IBM Presents OS/2 Software Hits 1995/OS-2_SW_HITS_2ND_EDITION_1995.ISO/i07/galcivwt.faq

Text File | 1995-02-21 | 17KB | 350 lines

Galactic Civilizations--Getting Started, release 1.1
Last updated:    01/29/95
Comments on updates:

    o (01/29/95, r1.1) Latest game version and AI level are
      1.03 and 1.05, respectively.  Added paragraph on WWW in
      OTHER SOURCES section.

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    Copyright 1994, 1995 Shaun Burnett.  All rights reserved.
    Feel free to distribute this text as long the original contents
    remain fully intact.

    Galactic Civilizations, Drengin, Drengin Empire, Yor,
    Altarians, and Torian Confederation are trademarks of Stardock
    System, Inc (SDS).

    Civilization, X-COM and Master of Orion are trademarks
    of MicroProse.

    OS/2 is a trademark of IBM Corporation.

    AIMs and AIMsBBS are trademarks of Advanced Idea Machines,
    Inc.

    Special thanks to Brad Wardell for the initial walk through
    text.

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    FORWARD
    After I received Galactic Civilizations (GC), I was unable to
    get into the game after installing it.  Had I played
    Civilization or Master of Orion, I may have been able to
    immediately begin playing.  This walk through is for people
    that have purchased GC and do not know where to start.  It
    assumes the reader is comfortable in navigating OS/2 and
    familiar with the mouse lingo.

    If an explanation on how to accomplish a task is given once,
    it probably will not be given again.  So if you are lost, back
    up.  If you are still confused, e-mail me so I can improve the
    readability of the document.

    This walk through will not make you an expert player.  Do not
    e-mail me asking for tips since I am far from an expert.  In
    fact, I have yet to read the GC FAQ.  One of GC's weaknesses
    is also its greatest strength--lack of documentation
    explaining the internals of the game.  This "lack" of
    documentation reminds me of X-COM's documentation.  This
    greatly extends the playability of the game since a lot of
    time will be spent investigating the game's internals on your
    own.  If this type of documentation does not appeal to you,
    refer to the "OTHER SOURCES" section at the end of this
    document for ways to improve your play.

Shaun Burnett
[e-mail]

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        Galactic Civilizations is an immensely complicated and
        challenging game.  It will take you many hours of play to
        fully explore all the features of it.  This walk through will
        help you get started in your new galaxy.

    CONFIGURING THE PLAYING FIELD
    Open up GC and click on the "Start a new game" button.  The
    "Setting up your opponents ..." window will pop up.  Set the
    Drengin Empire's intelligence to "Brain Dead" and all of the
    other opponents' personalities to "Not Active".  Click on the
    "Accept" button.  The next window that will be displayed is
    titled "Opponent Personality".  Go ahead and click on the
    "good" radio button and then the "Accept" button.  This will
    give you only one opponent in the game that will not be
    aggressive in waging war or colonizing planets.  So you will have
    plenty of time to get the hang of the game.

    The "... About your civilization..." settings window.  Click
    on the button below the graphic of the universe until it reads
    "Small".  Hopefully this will decrease the chances of having
    another race in the same quadrant or in a neighboring
    quadrant.  Click on the "Done" button.  You will see
    a couple of windows welcoming you to to GC.  Click on the
    "Done" button in each of these after you have finished reading
    them.

    COLONIZATION
    Research before pleasure.  Before you start on your quest to
    colonize the galaxy, you will first have to select a project to
    research via the Research Manager window.  Double clicking
    on a technology will bring up a window displaying what will be
    gained by researching that particular technology.  Click on
    "General Cold Fusion".  At the bottom of the Research Manager
    window, under the words "General Cold Fusion" is the
    approximate amount of research time needed, which is forever.
    Do not be alarmed.  Since you have zero resources this makes
    sense.  After you colonize a planet, this value will change.
    You can check on it later via the Research Manger icon which
    is the third button from the bottom in the icon bar (left hand
    of the screen).  Go ahead and click on the "Done" button.

        Your first colony wagon the Santa Maria, has just emerged from
        a wormhole. You do not know where anything is in this new
        galaxy.  You first task is to find a suitable star system to
        colonize.  You will want to do this in the first year, if
        possible, since the Santa Maria has twelve moves in its first
        year.  After the first year, it can only move one parsec per
        year.  The number of moves is displayed in the ships controls
        (lower right section of the screen) which is can be used to
        control the active ship.

        Begin searching for a star system by using the cursor keys or
        the mouse (point and click) to move the ship.  When you
        discover a star system, click on it with the right mouse
        button to view the planets within it.  In general, the
        right mouse button will gather any information about any
        object in the game.  The left mouse button will select most
        objects in the game.  Double clicking will perform a default
        action if any.

        Yellow stars generally have the best chance of having a planet
        that we humans could survive on. For entertainment purposes,
        the number of nice worlds in the game is much higher than it
        probably is in reality.  In GC, planets are complicated things
        that are simplified in terms of how useful they are overall.
        In many games, a planet could be a "mining" world while
        another would be a "farming" world.  To try to keep some
        element of reality in the game, SDS chose to make the worlds
        scalable from "crud" to "incredible".  In our limited
        exploration of our solar system, it has been found that most
        planets are generally made of about the same elements.  We
        have not come across a planet made of gold or platinum (unless
        you hitchhike across the galaxy and get stuck in a planet
        catalog :).  A planet that is richer in ore but is extremely
        hostile to work on is not going to generate as much as a less
        mineral rich planet that is easy to work with.  This is why
        the scale of planets ranges from 1 to 26 on a linear scale (in
        terms of production, the scale is exponential).

    Right clicking on a star system will brings up the Star
    System Information window.  This displays the planets in the
    star system along with some other information.  Hopefully, the
    star system is not controlled by an opponent.  (If it is, the
    icon of the planet would have been that of an opponents.)  A
    right click on a planet will scan the planet and present the
    results in a window.  If there are other planets in the
    system, you probably want to scan them too.  Investigate all star
    systems that you discover, to find the best planet to
    colonize.

        Tip:  To reduce the amount of mouse movement, you
        can use the spacebar to "click" on the "Done" key
        in the planet scan window.  This works since the
        button is the current focus of input.  Using the
        spacebar is the same as clicking on the button
        which will close this window.

    Once you find a suitable planet to colonize, move the Santa
    Maria into the star system.  You will be prompted to name the
    system.  To colonize a planet, double click on the planet, or
    left click on the planet and then left click on the "Colonize"
    button.  You will then be asked to name the planet.  You may
    be prompted with an event window.  If so, select the button
    corresponding to your decision.

    MILITARY AND SOCIAL PROJECTS
    Planet View window will be displayed.  This window will give
    you basic information on the selected planet.  (If you wish to
    access this window from the Playing Field window, right click
    on the solar system and double click on the colonized planet.
    If you right click on the colonized planet, you will get the
    Planet Details window instead.)  The two list boxes allow you
    to set the current social (left list box) and the military
    project (right list box).  Only one project can be selected
    in each list box.

    To start off with, click on "Soil Enhancement System" in the
    social list box.  Double click on it to see what benefits and
    costs are associated with this project.  This particular social
    project is good to start out with since it should not take too
    long and it increases productivity.

    The military project that you should start out with is a
    "Scout".  This allows you to relatively quickly map out
    quadrants since a scout has five times the movement of a
    colony wagon.

    Below each list box is the estimated time until each project
    is completed.  Depending on the proximity of alien races,
    the time listed may be too long.  Here are some ways to speed
    up the amount of time.

        1) Solar System/Local resources.  From the Planet View
        window, click on the "Details" button.  Depending on
        uninhabited planet resources in the current solar
        system, you should have at least one icon under the
        text "Solar System Resources".  You can allocate these
        resources to improve morale (default), advance
        military or social project development or advance
        research.  Click once on each icon.  This will shift
        these resources from morale to military.  Returning to
        the Planet View window via the "View" (or "Back")
        button, you should notice that the length of time
        until your scout is completed has decreased.  If it
        has not, the amount of resources you have is
        insignificant.  Close the Planet View window.

        2) Economic Ratios.  The Economic Ratios icon is the
        fourth icon from the top of the icon bar.  It
        determines the ratio of how money is spent between
        military, research and social projects.  A suggested
        rate is 25/50/25, however, 40/40/20 may give a needed
        boost to your military projects if other races are
        near by.  Once the ratios are set, close this window.

        3) Economic Planner.  The Economic Planner icon is the
        fourth icon from the bottom of the icon bar (dollar
        sign).   Note the current percentages of the "Tax
        Rate: Government Income" and "Spend Rate: Government
        Expenditures" slider.  If you move either of these
        sliders, the numbers in the economic planner will
        change.  Increasing the tax rate is not a good idea.
        Depending on the outside income, you may be able to
        increase the spending rate.  Watch the net surplus
        value.  If this is negative, you will end up depleting
        your treasury.  Close this window when you are done.

        3) Purchase.  Since getting to know your neighborhood
        is important, the scout is going to be purchased.
        Return to the Planet View window, and click on the
        "Purchase Now" button under the military project list
        box.  This will bring up an Outside Contracting
        window.  Click on the "Choose" button associated with
        the least expensive bid with no lease.  Note that the
        time frame has changed to next year.  Do not change the
        selection in the list box yet.  Close the Planet View
        window and click on the "Turn" button.

    EXPANSION AND EXPLORATION
    With the passage of a year, the scout will be ready for use.
    If you were watching the Playing Field window before the
    Planet View window popped up, a shield with the letter "A"
    appeared next the the solar system.  This denotes ships are
    orbiting a planet.  For your next military project, select
    the colony wagon.  On the scout ship which is under the "Ships in
    Orbit" portion of the window, click on the right button.  This
    will bring up the ship's bridge window.  Click on the Leave
    Orbit Button.  Close the Planet View window when finished.

        The scout ship should currently be active.  You can use the
        mouse or cursor keys to move the scout around.  You will
        probably want to search the current quadrant for additional
        star systems and then explore other quadrants.  Sending a ship
        outside the boundary of the current quadrant will bring up the
        next quadrant.  Blue areas denoted unexplored space.

    In a couple of years your colony wagon should be completed.
    Bring up the bridge window for the wagon and add some more
    colonists.  (Having less people on the planet is one way to
    increase the approval rating.).   Once the colonists are on
    board, have the wagon leave orbit.  If you have found another
    solar system, set the wagon's autopilot for it.  Autopilot is
    simple to use.  Either using the ship's bridge or the ship's
    controls at the bottom of the screen (make sure the wagon is
    selected), click on the "Auto" Button.  The mouse cursor has
    changed to an arrow with the word "goto" beneath it.  Click on
    a quadrant in the Starmap window and then a location or use
    the arrow icons in the Playing Field to change quadrants or
    click in the Playing Field to set the autopilot location.

    SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS
    The key to doing well at Galactic Civilizations is to expand
        quickly and use your resources to gain new technology.  Keep
        expanding via colony wagons and scouting around.  Within
        approximately five to twenty years you should have a
        scientific breakthrough.  Note that you can now manufacture
        small fighters and can now research the Impulse Drive (*wink*
        *wink* *nudge* *nudge*).

        OTHER CIVILIZATIONS
        With your scouts running about, it will not be long until you
        come in contact with other civilizations.  You can click on
        their star or ship with the right mouse button to bring up an
        informational window on the object.

        With the promise/threat of other other civilizations, it is a
        good idea to be be aware of how well defended you are.  When a
        system is defended, a little shield will show up next to the
        planet.  Although this shield shows up for any orbiting ship,
        only the small fighter currently has the ability to attack.
        (From the bridge of a ship, you can see the strength, attack
        and defense stats.)

        When a star system has a shield, you can click on that shield
        with the right mouse button and have it bring up what ships
        are within that star system.  If you own the ship, you can
        double click on the ship to bring of the dialog for leaving
        orbit.  This is important to remember because if you surrender
        a star system to an enemy, you may still have ships in that
        system and you are not allowed to attack your own ships,
        having your ships leave orbit first by clicking on the shields
        would be important in such a case.

        WHAT NEXT?
        Like any strategy game, the key to winning is expand, be a
        good diplomat, and pursue technology as fast as you can.  If
        you are able to do those things well, you should be able to
        begin defeating the game in no time (at least on the lower
        levels).

        Once you get the hang of the game, you will probably want to
        start a new game since the current one will not be
        challenging.  Or you may want to launch an invasion force of
        aggressive ships against the other civilization.  The invasion
        force needs to be made up of ships that can attack their
        orbiting ships and transports to destroy their land armies.
        After all, you will feel better with a win under your belt.

        OTHER SOURCES
        Now is the time to install the GALCIV??.INF file that came
        with GC if you have not already, and read through it.  Yeah,
        you cannot take it to the washroom with you but it is a
        reference that should not be over looked.

    Usenet and The FAQ.  The Usenet group comp.os.os2.games is a
    good source for GC hints.  Mark Anderson
    ([e-mail]) maintains the GC Frequently
    Asked Questions (FAQ) which should also be posted to this group.

    WWW.  Check out "http://wcl-rs.bham.ac.uk/GamesDomain".  This
    is the site to start at when looking for information on any
    game.  Just recently found the GC FAQ there and will work on
    keeping an updated copy of this walk through at the same site.

    Updates.  Updates can be obtained from the AIMsBBS or AIMs FTP
    site.  Refer to the last page of the GC installation manual
    more information.  The current version is 1.03 with an AI
    level of 1.05.

    SUGGESTIONS
    I am open to comments on this document especially
    if it improves the clarity for the first time user.  I can be
    contacted via the e-mail address below.

--
Shaun Burnett            "Black goes with everything."
[e-mail]         -AS/400 IBM advertisement
[e-mail]         OS/2 shatters Windows