Huge capacity colony ships and mass instantaneous conscription.

What would people from the 16th century think if they saw a 20th century aircraft carrier with thousands of crew members? They'd crap their pantaloons! It's the future dude.

As far as the conscription goes, I saw something on CNN about an unpopular war going on overseas with a massive number of soldiers involved. I can't remember what country they were from...

The lack of training is a bit unbelievable. I guess they just slap a uniform on you, put a rifle in your hands and say "Good luck citizen!"

Well, maybe your government form is similar to Isreali or Swede where every citizen has to serve a certain number of years in the military, and the government reserves the right to re-active any citizen? They might not be as trained as your career military person, but they'd know the basics wouldn't they?

What would people from the 16th century think if they saw a 20th century aircraft carrier with thousands of crew members? They'd crap their pantaloons! It's the future dude.

Yeah but it's not consistent with the rest of this future. Larger ships, Battleships, Dreadnaughts, Rangers, etc. typically take a lot longer to build and are more expensive than scouts, fighters, missles, and other smaller units. Further the game does give sci-fi explanations for everything else.

As far as the conscription goes, I saw something on CNN about an unpopular war going on overseas with a massive number of soldiers involved. I can't remember what country they were from...

Exactly my point. As you say yourself the war was unpopular. This is not the case in Galactic Civilizations, as it doesn't effect approval rating either way; not even if your political party is the Pacifists. Of course if I was going to nitpick I could also suggest that the sheer percentage of the populace between the game and the event of which you speak is no where near the same.

Dude most of the big ships are bigger than small moons duh. Why you think you only end up with like 4-5 ships per planet you own?

They use suspended animation. Which changes the requirements for one person from two hundred cubic meters to two (Okay, maybee military living standards are more like ten).
In switzerland, every household is required by law to own a gun.

hey use suspended animation. Which changes the requirements for one person from two hundred cubic meters to two

Well that does make the size more managable. At that rate a ship carrying 100 billion people would be a mere one-hundredth the size of the earth's moon. This is easier to come to terms with as that would be about the upper limit of the ship.

Dude most of the big ships are bigger than small moons duh. Why you think you only end up with like 4-5 ships per planet you own?

Colony ships have a very high storage capacity which would nessecitate the size of a ship several times larger than many "small moons."

In switzerland, every household is required by law to own a gun.

Perhaps but I would think ground warfare would require more than just a gun for every soldier. What about machinery? Like futuristic tanks, air support (space support?), grenades, extra ammunition, etc.. Not to mention the cost of medicines, rations, and other essential gear.

It just seems like having a large army, as in billions upon billions of soldiers, would have large upkeep costs.

So far none of this answers the question regarding morale and public opinion of mass conscription. It's pretty tough to believe that the residence of a world would be happy if two-thirds the population was forced to pack up their belongings and head into a bloody war.

Isn't there maintenance cost for soldiers? Also, doesn't creating soldiers take time and industry?

One of the ways this issue is usually addressed is by saying that the one ship you see on the screen, really represents several ships of the class, along with any needed support vehicles. So that one colony ship on the map may be 4 or 5 in reality, and troop transports could have support craft carrying vehicles and such attached to them.

troop transports could have support craft carrying vehicles and such attached to them.

That's a good point. I guess troop transports just come with weapons and support craft for ground warfare.

In Galciv, the decription says a Transport is not one ship, but actually a fleet of ships.

Also, we shouldn't make the game MORE micromanageing. I think it is fine and -FUN- the way it is. Note: FUN.

What you are suggesting is TEH ANTI-FUN. TEH ANTI-FUN IS TEH BAD.

I think it is fine and -FUN- the way it is. Note: FUN.

Yep. Don't fix it if it ain't broke. This is a game, not a science project.

I must say I quite like the idea that you have to risk (and generally lose) a huge number of your own citizens (that is, your vital forces) to capture a planet. Even if it doesn't make sense, I think it balances the game.

What you are suggesting is TEH ANTI-FUN. TEH ANTI-FUN IS TEH BAD.

I'm not suggesting anything, I was asking for an explanation.

[Quote]Colony ships have a very high storage capacity which would nessecitate the size of a ship several times larger than many "small moons."

When I said big ships I meant the military ships. Naturally the colony ships would be bigger, but as the game explains its more than one ship as is the transport ship.

Another point is that you can't cram nearly as many people into a GC2 colony ship as you could in GC1. In GC1, I don't think there was an upper limit, or if it was, it was huge, because I accidentally threw a few billion people into space once in a while. Now, with GC2, you're capped to 1000 (I haven't paid enough attention to see if that's actual people, or thousands of people, but it's definitely not millions, because I can max my colony ship from a colony with far less than a 10M population).

Combining that with suspended animation, it becomes far more feasible. 2000 cubic meters is nothing, assuming 2 cubic meters per suspended colonist. Oil tankers hold about 20 times that much, so I think there's room for a fudge factor. Even if that's one million people, that's still reasonable for a multiship colonization fleet.

Combining that with suspended animation, it becomes far more feasible. 2000 cubic meters is nothing, assuming 2 cubic meters per suspended colonist. Oil tankers hold about 20 times that much, so I think there's room for a fudge factor. Even if that's one million people, that's still reasonable for a multiship colonization fleet.

Agreed. I didn't realize that in GC2 the colony ship's capacity was changed.

I just want to clarify my position as I tried to do earlier this morning: these concerns of mine aren't meant to be game-changing suggestions. When I play a game, read a book, or watch a movie based on science fiction I like to have a certain level of consistency with plausible (or semi-plausible) explanations for things which make it easier for me to visualize what's going on in the fictional universe. If it seemed as if I was suggesting these are problems with the game that need to be addressed or altered, I apologize. It was not my intent. I just wanted help putting my mind at ease and I appreciate all the comments I have recieved so far.

As a rule I don't make suggestions until I can think of alternatives that wouldn't adversely effect the "fun-factor" of the game.

Until playbalancing is done, those numbers could radically change. in GC1, I was used to seeing the larger planets having a population close to 100B. I haven't broke 40M in GC2 yet, so play balancing may swing this issue back in the GC1 direction.

Also, for anyone lacking an explanation, a game wont put every single detail like chosing the training type, training the soldiers for 6 months, etc.

Only: Pick the number of soldiers, put them in ships, go. The rest is implicit, except if you want massive micro-management.

Also, for anyone lacking an explanation, a game wont put every single detail like chosing the training type, training the soldiers for 6 months, etc. Only: Pick the number of soldiers, put them in ships, go. The rest is implicit, except if you want massive micro-management.

What I am curious about has less to do with troop training/logistics and more to do with approval of the governed.