Improvements in Galactic Civilizations II are done completely different than the first one.  It's probably the most radical change to the game-play and probably the most risky since one of the things that has always helped GalCiv was the lack of micro-management.  So we've had to really think about how we want to handle planets.

In GalCiv I, most players (myself included) would just go to the governor and have every planet build everything.  This time around, we wanted to limit how many things you could build on a given planet.  We also wanted planets to be somewhat unique.

We did this by turning the planet class into a limiting factor.  The planet class determines how many useable tiles there are on the planet.  A class 10 planet has 10 tiles on it.  The number of tiles can be increased by researching Soil Enhancement, Habitat Improvement and Terraforming.

Moreover, some tiles are "special".  They are rare but they have major effects.  Special tiles include:

• Artifacts. These increase research production of any improvement on that tile by 200%. (uncommon).
• Fertile Soil. These increase the food production of any improvement on that tile by 200%. (uncommon).
• Mineral Rich. These increase the industrial production of any improvement on that tile by 200%. (uncommon)
• Mystic Spring. These increase the Morale improvement of any improvement on that tile by 200%. (uncommon)
• Ruins. These increase the Cultural improvement of any improvement on that tile by 200%. (uncommon).
• Precursor Artifacts. These increase research production of any improvement on that tile by 400%. (rare).
• Splendid Soil. Food by 400% (rare).
• Rare Elements. Industry up by 400% (rare).
• Precursor Library. Research by 800% (legendary).
• Precursor Mine. Industry by 800% (legendary).

Uncommon = 1/50 chance of it appearing on a given tile. Rare = 1/200 chance of it appearing on a given tile.  Legendary = 1/500 chance of it appearing on a given tile.

In Galactic Civilizations I there were lots of improvements.  In Galactic Civilizations II, we are trying to have fewer improvements and those improvements go in a direct upgradeable line.  That is, you can set the planetary governor to automatically upgrade a given improvement as soon better version is available.  For instance, an Entertainment Network is upgraded to a Multimedia Center which is upgraded to an Extreme Stadium which is upgraded to a Zero-G Stadium.  Once you place your initial improvements, you can set this and walk away and you have effectively "zoned" the planet.

However, this time around, we're trying to create more super projects and galactic achievements that do special things.  A super project is a planetary improvement that can only be built one time in your civilization.  A galactic achievement can be constructed only once by any player.  There are also trade goods which can be built on a given planet that provide special abilities that can be traded with other players.

Here are some of the super projects we have in mind:

• Spin Control Center.  Diplomacy-based super project that causes ships in orbit to be counted at five times their military might strength. The idea is that players who want to take on a diplomatic/culture victory won't have time to build up huge militaries. This way, players can inflate their military strength without having to build the ships.  For that matter, the way the diplomacy ability is being handled is that it is going to magnify your actual military might rating as far as your opponents are concerned.  This way, players can focus on their cultural domination strategy without having to also build up a huge army.
• Tur-Quan Training.  This is a galactic achievement that vastly increases the quality of your soldiers making them formidable attackers and defenders during invasions.
• The Galactic Privateer.  This galactic achievement will protect your trade routes from attack during times of war.
• Propaganda Machine.  This galactic achievement will double the effect of your starbase cultural modifications.
• Hyperion Shipyard.  This super project will add + 1 to the base movement of your ships.
• United Planets Headquarters.  This galactic achievement increases your diplomacy ability by 50%.
• Galactic Re-supply Center.  This super project increases your ships range by 25%.
• Artificial Slave Center (evil civilizations only). This super project increases military production by 50%.
• Cultural Exchange Center. This super project doubles a planet's influence. (good civilizations only)
• Diplomatic Translators. This trade good increases a player's diplomatic ability by 25%.
• Economic Capital. This super project increases tax revenue on a planet by 50%.
• Eyes of the Universe.  This galactic achievement shows all ships on the mini-map.
• Galactic Exhibition. This galactic achievement makes you more persuasive in the diplomacy trade screen giving the perceived value of your trade a 50% boost.
• Galactic Guidebook. This galactic achievement causes the survey module to cost 0 so that you can equip any ship with the survey module to explore anomalies.
• Starbase Upgrade Center. This super project cuts the time it takes to upgrade ships by 50%.
• Galactic Virtual Reality Center.  This super project increases morale by 50%.
• Gravity Accelerators.  This trade good increases the base speed of your ships by +1.
• Harmony Crystals.  This trade good increases the morale of all your people by 20%.
• Miniaturization Center. This super project improves your miniaturization ability by 20% (allowing you to fit more on your ships).
• Hyperion Miniaturization Center.  This galactic achievement improves miniaturization by a further 15% (giving you the ultimate edge in a fight).
• Information Logistics System. This super project increases your logistics ability by 6.
• Manufacturing Capital. This super project doubles your manufacturing ability on a given planet.
• Omega Defense System. This super project doubles the hitpoints of ships in orbit.
• Hyperion Planetary Fleet.  This Galactic Achievement allows all your planets to be able to work together as a fleet on defense without the need for a Orbitial Control Center.
• Re-education Center.  This super project prevents the planet from being able to be culturally conquered.
• Orbital Terraformer.  This galactic achievement automatically makes all your planets be able to use all the potential tiles on a given planet without the need for individual terraforming.
• Political Capital. This super project doubles the cultural influence of the planet.
• No Mercy Invasion Center. This galactic achievement eliminates the costs of special invasion tactics (evil civilizations only).
• Secret Police Center.  This super project automatically adds 20% to your base approval on the given world no matter what.
• Empathic Tactical Center.  This galactic achievement adds + 1 to the defenses of all ships that have an attack ability in each defense category (good civilizations only).
• Mind Control Center.  This galactic achievements increases the likelyhood of an alien civilization of defecting to your side by 50%. (evil civilizations only).
• Hall of Empathy.  When an alien civilization surrenders, the odds that they will surrender to you is doubled. (good civilizations only).
• Temple of Evil. This galactic achievement causes half of the "background trade" revenue (revenue that a civilization receives due to the % of the galaxy they control) that a civilization of evil alignment receives to go to you.
• Temple of Righteousness. Same as temple of evil but for good players.

Quite a few but the key thing here that is different than GalCiv I is that for the most part, players won't have to interact with most of their planets.  They'll "zone" them early on with the various types of improvements (morale building, food producing, research producing, and so on) and let the governors upgrade them on up.  Then, as a particular super project or galactic achievement comes available, they'll strategically place that on the handful of key worlds in their civilization.  The hope is that there will be little micro management of worlds but instead a more strategic use of those worlds.