The only thing I dont like about 1.1

from GalCiv2 Forums
I think Influence victories are too easy. I play on "Intelligent" AI and I almost always end up with massive influence.
I dont want to uncheck the "influence" victory condition, because I dont think GC2 is a good wargame and I like this "culture" option. HOwever, it seems the AI doesnt compete with culture as well as it could.
Now, however, under 1.1, pushing culture gets even easier! This seems odd to me. Why is it being implemented?
5,458 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Or do most people feel influence is still too difficult?? That would surprise me, but I am keen on your feedback.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's the soft option, if you have a big enough army. If you don't, they AI figures out what you're doing, and often works undercover to stop you. I've been asked to do that before, many a time the Arceans have come before me and said "We must supply arms to the enemies of the Torian empire, unless you like your people speaking Torian"

To make a challenge, go for a military-culture victory. Win a military victory without using a single transport. It's possible, I've done it. Hard though
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
To make a challenge, go for a military-culture victory. Win a military victory without using a single transport. It's possible, I've done it. Hard though

Especially against the YOR since they have a 100% loyalty bonus
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
What I found is that if you crowd the map with habitable planets, and influence victory becomes nearly unavoidable. I set my recent games so stars and habitable planets set to uncommon. I still get a planet or two in the game due to influence, but it does not drive the game.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I completely agree with you, most of the time I have to turn the option off or avoid it like the plague. Sometimes, just by building a strong economic backbone, I would assimilate most of my neighbors without a single Influence Starbase in sight. The recent changes have made the rebellions even faster, so the other side never has a chance. I have to intentionally ignore the culture tree just to slow down this effect (perhaps making these tech a lot more expensive would balance it a bit).

Personally, what I find most disturbing, is that while the Altarians try really hard to push culture (all those influence starbases when they have spare constructors), they NEVER build any farms to raise their based population influence (which also makes them the WORSE trading partner ever). Meanwhile, the Drengins will build so many farms that they will never ever have enough morale to reach the limit off (they will have enough farms for 28B+, but their morale is less than 40% at ~15B, so they never grow anyways). Couldn't we, like, get the Dregins to split the amount of farms that they build and give half of that to the Altarians? so that they are both more effective at what they do? (Observed mostly from 1.0x, since these two guys just haven't been living long enough in my recent beta games - so I appologize if it was already adressed).

But to answer your question, why did Culture Domination get easier? Apparently, the reason it was so that people could "clean up" games that they have already won with less effort. Essentially, when you've pretty much already won (control half of the galaxy, and the 3 times the size of the next guy) it's useful so that you don't have to go world by world and conquer them (which is a hassle). Just build some starbases and click "end turn" a bunch of times and voila. This is done mainly for Metaverse people I think, but since I don't really bother with it anyways, I just turn the option off and quit if I feel it's getting boring.


PS: If a dev is reading, is there any chance you guys can make some of these culture conquest values/conditions modable? I know I can lower influnce from tech, but that hasn't really helped that much (I avoid the whole tree and still dominate people). What I mean is amount of influence population generates, the amount limit that it has to be before revolt (IE: something more than 4.00), and the chances that a world would revolt if it meets the condition, etc...
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
What I found is that if you crowd the map with habitable planets, and influence victory becomes nearly unavoidable

Well, that makes sense since population creates influence
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I was thinking that perhaps we should put a condition in the "Culture Conquest" victory that says "If you've DEFEATED any race, or gone to war with more than half of the other races, then the culture victory will no longer be an option". This way, you have to focus on Cultural Comination, and not just stumble upon it as you invade planet after planet.

Just an idea though.

Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I was thinking that perhaps we should put a condition in the "Culture Conquest" victory that says "If you've DEFEATED any race, or gone to war with more than half of the other races, then the culture victory will no longer be an option". This way, you have to focus on Cultural Comination, and not just stumble upon it as you invade planet after planet.


That will make it more difficult - but isn't it appropriate to destroy 1 or 2 races to achieve the influence victory ie. destroy the Yor
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I was thinking that perhaps we should put a condition in the "Culture Conquest" victory that says "If you've DEFEATED any race, or gone to war with more than half of the other races, then the culture victory will no longer be an option". This way, you have to focus on Cultural Comination, and not just stumble upon it as you invade planet after planet.

Just an idea though.


That would be an awsome way of handling it, although I'd say change it to militarily defeated more than a certain number of the AI's since it's often unavoidable. A lot of the time if your too uber and flatten the AI's army fast enough enough then they will surrender to someone even though you don't invade any planets.

I almost always turn off influence victory though or it often winds up kicking in right when I'm getting ready to start exterminating folks
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Note 1: I would not like to turn the option off, because (a) I dislike GC2 as a wargame and a wargame it would then more or less become (tech victory: not my style, thanks; alliance victory: never been able to make one!), and (b) I really LIKE games in which I win via culture, it was my only love in CivIII

Note 2a: I am unsure BoogieBac's suggestion would solve the problem, although it would be a nifty short-term bandage on a weakness. I think the main problem would be to try to revamp the AI to make it able to use aggressive influence abilities like a human player can.
Note 2b: I am not sure I understand "defeat"; do you mean militarily only? That might be ok, although it is hard to avoid wars when the other is the aggressor! It would also be nice to have a different flag: one for "at war with X (aggressor)" and one for "at war with X (he declared on me)".