Any way to turn off the Dread Lords in sandbox mode?

from GalCiv2 Forums

I've been playing GalCivII only (I have the Ultimate Edition) in sandbox mode since I got it, but I got curious and decided to try the campaigns, but got frustrated with the Dread Lords and gave up about 5-6 campaigns in. Now, when I try to play a sandbox mode game, the Dread Lords are included every time - from the beginning, not as a random event. Personally, I really dislike the Dread Lords because of their habit of just sweeping through your system, destroying everything, then leaving and coming back every 5-10 turns and repeating. It seems ridiculously unfair and annoying to have to restart the process of building up starbases and a defensive military. I've tried turning minor races off and random events off. I have the Scenario set to "Normal", not "Dread Lord Dominion." It does this with any race I seem to pick as well. 

Is this a bug? How do I disable this? I just want the game back to where it used to be, without any ridiculously unbalanced (to me) enemy that requires me to focus on them at the start of every game rather than civilization building. Am I going to have to reinstall just to get it back to where it was?

I'm sorry if this has been asked a ridiculous amount of times. Yes, I did use the search function, but either the question isn't there or the terms I picked are wrong. Thanks.

7,230 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

They only show up in sandbox when triggered by Mega Event, and that only happens if you're playing DA or ToTA.  Unless of course you found some way to make them pickable as an opponent, in which case they could show up if you set your opponents as Random.

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Well, if there was a mega event, wouldn't it announce itself during the game, rather than starting right at the beginning?

 

 

This is what it looks like when I start.

SoundPackager - Customize the Windows sound scheme
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Okay well assuming all the other settings such as map are set to the default, and you're not using mods, what to do is take a backup of your game data folder in My Documents\My Games\ and then delete the folder (or just move it to desktop).  When you then try and play the game, everything will be set back to the defaults (including screen resolution).  If you still get Dread Lords popping up in sandbox after that, you need to either update or re-install.

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Hey thanks, that seems to have done the trick. Appreciate it greatly. The galaxy is a much better place when it's Dread Lord free.

Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Great, glad to hear it.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi,

Sorry for stealing your thread, but I have same problem - dread lords appearing in the sanbox game at the beginning of the game and obliterating my bases. (i havent noticed the Mega Event connected with them, but i may have missed that).

I also feel this is a bit unfair

I did as MarvinKosh advised and also disabled the Mega Events during scenerio configuration.

But when I start new sanbox game, on the first screen (with top most powerful civs) the Dread Lords are still listed there (along with my race)

So my question is, does this mean that they stiil exist somewhere on the map and I will eventaully meet with them, or is it just a reminder of a powerul race "somewhere" (but not in my galaxy...) I dont want to start once again just to be destroyed by them early on....

I tried making a modded scenerio and setting them in Active section to 0 , but they still appear enlisted on the first scrren.

I havent used any mods (besides the one scenerio file), im playing ToTA.

 

edit: I used cheats to remove fog of war and the dread lords are on the map since the beginning. But it turns out that they appear on the Milky Way map, but not on the custom map.

Problem solved.

 

Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Quoting MaciejL, reply 6
edit: I used cheats to remove fog of war and the dread lords are on the map since the beginning. But it turns out that they appear on the Milky Way map, but not on the custom map.
End of MaciejL's quote

Yes, the Dread Lords are there from the start on the Milky Way and 4-Struggle custom maps. If you don't like that, you can edit the maps to get rid of them (which isn't hard), or just play different maps.