Here is a lot from tonight's GalCiv II chat that took place on irc.stardock.com #stardock.

There is also a dedicated #galciv channel on there.

18:03.04] (Undoing) AND SO it begins.
[18:03.32] (Frogboy) Greetings!
[18:03.35] (Frogboy) Thanks for coming by.
[18:03.41] (Frogboy) Here's how we're going to do this.
[18:03.46] (Frogboy) WE have creatd a channel called #questions
[18:03.51] * Nakor changes topic to 'GalCiv II Chat here at 6pm EST Friday - Moderated chat, please join #questions to queue up questions with GreenReaper.'
[18:03.59] (Frogboy) People who have questions can ask them there and then Green Reaper will convey them here.
[18:04.31] (Frogboy) GR, if you will start the qeustions.
[18:04.32] (Nakor) sneaked in without tipping the bouncer.
[18:04.43] (GreenReaper) (Needystranger) I probably missed this in the forums, but what time can we download the final files on the 21st?
[18:04.58] (Frogboy) We are looking at doing that at around 3pm EST on the 21st.
[18:05.06] (Frogboy) We had considered the midnight thing but knowing hwo these things tend to go..
[18:05.23] (Frogboy) we'd put i tup at Midnight, go home to sleep and find out that somethign had crashed on the server and when we got back there's be a smoldering hole where the office was.
[18:05.30] (Frogboy) So it'll be roughly 3pm EST.
[18:05.54] (GreenReaper) (Quixzlizx) a ge4mx is barely above the minimum requirements...are the minimum requirements good enough to play without massive lag?
[18:06.07] (Frogboy) It should be.  What we do at the lower requirements is not slow down the game.
[18:06.10] (Frogboy) But rather turn down the features.
[18:06.21] (Frogboy) So you won't get the fancier lighting and bump mapping for instance.
[18:06.32] (Frogboy) We took teh view tha tmost strategy gamers prefer performance over eye candy.
[18:07.02] (Frogboy) We also have a new game play example:
[18:07.03] (Frogboy) https://www.galciv2.com/databank/game_terran.aspx
[18:07.11] (Frogboy) Which is a Terran vs. everyone type game.
[18:07.16] (Frogboy) It's using the 1.0 AI.
[18:07.26] (GreenReaper) (Lord) So, GC2 Crew, anyway to have your starting opponents chosen RANDOMLY?
[18:07.46] (Frogboy) Not presently.  It's something we'll be taking a look at though.
[18:07.47] (Frogboy) +
[18:07.51] (GreenReaper) (Consumed_Crustacean) When an offshoot splits from the main civ, does it get a typical minor civ AI, or act more aggressive/whatnot like a major?
[18:08.03] (Frogboy) It gets a major civilziation AI typically.
[18:08.17] (Frogboy) What we call the AI_General AI. WHich is what the specifical civilizations AI is derived from.
[18:08.24] (Frogboy) So they're quite a bit nasteir than the minor races.
[18:08.25] (Frogboy) +
[18:08.43] (GreenReaper) (Vinco) Question:  What techs can we expect from the bonus pack?
[18:08.58] (GreenReaper) and more generally
[18:08.59] (GreenReaper) (Popup_Target) So what can we expect from the bonus pack?  And what ideas are you bouncing around for the expansion pack?
[18:09.07] (Frogboy) We don't plan to have any new technologies in with the bonus pack.  We want those posters to be correct at least for a little bit. 
[18:09.11] (Frogboy) (looking at the whiteboard)
[18:09.31] (Frogboy) What we look to have includs some additional maps, scenarios, ship components, and of course updated AI.
[18:09.36] (Frogboy) +
[18:09.52] (GreenReaper) (madsimon) Brad mentioned recently that the AI at lower levels of intelligence was limited by throttling its money supply. This almost seems like cheating the AI, the polar opposite of what happened in GCI. What happened to the AI just not being as smart?
[18:10.07] (Frogboy) It is a little bit of both.
[18:10.18] (Frogboy) The AI in GalCiv I wasn't very smart to begin with compared to GalCiv II so that's not saying much.
[18:10.27] (Frogboy) What we do are things like:
[18:10.34] (Frogboy) UlDecision = rand()%UlIntelligence
[18:10.45] (Frogboy) If ulDecision(Dumb_Decision_threshold
[18:10.46] (Frogboy) THEN
[18:10.52] (Frogboy) DoDumbThing();
[18:10.52] (GreenReaper) (Noxin)  The AI seems really robust and crafty when dealing with enemies, does it also pick up on the activities of it's allies, for example coming to an allies aid in a specific location if it notices it is needed?
[18:10.54] (GreenReaper) whoops
[18:10.56] (Frogboy) ahah
[18:11.10] (Frogboy) So in some areas, we do have the aI do dumb things.
[18:11.15] (Frogboy) It'll b emore gullible in trading.
[18:11.21] (Frogboy) It'll throw ships at you without too much intelligence.
[18:11.38] (Frogboy) PRobably the biggest thing has to do with sector domination. ONly teh higher AI difficulties have access to the sector domination strategies.
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[18:11.51] (Frogboy) For instance, when a good strategy player plays a game, they don't just send their forces to the "nearest" enemy necessarily.
[18:11.59] (Frogboy) They pick a given city, planet, area, and focus on it.
[18:12.06] (Frogboy) They may have more than one focus mind you depending ont he saize of the map.
[18:12.10] (Frogboy) But it's still a focus.
[18:12.28] (Frogboy) At th elower levels, the AI will just do the usual standard strategy AI of just tossing a death train of units at the nearest planet.
[18:12.44] (Frogboy) At th ehigher levels, the AI looks at secotrs or areas it wants to control, figures out how much it needs to send there, and then does it.
[18:13.03] (Frogboy) So for instance, the AI will take out the defenses of a planet, and then stick around in the area until teh trnasports arrive.  GalCiv I didn't have this kidn of thing.
[18:13.33] (Frogboy) In tersm of picking up on what the ally is up to, it's probably not as good in that area.  It tends to treat the planets of its allies similarly to its own but iwth a slightly lower priority.
[18:13.43] (Frogboy) So the difference is that the AI will protect its key home sectors
[18:13.57] (Frogboy) but doesn't do tht for allies. Instead, it'll look at key ally planets to keep an eye on. But that's not quite the same thing.
[18:13.59] (Frogboy) +
[18:14.00] (GreenReaper) (DanWHAT) I know this one is kind of vague (and probably asked a lot) but how much customization are we talking about in the ship design as far as aesthetics are concerned?
[18:14.08] (Frogboy) Complete.
[18:14.17] (Frogboy) As in, no game, ever has anythign to this level.
[18:14.34] (Frogboy) Th eonly thing you're limited by are our components, which we're adding as many as we can on an ongoing basis.
[18:14.37] (Frogboy) And your imagination.
[18:14.45] (Frogboy) So you want to maek a Babylon 5 ship? Okay.
[18:14.50] (Frogboy) You want to maek a Star Wars ship? Okay.
[18:14.55] (Frogboy) And so forht. 
[18:14.56] (Cari_Elf) Also, if you can use a 3D modelling program, you can make your own components
[18:15.10] (Cari_Elf) and you can make your own ship textures
[18:15.24] (Frogboy) Yep. If you knwo how to do any 3D modeling or have access to this sor tof thing (for instance, amny fan sites create 3D models for their favorite games) you an load them up, export them as a .x file and the game will be able to use them.
[18:15.38] (Frogboy) If you've already pre-loaded things, you can look at the shiptypes.xml file in \data\english
[18:16.07] (Frogboy) (looking int ehfile)
[18:16.17] (Frogboy) gc2types.xml
[18:16.38] (Frogboy) .x is a standard format.
[18:16.49] (Frogboy) so you could create your own hull.
[18:17.01] (Frogboy) sorry the model
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[18:17.14] (Frogboy) (asking the team right now)
[18:17.25] (Cari_Elf) We'll try to get some docs up on how to take your 3D model files and textures and get them in game as soon as possible
[18:17.26] (Frogboy) So if you open gc2tpes.xml
[18:17.29] (Mormegil) We will be releacing Ship makeing guildlines.
[18:17.29] (Frogboy) there is a (model) field
[18:17.36] (Mormegil) what she said.
[18:17.41] (Frogboy) It grabs the .x file listed there (there is a naming convention)
[18:17.47] (Frogboy) So you could take your favorite sci-fi show and voila.
[18:17.51] (Frogboy) +
[18:17.56] (GreenReaper) (Human_Shield) Question: Any plans to get more use out of the 3D ship engine and the setting, such as a privateer-type game in the same universe (already have tourism)?
[18:18.16] (Frogboy) Probably not. 
[18:18.27] (Frogboy) Right now, Stardock's very limited in # of developers.
[18:18.34] (Frogboy) We're looking for more game developers.
[18:18.52] (Frogboy) Until we can get more, we have to pick where we put them very carefully. (the ones we have)
[18:18.53] (Frogboy) +
[18:18.55] (GreenReaper) (Consumed_Crustacean) Is the AI's diplomatic views towards other civs affected by story-explained mechanisms (ie. Torians more likely to war against Drengin than other evil civs)
[18:19.03] (Frogboy) Yes.
[18:19.11] (Frogboy) The Torians and Drengin are at war pretty regularly.
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[18:19.22] (Frogboy) and it's more than just taken into account in the algorithms.
[18:19.27] (Frogboy) It's also in the dialog.
[18:19.29] (Frogboy) +
[18:19.31] (GreenReaper) (Stevious) in the gold version, when setting up a new game, do random options exist for galaxy size, number of enemies, difficulty of enemies, etc?
[18:19.40] (Cari_Elf) Galaxy size yes
[18:19.43] (Cari_Elf) but not for the others
[18:19.50] (Frogboy) +
[18:19.56] (GreenReaper) (PoNeH) Will the retail version run smoother than the BETA?  I have been experiencing some performance lags when later in the game.
[18:20.03] (Frogboy) (though I think we shoudl add that later)
[18:20.12] (Frogboy) Well I would certainly hope so.
[18:20.24] (Frogboy) If the beta ran smoothly, we would have shipped that instead and saved ourselves 3 months of work.
[18:20.26] (Frogboy) +
[18:20.28] (GreenReaper) (Undoing) By any chance, races can change their ways of acting? For example, being good, then suddenly evil because of an event or such?
[18:20.39] (Frogboy) Yes.
[18:20.45] (Frogboy) It's happened before in one of the game examples I did.
[18:20.48] (Frogboy) It's very VERY rare though.
[18:20.49] (Frogboy) +
[18:21.12] (GreenReaper) (DesertFox) will the bonus pack include any new AI to replace some of the ones in stock game?
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[18:21.21] (Frogboy) Yes. Big time.
[18:21.31] (Frogboy) Though bear in mind, the bonus pack is on the same day a srelease.
[18:21.35] (Frogboy) So when you download it, you're getting that version.
[18:21.46] (Frogboy) For people who are downloading the game, the retail version is irrelevant.
[18:21.47] (Frogboy) +
[18:21.48] (GreenReaper) (Popup_Target) So, when do TG subscribers get to start testing Society?
[18:22.05] (Frogboy) Depends on our ability to hire more game developers.   It's a BIIIIG project.
[18:22.05] (Frogboy) +
[18:22.09] (GreenReaper) (Lightzy) Are there any big features that you wanted to add but couldn't, and want to add in an expansion?
[18:22.15] (Frogboy) Yes.
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[18:22.24] (Frogboy) I wanted there to be asteroid fields around planets that contained resources.
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[18:22.38] (Frogboy) Then you would build a special type of starbase that mined those resources.
[18:22.48] (Frogboy) Those resources would be unique and so you would need some of them in order to do certain things.
[18:22.59] (Frogboy) I.e. some would behave like trade goods.
[18:23.17] (Frogboy) Or to use Civ4 terminology, the equivalent of being able to trade various speical resources.
[18:23.22] (Frogboy) So that's something I'd like to see at some point.
[18:23.22] (Frogboy) +
[18:23.25] (GreenReaper) ((Got questions? /join #questions and ask away, they will be queued for answering))
[18:23.29] (GreenReaper) (Freelancer) Playing Gal Civ 1 on a gigantic map i always got frustrated during lategame with hundreds of units to keep track of. Is it easier to play huge late-games with the new fleet system and have there been any change made to the waypoint system to make it easier to use?
[18:23.44] (Frogboy) Yes.  The whole new rally point system should make things much easier.
[18:23.50] (Frogboy) GalCiv I had no automation for rally points at all.
[18:23.58] (Frogboy) Now we have things like "everyone goin gto rally point X should now go to rally point Y"
[18:24.02] * established is now known as Yor
[18:24.05] (Frogboy) or "all planets that are set to go here should now go there."
[18:24.10] (Frogboy) It makes a massive difference.
[18:24.10] (Frogboy) +
[18:24.16] (GreenReaper) (Lucian_Gyiira) What inspired you to use your manuscripts as the backstory for the GalCiv universe?
[18:24.29] (Frogboy) I needed to use something.
[18:24.34] (Frogboy) REally though strategy games need some sort of story.
[18:24.39] (Frogboy) Otherwise they're just generic spreadsheets.
[18:24.52] (Frogboy) And I think one of the things that gets people interested int he game is that they feel like they're creating their own epic story.
[18:25.01] (Frogboy) So having some backstory that is well developed helps them get started.
[18:25.05] (Frogboy) (I think anyway(
[18:25.06] (Frogboy) +
[18:25.19] (GreenReaper) (DanWHAT) Will the AI actively help you when allied or does it do like Civ IV where it basically just pesters you with ever increasing demands until it just up and attacks you?
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[18:25.33] (Frogboy) The AI will give you ships and other stuff.
[18:25.40] (Frogboy) Heck, some aI will covertly help you without being allied.
[18:25.57] (Frogboy) The AI also trade at a discounted rate if you're allied.
[18:26.08] (Frogboy) So it's much easier to get those new techs from your allies.
[18:26.08] (Frogboy) +
[18:26.11] (GreenReaper) (shade) Question regarding the Expansion/BonusPak: will there be equipment which actually DOES something, i.e. has a special ability, instead of just changing some stats value (+10% defense, etc.) ? Like a cloaking device giving real stealth or a "Null-Space Railgun Mark VII" which penetrates shields instead of just giving +1 more damage than the "Basic Railgun"? (I'm coming from se4 and moo2, heh)
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[18:26.46] (Frogboy) Nope.  The Bonus Pack will definitely not be doing naything like that.  The reason is that we want to make sure that any problems people have are related to the actual game and not something we introduced later.
[18:26.51] (Frogboy) Now, in a full expansion pack things get different.
[18:27.08] (Frogboy) We would like to have special modules that do things like increase the range of nearby ships.
[18:27.13] (Frogboy) Or increase the health rate.
[18:27.27] (Frogboy) Or other things.  Basically ships that are effectivley support ships that on their own are of limited use bu twhen put into a fleet make a difference.
[18:27.35] (Frogboy) That would be something for an expansion pack though.
[18:27.36] (Frogboy) +
[18:27.38] (GreenReaper) (Bombthrower) It's kind of already been mentioned with things like breakaway civs(Terran Confederation) but what other civilizations can appear throughout the course of a sandbox game? I always loved seeing things like the I-league and Fundamentalists pop up. Is there more of those types of event-caused civs in the sequel?
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[18:28.27] (Frogboy) There are tons of this stuff. Most of it is very rare though.  You have everything from the ones you mentioned to an intergalactic invasions (ripped off from the recent STar wars novels) to the fundamentalists to other kinds of things.
[18:28.30] (Frogboy) +
[18:28.45] (GreenReaper) (Milan) Question: Will the game come to europe or the UK ?
[18:28.49] * Boogiebac_Home is now known as Boogie_BirthdayDinner
[18:28.58] (Frogboy) It should.
[18:29.06] (GreenReaper) We hope.
[18:29.09] (Frogboy) I think it will be available same time at storez there but that's more of a paradox thing.
[18:29.43] (Yarlen_GC2) It should (hopefully) be hitting the UK no later than a week after the U.S., but it's a Paradox thing.
[18:29.44] (Cordelia) I think the release date in the UK will be a couple of days after ours.
[18:29.44] (Frogboy) I knwo some UK reviewer liked it from what I heard today but that review isn't up. So they (paradox) must be selling it there if they're getting review copies to their press
[18:29.53] (Frogboy) +
[18:29.57] (GreenReaper) (Fever2) what are the maximum number of ships you can have in a fleet?
[18:30.08] (Frogboy) It's dependent on your logistcs level.
[18:30.21] (Frogboy) I tink someone figured out that you can have logistics up to around 50 in the current game if you do everything right.
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[18:30.26] (Frogboy) So tha twould be 25 tiny ships.
[18:30.34] (Frogboy) +
[18:30.40] (GreenReaper) (Consumed_Crustacean) Question (for the heck of it): What's the story behind the squirrel minor race? and (mavx) What's the inspiration behind the E-V-I-L Snathi?
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[18:30.51] (Frogboy) heh.
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[18:31.01] (Frogboy) I am not sure to be honest.  Scott, who's not here, has some..issue with Squirrels.
[18:31.05] (Cari_Elf) LOL
[18:31.06] (Frogboy) They keep making their way in.
[18:31.08] * Yor is now known as established
[18:31.08] (Frogboy) +
[18:31.26] (GreenReaper) (DjohaalII) can we have the flying spaghetti monster space monster?
[18:31.41] (Frogboy) Well..
[18:31.48] (Frogboy) Actually we currently don't hae any space monsters in there.
[18:31.56] (Frogboy) People were complaining about that.
[18:32.15] (Frogboy) But its phiolosophy will be taught in Torian classes.
[18:32.16] (Frogboy) +
[18:32.24] (GreenReaper) (Lucian_Gyiira) All right. I never got a response in the topic from a Stardockian...so I ask: How do the Korx communicate and see?
[18:32.37] (Frogboy) Depends, male or female?
[18:32.38] (Frogboy) +
[18:32.53] (GreenReaper) Oh, jjust to interrupt
[18:32.54] (GreenReaper) (DocZoid) GreenReaper, maybe you could pass this on(in regards to the European release)...Paradox posted an announcement today with shipping dates for pre-orders and to stores(different!) they are here: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=233569
[18:33.04] (GreenReaper) (YellowSign) Can we exspect more complex random events events than in GalCivI? (Especially in regards of the events we mod ourselfs - are there more possibilities?)
[18:33.44] (Frogboy) Probably not in the near term.  What happens in the expansion pack will depend on sales really. Evil capitalism - basically sales drive how much we can budget for that kind of thing.
[18:33.50] (Frogboy) I'd like to see a whole scripting system to be honest.
[18:33.59] (Frogboy) The other thing comes badck to being able to hire more people. 
[18:34.35] (Frogboy) I keep bringing that up because in order to do GalCiv, we basically had to put everyone on it at the end and so we just need to hire more peple.  So if you know nayone who wants a job in the game industry, tell them to contact us.
[18:34.41] (Frogboy) W're in sunny Michigan where it's warm all year around.
[18:34.43] (Frogboy) +
[18:34.48] (GreenReaper) (Consumed_Crustacean) Q: Do Starbase effects act on a sector-basis, or in a radius (parsecs) around the starbase?
[18:35.03] (Frogboy) It's a radius now.
[18:35.06] (Frogboy) 3D engine goodness.
[18:35.09] (Frogboy) +
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[18:35.13] (GreenReaper) (Human_Shield) Question: Why were negative racial traits (giving points back) not part of custom creation?
[18:35.25] (Cari_Elf) because it's too easy to cheese
[18:35.31] (Frogboy) Cheese.
[18:35.44] (GreenReaper) Mmm, cheese.
[18:35.45] (Frogboy) +
[18:35.49] (GreenReaper) (DjohaalII) Q: Other than after being turned into the Terror Star (or its galciv II counterpart), can a starbase be fitted with engines to move around?
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[18:35.59] (Frogboy) Picture from outside my office:
[18:35.59] (Frogboy) http://www.rioforpartiers.com/paraty.jpg
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[18:36.24] (Frogboy) No terror stars in GalCiv II yet.  We couldn't quite balance it right. It's something wehope to add. But no, starbases can't move.
[18:36.26] (Frogboy) +
[18:36.33] (GreenReaper) (Consumed_Crustacean) Q: How does a modder specify how the different paint colours (the main colour, trim colours, etc) are applied to a ship's texture?
[18:36.52] (Frogboy) That's a lengthy question. There will be a modding quide to help on that. 
[18:36.53] (Cari_Elf) those are determined in game
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[18:37.04] (Cari_Elf) the actual colors
[18:37.05] (Frogboy) The designer can say what is a trim and what's the base hull color.
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[18:37.10] (Frogboy) But the player decides the colros and lighting.
[18:37.10] (Mormegil) It is deturmind buy the Id of the verives
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[18:37.21] (Frogboy) +
[18:37.23] (GreenReaper) (Fever2) can you make larger hull sizes with customization? ie more hull classes?
[18:37.35] (Frogboy) It's all .x files so yep.
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[18:37.42] (Frogboy) gc2types.xml
[18:37.46] (Frogboy) You can add your own stuff.
[18:37.56] (Frogboy) I know Cari is working on a mod folder to make it really easy to do this stuff too.
[18:38.09] (Frogboy) we have a library now.
[18:38.24] (Frogboy) (getting URL)
[18:38.32] (Cari_Elf) kyro has already made a mod of a starship
[18:38.32] (Frogboy) http://library.galciv2.com/
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[18:38.34] (Frogboy) No real data in there yet.
[18:38.35] (Frogboy) +
[18:38.41] (GreenReaper) (McGlu) Q: In addition to full-screen mode, can GalvCiv II run in window mode? Are there wide-aspect ratio display modes?
[18:38.54] (Frogboy) I almost always run in windowed mode.
[18:38.56] (Frogboy) In fact..
[18:39.11] (Frogboy) https://www.galciv2.com/screenshots/duel/duel.html
[18:39.15] (Frogboy) This is a game I was doing this afternoon.
[18:39.19] (Frogboy) It's all in windowed mode.
[18:39.23] (Frogboy) Youc an also set the resolution to anything youw ant.
[18:39.33] (Frogboy) Even whacky stuff so you can have some weird looking aspect ratios.
[18:39.34] (Frogboy) +
[18:39.37] (GreenReaper) (DesertFox) Will there be different size mounts to add components to your ship? Ala Space Empires IV?
[18:39.50] (Frogboy) I'm nots ure I understand what that means.
[18:40.14] (Frogboy) I don't knwo what that means there so I can't really say.
[18:40.16] (Frogboy) +
[18:40.22] (GreenReaper) (scottc) It seems GalCiv2 has benefited from some good advance word of mouth, and attention...how are the preorders going? How does GalCiv2 look at this point compared to your previous games?  This is the first game of any genre I have EVER pre-ordered...could you please lie to me and tell me that my purchase has been a tremendous boon to the development of the game, and that you will love me forever, and ever?
[18:40.33] (Frogboy) Much MUCH better.
[18:40.48] (Frogboy) Though it's hard to compete with The Political Machine since Ubisoft did that and it got mass market penetration.
[18:40.57] (Frogboy) They had somethin glike 60,000 units in the channel on day 1. Crazy stuff.
[18:41.03] (Frogboy) But compared to Galciv I here's the numbers:
[18:41.12] (Frogboy) Galactic Civilizations I had 8,400 units available at reatil on day 1.
[18:41.19] (Frogboy) All of which were in EB Games and Gamestop.
[18:41.27] (Frogboy) This time, we start with 27,000 units available at retail on day 1.
[18:41.47] (Frogboy) Spread between a bunch of places including Walmart who put in a huge order (and ironcially they are ONLY selling the collector's edition).
[18:41.50] * Yarlen_GC2 is now known as Yarlen
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[18:42.05] (Frogboy) So we really like Walmart right now.  WE're moving to China mind you..
[18:42.26] (Frogboy) Plus there's Best Buy, CompUSA, EB and GAmestop, Fry's, Circuit City, and so forth.
[18:42.31] (Frogboy) So that's a much bigger start.
[18:42.43] (Frogboy) Our direct orders are roughly 3X what they were initially for GalCiv I so far too.
[18:43.05] (Frogboy) Of course, on the dark side, we did GalCiv I for less than $400k.  GalCiv II was well over a million $ to create.  So it has do to 3 times in sales to break even.
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[18:43.16] (Frogboy) That's probably more ifno than  you wanted ot know, the fun of indie game development and publishing.
[18:43.17] (Frogboy) +
[18:43.20] (GreenReaper) (noodle) When is a demo going to be be released? (paraphrased)
[18:43.45] (Frogboy) Probably mid March.
[18:43.51] (Frogboy) Typically game development goes like this:
[18:44.11] (Frogboy) You go gold, then spend a week or two on a demo, then the guys go on vacation during the intial release.
[18:44.28] (Frogboy) With GalCiv II, we went gold, the guys took a few day soff, and then we focus on the BOnus Pack.
[18:44.38] (Frogboy) Then once things are launched, some of us will take some day soff, come back and do the demo.
[18:44.44] (Frogboy) +
[18:44.52] (GreenReaper) (funkman2000) Any plans to add fighter/bomber combat and carrier ships in the future?
[18:45.02] (Frogboy) None.
[18:45.15] (Frogboy) It's not that it's a bad idea, I totally get why people would want this.
[18:45.22] (Frogboy) But I don't think it would scale well for our type of game.
[18:45.40] (Frogboy) I personally always found the carriers in Civ, for intance, to be tedious on larger maps.
[18:45.47] (Frogboy) +
[18:45.53] (GreenReaper) (Fuels_Chief) Q.  Why did you change submitting to the Metaverse from GCI.  Speciffically, why does one have to have access to the internet to begin a metaverse submittable game?
[18:46.13] (Frogboy) In GalCiv I players were kind of stuck either wanting to mod the game or play on the metaverse.
[18:46.17] (Frogboy) And that kind of stunk.
[18:46.39] (Frogboy) This time, the metaverse is seperate from the main game and hence has its own set of data that is validated against ht eserver.
[18:46.49] (Frogboy) So hence,the logon.
[18:46.59] (Frogboy) Plus you get all your stats and goodies and medals in game which is neat.
[18:47.00] (Frogboy) +
[18:47.01] (GreenReaper) (Arlio) question: is there an option to randomize the story elements, so you won't know what the Aliens tendencies are?
[18:47.25] (Frogboy) Not presently, but this is something I'd like us to do. 
[18:47.29] (Frogboy) We already di the work on the dialog part. 
[18:47.35] (Frogboy) So there are NICE Drengin responses that few will eve rsee.
[18:47.51] (Frogboy) So as the guy who had to put in the alternative universe versions of the various AI players, I would efinitely like to see this used mroe.
[18:47.53] (Frogboy) +
[18:47.55] (GreenReaper) (Consumed_Crustacean) Q: Can a modder specify a wholly new ship set for custom races?
[18:48.24] (Frogboy) The player determiens which ship type tey want to use.
[18:48.40] (Frogboy) I would have to defer to someon eelse on whether you can just toss in an entire new style of hulls and components to choose from.
[18:48.45] (Frogboy) I don't knwo if it's hard coded or read from an XML.
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[18:49.18] (Frogboy) It's apparently hard coded to the current styles.
[18:49.25] (Frogboy) But that probalby wouldn't be very hard to chagne in the future.
[18:49.36] (Frogboy) If people are making their own totally new styles, we obviously want to do what we can to support thta.
[18:49.39] (Frogboy) +
[18:49.47] (GreenReaper) (Stevious) Q: do alliances work better in galciv2?  for instance, allies constantly dragging us into war on a whim?
[18:49.54] (Frogboy) MUUUUUUUUUUCH better!
[18:50.01] (Frogboy) Oh god yea.  Man, the alliances in GalCiv I were awful.
[18:50.08] (Frogboy) I mean, you constnatly ended up going to war.
[18:50.21] (Frogboy) You ally up with the Torians and when they go out on a killing spree you're dragged along for4 the ride.
[18:50.30] (Frogboy) Or someone attacks you and you defend yourself and suddenly all their pals are on you.
[18:50.32] (Frogboy) No, that's gone.
[18:50.33] (Frogboy) Dead.
[18:50.33] * ByronT is now known as ByronT-Away
[18:50.39] (Frogboy) Ick. Man that's a damaging memory.
[18:50.45] (Frogboy) No, now they're mutual defense treaties.
[18:50.58] (Frogboy) So if you attack someone who is allied with others, then the others will come after you.
[18:51.09] (Frogboy) But if they attack you, they probably won't come after you (though they might but it's not auotmatic)
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[18:51.19] (Frogboy) Similarly, if you ally with the Arceans and they attack someone else, you're not dragged in.
[18:51.19] (Frogboy) +
[18:51.23] (GreenReaper) (Kaodi) I hate to bother you, but are you guys going to post a transcript of this chat at some point for people who got in late?
[18:51.23] (GreenReaper) Yes, we will.
[18:51.23] (GreenReaper) (Consumed_Crustacean) Q: How much variability, and what type of variability, exists between the AI personalities?
[18:51.37] (Frogboy) Quite a bit.
[18:51.46] (Frogboy) We essentailly start with a class called AI_General
[18:52.06] (Frogboy) And then we derive that into AI_Diplomat, AI_Drengin, AI_DreadLord, AI_Crazy, and a few others.
[18:52.16] (Frogboy) Which then can be subclassed further on a per race basis.
[18:52.21] (Frogboy) So we're not talking some different variables.
[18:52.22] * kryo is now known as kryo_back-on-old-PC
[18:52.29] (Frogboy) We're talking significant C++ coding changes between races.
[18:52.40] (Frogboy) TH is si a pain sometimes because you'll fidn some new strategy that is universally better.
[18:52.50] (Frogboy) But overall, the problem we've found is tha tplayers will find some loophole in an AI and exploit it.
[18:53.05] (Frogboy) That's why these games tend to ge told in my opinon. You eventaully can beat the AI do to some blind spot.
[18:53.15] (Frogboy) So by having different code for each one, they'll have DIFFERENT blind spots.
[18:53.29] (Frogboy) But some times one of them might do something "stupid" because their strategy has a weak area that is different from aother.
[18:53.30] (Frogboy) +
[18:53.37] (GreenReaper) (Film) Is spying different in GC2? and (DesertFox) Will destablization be put in or not?
[18:53.59] (Frogboy) No destabiliziation in yet.  When/if we do it we want to do it better.  I liked how MOO2 did that sort of thing and would like to see it more like that.
[18:54.11] (Frogboy) Spying is pretty tame too, it's basically data colleciton and tech stealing.
[18:54.24] (Frogboy) Again, what i'd like to see (Eventaully and no promises)..
[18:54.39] (Frogboy) Is where your spying also leads to actually recruiting spies that you can then assign to differen tplayers.
[18:54.45] (Frogboy) And those spies have different talents.
[18:55.00] (Frogboy) And so based on those talents you would send them to different civs that those talents match
[18:55.21] (Frogboy) but that's not in 1.0. DOn't know if that'll get into the game or not at some point, but that's gives you an idea of what direction we'd like to take it.
[18:55.21] (Frogboy) +
[18:55.27] (GreenReaper) (PoNeH) So here's the big question.  Multiplayer?  Is it going to happen on an expansion or not?  If so, how long are we looking for such an expansion to be released?
[18:55.37] (Frogboy) I don't know yet.
[18:55.47] (Frogboy) I don't have nay objection to adding multilayer because it wouldn't be particuarly difficult.
[18:56.05] (Frogboy) I'm not willing to sacrifice game play thoughf or it. That is, multiplayer won't be "streamlined".
[18:56.29] (Frogboy) It won't be simultaneous turns.  It would be turn based still unless they can figure out some trick to make that work well.
[18:56.41] (Frogboy) PBEM and dedicated servers are the most likely scenario if there's demand for it.
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[18:57.10] (Frogboy) I love multiplayer, but as many know, I just think that turn based strategy games have too often sacrificed a waifer slim slice of their souls to the multiplayer gods.
[18:57.26] (Frogboy) So I want to make sure that people who want to sit down and play a single player game get their chance.
[18:57.52] (Frogboy) Afte rall, there's going to b eplenty of space strategy games with mlutilpaye rcoming out -- Sword of the Stars, Space Empires V, etc.  Those users who are really into that sort of thing will have plenty of options.
[18:58.12] (Frogboy) I want to make sure the people who don't care about playing other people directly in a turn based game are able to get their game too without any compromises.
[18:58.31] (Frogboy) So [probably this Spring we'll put up a pre-order for a multiplayer expansion and if we get enough pre-orders, we'll do it.
[18:58.32] (Frogboy) +
[18:58.38] (GreenReaper) (mavx) What are the chances that we'll see regenerating anomalies before GC3?
[18:59.42] (Frogboy) Oh not sure.
[18:59.54] (Frogboy) I'd have to ask Boogie who's not here right now.
[18:59.55] (Frogboy) +
[19:00.02] (Boogie_BirthdayDinner) (id like it)
[19:00.05] (GreenReaper) (Lucian_Gyiira) Q: Do you plan to eventually make the Dread Lords become a playable race, and if so how do you intend to balance them?
[19:00.24] (Frogboy) That's what people here want to do.
[19:00.38] (Frogboy) We'd balance them the same way we did to the AI player.
[19:01.01] (Frogboy) We'd limit how many ships they could build and their economy so that they would have to win through very careful strategy.
[19:01.14] (Frogboy) I.e. no overwhelming the galaxy with fleets of dread lords, each one would b eprecious.
[19:01.15] (Frogboy) +
[19:01.18] (GreenReaper) (Ven) I'm interested in how big the battles get near the end.  Will there be battles with scores of ships involved, or do the battles usually involve 10-20 ships?
[19:01.37] (Frogboy) Late in the game you will likely see battles with 15 to 25 ships involved.
[19:01.49] * Yarlen is now known as Yarlen_brb
[19:01.51] (Frogboy) Of course, 15 to 25 ships represents a good portion of your fleet.
[19:02.00] (Mormegil) I have had one game with over 40 ships in on battle
[19:02.04] (Frogboy) The GalCiv fleet sizes are ala Star Trek.  Where you don't have thousands of ships engaging one another.
[19:02.16] (Frogboy) You have smaller groups of ships where each one matters.
[19:02.16] (Frogboy) +
[19:02.22] (GreenReaper) (Dracil) Q: Will the retail version will essentially require patching immediately after installing considering the bugs that still exist/were discovered past the release date?
[19:02.25] (Frogboy) Yea, I shoudl say, 15 to 25 per SIDE.
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[19:02.39] (Frogboy) You don't have to patch the game in the retail version.
[19:02.58] (Frogboy) I don't thin kthere's any bugs we fixed in the bonus pack.  Ules you consider spiffying up the AI to be a bug.
[19:03.03] (Frogboy) Let me put it this wya:
[19:03.08] (Frogboy) We sent the retail version to reviewers.
[19:03.15] (Frogboy) Even though we could have sent 1.01 to them.
[19:03.15] (Frogboy) +
[19:03.18] (GreenReaper) (mavx) What's the deal with pirates? The AIs always seem to be "At War" with them, but Ive never encountered them.....
[19:03.31] (Frogboy) The pirates are always out there somewhere.
[19:03.34] (Frogboy) +
[19:03.39] (GreenReaper) (Consumed_Crustacean) Q: You mentioned somewhere in the website a while ago that you were considering releasing a high-resolution texture pack that would require only a Radeon 9800 or better to run. What's the plan regarding releasing this, if a plan exists?
[19:04.02] (Frogboy) OH yea.
[19:04.06] (Frogboy) I want to do that asap.
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[19:04.16] (Frogboy) The only reason we didn't do it for th ebonus pack (we have the texturs) was for support issues.
[19:04.26] (Frogboy) I put up a video.
[19:04.29] (Frogboy) Not sure how many people saw it.
[19:04.42] (Frogboy) https://www.galciv2.com/forums.aspx?AID=101018
[19:04.47] (Frogboy) But it's just a link to a .WMV file.
[19:04.59] (Frogboy) Youw ouldn't believe how many people emailed support on not being able to get that to work.
[19:05.01] (Frogboy) .WMV.
[19:05.06] (Frogboy) Made with stock MS Movie Maker.
[19:05.16] (GreenReaper) Shows we have lots of loyal Linux and Mac users.
[19:05.18] (Frogboy) That really made an impression.
[19:05.33] (Frogboy) Because you know, if .WMV is giving people problems, launch day is going to be really interesting.
[19:05.43] (Frogboy) So we want tomake sure we're not putting in any additonal variables.
[19:06.01] (Frogboy) Aftera ll, who knows what will happen when 1024x124 textures start being available and people with Geforce 4 MX hards try to use them.
[19:06.05] (Frogboy) +
[19:06.07] (GreenReaper) (Fever2) can the maximum fleet logistics value of 50 be easily modified so that you can have much larger fleets?
[19:06.12] (Frogboy) (so we're going to probably release those textures in march)
[19:06.20] (Frogboy) Fever2: Yep.
[19:06.26] (Frogboy) You just up techtree.xml and change the values.
[19:06.34] (Frogboy) There is no limit on fleet sizes.
[19:06.49] (Frogboy) We just balanced it out so that no one was running around with mega fleets for a game play reason.
[19:06.58] (Frogboy) But i tink it would be fun to see a screenshot of 300 vs. 300 ships.
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[19:06.59] (Frogboy) +
[19:07.03] (GreenReaper) (Domadus) Q: Is there any chance of a slider to control the frequency of random events in a later addon/ expansion?
[19:07.25] (Frogboy) Jesse says he had 100vs100 ship abattles.
[19:07.36] (Frogboy) That's possible.
[19:07.45] (Frogboy) There's a lot of setup options we'd like to add in.
[19:07.53] (Frogboy) Picture it as an "advanced" button that lets people REALLY fine tune things.
[19:07.54] (Frogboy) +
[19:07.56] (GreenReaper) (Gek) Can a scenario still use a random map?  Like just be a set of parameters and not a fully pre-scripted map?
[19:08.02] (Frogboy) Yep.
[19:08.05] (Frogboy) +
[19:08.09] (GreenReaper) (DjohaalII) Q: How is the diplomacy process like? Is it a plain table-of-exchange or does it evolve into dialouges/chit-chat and such?
[19:08.29] (Frogboy) Basically it's a table with chit chat integrated for flavor.
[19:08.33] (Frogboy) +
[19:08.34] (GreenReaper) (Gorstagg) Question: Are there any plans to move from The Tiny Michigan, to the Exotic Minnesota, for Stardock. (In order to find more amenable conditions to support Stardock.)
[19:08.43] (Frogboy) hahah.
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[19:08.48] (Frogboy) I'll let Moremgil handle that if he's around.
[19:09.00] (GreenReaper) This is the view from *my* cubicle: http://astro.uchicago.edu/cara/southpole.edu/nov2001/pix/ice.runway.001.sm.jpg
[19:09.10] (Frogboy) haha
[19:09.10] (Cari_Elf) please excuse the life-long michigan residents who are rolling on the floor laughing now
[19:09.12] (Frogboy) +
[19:09.13] (Mormegil) NOOOOOO
[19:09.19] (GreenReaper) (Cdawg) Q- Can we expect more embellishment of the GC story (fluff or perhaps parts of the manuscripts) in future expansions and/or content updates?
[19:09.20] (Nakor) northville, mi is far enough north for me
[19:09.24] (Nakor) it has north in the name...
[19:09.28] (Frogboy) Definitely.
[19:09.40] (Frogboy) For 1.02 (March) I want to expand on the Drath further.
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[19:09.57] (Frogboy) Right now, the AI Drath will manipulate things behidn teh scenes but there's no on screen evidence.
[19:10.00] (Frogboy) I want that sort of thing to show up.
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[19:10.13] (Frogboy) Teh Drath are the Lionel Luthor of games.
[19:10.13] (Frogboy) +
[19:10.17] (GreenReaper) (Dracil) Q: Any chance for the download version to be released sometime on Monday (even if past 6PM), considering it IS a holiday...
[19:10.34] (Frogboy) Monday's a oliday? Don't tell people here. That's beating day.
[19:10.35] (Frogboy) No.
[19:10.37] (Frogboy) +
[19:10.45] (GreenReaper) (Lightzy) How much access do moders have? only XML? will there be a civ4 style SDK where we can alter everything down to the engine or at least the AI?
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[19:11.06] (Frogboy) Not the AI. It's not a seprate entity but rather integrated into the game itself.
[19:11.21] (Frogboy) The graphics, UI, values, etc. are all in pen formats though.
[19:11.27] (Frogboy) XML, PNG, .X, .DXPack.
[19:11.31] (Frogboy) +
[19:11.36] (GreenReaper) (DesertFox) Q: why would you want to run in windowed mode and loose the real estate?
[19:11.52] (Frogboy) Because it's easier to switch between taht and other things.
[19:12.00] (Frogboy) If you run at really high resolution, you have lots of space.
[19:12.07] * GreenReaper has played GalCiv II while editing wiki pages and chatting with friends.
[19:12.07] (Frogboy) Or if you're like me, you have Multiplicity (www.multiplicity.net).
[19:12.12] (Frogboy) +
[19:12.17] (GreenReaper) (Stevious) Q: there was some forum discussion a couple months ago about component size increasing with hull size, making it difficult to fit more stuff on the larger hulls.  how does it work in the final version?
[19:12.30] (Frogboy) It's been toned down.
[19:12.35] (Frogboy) But some things still scale up.
[19:12.43] (Frogboy) The larger hull sizes matter because of their HP more than anything.
[19:12.46] (Frogboy) They can absorb more.
[19:12.54] (Frogboy) Without the scaling up, there'd be no point in building fighters.
[19:13.05] (Frogboy) We really played around with stuff until we were happy with the balance.
[19:13.18] (Frogboy) You want people to be able to creat efleets of fighters and be effective.
[19:13.25] (Frogboy) Just as you want people to be able to focus on capital ships.
[19:13.33] (Frogboy) Take away scaling and the capital ships will just be unstoppable.
[19:13.33] (Frogboy) +
[19:13.37] (GreenReaper) (Gorstagg) Q: How many actual bits of bling are included in the bonuspak? (Specifically related to ship blingy bits.) [GR: they're called jewelry]
[19:13.54] (Frogboy) Moremgil?
[19:14.00] (Mormegil) Good questiion
[19:14.09] (Frogboy) Wanna guess?
[19:14.09] (Mormegil) as many as we can get done
[19:14.20] (Frogboy) Let me put up a picture of one of the ships that we done with the new goodies.
[19:14.24] (Mormegil) I made six more todat
[19:15.27] (Frogboy) saving images.
[19:15.35] (Frogboy) ..
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[19:15.51] (Frogboy) https://www.galciv2.com/screenshots/duel/New_Ship22.jpg
[19:15.59] (Frogboy) https://www.galciv2.com/screenshots/duel/New_Ship1.jpg
[19:16.04] (Frogboy) Two ships with new stuff.
[19:16.06] (Frogboy) +
[19:16.07] (GreenReaper) (YellowSign) Q: In the Campaign, will we be able to use surviving ships from one mission in the following one?
[19:16.41] (Frogboy) 'Afraid not.  But you do get increasing amounts of technology so that you're not having to start over from th eprevious.
[19:16.42] (Frogboy) +
[19:16.45] (GreenReaper) (Gorstagg) Q: Frogboy, have you considered additional non-humanoid like races, to give a different flavor to Gal Civ? Such as Jellyfish that float in Gas Giants. Etc.. though they are sentient, ala MoO3.
[19:16.56] (Frogboy) The Yor complain about this a lot.
[19:17.11] (Frogboy) At one point, they say "You know, where are the Silicoids?"
[19:17.21] (Frogboy) "Why not have a silicon race? No. I'm stuck with meat."
[19:17.28] (Frogboy) "A gasseous form wuld be good too."
[19:17.31] (Frogboy) SO the YOr share this concern.
[19:17.47] (Frogboy) But I can't really say what will make it in, that's more of an art issue.
[19:17.55] (Frogboy) We won't b emaking races that do better on certain types of planets though. 
[19:18.07] (Frogboy) We would be more likely to make reousrce that some races can do better with than others.
[19:18.08] (Frogboy) +
[19:18.12] (GreenReaper) (ignatios) Q: Are there any plans for a Macintosh version?
[19:18.18] (Frogboy) I wish. 
[19:18.24] (Frogboy) But we don't really have that much expertise here for that.
[19:18.29] (Frogboy) So it would be very hard to port.
[19:18.30] (Frogboy) +
[19:18.36] (GreenReaper) (Rubyeye) What are the dimensions of the tech tree that is being shipped with the CE? Does it fold out?
[19:18.44] (Frogboy) Moremgil?
[19:18.55] (Mormegil) I think it is 22 x 28 dubble sided
[19:19.00] (GreenReaper) Inches?
[19:19.03] (Mormegil) yes
[19:19.12] (Frogboy) +
[19:19.16] (GreenReaper) (DesertFox) Q: Repeated - Will Galciv be able to use mounts for engines, weapons, that will further reduce the size and power of the components attached to them. SEIV uses them to place extra weapons but mini size, these help pack more into your ships then normal
[19:19.31] (Frogboy) Ah ok.
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[19:19.47] (Frogboy) I haven't really give much thought so I would have to think about it.
[19:19.57] (Frogboy) We'd have to make sure it wasn't too easy to exploit.
[19:19.58] (Frogboy) +
[19:20.03] (GreenReaper) (vip) What is your biggest dislike of the game, or what would you have done different if time permitted?
[19:20.09] (Frogboy) Hmm.
[19:20.15] (Frogboy) I have a huge list.
[19:20.33] (Frogboy) But I tend to complain about games a lot so I'm not really a fair judge, especially when I see all the things I wanted to do.
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[19:20.53] (Frogboy) I think I'd really like to have put more into destablizing and spying.
[19:21.10] (Frogboy) More about anthropology. Things that make the races have more dpeth.
[19:21.11] (Frogboy) +
[19:21.12] (GreenReaper) (Kaodi) Is there even an infintesimally small chance of Mars suddenly spawning a new race of bulbous-eyed, green skinned aliens? Or any other for that matter?
[19:22.09] (Frogboy) 100 vs 100 fleet battle one of our gusy tried out. Not pretty from zoomed out.
[19:22.10] (Frogboy) https://www.galciv2.com/screenshots/duel/100vs100.png
[19:22.34] (Frogboy) Oh, there's always a chance of weird things happening like that. A minor race can sprout anywhere.
[19:22.36] (Frogboy) +
[19:22.39] (GreenReaper) (Fever2) are there plans to add planet bombardment/destruction in addition to the current invasion attack? (I love to glass planets)
[19:22.59] (Frogboy) Youc an do taht with mass drivers already. 
[19:23.04] (Frogboy) The transport is a nasty thing.
[19:23.16] (Frogboy) But you have to conquer the planet for the effects to be seen.
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[19:23.31] (Frogboy) But yes, there's the babylon 5 mass driver attack which takes downt he planet quality immensely and destroys stuff.
[19:23.38] (GreenReaper) I think the meaning is to have (a chance of) having the effect without doing an invasion.
[19:23.42] (Frogboy) But there aren't ships that simply do it without you having to invade since that would be very exploitable.
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[19:23.56] (Frogboy) Otherwise you get the infamous MOO 2 Genocide run.
[19:24.16] (Frogboy) Where each game ends with two mass fleets racing around to poison or oblierate th eothe rside's planets and so the most important tech is whose ships are faster.
[19:24.17] (Frogboy) +
[19:24.20] (GreenReaper) (Lightzy) How do you explain the backstory telling the drengin have a massive space fleet if it doesn't work like that in the game? I mean, wouldn't the drengin wipe out everyone a minute from the game starts?
[19:24.35] (Frogboy) In the sandbox mode, everyone starts equal.
[19:24.41] (Frogboy) The campaign is where the story comes in.
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[19:24.48] (Frogboy) And in there, the Drengin are very huge.
[19:24.49] (Frogboy) +
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[19:24.55] (GreenReaper) (wesley) Q: What games are the developers playing right now, besides GalCiv2?
[19:25.02] (Cari_Elf) World of Warcraft
[19:25.04] (Frogboy) Civilization 4.
[19:25.05] (Cari_Elf) Neverwinter Nights
[19:25.08] (GreenReaper) Second Life
[19:25.14] (Mormegil) Doom 3
[19:25.34] (CodeCritter) civ 4
[19:25.36] (Frogboy) +
[19:25.38] (GreenReaper) (Fuels_Chief) Q.  Is metaverse scoring going to be the same as GCI?
[19:25.43] (Frogboy) No.
[19:25.50] (Frogboy) Rewrite the scoring system for GalCiv II.
[19:25.59] (Frogboy) It'll probably need to be tweaked though. It's hard to nail down the best scoring algorithms.
[19:26.13] (Frogboy) I saw Mayito winning games with alliances on masochistic.
[19:26.25] (Frogboy) So the exploit wars will requre score tuning I suspect.
[19:26.32] (Frogboy) +
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[19:26.36] (GreenReaper) (MadIce) Question: Will there be a Special Edition released in the Netherlands?
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[19:27.16] (Frogboy) I'm not sure. I think Paradox is doing some neat stuff over there.
[19:27.18] (Frogboy) +
[19:27.19] (Yarlen) Paradox's release of GalCiv II is akin to our Collector's Edition.
[19:27.29] (Yarlen) (Their first run anyway)
[19:27.32] (GreenReaper) (Noxin) Is there any way to export or save a ship design made in the in-game editor for use in later games?
[19:27.46] (Frogboy) I read that there's includes a manual. Ours just includes a pamphelt of various dog stories.
[19:27.53] (GreenReaper) Paradox has their steel box
[19:27.55] (Frogboy) Yes.
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[19:28.04] (Frogboy) Ships are saved between games.
[19:28.05] (Yarlen) Well, which would you rather have?  I'd vote dog stories any day!
[19:28.12] (Frogboy) heh
[19:28.13] (Frogboy) +
[19:28.17] (GreenReaper) (YellowSign) Q: Any chance that one day the coders among the players will be able to write there on AIs and plug them into the game? Though my AI probably would suck, players competung about who writes the best AI would be an exciting Meta-game.
[19:28.43] (Frogboy) Probably not.  The AI is so tied in that at that ponti we'd have to just make the whole thing open source and that's not likely to happen.
[19:28.45] (Frogboy) +
[19:28.50] (GreenReaper) (ignatios) How much of the game is written in C++? What other languages (Python, .NET, etc) are used (if any)?
[19:28.57] (Frogboy) It's all C++.
[19:28.59] (Frogboy) +
[19:29.05] (GreenReaper) (vip) Q: Speaking of multiplayer, you think it's in Stardocks future to create something similar to B.NET ?
[19:29.16] (Frogboy) Depends on which eleemtn of it.
[19:29.22] (Frogboy) You mean match making servers?
[19:29.40] (Frogboy) All our mutipayer games included built in match making services ala Warcraft's/starcraft's battle.net
[19:29.50] (Frogboy) I'm not sure what would be beyond that.
[19:29.51] (Frogboy) +
[19:29.52] (GreenReaper) (Grohyt) Q: do you plan on releasing anymore gameplay videos with commentary?
[19:30.07] (Frogboy) Yea.  We want to do one that has more of the team involved.
[19:30.17] (Frogboy) Just have to figur eout the logistics of mxing all of us in.
[19:30.21] (Frogboy) +
[19:30.38] (GreenReaper) (NeilN) Will the game support multi-monitor setups?
[19:30.48] (Frogboy) In terms of?
[19:30.53] (GreenReaper) I would guess stretching?
[19:31.04] (Frogboy) If you run it in a window, you can stretch it across two screens.
[19:31.10] (Frogboy) Is that what he means?
[19:31.12] (Frogboy) +
[19:31.16] (GreenReaper) (Rosado6969) Q. - can we expect (more?) free expansion packs that contain more ship parts to enhance customization of our fleets?
[19:31.21] (Mormegil) If your moniture suports spanning, you can use more then one moniter, with a custome window size
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[19:31.41] (Frogboy) We do plan to keep releasing additional sip parts and such.
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[19:31.52] (Frogboy) Though really, (evil capitalist hat on) sales will determine a lot of that.
[19:32.23] (GreenReaper) The hat has black spikes on and is dripping with some kind of red fluid.
[19:32.24] (Frogboy) It's really REALLY hard to get into retail so if it's something that will help sales stay strong then definitely. Otherwise it just depend son what we can afford.
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[19:32.28] (Frogboy) +
[19:32.30] (GreenReaper) (Suralle) Q. - Will there be a change made to the racial abilities that allow players to make modifications to their logistics ability and miniaturization percentages?
[19:32.53] (Frogboy) Not in-game.
[19:33.01] (Frogboy) But you can always change raceconfig.xml to your liking.
[19:33.01] (Frogboy) +
[19:33.04] (GreenReaper) (NeilN) In the Quick Video demo Frogboy used the middle mouse button to scroll around and zoom.  Are there keyboard equivalents?
[19:33.15] (Frogboy) The + and - keys do zooming.
[19:33.20] (Frogboy) The number keys change the view.
[19:33.42] (Frogboy) +
[19:33.44] (GreenReaper)  ((Got questions? /join #questions and ask away, they will be queued for answering))
[19:33.49] (GreenReaper) (ignatios) Q: Can parts of ships be damaged or destroyed, thereby reducing the effectiveness of damaged ships? And can we see this happen?
[19:33.52] (Frogboy) Going to wrap up in 5 mins.
[19:33.54] (GreenReaper) OK
[19:34.03] (Frogboy) Nope, ships are fully effective until dead.
[19:34.09] (Frogboy) +
[19:34.14] (GreenReaper) (Kaodi) Do you guys suppose that the games and franchises you develop, like Galactic Civilizations I & II, will only ever be considered as gaming properties, or would you  ever consider allowing it to be diversified, into say, books or novellas, or any other kind of game or toy, as some other companies have attempted?
[19:34.29] (Frogboy) That's hard to say.
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[19:34.49] (Frogboy) One might argue that the GalCiv games are an extension of the unpublished stories from college.
[19:34.56] (Frogboy) But I hadn't really given it a lot of thought.
[19:35.01] (Frogboy) Today we got these toy ships based on the game.
[19:35.05] (Frogboy) And they were pretty cool.
[19:35.16] (Frogboy) i'd like to eventaully turn the back stories into books someday.
[19:35.19] (Frogboy) +
[19:35.22] (GreenReaper) (mavx) With the largely increased pool of bling...errr..jewelry... will there be a way to "sort" them...    the list is fairly long right now, I often forget where certain parts are at or even what parts exist...  I cant imagine what Ill do with a list twice the size!
[19:35.36] (Frogboy) Perosnally I think that whole screen is the devil.
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[19:35.42] (Frogboy) There are sorting styles though already in there.
[19:35.50] (Frogboy) er sorting options.
[19:35.58] (Frogboy) But I think eventually we'll have to revisit that screen.
[19:35.59] (Frogboy) +
[19:36.01] (GreenReaper) (Stevious) Q: What does the racial ability of "luck" do?  Does it actually cause beneficial random events, or is it purely a combat thing?
[19:36.17] (Frogboy) Luck is supposed to do a number of things.
[19:36.25] (Frogboy) Increase the likelyhood of random events going your way.
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[19:36.32] (Frogboy) Increase the odds of getting a good random event.
[19:36.37] (Frogboy) +
[19:36.40] (GreenReaper) (Vinco) Question:  Will we be able to export hull templates and upload them for other players?  I can't design good-looking ships, and would like to mooch off of the creative players
[19:36.50] (Frogboy) Yep.
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[19:37.06] (Frogboy) http://library.galciv2.com/index.aspx?c=8
[19:37.07] (Frogboy) +
[19:37.08] (GreenReaper) (NeilN) Some games have commands that require multiple keys to be pressed at the same time or something like shift-clicks.  does GalCiv II have this?  If so, does it support the standard Windows StickeyKeys functionality?
[19:37.31] (Frogboy) I dont' think any commands like that.
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[19:37.36] (Frogboy) +
[19:37.38] (Boogie_BirthdayDinner) just cheats
[19:37.40] (GreenReaper) (Human_Shield) Question: How will major civs react to custom races? Is there seperate dialog custom races?
[19:37.50] (Frogboy) Yep, and it was a pain to do.
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[19:38.05] (Frogboy) (mainly because I"m only half literate)
[19:38.06] (Frogboy) +
[19:38.09] (GreenReaper) (funkman2000) any plans to release art of what the races look like from the neck down?! I don't think I've seen what the heck a torian looks like except the face
[19:38.26] (Frogboy) Heh.  Well, I would have to ask the artists on that.
[19:38.30] (Boogie_BirthdayDinner) we'd love to do an art-of book eventually
[19:38.32] (Frogboy) but I suspedt they have no neck down.
[19:38.36] (Cari_Elf) LOL
[19:38.41] (Boogie_BirthdayDinner) thats the rumor
[19:38.45] (Frogboy) +
[19:38.48] (GreenReaper) In the year 2300, everyone has evolved into talking heads.
[19:38.51] (GreenReaper) (Kaodi) Do transports actually have to equip modules that enable the special invasion tactics? If not, might this be added at a later date?
[19:38.52] (Cari_Elf) someone made comics from the first Gal Civ involving Torians and Drengins
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[19:38.54] (Frogboy) The Terarn Alliance guy is funny.
[19:39.02] (Frogboy) He says "I may look like I have no arms but.."
[19:39.18] (Frogboy) Th etactics available are based on what techs you've researched.
[19:39.28] (Frogboy) Not sure how we'll expand the modules yet, it's often discussed.
[19:39.28] (Frogboy) +
[19:39.32] (GreenReaper) (Fever2) how is trade initiated with other races and how is the income determined on a per turn basis? (include starbase effects in repsonse please, oh and freighter distance from home planet)
[19:39.49] (Frogboy) You build freighter sthat you then send to a friendly civ.
[19:40.05] (Frogboy) The revenue is based on distance (% of galaxy traveled) X wealth of source and destination.
[19:40.12] (Frogboy) 2 more questions.
[19:40.13] (Frogboy) +
[19:40.21] (GreenReaper) no, just one
[19:40.22] (GreenReaper) (Cdawg) Q: When does work on Gal Civ III begin 
[19:40.27] (Frogboy) Haha.
[19:40.42] (Frogboy) Well, that'll be a February 2009 release type thing.
[19:40.48] (Frogboy) GalCiv III: Crusade
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[19:41.07] (Boogie_BirthdayDinner) we have a wish-list of features, so you could say it's already begun
[19:41.07] (Frogboy) With artifacts, characters, etc. But that's for a future discussion.
[19:41.08] (Mormegil) "working title"
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[19:41.23] (Frogboy) Thanks everyone for comign by.
[19:41.26] (Frogboy) I'll be here for a bit,
[19:41.29] (GreenReaper) And remember, guys, #galciv is just nextdoor and is always open.
[19:41.30] (Frogboy) GR will turn off the voic eonly so everyone can talk.
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[19:41.33] * Yarlen has quit IRC (Quit: I cna ytpe 300 wrods pre mniuet!!!)
[19:41.36] (Frogboy) And we also have a #galciv channel dedicated to the game.
[19:41.42] (Frogboy) We're here pretty mcuh all the time.
[19:41.46] * GreenReaper sets mode: -m
[19:41.49] (Thomas)
[19:41.51] (ignatios) I just want to say that you guys are amazing
[19:41.55] (DesignCaddy) mm. gonna need to get me this game.
[19:41.56] (scottc) want game now~!
[19:41.58] (Frogboy) Thanks!
[19:42.02] (Lightzy) Thanks a lot
[19:42.03] (Thomas) at last I can speak again
[19:42.04] (established) Thanks to you!
[19:42.04] (Grohyt) Thank You!!
[19:42.05] * Undoing applauds and whoreships
[19:42.06] (Darth_Griffin) Thanks
[19:42.08] (Consumed_Crustacean) (3 you folks
[19:42.10] (Gorstagg) Thanks for the chat tonight. Very enjoyable.