The crew here at Stardock cares a lot about our community and the games that we produce for you.
That's why we're pleased to announce that version 2.20 for Galactic Civilizations II
is available for you today!
Even when a title is "finished" and put out to market, there are always little things we find that could use a tweak or a change here and there. We also know what it's like to enjoy an old game so much that you keep going back to it, even when there are newer and "better" versions of it out there.
With help of some awesome community members, the Dev Team has taken all of the suggestions and implemented them into this update. You can find he entire change log (spoiler alert: it's long!) at the bottom of this post.
A few words from our CEO and President, Brad Wardell:
"It was awesome being able to work with the fans to integrate years of their own mods and tweaks into the base game. They also gave me a long list of areas where they thought I could improve the AI, which I used to dig into the now 10 year old AI source code base to implement."
We hope you enjoy the update. We have an awesome community here at Stardock and are so very happy that you're a part of it. Have a great holiday season!
Special Thanks
To Antonio "Mabus" Invernizzi, Gaunathor, SilasOfBorg, Kamil "OShee" Bober, DARCA1213, Sam "MarvinKosh" Edwards. Steffem "Maiden666" Jenter, MarvinKosh, Leiavoia, Frogboy and everyone else who helped out!
Version 2.20 Change Log
[ Gameplay ]
- General
- The Capital now increases Morale to 35 (up from 25) and Economy to 25 (up from 10)
- Advanced Hulls is now unlocked from Basic Logistics
- Life Support is now unlocked from Advanced Hulls
- Several techs moved to improve AI use
- Mind Control Center moved to Concept of Malice
- Shrine of the Mithrillar now gives a 10% population growth bonus civ-wide
- Shrine of Tandis now gives a 10% morale bonus civ-wide
- Information Warfare tech now requires Advanced Diplomacy (instead of Planetary Invasion)
- Temporal Mechanics cost increased from 10 to 30
- Hyperion Packages cost increased from 10 to 30
- Entertainment Center now requires Innovative History
- Slave Pits, Slave Labs, Collectives and Maintenance Grid have had their costs adjusted
- Research Matrix bonus decreased from 12 to 10
- School maintenance increased from 1 to 2
- University maintenance increased from 2 to 3
- Space Weapons no longer grants a Military bonus
- Economic Direction Unit bonus reduced from 50 to 25
- Ultra Spices now requires Extreme Entertainment instead of Xeno Cultural Trends
- Merchant Trade Complexes cost increased from 800 to 1100
- Buffed Tier 1/2 starbase attack modules and battlestations 4; removed Singularity Armor
- Neutrality Learning Center cost increased from 500 to 1000
- Cultural Enlightenment no longer has a pre-req; moved to Pure Research
- Healing Pools now requires Planetary Improvements; cost decreased from 300 to 100
- Nano Materials now requires Basic Space Construction
- Advanced Philosophy now requires University
- Enhanced Adaptation cost increased to 150/450/600
- Robust Hull Construction now provides 15 HP (up from 10)
- Precursor Library cost decreased from 400 to 100
- Miniaturization techs bonuses updated to be better
- Empathic Tactical Center now grants a defense bonus of 25% instead of an attack bonus of 20%
- Various weapons rebalancing
- Plus much much more adjustments. See the Progressive Changelog for more.
- Terran Alliance
- Changed default alignment from 50 to 75
- Now start as Mercantile political party
- Starts with +10 Economics, -10 Social Production, +25 Trade and 12 Logistics (up from 6)
- Starting techs changed to: HyperDrive, Industrial Revolution, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, Innovative History, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction
- Terrains gain a 10% bonus to propulsion and diplomacy research
- Drengin Empire
- Now starts game as War Party political party
- Starts with: +10 Military Production, -30 Diplomacy (increased from -25), 20 Loyalty (up from 0) and 14 Logistics (up from 7)
- Starting techs changed to: Fusion Reactors, Ruthless History, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, Specialized Research, Capitalism and Traditional Slavery.
- Propaganda Machine is now a special project
- New invasion tactic added (version of Information Warfare)
- Drengin suffer a 50% penalty to trade techs; and a 100% penalty to diplomatic techs
- Altarian Resistance
- Now starts game as Pacifists political party
- Starts with: +10 Luck (up from 0), 10 Logistics (up from 5)
- Starting techs changed to: HyperDrive, Industrial Revolution, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, A History of Benevolence, Stellar Cartography, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction.
- Social Matrix is now a special project
- Altarians gain a 20% bonus in Labs research
- Arcean Empire
- Now starts game as War Party political party
- Starts with: +10 Economics, +10 Morale, +20 Military Production, +30 Ship HP (up from +20), +20 Soldiering (up from +10), +25 Courage, +20 Loyalty and 20 Logistics (up from 8).
- Starting techs changed to: Glorious History, Fusion Reactors, HyperDrive, Industrial Revolution, Stellar Cartography, Traditional Research, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction.
- Stellar Forge and Cathedral of Valor are now special projects
- Arceans now gain a 20% bonus to Hull and Logistics research
- Arceans now gain:
- 15 HP from Superior Hulls (up from 10)
- 20 HP from Master Hull Building (up from 15)
- 15 HP from Reinforced Hull Design (up from 10)
- 15 HP from Hardened Hull Design (up from 10)
- Torian Confederation
- Now starts as the Populists political party
- Starts with: +30 Loyalty, 16 Logistics (up from 8)
- Starting techs changed to: Torian History, Fusion Reactors, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, Inherited Technology, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction.
- Can now research Advanced Aquatic World Colonization cheaper
- Aquatic Transport Station is now a special project
- Torians now suffer a 20% penalty to Hull research
- Changed Advanced Computing requirement to University (from Scientific Method Implementation)
- Changed Planetary Improvements and Enhanced Adaptation to require Basic Space Construction
- Added Basic Space Construction with cost 75
- Xeno Communications now requires Cultural Enlightenment
- Yor Collective
- Now starts game as the Industrialist political party
- Starts with: -30 to Diplomacy and 12 Logistics (up from 6)
- Maintenance Grid and Distributed Energy Matrix are now special projects
- New invasion tactic: Terror Drones (Cost 250, 20% bonus to attack, 25% improvement damage)
- Yor now can a 20% advantage in Labs research
- Dominion of Korx
- Now starts as the Mercantile political party
- Starts with: +15 Economics, +10 Diplomacy and 12 Logistics (up from 6)
- Starting techs changed to: A History of Mercantilism, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, Industrial Revolution, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction.
- Festival of Capitalism, Mercenary Academy and Freighter Command are now special projects
- Korx gain a 20% bonus to economic research
- Drath Legion
- Changed default alignment from 75 to 50
- Now starts as the Populists political party
- Starts with: +25 Espionage (up from 0) and 16 Logistics (up from 8)
- Starting techs changed to: Way of the Drath, Industrial Revolution, Basic Space Construction, HyperDrive, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, Stellar Cartography and Capitalism.
- Drath gain a 20% bonus to diplomatic research
- Thalan Empire
- Now starts as the Technologists political party
- Starts with: -50 Population Growth (increased from -30), +40 Loyalty and 12 Logistics (up from 6)
- Starting techs changed to: Fusion Reactors, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, New Propulsion, Artificial Gravity, Xeno Biology, Xeno Medicine, Xeno Engineering, Hyperion Packages, Temporal Mechanics and Interstellar Construction.
- Gaia Vortex and Church of Valor are now special projects
- New invasion tactic: Mechanized Warriors (Cost 250, 50%/90% min/max bonus to attack, 100% improvement damage)
- Thalan suffer a 50% penalty to trade and diplomatic research
- Iconian Refuge
- Now starts as the Federalists political party
- Starts with: +10 Morale (decreased from 20), +20 Research, 0 Espionage (decreased from 100), -5 Soldiering (decreased from 0) and 16 Logistics (up from 10)
- Precursor Library is now a special project
- Expert Engineering is now unlocked after Advanced Hulls
- Soil Enhancement, Xeno Biology and Space Mining moved to the Enhanced Adaptation tree
- Iconians gain a 20% bonus to terraforming research
- Korath Clan
- Now starts game as War Party political party
- Starts with: -30 Diplomacy (decreased from 0), +10 HP (decreased from 20), +30 Soldiering (increased from 10) and 14 Logistics (increased from 7)
- Starting techs changed to: Fusion Reactors, Ruthless History, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, Specialized Research, Traditional Slavery and Black Market.
- Graft of Ages is now a special project
- New invasion tactic added (version of Information Warfare)
- Korath suffer a 50% penalty to trade techs and a 200% penalty to diplomacy research
- Krynn Consulate
- Now starts as the Universalists political party
- Starts with: -15 Research (decreased from 0) and 12 Logistics (increased from 6)
- Starting techs changed to: HyperDrive, Industrial Revolution, Basic Space Construction, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, The Path, Stellar Cartography, and Capitalism.
- Super Spy Training Center, Temple of Espionage, and Oracle of Krynn are now special projects.
- Krynn suffer a 20% penalty to labs research but gain a 20% bonus to government research
- Minor Races
- Changes to various minor races that play more into their background lore. Watch out for the Snathi!
[ Graphics ]
- Updated race colors for Iconian Refuge and Krynn Consulate
- Improved Rally Point indicator
- Various UI tweaks
[ AI ]
- Each race's AI has been tuned to better match their background lore and relative strengths
- All AI opponents will now use the maximum amount of CPU possible
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The ultimate strategy sandbox has arrived. Jump in on launch weekend, and get a free not-for-sale DLC pack with exclusive ship parts for our early adopters.
We invite everyone to dive in and explore the many paths to victory of Galactic Civilizations III. The empire you forge reflects your choices, from warrior societies organized around conquest to pragmatic economic powerhouses whose strength is in their allies.
Building an empire so culturally influential that rival worlds defect to your cause is perfectly viable, so long as you can keep their dropships from landing on your core worlds through literal defenses or soft-power diplomatic maneuvers.
Galactic Civilizations III also brings massive improvements to one of the highest-rated strategy series of all time. The 64-bit engine boosts the maximum number of empires on a map from 16 to 100, with a similarly dramatic explosion in possible galaxy size. The ship designer gives players total control over how they function as well as how they look. Any ship you’ve ever imagined can be created or downloaded. Each race has its own technology tree, which unlock unique powers like self-healing starship hulls and superpowered terraforming.
Finally, online multiplayer is a franchise first. Challenge your friends, or team up to see if your allied civilizations can dominate a hostile galaxy.
Stardock is incredibly proud to present Galactic Civilizations III, and we look forward to supporting the game with free patches, DLC, and major expansions for years to come.
As a thank-you to all of our pre-orders, Founders, Early Access players, and launch weekend players, we’re also giving away an exclusive ship parts DLC pack that is not and never will be for sale. You’ll automatically get the DLC through your Steam client.
To purchase Galactic Civilizations III, head over to https://www.galciv3.com/store.
Thanks for your support, and happy conquering!
Get the game and exclusive launch weekend ship parts now!
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 The GalCiv community has been working on an update for GalCiv II: Twilight of the Arnor. You can find the discussion here.
It’s really quite a thrill to be able to work with the community on a new update to the game. I originally came from the modding community as did the VP of Stardock Entertainment (Kael – aka Fall From Heaven). So being able to integrate the ideas, fixes, and improvements into the official game made by the fans is quite a joy. Some of the changes necessary are requiring some code changes. Luckily, the IT team got me set up with a Windows XP VM so that I can load up Visual Studio 2003 to make those changes. Stay tuned!
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[video]http://youtu.be/KARny_9_nfQ[/video]
We’ve officially launched the beta! Bells are ringing, birds are singing, and it’s a beautiful day to dig up the archives of a forgotten race’s reality TV shows and use them to placate a restive populace that for some reason doesn’t see the value in mandatory six-month stints working the factories of the nearest forgeworld.
To all of our Founders, thank you so much for your early support. Elite Founders, your feedback and bug reporting has been invaluable in getting Galactic Civilizations III ready for a wider audience. Fire up your Steam client, and it should patch your install to the beta automatically.
To anyone waiting for Galactic Civilizations III to be regular price before diving in, you’ll have to wait a little longer. Sadly, the game is $44.99 during the beta rather than its regular $49.99 price. We beg your forgiveness.
Follow the development of Galactic Civilizations III throughout the beta, ask the team your questions live, and get sneak peeks of upcoming builds every Friday on the official Stardock Twitch channel.
 
The Galactic Civilizations III beta includes:
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Race-specific tech trees – Each race discovers the secrets of creation in its own way. Look out for Drengin invasions a whole age before anyone else can pull one off.
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Ideology rework – Get an entire invasion fleet for free, take control of all planets inside your sphere of influence, and more!
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Huge hulls – For when you absolutely, positively, have to kill every last filthy alien in the quadrant.
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New colonization events – Thirty more events will challenge your ideology whenever you bring the light of civilization to a new world.
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Terraforming – Maximize your adjacency bonuses by filling in gaps on your colonies with SCIENCE!
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Map features – Durantium, Elerium, and Antimatter are now on the map, waiting to be harvested by your starbases. Watch out for black holes!
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So much more – reworked planet traits, shipyard queues, automatic improvement upgrading, tons of new art, vastly improved rendering (ships are so shiny now!), the list goes on.
Read the full patch notes here.
Not a Founder? No problem! The Founders program has concluded, but you can purchase Galactic Civilizations III during the beta for $5 off the regular price right here.
Happy conquering!
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In case you haven't heard, GalCiv III is in development!
You can sign up for the Alpha/Beta programs over at www.galciv3.com
Stardock Autumn Sale!
Starting today through Tuesday, December 3rd, we have a big Autumn Sale going on for Stardock games and DLC. This sale is going on in our store and on Steam.
View the Stardock Autumn Sale list here.
Here are some sale highlights:
Galactic Civilizations I: Ultimate is now available on GOG.com! Pick this up today while it's on sale for just $7.99 for a limited time. This is a classic and is a welcome addition to any gamers catalog.
http://www.gog.com/gamecard/galactic_civilizations_i_ultimate_edition
The Ultimate Edition of Galactic Civilizations I is now available on Steam!
Check it out: http://store.steampowered.com/app/214150/
While the Drengin Empire may hate you, your pets and your hair cut, we at Stardock love you and thank you for your continuing support with Galactic Civilizations. We look forward to continuing this saga someday in the future!
We have completed our annual customer report for last year. Each year we send out a survey to our customer base asking them a host of questions so that we can better serve them.
In exchange, we share the results of these surveys along with a report on what went right and wrong the previous year along with plans for the forthcoming year.
We are pleased to present you the full report here:https://www.stardock.com/press/CustomerReports/Stardock2011.pdf
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