GalCiv II is either shit or I'm a faggot

[DakaSha]

I don't like this game. I have tried to like it multiple times (due to the overly hyped AI) and fail at liking it every time.

Am I sick? Is something wrong with me? why is this game good? I even bought the motherfucker. I didn't pirate it. I paid cash for the piece of shit so I'm not having a case of pirate syndrome.

It feels like a boring, uninspired, overly streamlined, non atmospheric shitfest with a terrible and easily abusable economy. And although the AI may be the "best of a 4x" it is not NEARLY as good as it's hyped to be and i get the feeling its only decent because the game is written around it (not that that is a bad thing)

So seriously??? Why do people think this is good???



edit: added poll to make this more interesting

 

[Malakal]

I dislike it too BRO. For the same reasons. Its like playing excel - the game is so streamlined and boring. AI indeed is rather good but its not surprising since the game feels like chess in space.

There are no unique interesting races and techs like in MoO2, ship design is pathetic, ship components are cosmetic only etc etc.

Weak.

 

[spectre]

Yeah, the AI got quite a bit of hype, all reviewers creamed themselves when the game literally told them: "Look, I know could kick your ass, but I can't cause the difficulty setting is too low." D:

I guess it sums up the game in a nutshell, it pretends that it's the best shit there is, lots of possibilities: techs, highly detailed everything, yet half of it is shallow and of no consequence.

However, the most wtf thing was the addition of a fricken campaign with plot, missions and all that. Of course, it's entirely skippable, but to me it just proves that the devs simply cannot into 4x.

 

[Quilty]

Bought it on Impulse when it was discounted a year ago, played for an hour, couldn't get into it. Felt painfully bland.

 

[markec]

I liked the random events, but thats pretty much it.

 

[Korgan]

Yeah, too streamlined and polished, too competetive, not enough wanking over your majestic empire and endless spacefleets. This was one of the many things that MoO2 was right to attempt; the tactical mode at least served to show off your star-crushing might.

 

[MicoSelva]

Like it.
I think the name's suitable, because for me it had exactly the feeling of Civilization IN SPACE. It's also similarly streamlined as the Civ games are (I haven't played V) - has a lot of intersecting elements that aren't very complex on their own.
Not as good as MoO2, but better than 3.

 

[Destroid]

I don't think Galciv is actually any harder than MoO2.

But boy does Galciv feel bland as fuck.

 

[Malakal]

I don't think Galciv is actually any harder than MoO2.

But boy does Galciv feel bland as fuck.

Not harder but the difficulty in MoO comes from AI cheating while in GalCiv it comes from AI cheating and better AI. The AI even doesnt cheat at lower levels! Not very challenging there though.

 

[racofer]

The game is as exciting as playing an Excel spreadsheet.

Don't feel bad about yourself, I've been in your position before, questioning my manliness because of this shitty game.

 

[commie]

Yeah, you're a sick faggot. Kill yourself.

Seriously though, I can understand the rage it garners as it does come across as a bit dry for people brought up on the generic MOO2. After playing MOO2 for a decade or more, I can imagine people pretending it's all so diverse and interesting. I missed MOO2 when it first came out and only played it after Gal Civ 2 and it sucked arse in comparison, still a good game, though limited and generic.

I actually cut my teeth on the original Gal Civ and liked that and so for me it was great, adding all these little and big things that I wished the first one had.

 

[Silellak]

GalCiv II is either shit or I'm a faggot

Why does it have to be "or"?

Seriously though, I can understand the rage it garners as it does come across as a bit dry for people brought up on the generic MOO2. After playing MOO2 for a decade or more, I can imagine people pretending it's all so diverse and interesting. I missed MOO2 when it first came out and only played it after Gal Civ 2 and it sucked arse in comparison, still a good game, though limited and generic.

 

[Ruprekt]

The game is streamlined and hence boring at the early game, but that is for a reason. It's a much better than civ or other 4x at the mid and end games.

Personally I don't like that design choice (trading boring start for interesting end) in a space 4x. But then I am rather stupid and it's the exploring/discovering phase of 4x that gets me (why I enjoy MoM) rather than 'grand strategy'.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Fuck you commie. MoO2 atmosphere alone rapes all other x4 games out there, with the exception perhaps of Alpha Centauri.

 

[Malakal]

Yeah, you're a sick faggot. Kill yourself.

Seriously though, I can understand the rage it garners as it does come across as a bit dry for people brought up on the generic MOO2. After playing MOO2 for a decade or more, I can imagine people pretending it's all so diverse and interesting. I missed MOO2 when it first came out and only played it after Gal Civ 2 and it sucked arse in comparison, still a good game, though limited and generic.

I actually cut my teeth on the original Gal Civ and liked that and so for me it was great, adding all these little and big things that I wished the first one had.

Lol, yeah, rock eating siliconids vs blue humans, who is more diverse and why? Discuss!

 

[Ruprekt]

Yep it has no atmosphere. And when it comes down to it, if I'm going to choose challenging game play over feel I wouldn;t be playing computer games.

 

[Lightknight]

The first game i played, it was bland, but average.

The second...tried playing it on three separate occasions, about year in between. Still have no idea how the fuck do you play that thing. Nothing is explained ! Manual is SHIT !!! (apparently written by Tom Chick, so no surprise there). You control even less than in MOO3. At least MOO3 actually told me how much the ship i'm building is costing me.
There it is, laying on the shelf, gathering dust...useless piece of coprolite...

 

[Trash]

It's not a game. It's a spreadsheet sim with some graphics added. Stardock cannot into FUN games.

 

[BlitzKitchen]

I don't think Galciv is actually any harder than MoO2.

But boy does Galciv feel bland as fuck.

Not harder but the difficulty in MoO comes from AI cheating while in GalCiv it comes from AI cheating and better AI. The AI even doesnt cheat at lower levels! Not very challenging there though.

The MOOII AI does not cheat on average difficulty yet people still get stomped by it fairly often on that difficulty.

 

[Ulminati]

Only 4x game that had really good atmosphere as far as I'm concerned was Ascendancy. A shame the AI sucked goat balls.

It's still gettable from http://www.b-sting.nl/ascendancy/ including a mod to make the AI slightly less retarded. It's still not too much of a challenge though.

 

[MetalCraze]

DakaSha, I have good news. You are straight.

It's not a game. It's a spreadsheet sim with some graphics added. Stardock cannot into FUN games.

Exactly. I've tried getting into it multiple times. I was forcing myself to play it because I thought "my Codex bros like it so there has to be something somewhere in it". But it has no character, just dull stats. So in the end I either drop it and/or go play Civ. Civ games are quite fun - I mean you launch them and the next moment you are all like "holy crap I spent 35 hours playing this match?". GC2 is a clone - but it lacks something very needed.

Only 4x game that had really good atmosphere as far as I'm concerned was Ascendancy.

Much like with EoFS that's what kills it in the end. I like the idea but the game was too ambitious for devs to handle. A pity.

 

[JarlFrank]

It's shit. It's lifeless and boring, shit research, sterile artstyle, space is too empty since most planets aren't colonizable and those that are have way too few building slots so empire building is boring, combat is also boring, ship design isn't half as awesome as in MoO2, there are way less features than in MoO2 (why the fuck can't you carpet-bomb planets to kill the garrison).

It's just an incredibly sub-par space 4x in all departments. If I want something good, I play MoO2. Heck, Space Empires IV and even V are better than this. GalCiv2 just doesn't have anything to catch my interest and it's rather boring and lacks features.

 

[DakaSha]

GalCiv II is either shit or I'm a faggot

Why does it have to be "or"?

You did notice the third poll option, no?
I've learned how this place works in the short time I'm here.

Actually the workings here are quite intuitive and to my liking

Only 4x game that had really good atmosphere as far as I'm concerned was Ascendancy. A shame the AI sucked goat balls.

It's still gettable from http://www.b-sting.nl/ascendancy/ including a mod to make the AI slightly less retarded. It's still not too much of a challenge though.

Yeah that game had great atmosphere.. It had other flaws too (besides the non existent AI) but I'd play it anyways if the AI were better

 

[Overweight Manatee]

The killing point for me was looking over the entire tech tree (if you can call it that, it was more like a bunch of tech paths that very very very rarely intersected). The upgrades in GC2 appeared about as interesting as upgrading my +1 weapons in starcraft. It was just such a sanitized homogeneous mess that I can't see any 4x turning out good in spite of it. They don't even try to mask this. Hyperdrive 1 upgrades to Hyperdrive 2 upgrades to Hyperdrive 3 etc etc and then Hyperdrive 10 upgrades to Warpdrive 1. Whats the difference between Hyperdrive 10 and Warpdrive 1? Is there some special tactical changes that would have you equip some of your ships with the older Hyperdrive over the new Warpdrive? No, Warpdrive 1 is in fact Hyperdrive 11, the developers were just too embarrassed to admit that they had absolutely no creativity.

 

[JarlFrank]

The killing point for me was looking over the entire tech tree (if you can call it that, it was more like a bunch of tech paths that very very very rarely intersected). The upgrades in GC2 appeared about as interesting as upgrading my +1 weapons in starcraft.

No.

Tech upgrades in Starcraft at least had names if I remember correctly. In GalCiv2, they're merely called "Laser IV" or "Propulsion Drive X". Their description is usually just "it's a laser and it's better than the older one". Hooray for creativity.