drrider

Reply to Are logistics pointless and other HP musings in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I think part of the problem here is that the units are representative. A spear man is an entire unit, not one guy. I will even buy that under certain circumstances a spear man unit might successfully take out a far superior ground unit....Key word there ground unit. The reference someone made above to Poland in WWII is a perfect example. Im sure the polish calvary managed to do some slight damage to some armored units before being completely wiped out. Nothing that cou

Reply to Are custom races inferior to the pre-made ones? in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Not necessarily...but usually. The one great advantage that a custom race has is that its bonuses (AND starting techs) can be precisely tailored to the player's intended style of play, with no "wasted" abilities. Example: Yor have 100% loyalty bonus "for free", but in most games it is overkill for any real flip-threat to a Yor player. On the other hand, sometimes you can tailor an existing race to be EXTREMELY suited to what you intend to do by "stacking" additional bonuses

Reply to Kill-Death Ratios in GCII in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Mogadishu, Somalia, Oct 3, 1993: U.S./UN forces engaged: 120 on ground, eventually ~400 (counting pilots, drivers, etc) U.S./UN casualties: 18 dead, 73 wounded. Somali militia, etc forces engaged: est. 5000-7000 Somali casualties: est. 500(-) dead, 1000-1500 wounded (including bystanders) Disparities in Desert Storm and Iraqi Reedom were similar, though the skew in both cases was toward more captured opponents. Modern (and future) war is a meat grinder whe

Reply to Are logistics pointless and other HP musings in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Most game combat systems baffle me, especially civ's, in this regard. Yes, some of a tank's/starship's/etc defense is luck-based (e.g. weak points, random system fluctuations) but a lot of it is guaranteed. Spearman defeating a tank is nonsensical because the guaranteed part of a tank's defense nullifies any possible spearman attack. This is why I prefer combat systems that include some form of flat subtraction due to defense. Spearman rolls 0-5 attack, tank rolls 20-2

Reply to Espionage Race Bbonus Question in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Somehow, somewhere, I got the impression that it added to the probability of any espionage "rolls", making things like stealing tech more likely, but I have no ref. Time to search the old forums for kryo/dev comments. drrider

Reply to After playing for a while, I just don't like the new spy system anymore in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

- Allow a spy placed on a planet to be either on a tile or not. Add a little sidebar of "observing" tiles on the spy placement screen. An observing spy gathers intelligence as normal, but do not disrupt any tiles and cannot be nullified. A spy placed on a tile behaves as in the current version of the game. Just allow spy to be placed on the colony tile for info only. - The spy-nullifying system should be changed to fav

Reply to What game or genre would you like to be reborn? in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

X-Com. Mule. MoM and MOO (MOO3 doesn't count). The entire Infocom line. Red Baron. plus there was this wierd action/shooter with little tiny guys in little tiny submarines living at the bottom of a lake/bay that was waay cool. Oh, migawd! Homeworld. drrider

Reply to About cheat code........ in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I don't play any of the cheats myself, but, judging by what happens when you assign the Planet Quality ability to a custom race, try planting a colony / playing a turn. I think its likely the planet will then update to match the new PQ number. drrider

Reply to Are logistics pointless and other HP musings in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

I have always wondered about objections like this to the visual conventions used in otherwise relatively abstract, strategic or grand-strategic games. It has nothing to do with Graphics, but just the simple realities of combat. Obviously if you want to defeat a tank in combat, you need some kind of weapon to penetrate its armour, and a sword is definately not one of them! Such units shouuld be unable to inflict damage on tanks in civ games, just so it is

Reply to Goodbye to an Old Friend in AARs GalCiv2 Forums

You have written a story worthy of Honor. drrider

Reply to Constructor Micromanagement in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I like the Starbase Governor idea. It does say (or I thought I read it somewhere) that can you automate ships coming out of a planet to muster at rally points, but so far I've yet to find it or figure out how its accomplished. Create a rally point (button, lower left, main screen). Pick a planet. Go to Planet Screen. Build Ship button. Rally point button (lower left of Build Ships screen). I think you can do it from the Civ Manager screen a

Reply to Constructor Micromanagement in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

I don't suppose someone has tried getting a mod out to help with this issue? I think if constructors were treated like the space miners, where they have to wait several turns while they construct a new module on a starbase, it would be great. I still think the original constructor should be consumed when building the base itself also. If your original constructor is NOT being consumed by building the basic SB, there is something wrong. It has worked tha

Reply to If only . in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

i'd really like to see ball lightning some day. The problem with spectating ball lightning is you usually have to be waaay too close to really see it and recognize it for what it is. And YOU could be the positive pole. My mom had a (small) ball jump across the kitchen about 4 feet from her once when the house was struck. We replaced the stove that grounded it. drrider

Reply to If only . in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

according to the latest theory black holes are recording devices. everything that goes in is destroyed and it is also recorded. when the black hole gets full it becomes a new universe through a big bang. all of that info is used to make the new universe Er...who's theory is that? An astrophyicist's or a metaphyicist's? drrider

Reply to About cheat mode.... in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

"cheat" (without quotes) goes 1 space after the end of the target line. drrider

Reply to Shipyard Rotating the Ship in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Catt, v.1.5x is still a DL update. Actually, "DA 1.61 update" has parts for DL (mainly a big graphics perf boost.) On the SDC, download GC2 1.50.128, plus Tutorials, Movies, and Heightmaps. You just can't use the DA 1.61 download without a copy of DA. drrider

Reply to Which would you rather do -Read a book or Watch a movie- and why? in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

I have contended for most of my (now getting long) adult life that books and movies are 2 DIFFERENT media, with different strengths and weaknesses, and it is a mistake to compare them too closely. Both entertainment and storytelling, maybe not apples and oranges, but certainly...er...apples and cherries. I probably favor books. Books generally do detail and thought processes, and character internal point of view better. They handle vast scope of events better, because they essentiall

Reply to Missing Precursor Libraries? in Strategies GalCiv2 Forums

Izok, I haven't played DL in some time, but I thought I was playing the latest patch until the production release of DA came out. I certainly DID encounter Precursor Libraries. Since I have learned to trust your ken of this game, I experimented with my current Gold Edition DL. In about 25 starts with a Tiny galaxy - no Precursor Library on the homeworld. With a Gigantic galaxy, hit a PL about third Cntrl-N. Its hardly definitive, but they DO occur, however the likihood of occu

Reply to Favorite and Least Favorite Movie Genre and why? in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

Partial to what I'll call Small Group Action films, at least the good ones. These are usually war films but not always. Saving Private Ryan, A Walk In The Sun, Silverado, Dirty Dozen, Serenity. Film is actually in many ways a better medium for telling this sort of story than print, because quick jumps between the actions of several separated but cooperating characters can be done more smoothly in film. Also, Spy/Conspiracy(/Techno) Thrillers. Borne Conspiracy, Shooter. Film works pa

Reply to Favorite and Least Favorite Movie Genre and why? in Off-Topic GalCiv2 Forums

What genre is "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" ? or "Gladiator" (both Russel Crowe) ? This genre is best known as Source-Mangled Historical Adventure. Not bad movies, though. AFAIK Gladiator is an original screenplay, but any fan of "M & C: FSOW" should read the book (and series). Be warned - the story in the movie bears no relation to anything in the book of the 1st part of its name, and only somewhat parallels a small sect

Reply to E-V-I-L weapons in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

To achieve a basic beam damage output of 12 : . "cost". space required Psionic Beam. 150. 6+ 4%hull space Phasor II(x4). 160. 24+16%hull space Plasma III(x6). 210. 30+30%hull space Laser V(x12). 300. 48+60%hull space (probably not possible) To beat their damage to space ratio, you have to have at least 5 more levels of beam tech. You do beat them on bang for buck a little sooner than that. <img src=

Reply to Galactopedia in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

And I am neither retired nor 15! Wasn't meant to be a hit on either group, or on any other willing code jockey. Just a backhanded apology for beggining others to spend precious time on a problem beyond my poor ken. I'll set'em up, you knock them down. BTW, I note that you have a wonderful gift for understatement. I haven't recompiled an

Reply to Are logistics pointless and other HP musings in Game Talk GalCiv2 Forums

Obviously it is not possible for a person with a sword to defeat a tank so yea, the combat system in civ3/4 is basically just a funny joke as far as i am concearned. I have always wondered about objections like this to the visual conventions used in otherwise relatively abstract, strategic or grand-strategic games. After all, these visual conventions were forced upon game designers because fancy specific 3-D iconographic representations seemed t

Reply to Super Manipulator and Super Diplomat and High diplomacy. in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

Super Manipulator doesn't necessarily have to be on good terms with its proxy civ to get them to whail on a 3rd party. Also apparently takes no negatives to its relations with proxy civ or anyone else for being unwilling to participate in attacking the highly-advanced, militarily muscular powerhouse that it is bad-mouthing. Think Wormtounge, as opposed to Gandalf the Grey. None of which is necessarily intended to extoll SM over SD. drrider

Reply to A few simple questions in Galactic Civilizations II GalCiv2 Forums

The Gold Edition includes/installs both complete game versions (sans latest free download updates) for less money than DL + DA expansion, AND it integrates the DL campaign to be playable with the DA engine. Nice keyboard shortcut map, too. Hint. drrider