I *REALLY* suck at this game and need tips.

first set everything to easy so it's...easy.

next, make sure your house is in order: economic strength is needed for military stength. are you using trade routes? selling techs for cash(and other techs)?

at first you will be losing money but that's ok. you want get trade routes and then build starbases to increase the $$$ along your trade routes.


make sure you are in the top three militaries on the military graph to keep other civs from bullying you. corvettes are a good ship to use to appear strong.

if a civ really bothers you bribe the other civ's enemies, friends, minors, and trading partners to declare war on them! (fun, and it keeps everyone weaker as they battle)

1)When you get started try getting as many planets as you can.That way you can have more money by getting taxes.

2)Build as many trade routes as you can,because trade routes can help you generate more money.

I hope these tips can help you be better at this game.

~SDC~

Nothing works for me. I got a random event about a prison and now these three purple ships will NOT leave me alone. I've thrown about 35 Corvettes at them and they blow up everything I own in 1 attack. My morale is rock-bottom and I've built every morale improvement I can ... really sucking here. There's only 1 resource within range and I've sent 4 constructors to it and they've all been destroyed by those dang prison ships.

I also have a problem with it locking up after about 60 minutes of play, and I can't figure out how to use the diplomacy system.

I think the hint you need is: do not colonize planets with less then 15 pq!

At least for me it sounds like thats were your problems come from...

Note that these colonies do not produce money, they use it up to maintain!
And note that these colonies will hardly ever become content since it's no fun living in a hostile envrionment.

If you have some of them, feel free to abandon them and for the future leave em alone...

What is your tax rate?


~SDC~

Siders - there's such a lot for you to come to grips with, it's tough to know where to start. Gal Civ forces you to play an all-round game - you have to keep paying attention to morale, economy and where you are in comparison to other civs. They'll come after you if, say, you don't have enough military development - you look like easy pickings. Rather than try and give you a load of tips - hunt down the stategy guide (a collaboration by users) - you should find a sticky in the forum telling you where to get it. Searching the forum for strategies will help - if you look to the left border, you should see a GC Strategies tab.
Come back to us with specific probs - we'll most likely be more help that way! Keep trying!

Although the game may seem tough at first Siders, I advise you not to give up. I too had trouble with the game when I first got it but with the right strategies you can be successful (my first Metaverse submission is on "Beginner" and now I'm on "Masochistic"). Here's some tips to help you out.

Before you start...
1). My first piece of advice is to register the game and make sure you have the most recent version (which is v1.05 unless you bought the drengin.net package. The version I got right out the box was very hard and didn't have all the features that are included now.

2) Next, set all the AI's to "fool" level.

3)It's important to start out small when you are getting your feet wet with this game, so set the galaxy size to "small" or tiny.

4) Select your starting political party and picks. I tend to use the Industrialist party for the +20 social and +20 military production. This allows me to build things faster. However, if you are having cash flow problems, another good party for you would be the Federalists (+20 economy). As for you picks, it all depends on what type of game you like to play:

Friendly, peaceful game: diplomacy +50 and research +50
Agressive, conquering game: +30 weapons, +30 defense, +20 research, +20 soldiering
Cultural Superiority: (Pacifists party) +40 influence, +30 population growth, +10 diplomacy
Research Victory: (technologists party) +50 Research, +50 Diplomacy

In the game...
When you first start out, set your spend rate to 100%, and your income distribution to either 100% military, or 50/50 military and research. Now click on the Sol system and start building a colony ship. It will show you having a deficit, but that's fine right now. The idea is to get planets quickly before the other races colonize them. You have a 1000bc reserve at the start of the game, so money shouldn't be a concern right now.

You only need one colony per system to claim ownership of it and prevent the AI from landing their too, so send you survey ship and colony ship around to look for yellow stars. You should be looking for class 15 and above planets only right now. While you are colonizing and exploring, you may encounter other races. They should leave you alone for now. Once all the good system in your area have been colonized, set tech spending to 100%.

Possible early game technology paths:

communications theory->universal translator->diplomacy-
>trade (lets you talk to other races, opens "repulbic" government, lets you trade)

propulsion theory->cold fusion->impusle drives (+1 to speed, can build transports to invade other systems)

weapons theory->phasers->photons->corvette technology (lets you build military ships)

medical theory->basic environmental control (lets you increase your planet quality, can build Aphrodisiac trade good)

propulsion theory->cold fusion->industrial theory->interstellar refining->nano-metal composition (increase your social production and economy and can build several trade goods)

Once you have gained some good technology and have spoken with a few races (remember you need the universal translator to do this), switch to 50/50 social production and research and starting building soil enhancements, fusion power plants, and banks on all your worlds. This should provide you with a decent income for the start of the game. Build a manufacturing center on your best planet and if some other race hasn't already built it, try and get Diplomatic Translators if you can. The +40 diplomacy bonus is very helpful.

With your basic infrastructure in place, switch to 50/50 military production and research and build some starfighters or (better yet) corvettes to scare off your enemies. The AI looks at the military chart and sees if you are weak before going to war or threatening you. You don't have to be the most heavily armed empire unless you plan on conquering your neighbors, but try and be in the top 3. Build a couple of freighters and send them to another race's best system (the one with the best income). Not only will you get money out of the deal, but better relations as well.

By now you should have a strong fleet, a decent economy, and be ahead in the tech race. From here where you go is up to you, but there are some general tips for the middle/end game:

Tips:

-Having a strategy is extremely important in this game. There are several ways to win, so figure out how you want to win and plan your moves accordingly.

-Don't build every planetary improvement on every planet. It only sucks down your treasury. If you don't plan on building military ships in one system, don't build shipyards there. Only economic improvements should be build on every planet.

-Try and get as many trade goods as you can. You can sell them to other races for technology or money, or keep them for yourself. Minor races seem to give the best deals, but try not to sell diplomatic translators in order to keep the diplomatic bonus to yourself.

-When selling a trade good or technology for cash, try selling it for a few bcs over many turns rather than getting it all in one lump sum. The reason is that the AI will give more money if you do it that way, plus it acts as a brake on their economy since a portion of their monthly income is now going to pay you instead of building or researching. If you sell them multiple goods this way, you can potentially deal them a crippling blow to their economy while making yourself richer in the process.

-Pay attention to what other races are doing. Keeping them at war with each other will make them weaker and keep them from bothering you. If one race seems to be losing the war, park a few transports and ships nearby their systems and invade them while their fleets are off fighting.

-If one race seems to be running away with the game, try to get the other races to declare war on them. Supply the other races with ships and technologies to give them a chance against the stronger race.

-Try and keep your governmental spending level as close to 100% as possible while still giving yourself a small positive income.

-Morale is very important in this game. If a planet is suffering from low morale, the most common cause is overcrowding. Load a few hundred million into transports and see if that doesn't help boost the planet's morale.

I know this is a very long post, but if you look through it you should be able to beat the game fairly easily. The best teacher is practice, so don't get discouraged and you'll do fine.
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