Galactic Civilizations II v1.3 BETA 1 change log

Target availability: 7/27

Published on July 26, 2006 By Draginol In GalCiv Journals

The 1.3 builds of Galactic Civilizations II will be in beta for longer than some of the previous versions. It's not so much that we think it's buggy but the fact that we don't want to do a 1.3, 1.31, 1.32, 1.33 and so on. Plus, if there ARE bugs in these builds, we can say "Well it's a beta". After all, weaseling is what sets us apart from the animals...well...you know..except the weasel.

The 1.3 builds are designed to extend the playable lifespan of the game. To eliminate annoyances and pet peeves that players might have that would eventually turn them off. That includes things like UI annoyances being eliminated based on player feedback, amping up the computer AI further, and adding more difficulty levels so that players can fine-tune things.

If I were a better game designer, I'd just have the difficulty levels be a slider with a 1 to 100. Dark Avatar will have that (ironically the original OS/2 version of GalCiv back in 1993 had this but what did I know then?). But for 1.3, we added 3 more difficulty levels and just generally cleaned up that area.

Below is the change log of BETA 1 of 1.3. It will be available via Stardock Central tomorrow or Friday unless there's some disaster.

It should be fine to run. Most of the embedded spyware, hard drive formatting, and other malicious code that all our software includes has been reduced by over 14%. Just ignore the hard drive crunching...

+ fixed first turn after load zero production behavior!

+ AI better at managing colonies

+ More difficulty levels: Dunce at the lower end, Godlike and Ultimate at the higher end.

+ AI intelligence levels above and below "Intelligent" adjusted in difficulty (so i.e. Normal will be tougher than it was because there's a new easier difficulty level and Incredible will be easier because there's two higher difficulty levels).

+ The overall difficulty levels have now bee tweaked to have a 1 to 1 relationshipo with the AI intelligence levels so "Challenging" means all AI intelligences set to "Bright" rather than a weighted overall value. Many higher level players would find that they set the difficultly level to Crippling only to find that 2 or 3 of the players would be set to "Fool" (and do very little) while the others played very well.

+ Difficulty setup screen tweaked to work better.

+ changed size of TriStrontium so that it's bigger than TriStrontium2; previously the definitions were identical.

+ fixed error in translation code for raceconfig (homeworld)

+ fixed error in translation code for UP issues.

+ fixed bug that reset the cheater's flag, allowing cheater games to be submitted normally.

+ fixed some exploits in raceconfigs for metaverse games

+ fixed missing image in Rename Ship dialog

+ fixed error in AbilitiesBonus.xml file that didn't show 20% bonus to Loyalty

+ reduced the Custom Race's default value of Loyalty to 15% so that it would not cause negative ability points

+ added code to clear the planet/shiplist between games so that it wouldn't keep old pointers (should prevent a memory leak and potential crashes due to bad pointers)

+ made it so that you can select a race by clicking on its icon on the Foreign Treaties screen

+ made it so that the seleted planet or ship in the planet/ship list is saved so that changing the sort variable or filters will still keep the selection.

+ added code to let you right click on a tech to bring up the tech description dialog when the tech tree window is maximized

+ fixed error where fleets of ships could still attack freighters protected by galactic privateer

+ Reversed direction of the moon revolution (yes, Earth's moon now rotates around the Earth the right way)

+ added a check in the Direct 3D code for vertex and pixel shader versions

+ added code to make foreign policy window try to select a non-dead civ

+ made sure that the civ manager only has to parse the entry definitions once

+ made planet screens refresh after removing or adding troops

+ fixed numerous typos and spelling errors in various files

+ changed it so that the difficulty on the OpponentWnd slider changes all of the selected races' intelligences

+ changed it so that when you enable a race, it automatically sets its intelligence to be at the level of the difficulty

+ Fixed bug where lines on Treaties screen would point off-screen if you were a custom race playing against 10 enemies

+ D and T buttons will now toggle the details and rally point screens on/off instead of queuing up multiple instances of them

+ Kills some battle related processes as soon as they are finished so they don’t stay in memory when no longer needed

+ When running in full screen mode (Release build), the mouse will be clipped to the game window to prevent accidentally clicking outside of the window. You can still use ALT+TAB to activate other windows.

+ added function IsProtectedMiniFreighter to check for valid target

+ added code to clear selected rallypoint from minimap to prevent crashing when the rallypoint is deleted

+ added code to clear rallypoint destination when rallypoint is destroyed

+ Added a debug assert if the required technology for a ship type is not found

+ Fixed bug where ships on auto-explore that were put in a planet would immediately start auto-exploring once launched from the planet

+ Fixed a graphical bug where if you had 1 ship with moves and it attacked a planet with a fleet manager, the fleet would remain on top of the planet if the attacking ship was killed.

+ fixed memory leak caused by too many references to ship design listbox entries

+ fixed possible crash when saving std::strings in save game

+ cleaned up code in PropertyBucket class to make it more efficient.

+ Fixed a crash in the scene graph

+ Added ref counts to scene nodes in battle processes to prevent “random battle crashes”

+ Kills some battle related processes as soon as they are finished so they don’t stay in memory when no longer needed

Comments (Page 6)

player1_fanatic

on Jul 30, 2006

+ fixed first turn after load zero production behavior!

Finally!
I waited for this since 1.0

player1_fanatic

on Jul 30, 2006

As for various small weapon/armor inconsistancies (bettter being worse or similar), I will say that there are definetly some, and only necessary thing is to find someone to look for them, and someone to edit XML files.

Much simpler then doing some AI coding, or code bug-fixing. Fire up some XML editor and carefully look important fields for inconsistencies. I think I found around dozen a while ago. Good idea is to check for player made MODSs to see if someone already indentified some of those inconsistencies to save up some time.

For example, does anyone know that Bank is more expansive then Stock Exhange (at least in 1.11, 1.2).

Or that Manif. Center gives just 1 production point more (+9%) then Enh. Factory, while being twice expensive?

I think even beta testers (with XML editor) could be good to help with this. To just write out all XML inconsistances they found and then just sumbit that to be added into final 1.3.

Anyway, keeping game balance helps gameplay as much as better AI. Ok, maybe not that much...

pdesrivieres@yahoo.com

on Jul 30, 2006

For example, does anyone know that Bank is more expansive then Stock Exhange (at least in 1.11, 1.2).

Or that Manif. Center gives just 1 production point more (+9%) then Enh. Factory, while being twice expensive?

If you had read through the posts you would have seen ignuss brought up those same points along with many others (see post #29).

Unfortunately, if you are playing the Metaverse you can't use mods so we are dependent for Stardock to make the changes in an official update.

I think Manufacturing Centers should output 15 and Industrial Sectors 20, then we would get about 40% more output at double the cost.
Banking Centers should cost 125 rather than 250, consideing Stock Exchanges cost only 150.

Plus, I don't think any Mod can fix Subspace Annihilator since it doesn't exist. I think that requires coding changes.

Paul D.

Noumenon

on Jul 31, 2006

Nearly every update you've done has had an "awesome factor" that got me wowed that they actually did that and excited to get back to the game. For this update, the "awesome" is in getting rid of the first turn resource loss. Really, it's going to be a conversation starter with my friends who have set the game aside.

Second "awesome": fixing the direction the moons rotate. This is because it almost surely doesn't matter to you, meaning you did it just because the users wanted it. And you like to get details right.

Third: If I had known Galactic Privateer was supposed to keep your freighters from being attacked at all, I would be really chuffed that you fixed that. I thought it was working as designed before.

Thanks for the update. You are the man.

Supreme Shogun

on Jul 31, 2006

I have to agree with Mascrinthus somewhat, before I go *ANY* farther let me say I have read the entire thread and also agree with what Cari said.

I think snubbing some peeps about how Trivial some XML changes are is bad. I only felt enflamed reading this BS. At this point it matters WHO you ask, how many actually are going to use uber ultimate super sid level vs how many are finally going to quit bitching about researching turd shooter mark 3 being worse than turd shooter mark 2.

anyways if you have X hours, do what is right by the game and you'll still have my support.
Is it even possible though you can spend Y hours on the aforementioned XML corrections that has been bugging some of us since DAY 1? Where Y could even be less than x/10

See ya around the galaxy,

Shogun out.

mdmitchell

on Aug 01, 2006

I know this is probably just me...

But if it is not too much trouble, can a future release allow the player to rename the stars while in the game?

player1_fanatic

on Aug 01, 2006

If you had read through the posts you would have seen ignuss brought up those same points along with many others (see post #29).

For some strange reason first time I clicked on this thread it jumped directly to 2nd page, and at that time I have no idea I was on second page (since first thread is still visible on 2nd page, unlike on many other forums).

Now, I know that many of those XML inconsistances are detected and documented by many players, so it should be even easer by developers to make those XML fixes official.

After all, while it's just XML editing, only "official" XML editing will help to majority of players, especially those playing Metaverse, or like to play proper (unmoded) game.

cyberj914

on Aug 02, 2006

Keeps getting better. Funny I think I've said that about every update so far.

As for the tech stuff I can understand from a balance standpoint if certain techs are actually worse then their predecessor and in the real world that is sometimes the case. My rub (and a minor one at that since I play every day anyway

) is when the description does not match what the object does. This is the case with the aforementioned Mind Control Center and the Government types. (Which reminds me I need to change that in my FAQ).

For me who has played several hundred games by now it is no big deal since I know what to expect. However for a new player these sorts of things can be frustrating. Trust me I used to spend part of my day answering forum questions for people when something in the game did not do what it told the player it did. The fixed Research values come to mind here. All I ask is that if you could take the time to clear up the few issues where something is different in implementation then it is in description all would be better.

Beyond that I'm still amazed at the items to be fixed. Not that they get fixed (LOL) but that there are still things that can be tweaked to make this already excellent game even better. Certainly looking forward to the rest of v1.3 and the upcoming expansion.

noctrine

on Aug 03, 2006

In very large games, when you have a great number of ships moving around the map, the animations inbetween turns takes a significant amount of time. Even on a fast computer, I'm always wishing there was a way to skip the animations, so my turn was approximately resolved as fast as the AI (everything jump to where it's supposed to be). Is there a way to disable the animations of the ships moving around the map, or could that be a feature of the next patch?

e-stab

on Aug 03, 2006

I'm always wishing there was a way to skip the animations, so my turn was approximately resolved as fast as the AI (everything jump to where it's supposed to be)

I usually zoom in to a covered part of the map, the AI turn passes much faster this way.

But I definitely second the idea of an official option for this.

MagiK1

on Aug 06, 2006

CariElf I would like to applaud your post about civility and how people "ask" for things. Well worded and the explanations were excellent. Thank you for your work. P.S. Sorry this is so late in coming (your post was made on July 27th)

DavidBeoulve

on Aug 08, 2006

I think the Stardock team has done an outstanding job with GalCiv 2. I can't wait to play it on an E6700 CPU with Crossfire. Imagine the AI on that beast of a CPU.

With the amount of time and energy and fixes they have put into this game - and by fixes I include UI improvements, AI strengthening and so on - Galactic Civilizations 2 is just an incredible buy.

2nd Best value per dollar spent game I've ever bought after Neverwinter Nights.

Astax

on Aug 09, 2006

Hmmm if anyone feels like putting up custom weapons/armor values it would only work with custom HPs IMO. Adding higher damage to weapons with lower spread (like lets say laser 6-8 damage) and changing armor to be a % reduction while upping HPs might improve gameplay

Also more hp regen woudl be great.

Also make the armor reduction scale so that the more you add the less the damage migitation, to prevent total turtle ships

Darth Nihilus

on Aug 17, 2006

Reversed direction of the moon revolution (yes, Earth's moon now rotates around the Earth the right way

what do you mean? the moon was at the opposite direction?

why won't you at stardock make some "not perfect" moons, I mean why are the moons always spinning in straight direction? why not at diagonal line or something?

kryo

on Aug 17, 2006

what do you mean? the moon was at the opposite direction?

The moons used to orbit clockwise, but after many complaints about it it has now been changed to counterclockwise so Earth's moon orbits the same direction as it does in reality.

why won't you at stardock make some "not perfect" moons, I mean why are the moons always spinning in straight direction? why not at diagonal line or something?

That would really just be eye candy, and it would require new animations and code changes to achieve (right now the game just uses the same model and animation for every moon). Not a priority while other problems exist.

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