Minor Races colonize help - Dev?

if you have time, a quick dev answer would be keen

from GalCiv2 Forums
Well, ive tried almost everything i can think of to make the minor races colonize in a normal game, and using the scenerio's as well.

Minor Coloniize =1
Minor Invade=1

both seem to do nothing. (along with the reverse, setting it to 0)

nor does removing or adding the Tech Root Tech line in the race config which appears in each minor race's listing.

nor does giving the minors any of the following tech's in fact via the raceconfig file

hyperdrive, planetary invasion, xeno anything etc

note that giving the minor's planetary invasion at the start of a game will have them create transports immidieatly (which oddly all have 1/1/1 attack - seems like they have a "stock" ship design that takes into account the UP event that forces transports into having at least x amount of weaponry, however i have yet to see them use the ships created!.- is there a colony ship per ship type that i am missing that the minor races would use?

Ive even GIVEN the minor's in game each a colony ship that i created on my homeworld planet, these ships just sit there, never moving, even with open adjacent planets. (again oddly, thier move is always 0/whatever it should be, even though they do not move-possibly the ai putting them on guard, but that doesnt make sense either.)

IF i understand correctly, the AI's for the main races + the dreadlords are acctually based upon the order that they appear in the RaceConfig.xml - would it be possible to change this at this stage of the game? something to the point of "use xx ai" where xx= a number based on the various races, or would this automatically make them "major" races?

The whole idea behind my obsession... er idea is that having the minor races being able to colonize, but not in the UP would be very similar to real world polotics - when it comes to the best equivalant real world organization, the UP can be considered the UN security council, where the minor races would be non-voting (hence thier lack of acctual influence) or "rogue" states. Since the Minor races already start out at a significant disadvantage (1b starting pop, no survey, no innitial colony ship, less starting cash) they would start out colonizing slower then the rest anyhow, as befits thier minor status, but left unchecked, or in a sector without a nearby major race, they could indeed become thorns in the major races sides. Compare this to thier current status as either trading partners or just planet place holders waiting to be invaded, and i believe that the change would open up alot of variety to the game - if even just as a selectable scenerio.

So! in conclusion, what am i missing to enable the minor races' ability to colonize?
modding
42,531 views 27 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
forums hate me
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
interesting -

just used crt+alt+z on a normal (non scenerio) game to see what would happen trying to "play" a minor race - with the following settings

planetary invation in techs - note that i still had this tech listed as reasearchable

each ship that i tried to move gave the "out of range" pop up, even when launched from homeworld.

back to the drawing board
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
What I would like to ask is why you can't snoop on a minor race. Oh yes, I would like to point out that when I pay for spying, most of the time the only level fmv - piccy that displays is the 'low' setting. After a turn or two, I find out that I don't need to pay any more money into it, and so I inevitably end up wasted a load of money.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I am interested in this as well......
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Reset a hotseat game, scenerio.

minor colonize = 1
minor invate = 1

and.. for some reason the snathi that i hotseated to again had the out of range box.. until i zoomed out on the map and realized that for some reason the home world range "radius" was set to... the Drath!

reasearching now, interesting either way
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The only time that's happened to me when all my ships were out of range, I think, is when I gave away all my planets to another race.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
So... they don't invade by default?

Okay, I have version 1.11 and I haven't changed anything. I've played games where the minor races went to war with each other without my intervention in any way, and I've even played one where the Scottlingas (who I hadn't even seen yet) invaded and took over every other minor race. So... um... ???



Edit: Though I think your idea is really good.
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You are a lucky guy.

All I've ever seen a minor do is spam starbases and then get killed.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
using 1.2 beta atm, and the minors dont seem to do much really - i have never seen them invade at all, so im a bit amazed that you are Dread.. like others, ive seen starbases and scouts here and there, otherwise nothing but fodder for the major races.

meanwhile, back at the ranch.

the Jess... are useing arcean's range right now, thier "center" is that major races main planet.

meanwhile, the snathi have the same issue with the drath.

now, it could be because im using the hotseat keayboard short, but i dont think so.

ive focused on these two for testing, multiple games now with the same result hotseating to the two differant minors.

method - Crtl U for sight, (have universal translator already) hit turn to "meet" everyone, then give them a ship (used a colony and the flagship in rotating order) then crt+shift+z for the hotseat. Each time, the range radius of the ship is based on another races homeworld (drath, arce) Unless that rmain race isnt present in the game (used random/five races)- then the ships cannot move at all!

however, when crtl+T to transport the ship to an area "in range" - you can then use it to colonize/invade

also note that default/premade colony/transports do show up under shipbuilding (understanding that i edited raceconfig to give the minor's in question both hyperdrive and planetary invasion)
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Unless it has been changed, the Minor races cannot expand etc. It was turned off somplace in the code according to CariElf.

DG
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I suppose my game might be bugged... or yours all might be. Also, is it possible that other Civs paid the minors to fight in mine?

That range issue is something else, though. I haven't played around in the game files, but is there any association in there that would confuse two races like that?

Thought: I'm going to gift the Minors with the various life support techs and see if they become more active in my games. Also, I'll see if I can't pay them attack anyone, although I imagine they'd be afraid to.

Edit: Hmmm, unless the guy above me is right. Yep, it's official, I don't know what's going on here.
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
and this is why i was wondering about the minor colonize=1 code in scenerio files.

btw, if any of you feel like trying the hot seat deal with a minor race, feel free, im interested to see if its just my game, tried it with no other mods and got the same results, wonder if thats why the minors will sometimes send 12431 constructors seemingly across the map to set up starbases?

ive compared the two test races with thier major conterparts till im blue in the face now, dont see anything that stands out as to the causal factor.
Reply #14 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
In one of my games (no metaverse) I payed recently I allied pretty early with my neighbouring minor race - the Akilians. I like playing as a kind of "protector" for a minor race since they normally have a hard time to hold theit own and it adds some flavor and/or difficulty to the game.
I traded them some nice techs (weapons, miniaturization, logistics, defense) and soon they had a small but strong fleet and when the time came and the Arceans declared war they were a big help. Engaging the enemy all on their own (I had to fight on another front as well, Arceans in my back) and they kicked some serious a**. They ventured deep into enemy territory and I also noticed that they were building troop transports.

At one point when I checked the stats I saw that they now had two planets! But I didn't see them conquer it, so it might be they got it by influence or as a gift (unlikely i think) or something else. Sadly, they didn't keep it for long when the Arceans rallied themselves and started a counterattack.

Well, the point is: It was the first (and last) time that I saw a minor race posessing two planets ( of course, except for those that "create" themselves out of a major race, like the fundamentalists etc.).

btw: I think I read in a post that the Akilians are the only minor race that has some build in bonuses ( weapons, soldiering and defense, maybe more if I remember correctly). Maybe that's what makes them different?
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
hrm, saw a recent post by a dev about letting the player choose the ai "type" (military agressive, dipomatist etc) .. here is hoping they see this poor forgotten post!

- still dreaming of a giant uiniverse with not just the core ten, but indeed scads of races competing for dominance.
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Has anyone tried colonizing for the minors. Gift them 7-8 planets and see what they do.
Reply #17 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
yes, gifting the minor races planets does help - however if the corresponding Major race that they seem to be attached to for thier ship range is killed, (see above) they are still fubar.

wonder if writing in planets for them in the custom planet xml would fix? hrm.
Reply #18 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Actually thats not a bad idea Valakov. I'm at work but do the minors have home systems allocated to them in the raceconfig.xml? If not might be worth just adding them there then add the cooresponding system/homeworld to the customplanets.xml..
Reply #19 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Tried to set up planets in custom planet xml for them, but didnt work =/
Reply #20 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
it's too bad that the dev's don't hop in here and clear a few things up....
Reply #21 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
been gone for a few weeks, figured id take a look to see if thier is anything new on this, or new ideas to fix the problems.
Reply #22 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
everytime i give a minor race a colony ship they can't use it fast enough if there are planets still left
Reply #23 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
everytime i give a minor race a colony ship they can't use it fast enough if there are planets still left


hey, my old post lives! and no, at this time, giving the colony ship to a minor will do nothing. see above for the various reasons.

Reply #24 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If you want instant answers, the forum is generally not the place to look. irc.stardock.com #galciv is where the devs can normally be found.

Reply #25 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
If you want instant answers, the forum is generally not the place to look. irc.stardock.com #galciv is where the devs can normally be found.


patience is a virtue. and just by the way things are set up currently, i dont believe with out a lot of rework in the hardcode, much can be done for the minor's anyhow.