Solitair

Reply to anyone win using the 8 point +3 trade route option in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

This is very over priced. Your trade income is the sum of all trade routes to your planets, not just yours. These 3 extra routes therefore may add only a few extra percent to your income for a whopping 8 point cost. Later in the game you'll reach the trade route limit and it'll be useless. Even worse, the other races get the benefits of the trading as well (assuming you trade with them) and so they get extra income for free. Far better to spend the points on somthing else like +econ or

Reply to The Bush Doctrine will spell doom to American hegemony in Politics JoeUser Forums

Draginol, I think you overestimate the benefits of US military power. No one is suggesting we re-write history or take away current military strength. The article just suggests that the US is aggravating other countries and in time may end up causing the very thing it's policy is trying to stop. To fight Iraq the US had to reduce committment elsewhere. The US couldn't project force towards North Korea for it's nuclear programme. Use of military force in Iraq allowed north Korea to

Reply to Average Gamelength? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

My tiny maso games take 2-3 hours to win. Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to Where did all the foreign intelligence mistakes came from... in Politics JoeUser Forums

I'm not sure which is more worrying. The idea that Bush could have knowingly lied to the American people in order to persue the war , or that his administration is that inept. I hope they learn the lessons before they start looking for excuses to attack Canada and find out about all those Canadian plots and WMD's. Paul.

Reply to The circular galaxy...! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Was thought of and discussed in great detail early in the alpha stage. Both circular and polar universes were discussed. In the end it was just not realistic. Could be considered as an option though, Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to Score 0? Why? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I've never yet got a score of zero, and I've been playing the latest expansion for months. If it wasn't for the fact that you were trying out cheese I'd suggest sending it to Cari and finding out what flipped the score. Would be interesting to know, just in case it wasn't the cheese. Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to Universal Suffrage in Politics JoeUser Forums

Some very interesting points above. Do people believe that voting is a right or a privledge? If a right then it should never be taken away once given. Felons therefore should be allowed vote. If a privledge then it should be earned and the privledge needs to be maintained. Whether theis is through paying taxes, being informed, voting, serving your country, etc. Sounds like we have people arguing both sides of this one. I fall on the 'it's a right' category, bu

Reply to GalCiv 1.11 Stuff in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Sounds good Brad. Is the other influence bug (the multiplying of starbase influence as oppossed to addition) also fixed? Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to Ideas For Invading Big Planets in Strategies Stardock Forums

The biggest cheese tactic is to choose your closest planet and destroy the colony. THe AI player then happily builds colony ships. Destroy these one at a time and watch their huge population drop veryu very fast. Colony ships have no population limit so this tactic can quickly be used to wipe out vast population. Only problem with this tactic is all other remaining races will also send colony ships to the now empty planet. Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to The Debate on Genetically Modified Foods Continues in Pure Technology JoeUser Forums

I think Draginol was just using nuclear power of an example where Europe adopted a new tchnology quickly despite peoples reservations. In GM food they are doing the opposite. Therefore Draginol argues that fear of the technology is not the issue, it's politics as the politicians have shown previously that they will use new technology even if customers protest. As for the arguments about organic vs GM I think you definitely have some important points. It's worth remembering that humans c

Reply to OT: Any word on The Political Machine? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

To quote Kris from Stardock, "Should really update the website. We've pushed the date back a bit for the beta for a couple of reasons. At the moment, I'm still expecting that there will be a beta available before Christmas. Probably after Thanksgiving, due to various other things planned for November. Kris" Looks like it'll be a few more weeks then, Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to The Debate on Genetically Modified Foods Continues in Pure Technology JoeUser Forums

Ah Draginol, you have forgotten something. Half the European budget is paid to farmers in subsidies. They can afford to be non-competitive ;-) Seriously though, I do agree with you on a number of issues. Many Europeans are scared of genetically modified foods due to lack of knowledge. Many are scared of eating such products! They are being very cautious because the environment is very important to Europeans. If they mess up it'll be hard to fix. Organic farmers (a major market

Reply to government spending in Strategies Stardock Forums

Galciv like most 4x games requires you to expand to survive (yes there are very rare exceptions). The expansion phase is at the start of the game so maximising spending maximises expansion. Later on you will probably have to reduce spending to keep a positive bank balance. Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to Weakness in the Scoring System in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Submit smaller maps! It's not about high scoring but having fun. I only play tiny games (admittedly on maso level) because I can only afford 2-3 hours at a time to play the game. I'm not a fan or reloading an old game the next day and so I play map sizes I can complete in one sitting. That means tiny, which takes be between 2 and 3 hours usually. It will mean that eventually my score will slip down the metaverse as I just can't compete against gigantic galaxies due to the scor

Reply to Dollars vs Euros in Politics JoeUser Forums

Very interesting article. Not sure I'd trust a number of the sources used. The bottom line is also that you have no proof for the acusations that this is why the Iraq war happened. A very plausible case admittedly, but no solid proof that the US administration was acting because of this. Doubt it would hold up in a court of law, but certainly asks some good questions and raises some important points. Paul. PS. Anthony, you should really elaborate more. IF som

Reply to Universal Suffrage in Politics JoeUser Forums

excellent post. I totally agree with you that universal suffrage should never be removed. It is the one factor in a democracy that ensures equality. That said there are strong arguments for reducing the influence of non tax-payers on spending priorities. I firmly believe that such influence should be reduced by reducing the number of non tax-payers, hence fixing the problem itself. Paul.

Reply to JoeUser Feedback in Software Development JoeUser Forums

Sounds excellent. Still getting large numbers of 'Sorry. The article requested does not exist.' messages when trying to reply to articles. Keep up the great work, Paul.

Reply to Don't count on human civilization lasting in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

I believe the oldest walled city yet discovered is about 9000 years old. They would definitely be far less 'civilised' than romans though. Really depends on what you call civilised and what specialisations you want to see. Obviously they could make bricks. The Eqyptians built the pyramids about 4500 years ago. To do this they had geometry, mathematics and construction specialisations. Even further back would be things like passage tombs (6000 years ago). Many of these are align

Reply to Weakness in the Scoring System in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Sirian, don't feel upset with the replies you received. I considered replying to you originally and decided against it as my thoughts and feelings have been well posted and can easily be found using the search function. Many others probably feel the same way and tend to treat such well discussed topics as taboo. They are NOT off limits though and you are more than welcome to start threads and discuss them. Please remember though that a) Stardock have little time for people who

Reply to Don't count on human civilization lasting in Philosophy JoeUser Forums

interesting article. City based civilization is about 9000 years old though. You should try visiting the middle east, india and china to see impressive civilations greater than 3000 years old. As for disasters, I'm surprised you missed the magnetic pole change. That's currently long overdue, occurs on a regular period (250,000 years), and could potentially cause enough damage to wipe out a sizeable fraction of population on the planet.

Reply to New number one in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

It surprises me how similar your tactices are to mine. My only real differences are using a rare tiny galaxy, far less constructors, researching everything myself, end game cultural flip. Some useful additions. 5. CTRL+U reveals entire map. Why waste 5 minutes sending out scouts when you can waste 5 seconds. Then just reload. I assume like most high scorers you disable cultural, alliance and tech victories? It's worth allowing cultural and seeing what score you get. You may st

Reply to not listed wondering why in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Try reregistering. I think it should work. If you misregistered your email address then I think you need to send stardock support an email with the complete set of details. They can then change this. Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to Why can you turn off alliance victory (or why the ai doesn't betray you)? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

turning the alliance victory off should really disable alliances. I do agree with you on this. You may be trying for a technology victory though! Paul. ~SDC~

Reply to not listed wondering why in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

That is the normal message when you SUCCESSFULLY submit a game. That means that the game has been sent and the Metaverse has received the score. If you are not listed then it is most likely that you have a problem between your registered nickname and your metaverse name. Doublecheck what name and email address you submitted your game under and then reregister on the metaverse. Go to the www.galciv.com webpage and click on metaverse. On the eft hand side will be a button called register

Reply to Newest Score Not Added to Metaverse Total in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

You need to now cast a spell of disintegration of Cotal's last few games!! ;) Paul. [Message Edited]