The secret to Twilight of the Arnor

The potential to be realized

Published on September 22, 2007 By Draginol In GalCiv Journals

Lots of coding in Twilight of the Arnor this week. One thing we're putting in is right of passage treaties which should make a lot of people happy.

But as we've been playing around with things, we've come to realize that what is going to make Twilight of the Arnor so spectacular is not the unique technology trees unto themselves but rather the planetary improvements and ship components that these unique tech trees can deliver.

For this reason, we're going to have a beta next month for people who have pre-ordered. More details soon but we're so confident that people are going to like the changes that we're going to do the beta program quite differently than past ones, it'll be a real treat I think for people who closely follow things as we roll out the various tech trees one at a time.

For those of you who really know GalCiv, consider very carefully the possibilities that unique tech trees can really provide. Forget the techs but rather the unique planetary improvements as just one example. Think about how different the civilizaitons can play out with enough unique planetary improvements. Envision that.

I wish you guys could have been with us at the lab today. This expansion pack is just going to be something that we think players will be so happy with. We're just incredibly excited about the possibilities that are only starting to really dawn on us as the implications of what unique technology trees do.

Comments (Page 1)

ghostwes

on Sep 22, 2007

Good news! I look forward to trying it out!

Starstriker1

on Sep 22, 2007

Is there a cutoff for when preordering will get you a spot in the beta? I'm getting really excited for the possibilities myself.

Morberis

on Sep 22, 2007

I can't wait, this expansion is going to be just wow.

Are you guys taking your experience with the different tech trees (and all that comes from such) and applying it to your Unnamed Fantasy 4x game?

If you guys even take just a bit of what's in GalCiv2 it should be freakin fantastic.

IztokBitenc

on Sep 22, 2007

Hi!
Sorry to sound sour, but will you also be able to made AIs handle those unique techs? Handle it well? You're not giving the game one or two new techs and corresponding items, but several dozens if them, each requiring its own (substantial?) AI's chunk of code.

To nag a bit more, at least in TotA please fix those small glitches in the game that are known for a long time, buit never came on their turn, like wrong displayed production times for planetary improvements/upgrades, rings not giving research bonus, research screen not displaying the real amount of research points, text description of Mind Control Center being completely off, Secret Police Center not working...

BR, iztok

MnHebi

on Sep 22, 2007

Sounds awesome, i knew pre-ordering Twilight of the Arnor would come in handy!

Draknost

on Sep 22, 2007

Whee, a beta I qualify for!

tickhromeroi

on Sep 22, 2007

On the right-of-passage treaties: if one civ doesn't have one with another civ, does the route manager for ships plot a course around the other civ's space (assuming such a path is possible)? Or, does it say there's no straight line path so "I ainta goin' thar"?

Fate

on Sep 22, 2007

Interesting question David A Lessnau, I'd be interested in that answer as well. It will probably just play the same in making the AI get angry at you like it does now though, I feel.
I'm so glad that I pre-ordered now, bring on unique civilizations

Haoh

on Sep 22, 2007

I hope you'll still be able to invade the territory of races you don't have an agreement with. It could lead to some very interestingly tense diplomatic moments. I imagine the Drengin could make good use of these treaties as a welcome mat for their attack fleets!

dystopic

on Sep 22, 2007

well... yea. i always assumed the point of unique tech trees was unique ship components and planetary improvements.

but i'm still exceedingly curious, as i think other players are, will you be able to trade unique techs, or will the only way to aquire unique planetary improvements be by aquiring other players' planets (and unique ship components, by aquiring their ships)?

dystopic

on Sep 22, 2007

I imagine the Drengin could make good use of these treaties as a welcome mat for their attack fleets!

maybe once or twice - i'd hope after that point they'd get minuses for "they don't trust us" from the other AIs. but a really good idea!

Frogboy

on Sep 22, 2007

If you don't have a right of passage treaty, ships will only move 1 move per turn through someone else's sphere of influence.

Frogboy

on Sep 22, 2007

but i'm still exceedingly curious, as i think other players are, will you be able to trade unique techs, or will the only way to aquire unique planetary improvements be by aquiring other players' planets (and unique ship components, by aquiring their ships)?

You will be able to trade unique techs (you have to since nearly all the techs are unique).

I think people have been so beaten down by games and expansion packs only tossing out a few unique units or whatever per civ.

Let me be clear: Most of the techs each race has will be uinque to that civilization. Most won't be that exciting (i.e. will be analogous) but they will be unique to that race.

That said, some technologies will be marked as untradeable. Also, the AI is FINALLY getting a new parameter that it can use -- willingness to trade (long time players probably can figure out how this will affect gameplay).

But let me give you an exmaple:

The Arceans won't have propulsion technologies (Impulse, Warp Drive, etc.). Other AI players will not be likely to trade those technologies either as they will be using the new "willingness to trade" paramter.

So how do the Arceans make ships faster? They have planetary improvements that allow ships from that planet to move faster.

Now, as for AI handling -- I am directly implementing the combo -- the unique technology trees, the planetary improvements, and the AI updates. Since I wrote the AI for all the GalCivs, I know how to do these so that the work will be less and how to get the AI to make full use of these.

dystopic

on Sep 22, 2007

thanks for the feedback brad!

allowing these techs to be traded should make for some very interesting gameplay! i'm hoping that you spend a little time rebalancing the "nerfed" tech trading: that is, that it won't be exceedingly difficult for human players to trade techs while AI players shamelessly swap them amongst each other. from your hints at the 'willingness to trade' tags, it sounds like you're taking this into consideration.

it seems with this system, trading techs is going to be a major factor in maximizing your own empire; i'd want to aquire as many techs as possible (at least those which would provide for otherwise unobtainable planetary improvements and ship components). it'll also add a new dimension to consider when disabling tech trading.

very, very cool. i can't wait!

Starstriker1

on Sep 22, 2007

Sorry to repeat the question, Brad, but is the beta still open for people who haven't yet preordered? I'd love to get in on that.

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