You all seemed to like the demo, so try out the full package (That includes the 2 expansion packs). Don't let that turn you off. The expansion packs are more than comparable to any other so-called expansions you've ever seen before. Get all 3 installments and start it up. You'll be invited to explore a really, really good game, a title which puts all previous notions of 'expansions' to shame (The now-12 races each have their own unique tech tree). (I started this thread b/c Starguard's sig at TK reads "The beatings will continue until moral improves," which is the description the Drengin morale structures (colosseums or the like) have, and wondered if anyone else was privy to this gem of a game. For the record, the Yor Collective is my fav. Those willing to tease the dark side can find torrents on the Internet somewhere.
I have the game and all the expansions. I still play it once in awhile. I usually play a custom race.
I have no idea. I haven't actually PLAYED it in a long time. I bought the most recent expansion (I think, Twilight of the Arnor) when it came out, and I don't think I even played it more than once or twice.
In a galaxy far, far away, a myriad of races try to dominate all of creation. Here are the current results: We are the 'Yor Collective,' a bunch of robots who suck at diplomacy and cultural influence but rock at manufacturing and 'turtling'. Each race has their own super ability. You have the Terrans, who are experts at diplomacy and generally try to conquer planets culturally through their influence (the blue area). Their influence used to be far greater before a galactic event was triggered in which everyone accused them of 'cultural conquest' and so native cultural influence was increased to match it. Their empire used to be far larger but has been split in two You have the Torians, who are 'super breeders' and are the cockroaches of the galaxy (green). You also have the Purple (not pink, those are insectoid aliens from the future - perhaps Lovecraft's race of beetles?), which I have chosen to lead. The Yor are 'super isolationists', which means any ship traveling in their space can move no faster than 3 parsecs (or squares) per week (turn). If you combine this ability with a military starbase equipped with a 'warp field disruptor' module (-2 ship speed,) the flood of righteous invading fleets is slowed down to a pathetic crawl. And there will be righteous fleets, because the Yor are evil. Or rather, they are 'efficient.' Evil races enjoy numerous short-term benefits from the immediate exploitation of anyone unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Good races tend to stick together and so you'll more often see a larger alliance of do-gooders take down all but the most powerful evil races. The galaxy used to be fairly evenly divided amongst the races, with the exception of those wretched Torian cockroaches that just have to colonize EVERYTHING including that wonderful class 29 planet that was just within your grasp but whatever. Then the Terrans started to 'flip' planets (conquer culturally) left and right until everyone got wise to their antics. With the exception of the Iconians (the light-grey group), the Yor were left generally unmolested by everyone else. We were able to trigger 2 major galactic wars! What else can you do when you have a small number of mediocre planets but bide your time and advance while everyone else is at each others' throats? The major powers were satisfied with merely demanding the occasional tribute but eventually, the Hue-mons declared war on us. It was quickly obvious what had happened - the blue blob crushed the military of every other force and now only we remained. Even worse, we cannot rely on the other races to attack them - anyone strong enough to challenge them has allied with them. The Thalans (Pink) and Torians (Green) will soon declare war. It is only a matter of time. But we are prepared! Our lack of resources has forced us to invest heavily in specific technologies designed not to help us expand, but to help us fully develop our planets and territory. Precious resources. Scarcely littering the galaxy are resources of a generic shape which, when claimed and harvested, can boost your race's military, influence, morale (population approval, higher means faster pop. growth and higher taxes before they get uppity,) economy, influence and research capability. During the rise of the almighty Terran Alliance empire, we had claimed the numerous military resources fortune had blessed us with - no less than 4 out of 5-6 are close to our home planet. Yes, some were claimed, but they belonged to a minor race. We destroyed their starbases and immediately constructed new ones. Having only a single planet, the worms could never hope to challenge even our meager military might. In the event a resource was owned by a fellow major power, why, it was a simple matter of placing an attack vessel next to that base, then gifting it to whomever they were at war with. Next turn, BAM: it's destroyed and we don't have to get our hands dirty with total war. As it stands, the military resources boost our weaponry by 103%! We were formidable back in the day. And once we get Black Hole Generators that are 103% stronger than anything the opposition can offer, our full robotic fury will be felt by these wretches! The Terran Alliance's declaration of war came as a shock to us - while our invincible starbases, resource, military and economic, could shrug off any attack, the entire network (4 [max] per sector and fully armed resource extractors) was not complete. Though those crafty Hue-mons demanded tribute from us, which we paid, a few turns before they declared war. We were the last on their list and it's our own fault for not seeing it. Nevertheless, our machine collective cannot be stopped. While they managed to destroy a valuable resource starbase, which was not equipped with the necessary missile-defense systems to counter the nukes that the humans are so fond of in this game, they cannot prevent us from rebuilding it. Caution: Wide Overhead, zoomed-out view: A swarm of 'constructor' ships, each carrying a module for a starbase, moves out to rebuild and reinforce our destroyed extractor before they can claim the resource for themselves. Nothing short of disbanding their fleets and chasing after our individual ships can halt the reconstruction. Ground that we Super Isolationist robots take, we keep, period! The current reports from the battlefield are promising. Zero damage to our starbases and total destruction of enemy fleets. Caution: Wide Yet another Terran Alliance fleet annihilated. Their fleets are a few generations away from being able to even put a dent into our bases. However, being attacked from all sides means we cannot expand. Eventually they will target our trade routes which, while not essential or even economically significant, will hurt our neighbors, making them easier prey for the Hue-mons and their allies. We will punish their invasion force but not until they develop a counter-strategy. We can drain them but only to a point - safe behind our presently-perfect barrier, we shall instead strengthen our allies and try to knock the Terrans' allies out of the picture or, better yet, turn them against each other once again. The Iconians have a planet which is the site of a Precursor Library (the Precursors are the ancient race that waged some epic war millions of years before). We've had our sights set on them for a long time. Their extermination and the absorption of their planets, unique manufacturing technology and resources will help us greatly provided we can make the humans look the other way for a short while. Their military has already been crushed thanks to the Terran juggernaut. Ugly horses with a fungus on their faces. They are the light-grey civilization. Soon... (Wide x2) Other stuff: Terror star. A costly piece of equipment which is a hassle to research, build and protect. It blows up a star and all the surrounding planets and takes anything close to it out. Its use is very 'situational' - if your enemy has dozens of planets you can't invade, but you can overpower him in space, escort your Terror Star and pick his planets off one by one (or five by five). Terran Alliance: (A chick leads it in the expansion) Torian Confederacy: Roaches. A 'United Planets' meeting: Enemy ship assessment: Design your own ships (My ships really push the graphics card, this ain't one of them): Aaaand.... done.
So I found this in the $5 bin last week and since there was a thread on it, I decided what the hell and picked it up. I remember hearing nothing but shitty shitty reviews when it came out. Anyway I'm attempting an install now and this was early on, I'm now well over 500% installed!!! I worry about the code...
I think you must be misremembering or confusing this with another game, because GalCiv 2 has never gotten anything but great reviews.
