Long time Galciv2 fan, Should I get Galciv3?

from GalCiv3 Forums

Been a long time fan of Galactic Civilizations 2, played it since it first came out and must have repurchased the game several times over its lifespan with all the different dlc versions, then impulse getting bought by gamestop and buying a Steam version of the game.  I didn't mind though as the game evolved really well and I definitely got my money's worth.  The final version is probably my favorite 4x space game.

I have been feeling the itch for a 4x space game again for some time, as I just tried out the newest Master of Orion.  Master of Orion, while a neat game and brings back some nostalgia, just doesn't do it for me, it's no Galciv2.

This brings me to my question, is Galciv3 currently in a state comparable to Galciv2 that it is worth getting?  A lot of the research and googling I have done say the game is buggy, there isn't any Espionage yet(A complete deal breaker for me), the AI is actually worse, etc.  But these are all older posts and articles I am reading, they don't tell me how the state of the Gold edition with all its DLC is at the moment.  There doesn't seem to be all that much that is different either, other than updated graphics and from what I have read, a worse interface.  Is the game feature complete, or are there certain things that won't show up unless you buy DLC?

Should I just play Galciv2 and wait a year or two until Galciv3 is more fleshed out, or is Galciv3 worth a purchase now?  How long is DLC planned for?  I may rather wait to get it until they are all done with it, so I'm not constantly dumping cash into it.

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Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Yes, Get GalCiv III :)

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I have never played GC2, but I think I can answer a question or two though.

This brings me to my question, is Galciv3 currently in a state comparable to Galciv2 that it is worth getting? A lot of the research and googling I have done say the game is buggy, there isn't any Espionage yet(A complete deal breaker for me)
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Last I checked it is on the ToDo list for the expansion next year.
the AI is actually worse, etc.
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Well, it's good enough to have someone ask how to beat it on normal every now and then. I won't say it is great, but you can nurse it up with some mods (copy a folder and check an ingame option - done). So it is not bad either.
and from what I have read, a worse interface.
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The two bad UI things I can think of would be the economy wheel and starbase modules. The first one was bad when it was beneficial to micromanage all planets - you don't need that vs. the AI and doing so wrongly has drawbacks now. The second one was bad when you had to order all modules for all bases separately, there is some automation now.
Is the game feature complete, or are there certain things that won't show up unless you buy DLC?
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Hmm, let me think... A couple of things are actually DLC:

 - map editor and some preset maps (Map Pack DLC); if you are into randomly generated galaxies and not into using the editor you are fine without it
 - factions (Mercenaries, Revenge of the Snathi and Rise of the Terrans DLCs) from what I can tell, the RotT faction is not really worth it, the others are a fine addition
 - ship style sets are on multiple DLCs, like the three mentioned in the point above.
 - Campaign Missions; Some are in the base game, some side story lines are in DLC (mercenaries, Snathi, RotT, Altarian Prophecy); you have to know if you need them or not
 - Parts for the ship builder; I would only suggest it if you realize you really enjoy building ship styles; take a look here, for what you can do with ship building
 - Precursor Worlds DLC - additional planet types (more building space but lower max population); I am fine without them.
 - mercenaries (Mercenaries DLC) - More or less buyable hero ships with some effects that are not obtainable via teching; an option I feel I am playing too little with, despite being an interesting mechanic.
 - Lost Treasures DLC - new colonization events, coupled to planetary improvements and /or ship components; I like it. Partially deals with the lack of ideology points on smaller maps, too.
 - Mega Events DLC - Some Mega Events are in the base game, but the best ones of course are in the DLC.

In short: you don't need all, but some (at the very least Mercenaries) are worth it in my opinion. SD is also still actively developing, so I suppose there is a bunch of DLC to come. Some features (e.g. asteroid mining) also find their way into the game with patches for everyone.

Should I just play Galciv2 and wait a year or two until Galciv3 is more fleshed out, or is Galciv3 worth a purchase now?
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I have bought GC3 more than a year ago and have since sunk a couple of hundred hours into it. I'm happy with the purchase (then again I can't compare to gc2).

I'm not sure what is gonna happen in terms of money investment with the expansion "crusade" next year, which will be a standalone, but given how pricing worked on the Elemental series I am not too concerned, actually. There are worse than SD out there.

Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting zuPloed, reply 2

I'm not sure what is gonna happen in terms of money investment with the expansion "crusade" next year, which will be a standalone,
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Its not going to be a Standalone anymore but an Expansion, to much bad blood from the community over it been Expandalone.

Crusade will be DLC.

Stand-alone just creates too much confusion and unhappy people.

It will be a different EXE though as it is very different than what III is like.
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From a post by Draginol over on steam forums.

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

So what does it mean?

Crusade free for founders (as it is DLC), Crusade reduced price for me, since I allready have the base game and GC3+Crusade full price for people who get it new?

They have to pay for development somehow, right?

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

If espionage is a deal breaker, wait for the expansion.

Otherwise, if you were used to the development cycle inherent in GC2, that is what is happening to GC3.  Features will be added as updates and DLC's for the full cycle of the game, several years.  AI development is an ongoing WIP and will be, possibly ad nauseum if I know Frogboy. I am not having any bugs with SP, and I have tried some extreme situations. MP is still an occasional struggle, but it is already much better than GC2 since that didn't do MP at all.  

I get the addictive one more turn feel I got from GC2. That part is there and getting better. I haven't had the overwhelming urge to go back to GC2 and that is a very good sign. So, I recommend it to GC2 players looking for the same development/growth ride they got from GC2.  I also think the ship designer is vastly more powerful if you are into that.

And there's Snathi!

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

In a nutshell, Yes get it now. 

 

This game has FAR more features than GCII ever did and the size of the game is many times larger and longer. 

I have had well over 1200 hours so far and I love every game I play. More importantly our modding community are to be commended on taking a great game and making it better. 

Get the Galactic Star Trek Mod, follow the install instructions. Set your game to 'normal' (snickers) and enjoy the ride. I play a custom race but modded ones in GST are just  this side of awesome. 

Is it feature complete? It was when it launched. Stardock listed all the features it was going to have at launched and it did so. 

Espionage was the 3rd expansion in GCII, It will be in the expansion coming up, as will be invasions. In fact the upcoming expansion will <fundamentally> change the entire game we as players currently play. It will change or remove the 'wheel' and hopefully remove player control of his planets and go back to an empire wide set of controls similar to the ones we used in GCII. 


Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I am also a long time galciv2 player fairly new to galciv3... well owned it for a long time but not played it extensively.

 

One thing i can tell you straight away, if you play galciv3 like you play galciv2 the AI will cream you, even on low difficulty.

The reason is that Galciv2 is power through money, and you have to carefully limit production or go broke FAST

Wheras Galciv3 is much more production based and not very sensitive to money, so you need to vastly change your strategy towards production because a money strategy will stagnate you in galciv3

 

I could play on Godlike in Galciv2.... first time playing galciv3 i could not even match 'normal' difficulty... not until i understood to focus more on production was i able to increase difficulty.

Now overall i think Galciv3 economy is more realistic, and we all know how bizarre a money sensitive bitch the galciv2 economy was, just crazy! lol you gotta get that outa your mind in galciv3

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Thank you everyone for the replies.  I think my question has been pretty much answered, I will wait further into the development "dlc" cycle before picking this one up.  I'll stick to galciv2 for now since it is complete, and consider galciv3 when it is closer to completion.  I don't care about playing new campaigns at all, I dont play these kinds of games for that and never played the galciv2 ones.  I can't see myself buying an incomplete galciv3 that is missing things like espionage when I already have that in a complete version of galciv2 already.

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I played Gal Civ II a lot, and loved it, but having now played Gal Civ III I can't imagine ever going back to Gal Civ II.

III is not perfect by any means, but is constantly improving with each patch and DLC, and I suspect that when the expansion comes out I will have no life outside the game at all!

And I hope that whatever espionage they come up with for III is light years ahead of what was in II, where it was just cheesy and time consuming without adding any real gameplay value.

 

Reply #10 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting jmj36, reply 8

Thank you everyone for the replies.  I think my question has been pretty much answered, I will wait further into the development "dlc" cycle before picking this one up.  I'll stick to galciv2 for now since it is complete, and consider galciv3 when it is closer to completion.  I don't care about playing new campaigns at all, I dont play these kinds of games for that and never played the galciv2 ones.  I can't see myself buying an incomplete galciv3 that is missing things like espionage when I already have that in a complete version of galciv2 already.
End of jmj36's quote

 

Funny, but i thought espionage was a complete waste of time in Galciv2, the only good thing about it was being able to look on AI worlds.

 

The campaigns were actually very good in Galciv2.... but lucky you did not play them actually because then you still have a chance to enjoy the campaign in galciv3 and not wonder where the fxxx did the rest of the campaign go when you reach the very short end.... Had that same feeling after watching the latest starwars movie the force awakens.... i'm like "Huh? over already? WTF??"

So i actually bought all the DLC for galciv3 'except' the campaigns because they are too short so i am not interested.

Anyway, there are some interesting DLC available right now other than campaigns.

Reply #11 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I would recommend buying the gold edition. It has most dlcs but there is no espionage.