

Nice walk through Newfy.

Rick

I just wandered to the Strategies part of the forum and back here. If anyone thinks the game is too hard then in addition the Orion guide and GCCG linked above there is the strategies section of this forum. You might start with Opening moves thread started by Theoden. A good start is always helpful. Enjoy the game.

Rick

Thanks ricbayer, I found it tough starting out and had some help from many citizens in the neighborhood. I am just trying to return the favour.

Soldier, how is it the game working out now ?


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Still difficulty playing, but overall, its ok now. I play on normal now.

Glad to hear it soldier. Please go to the GC strategies formum for more ideas and help.

I give in to threats and demands all the time!! I am The Big Girls Blouse of the ANZAC Republics. Surely I should have a medal for this status or something.