GalCiv II: v1.3 Beta 3 Change log

Lots of stuff..

Published on August 29, 2006 By Draginol In GalCiv Journals

We're almost done with 1.3 but we have a new beta that should be available on Stardock Central to all users of Galactic Civilizations II.

Here is what is new in beta 3 over beta 2A.

************************************************************
Changes for v1.3 Beta 3:
************************************************************

+ Changed some of the planetary improvement values and costs

+ Tweaked some of the values in starbase modules

+ made entry field selection show up

+ added tech report to trade screen

+ Tweaked text and dialog in teh campaign and in some scenarios

+ fixed save games not showing up in save game window if there were other files with the same extension.

+ Custom window sizes work now

+ fixed error where mod subfolders PlanetDescriptions and TerrainColorScheme didn't work

+ fixed error where Terrain query images + ship component thumbnails did not show up even if they were in the correct mod subfolder

+ Tweaked the minimap where it didn't draw all of the ZOC

+ fixed destination cursors not being visible after loading save game

+ added checks to make sure that dead civs are ignored in the UP

+ Added strings for moralists event

+ fixed typo in Singularity Driver IV's name

+ Removed redunant use of short civ name in battle messages in GNN

+ changed FindShipInSensorRange to use a predicate function

+ Sentry/Guard should work better now

+ Made it so that clicking on a ship will not cancel guard/sentry

+ changed it so that the ship list does not do a full update so often (should help move times)

+ added option to not prompt to pay cost of a module if you have enough money in your treasury

+ Changed missing turn button if a rallypoint is on an uninhabitable or uncolonized planet

+ fixed bug where there was a 1 turn delay before ships would calc a new path after swapping rallypoint destinations from the governor

+ fixed bug with trade screen where dialogs did not hide when switching civs

+ fixed government bonus strings so that they now show the bonuses as implemented.

+ updated ship designs that wasn't using correct ranges

+ Re-did UI so that where clicking on the minimap couldn't accidently click on the find or turn buttons

+ Updated calculation of alliance victory status string

+ tweaked locale code so that it doesn't change so much, which should fix some performance issues and some crashes. Have verification that display and entry of German characters is working, but would like confirmation from other languages also.

+ Changed auto-attack behavior; When a ship is set on auto-attack, it will attempt to find a nearby ship belonging to a civ it is at war with. If it can't find a ship that is not hidden by fow, it will cancel auto-attack to avoid causing the missing turn button bug. To avoid slowdown, it does not attempt to pick the 'best' target, it just picks the first valid target it finds.

+ added additional debug messages to activation code

+ Updated screen on OpponentWnd where the civ name was not using the displayname field.

+ made rallypoint wnd sort rallypoint names alphabetically

+ Terran Alliance should now start with the correct intelligence

+ Addressed playability issue where the last non-custom race you played would be loaded when going to customize the custom race (You may get this the first time before you load the correct custom race config or clear the LastRace string under CustomRace in the Prefs.ini file)

+ Changed Ctrl+B where hitting CTRL+N when playing a Custom Race started a new game using the default Custom Race config

+ Fixed bug where planet quality and number of tiles did not match after choosing Neutral alignment

+ Updated Invasion behavior to avoid invading a planet with a planetary bonus multiple times would cause more tiles to become available every invasion

+ Added tool tip on planet screen

+ Fixed bug where info icons would appear jumbled together at the top of the screen if there were too many. Now, new icons will fall as soon as the existing icons have been cleared.

+ Improved the graphics management system for better compatibility

+ Dead Civs no longer show up with voting power. We realize not counting dead people in voting makes game less realistic... JK.

+ Fixed "Specialized Ships" stat on Foreign Stats/Military page to show correct number of ships

+ Tweaked where starport icons on planets on main map were not updated after using the Civ Manager Governor to change what starports were building

+ Changed behavior where first turn after loading a saved game would show a dip in the manufacturing history graph

+ Updated Combat viewer to change where ship icons in combat viewer did not show the correct amount of damage if the civ had HP bonuses

+ Fixed an API that made the AI like you more than they should

+ Syncronized relations code that caused the AI and Human player relations to be out of sync

+ Hooked planet data to economic engine. Where planet data wasn't refreshing after changing spending sliders

+ Updated UI structs where intelligences were reset without updating difficulty level if you went back to a previous screen

+ Made decomission of planetary improvements never take more than 1 turn.

+ added code to make sure that decomission 'improvements' can't be built on empty or non-functional tiles

+ Our system now suppports tab keysin entry fields

+ added dialog to warn if you're using an invalid race config when playing a metaverse game

+ fixed bug where starting a new game after having started/loaded a game and left the ship list open causes a crash or empty game screen

+ added code to delete shipcfgs from My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships (or metaverse\ships) folder that do not have an xml file. This will help keep the folder clean and cut down on save game sizes (and time to save/load)

+ rallypoints will no longer show up in the stacked ship context area, since they now show up in the context area in the bottom left corner of the main screen interface

+ Fixed bug where sometimes, after an alt-tab, freighter ships would not appear to be the correct size.

+ Fixed bug where planet quality penalties were applied in the case of an invasion that ended in a draw

+ fixed crash on foreign report if no race has any ships

+ fixed bug that didn't read in modded conversations or flavor text

+ fixed bug where last custom race wasn't loaded

+ Tweaked it so that tooltips will now show up for the lower row of ships in the Ships in Orbit

+ fixed it so that if you select a ship in the Ships In Orbit area, it will deselect the previous one, even if it's in another row.

+ SizeMods now use only the base capacity of the hull, not the max capacity (the capacity after miniturization is applied)

+ Made changes to font manager to fix the slow-down on foreign language systems.

+ Added option to disable city lights on the dark side of planets

+ fleet upgrade overlays always update properly

UPDATE: 1.3 BETA 3X

+ Tweaked ship weapons/defenses

+ Tweaked more planetary improvements

+ Fixed an infinite loop caused by Beta 3.

+ Changed the way planetary invasions penalties work when a draw (extremely rare)

Comments (Page 1)

smjjames

on Aug 29, 2006

+ Tweaked the minimap where it didn't draw all of the ZOC

That will definetly help when you are doing huge and gigantic maps

+ Re-did UI so that where clicking on the minimap couldn't accidently click on the find or turn buttons

WHOOYEA! that accidentially clicking the turn button thing is really annoying, which is why I hate starting locations that are right by the turn button on the minimap.

Pretty cool beta update, when will it be released? tonight I guess?

Kalin

on Aug 29, 2006

+ SizeMods now use only the base capacity of the hull, not the max capacity (the capacity after miniturization is applied)

Wow... didn't expect that one to be honest... miniturization just got a lot more useful. So much for no major gameplay changes,

(Hiding it at the bottom is a nice idea, no one will finish reading a change list that long... well, almost no one. lol).

In anycase, I'm all for the changes, bring it on!

kapeman

on Aug 29, 2006

Good stuff. When will it be available?

smjjames

on Aug 29, 2006

also, there is still that floating hardpoint for one of the jewlery pieces. It's one of the long bars.

kryo

on Aug 29, 2006

+ SizeMods now use only the base capacity of the hull, not the max capacity (the capacity after miniturization is applied)

Wow... didn't expect that one to be honest... miniturization just got a lot more useful. So much for no major gameplay changes,

That's actually been fixed since beta 2a a couple of weeks ago (there just weren't any release notes for that mini-update).

S31Apoc

on Aug 29, 2006

sweet cant wait.. I would love to see one long change list from version 1.0 to this.. I wonder how long it would be?

pdesrivieres@yahoo.com

on Aug 29, 2006

Changed some of the planetary improvement values and costs

I hope the output of advanced factories was increased and cost of the banking center reduced.

In v1.2 the output of the Manufacturing Centers and Industrial Sectors
was reduced.
Enhanced Factory 10, 100 (Output, Cost)
Manufacturing Center 11, 200
Industrial Sector 16, 400
I suggest:
Manufacturing Center 14, 200
Industrial Sector 20, 400
that way the output increases by about 40% and cost by 100% for each
upgrade.

Also the cost of a Banking Center seems excessive compared to the far
cheaper and far more valuable Stock Market.
Banking Center (24% EC, 250 cost)
Stock Market (30% EC, 10% morale, 5% influence, 150 cost)
I would suggest cutting the cost of a Banking Center in half to 125.

fixed government bonus strings so that they now show the bonuses as implemented.

Good! This was causing a lot of confusion among players.

Fixed bug where planet quality and number of tiles did not match after choosing Neutral alignment

Updated Invasion behavior to avoid invading a planet with a planetary bonus multiple times would cause more tiles to become available every invasion

Excellent!

MarshallONeil

on Aug 29, 2006

I need that sound clip of Beavis when he sees something on fire and gets so eye-bulgingly excited that he can't speak.

I selected line after line as I went down the list, thinking each one was the thing that I was going to quote here as the best thing since Hyperdrive was invented. Many of them are really small things like fixing the ZOC on the mini map; the kind of things that take time to fix that's all out of proportion to the problem. The fact that Stardock cares enough about things like these working correctly is a big part of what sets them apart from other game developers.

I finally settled on this as my most treasured fix:

Fixed bug where planet quality and number of tiles did not match after choosing Neutral alignment

I've been playing good and evil factions for a while now because this had begun to bug the living hell out of me. I hope it includes planets that you conquer/flip after having gone Neutral. Thank you Stardock!

Frogboy

on Aug 29, 2006

One of the changes I made was to m ake the various banking centers and stock markets pricing be more reasonable.

rlarsen462

on Aug 30, 2006

Do these patches apply retroactively to save games, or will I need to start a new game to see all the improvements?

smjjames

on Aug 30, 2006

probably should start a new game anyway just to be sure.

kryo

on Aug 30, 2006

Planet Improvements changes:

+ Civ Capitol:
Morale bonus raised from 0 to 5

+ Market Center
Economy bonus lowered from 10 to 8
Cost lowered from 35 to 30

+ Adv. Market Center
Economy bonus lowered from 15 to 10
Cost lowered from 60 to 40

+ Trade Center
Economy bonus lowered from 20 to 15
Cost lowered from 90 to 50

+ Embassy
Cost lowered from 60 to 30

+ Basic Farming
Food lowered from 4 to 3
Cost lowered from 50 to 40

+ Xeno Farming
Food lowered from 6 to 5
Cost lowered from 100 to 60

+ Advanced Farming
Food lowered from 8 to 6
Cost lowered from 120 to 100
Maintenance raised from 0 to 1

+ Intensive Farming
Food lowered from 10 to 7
Cost lowered from 150 to 120
Maintenance raised from 0 to 2

+ Extended Farming (!)
Food lowered from 11 to 8
Cost lowered from 210 to 150
Maintenance raised from 0 to 2

+ Ultra Farming (!)
Food lowered from 12 to 10
Cost lowered from 250 to 200
Maintenance raised from 0 to 2

+ Entertainment Network
Morale bonus lowered from 25 to 10

+ Multimedia Center
Morale bonus lowered from 30 to 15

+ Extreme Stadium
Morale bonus lowered from 45 to 25

+ Zero G Sports Arena
Morale bonus lowered from 50 to 33

+ Virtual Reality Center
Morale bonus lowered from 60 to 40

+ Banking Center
Economy bonus lowered from 24 to 20
Cost lowered from 250 to 100

+ Stock Market
Economy bonus lowered from 30 to 25
Cost lowered from 150 to 120

+ Cultural Exchange Center
Cost lowered from 250 to 80

+ Neutrality Learning Center
Cost raised from 300 to 500

(!) - Seems somebody didn't notice the techs those two depend on were removed way back when (and they aren't back in this patch)...

smjjames

on Aug 30, 2006

man, I wonder why alot of bonuses got nerfed. Although it will certainly tone down the player economies a little bit, but no telling how it would affect the AI.

and you guys could have adjusted the factories while you were doing all that stuff.

ignuss

on Aug 30, 2006

Frogboy, could you please do something about industrial output. Manufacturing Centre isn't what I would call a upgrade.
And please take a look at the weapons and defences while you are at it.

Subspace Blaster is much worse than it's preceding weapon Disruptors III.
Supspace Annihilator doesn't exist. The technology Supspace Annihilator doesn't give the player anything.
Phasors IV is a little worse then Phasors III:
(component name, cost, size, sizemod, damage)
Phasors III,40, 5, 4, 3. 21 damage / 35 space
Phasors IV, 45, 7, 4, 4. 20 damage / 35 space

The last missile weapon has the in-game name BlackholeEruptor. Notice the lack of spaces.

Weird stats in the gun-branch:
Technology Mass Drivers III gives both Railgun MK V and Railgun MK VI
(component name, cost, size, sizemod, damage)
"Railgun MK V", 22, 6, 5, 1
"Railgun MK VI",22, 5, 5, 1
This makes MK V completly pointless since it will never be built.

Qauntum Driver follows Graviton Driver IV
(component name, cost, size, sizemod, damage)
"Graviton Driver IV", 33, 4, 4, 3.....6 damage / 8 space.....18 damage / 24 space.
"Qauntum Driver", 37, 8, 4, 4.........4 damage / 8 space.
"Quantum Driver II", 37, 7, 4, 4......4 damage / 7 space.
"Quantum Driver III", 37, 6, 4, 4.....4 damage / 6 space.....16 damage / 24 space.
Quantum Driver I, II and III are all worse then Graviton Driver IV, their predecessor.
Qauntum Driver should be Quantum Driver. Notice that "a" and "u" should change position.

Now to the defences, missile defense-branch:

Droid Sentries I is better then Droid Sentries II.
(component name, cost, size, sizemod, defence)
Droid Sentries I, 90, 3, 2, 5. 20 defence / 12 space
Droid Sentries II,100,4, 2, 6. 18 defence / 12 space

Droid Sentries II and III is identical.

sam0t

on Aug 30, 2006

I think the bonus nerfing is good. In way too many games (after middle game) its too easy to keep high tax rate and having jolly happy people. Haven´t yet tested this, but anything to make middle game more intresting is welcome.

Last patch was released 8.8 so I hope SD had time to test these new balance tweaks. All in all a good beta patch, thanks SD! Iam off testing

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