My latest thoughts on the Gal Civ III beta

from GalCiv3 Forums

One of the very first ships I design is a "Sector Scanner".  It's simply a small cube with six additional cubes, six poles/masts, and six satellite dishes.  I then add as many sensors as I can and send it out to form a grid of sensors...

Ideally, it'd be nice if there was an option for creating "unmanned" vessels; such as the one just described.  In fact, I am surprised that modules such as Crew Quarters, Command & Control, Damage Control, Navigational Computers, etc. are not being utilized/required.

Think about it!  We've sent Voyager out into space.  Wouldn't we continue to send unmanned vessels out in the future?  They require very little in the way of fuel.  They do not require Life Support; but they do require power (which is another module that seems to be missing).

 

It's too late for GC3; but perhaps in GC4 the ships will be done differently.  Life Support will determine how many turns the ship can be out before it needs to resupply (at a dock or by a mobile supply vessel).  Fuel will determine how many spaces the ship can travel (under navigational control) before it just starts to drift.  The size and type of engine will determine how fast it moves...

But that's for next time around.

 

I do miss the Asteroid Miners; those were fun little ships...

 

I would like to see Mine Layers; those would be more fun than the Asteroid Miners were!

 

Anyway, those are just a few of my most recent thoughts.

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Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Sounds just like SE{3,4,5}.  You do design satellite units, which are immobile in space and must be carried by ships as cargo.  I promptly design a sensor satellite, and dedicate one satellite layer to run around the map and lay down rings of 6 for full-time remote view of each sector.  The AI does not understand this, and neither mimics it, nor shoots down my satellites.

SE* ship design does include Crew Quarters, Life Support, Sensors, Mine Layer, and other components.  It's interesting and fun, but not clearly a "better" game.  GC3 sounds like it's targeting far more massive empires and battle sizes than SE*, so what is fun in small doses at SE*'s relatively fine-grained focus could become just tedious micro at GC3's Insane map scales.