Gameshark takes a look at Galactic Civilizations II!

And some editorial expansion

http://www.gameshark.com/index.asp?t=c&a=previews&id=3112
from GalCiv2 Forums

Gameshark has one of the best previews of Galactic Civilizations II I've seen yet.

It goes into extensive detail on the new game elements and also talks about an interesting issue with regards to expansion packs.

One thing that many gamers new to Stardock's software may not be aware of is that Stardock doesn't just release software and call it a day with a couple of patches.  They get updated (for free) long after release.  These updates aren't just bug fixes but add new elements to the game.

Galactic Civilizations I, for instance, received countless updates after release that added things like Rally-Points, the Galactic Encyclopedia, and a ton of tweaks and enhancements that helped keep the game interesting long-after it was originally released.  Of course, the downside is that sometimes expansion packs don't have quite the same impact since players were getting so many free updates.

Still, in the long haul, we think that it benefits gamers and Stardock to release free updates that add new functionality to the game. 

For example, Stardock plans to once again release a free BonusPak that will be available for download upon the game's release.  We did this with Galactic Civilizations I and it did very well.  The BonusPak is essentially a series of goodies that beta testers came up with during development that weren't part of the game design but that we thought would be neat things to throw in later.

Because of the 3D engine, there's more opportunity to do more updates too.  For example, in most 3D games, the textures are bitmapped based.  As a result, if you go back and play one of those 3D games a couple years later, the graphcs look muddy compared to the "latest" 3D games.  In Galactic Civilizations II, our textures are vector-based which means that we will be able to keep updating them easily to higher and higher resolution. (see this screenshot as an example).

The idea being that even years from now, Galactic Civilizations II should continue to look as good as the newest games.  The 3D engine also doesn't limit the # of polygons used in a model. Modders can make .X models with as many polygons as they want.  And since the game is resolution independent (we've played it at 1920x1200 for instance) it isn't tied down by today's display limitations.

Now someone might make the argument "Well aren't you hurting sales of a future GalCiv? Why buy GalCiv 10 when GalCiv II looks fine?" but that brings up one of the key parts of Gameshark's previews: NEW VERSIONS SHOULD BE NEW VERSIONS.  A sequel to a game should be a real sequel, not a glorified expansion.  Gameplay, not graphics, should be what drives a new version of a game.

Read the whole article, it's a great read and highly informative.

8,061 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Interesting. A bit harsh on Stardock at the beginning, but a decent presentation of the sequel's merits.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Yea, I don't think he knew how much free stuff we did to GalCiv I or that WindowBlinds 5, which just came out, is the first for-pay upgrade to WindowBlinds since 2003.  We really don't tend to charge money for things unless there's a significant change.  But I do agree with the author's principles.
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Perhaps he is confused by the OD.net subscription plan?
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Good Review -

I"m looking forward to the full review
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
I buy very little software (seeing as how there is so much quality free programs that are open source). However, when I see a small independent software development company put out a quality product with great support, then I vote with my dollars! So far I am very pleased with my decision to pre-order GalCiv2 (I'm in the beta) and I can't wait for the final release!

I down loaded the game directly from Stardock so that I know they get the money. I you have heard the audio interviews you know how StrategyFirst profited more from the retail of GalCiv1 than Stardock!
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
Well...

I found the reviewer's writing style to be exceptionally annoying and there was really no info that anyone who casually browses this site wouldn't already know. That review was *maybe* three paragraphs of information and a page and a half of pointless rambling. I also think the reviewer rambling about products other than GalCiv2 had little relevance (and apparently wasn't even accurate).

I often nitpick over Gamespot or Gamespy reviewers but even the worst of that lot are vastly superior reviewers and writers.

The only interesting point the guy had was that new versions of games should bring more to the table, but I'm not even sure I'd fully agree with that. I'd be quite content to buy new versions of some of my past favorites that either no longer run on todays OSes or don't do so without a lot of hassle. I'd buy new versions Colonization, Alpha Centuri, or any of the XCOM games immediately even if all they had were modern graphics and the exact same gameplay!

Actually - one might fear that someone gets ahold of the rights to some of those classics and MOO3's them rather than simply re-releasing them or making worthy updates to them.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I'd buy new versions Colonization, Alpha Centuri, or any of the XCOM games immediately even if all they had were modern graphics and the exact same gameplay!


At the ripe old age of 39, I have only purchased three games in my life:
(1) Alpha Centuri (cost me only US$20 retail at some small store in a mall, I think they had discounted it because it had been out about 2 years)
(2) StarKnights Link (great multi-player real-time strategy game)
(3) GalGiv2 (has a lot more than improved graphics over GalGiv1)

Considering Space Empires V Link

Athough written for Win98, Alpha Centuri, runs fine on a P4 running WinXP, if you install the patch and make a simple config change.