HsojVvad

Join Date 09/2006

What am I exactly getting if I buy this game now?

I am trying to do my homework. I see it's in Alpha Stage and suppose to go to Beta stage in May. Well it's May now and I am trying to find the current build of what we can do but my search fu is week, and after an hour I thought I would come to the forums for help to see if I should make this purchase for $100.

So what build are we in? I thought from what I read it should be in Beta but May is not over yet, and have the feeling it's still in Alpha. I read you can't make your ships, then I read you can. I read there is no diplomacy in yet. So much not in the game I read, but not sure if they have been added in or not. So is there a list of what we can do right now?

So here is my questions on what I would like to do now.

1 Can we make ships now? If so, is it limited or can we fully customize now? Is it looks only or can we make our own ships like Masters of Orion?

2 How is ship combat. For the life of me I don't remember what combat was like in GC II. I usually just fiddled making my own ship and never got into combat.

3 Is diplomacy in? If so what can we do?

4 Do we have spies? I love having a great spy game. If no spies is it planned to be in? If so how involved will they be? What can or can't do?

5 Technology. How good is the tech tree? Is it the same all the time for every race?

6 Planetary building. How is that like? I have been so disappointed with colony building as of late for 4X space games. I really want to feel like I am building a colony and planet.

7 What planets or star types can we colonize? I always wanted to colonize gas planets and hate that they can't be colonized. What about gas mines and floating cities?

And my last point, is the game FUN? I love Stardock. I have bought a lot of their games even though I didn't play them much. Paying $100 seems a bit much right now, since I see I haven't played GC II much. What has GC III really to offer me right now to pay $100 for? Yes it's nice to see a named star after you, but what if you never see this star? Will we ever only have see named stars that people bought or will they only be in the game randomly?

Just want to make sure, since I bought about 5 or more games and nothing is keeping my attention to be playing for very long.

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EvilMonk3y

Join Date 03/2008

Regarding the schedule from a while back... think they are running a bit behind at the moment. From stuff mentioned in the founders vault I get the impression the beta will not be until at least June.

As for your other points...pretty much none of the stuff you mentioned is in yet, a 'limited feature' version of the ship designer was just added. At the moment there is no combat, diplomacy, spies, or real AI and the tech and ideology is getting reworked along with the production system.

If you are after something that is fun and playable as a strategy game right now then this is not what you are looking for...the warning that pops up when you launch the game pretty much affirms this.

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androshalforc

Join Date 03/2007

+62

So ATM you get an extremely basic game ( alpha) as said not fun unless youre really excited for galciv to come out

that being said $100 gets you alpha access, beta access, full game ,star name, name in credits, all expansions ( and dlc I believe)

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Lucky_Jack

Join Date 01/2002

+62

Quoting androshalforc,

reply 2

So ATM you get an extremely basic game ( alpha) as said not fun

I think this all depends on the tester. I have fun breaking games and reporting the breakages, However, I have found so few problems with the Alpha that I am getting bored.

Kudos to Stardock for such a stable Alpha.

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Alstein

Join Date 07/2004

+55

It's still in Alpha. Beta will likely be sometime this summer (Stardock is always optimistic on release dates)

Espionage will not be in the final GalCiv3 release. It may get added as future content.

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Quoting Lucky Jack,

reply 3

I think this all depends on the tester. I have fun breaking games and reporting the breakages, However, I have found so few problems with the Alpha that I am getting bored.

This is also my issue. Still, can't wait for the full release.

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trims2u

Join Date 08/2010

+26

Frankly, I think there are only really two major reasons why to purchase the Alpha over the Beta at this point:

(1) if you're a GC addict, and absolutely want to have a (non-trivial) voice in what the feature set of the game will be.

(2) if you're a GC groupie, and definitely plan to buy the game plus a bunch of the DLC and expansions over the next couple of years, it's a good deal now in terms of economics. But ONLY if you can commit yourself to saying you'll be buying all the content in the future.

For pretty much any other reasons to get the Alpha, they apply to the Beta, and you'll get it cheaper there (though, without the DLC/expansions). So, if you:

(a) want to play the game as a real game

( like playtesting things

(d) Are OK with having the feature set designed by others, you just want to tell them if that works out well or not.

Get the Beta.

My $0.02

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satoru1

Join Date 07/2008

+75

Here's my advice to people

If you're asking about it, you likely DO NOT want to be part of the alpha.

Being in an alpha/beta requires a GIGANTIC commitment. You need to accept that games will be broken. That things will change dramatically at a moments notice. Save games will be rendered useless. Entire features may not be implemented. AI is likely non-existent. Features may be only partially implmented. It may be poorly optimized. Features may appear, then change between patches.

You are watching a sausage being made. It's not pretty by any stretch of the imagination. It's an UGLY UGLY process. You don't walk into a room, type up a design document, then hand that to a coder and say MAKE THIS HAPPEN IT WILL BE AWESOME. Game devs WISH it was that easy.

http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/1/31/3928710/making-of-xcoms-jake-solomon-firaxis-sid-meier

This is an excellent article about how Xcom EU was made, and it wasn't pretty at all. Despite the final product being something that will likely be something your favourite game dev will say influenced them.

Making games is hard and terrifying work. Few people ever get to see the inner workings of it. This process of making it public has its pros and cons. It's proponents and detractors. But for most people, its not something they should get into. Most people simply cannot commit to the time and energy required to really be part of such a process. My friend is a hard core gamer. Loves games. Tons of disposable income. He'll drop money at a drop of a hat if it's good at full retail. But he's got 3 kids. He doesn't have time for bug hunting and incomplete feature games. His gaming time is very valuable. He needs stuff to be finished. And that's 100% totally valid. There's nothing wrong with saying "yeah I want to play the finished game". ANy more than "I would rather just have the chef cook the meal, rather than trying to grow my own vegetables and make it myself". Again that's 100% totally ok.

I'm having a blast, but I realize what I'm getting into. But I'm not you. This process isn't for everyone.

If you REALLY want to get into it, you may wish to wait till the $39.99 tier drops sometime in late May/June. That way you can pre-order a game you're pobably going to buy anyway, get a substantial discount over the final product ($49.99) and dip your toes in the beta process without a gigantic financial investment (as $100 is quite a steep price for most people to throw down at one time).

If you find it's not for you, you can just wait until it's released and come back and romp through the galaxy. Or maybe you'll find the beta process engaging and something you enjoy.

I hope this helps you make an informed decision

Choose wisely

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