This document may be freely distributed in its unaltered form.
OS/2 is a trademark of International Business Machines Corp.
August 16, 1993.
SDS is pleased to announce that it is presently developing what we believe is the first commercial OS/2 game. This game exploits OS/2 to degrees which few software packages (applications included) have done so. It is a strategy game that will be available ONLY on IBM's OS/2 platform. To run OS/2 you only require a 386 or better based system and 6 or more megabytes of memory.
Specifications of Galactic Civilizations 1.0:
* Completely 32 bit
* Threaded AI
* Threaded Map Generation
* SDS/AI specification .75
* Up to 12 computer players against you
* Over 1000 different star systems
* Several thousand planets to colonize or conquer
* VGA/SVGA/XGA support. 640x480x16 up to 1024x768x256
* MMPM/2 support. Threaded music and sound.
* Object Oriented Interface. If you can see it, you
can click on it.
* Work Place Shell aware
* Dynamic Playing fields (variable sized galaxies)
Please feel free to pass this document along or post it where you feel it is appropriate. Please ensure that it is not already currently posted in a conference since this document is rather long.
Game Description:
Galactic Civilizations is an advanced strategy game that takes place in the future and has the entire galaxy as a playing field.
The game operates in a quadrant system. Your screen is dominated by a map of the current quadrant and a left hand side icon bar. The quadrant displays the currently discovered star systems. By clicking on those star systems you can view the planets within them.
The game is won by either conquering the galaxy or uniting the computer players together.
Like other strategy games such as Empire and Civilization, your people must produce your armies and navies. In Galactic Civilizations (GC) you will choose what your various colonies produce. You can produce more than one thing at once: 1 military type project and one civilian project. When you are not producing anything, your resources go to the treasury.
Being in charge of an intergalactic empire is no easy thing. You have to have a lot of diplomatic skills to ensure that the up to 12 computer opponents don't unite against you. You need to make sure you have a healthy economy, and you need to distribute your taxes wisely. You set your tax rate between 0 and 100. Setting it at 0 will make your people happy but leave you broke and unable to build anything. Setting it to 100 will likely cause a rebellion and huge losses in population. You take your taxes and distribute them between research, social programs, and military programs:
Research resources are used to help advance your technology. For example, you will need to develop war drive before you can leave your home quadrant. To develop warp drive you need to develop anti-matter technology and so on. As the game progresses you will learn technologies both wondrous and terrible. You will be able to help end hunger but be able to build things like the Terror Star which can wipe out and entire star system in one blow.
The Artificial Intelligence of the game is the most important aspect. It is because of OS/2 that the AI will be so advanced. Unlike most strategy games that either cheat to make their moves fast or are terribly slow to simulate most of what you can do for the computer players, SDS's AI executes in its own thread without slowing down the game. While you are making your moves, the computer players do their bookwork and planning in the background. When you are done, you select the end of turn push button and then the computer players will move their pieces in a thread. While they are moving you can still update projects, set taxes, look at statistics, etc.
Unlike most strategy games that limit you to hacking and slashing the enemies, GC allows you the opportunity to beat out the others by economic might instead of just military might. You can set up trade routes and economic treaties with the other empires that are mutually beneficial. However, if you are at war, those treaties with that empire are null and void. If an empire's income is largely dependent on your economy, they will think twice before attacking you. Of course,, you will always need some military power to defend yourselves since a rich but defenseless empire would appear to the enemy as easy pickings.
GC allows for variable sized galaxies. You can have small 8 x 8 galaxies right up to 16x16 sized galaxies. An 8x8 galaxy with 12 computer players could serve for the expert player who wants intense combat. Or an 8x8 galaxy with only 3 players would serve as a good way of learning the game. The number of stars will remain constant so you are not penalized for selecting a smaller universe.
Your primary goals are:
- Develop new technologies
- Colonize new worlds
- Overpower your enemies
- Keep your people happy
In the latter, you can build civilian projects such as Internal Security Forces or Planetary Information Networks. These cut down on corruption and in the case of the Network, improve research. Unlike other games, when you are working on a particular project, you can switch to another and later return to the previous project and continue where you left off (as opposed to having to dump all your old resources onto the new project and have to start over on the old one).
In terms of discovering new technologies, in games where you advance in technology you are limited to researching one technology at once. This is rather unrealistic and has been rectified in GC. You can research up to 4 new "Discoveries" at once and switch away to others at will.
Until you gain warp drive, your ships are limited to your home quadrant.
You can get very personal with your ships and you may find yourself feeling that the ships are individuals instead of
icons on the screen. For this reason, you can name your ships. Since some ships require a lot of resources to build, we believe it is more fitting to send "The USS Intrepid and USS Defender" or whatever instead of "Battleship16" to a battle.
Moreover, it is not possible for a powerful ship to be destroyed by small ship in normal combat. In some strategy games, your brand new battle ship could be destroyed by a simple tirene. This sort behavior cannot occur. Your ship contains a certain amount of "strength". Only once that strength has been worn down to a certain point can far lesser ship have a chance against you.
* Star Ship Units *
Explorer: Good for seeking new lifeforms and stars.
and can harass small ships.
Star Fighters Good for attacking smaller ships
Colony Wagon Required to start a new colony
Star Cruiser Good fast attack ship for moderate to small
battles.
Ion Frigate Slow but tough combat ship
Battle Cruiser Your main star weapon for controlling
space
Battle Ship Very VERY powerful weapon and very expensive.
These are required to "adventure"
Transport Required to take over an unprotected Star
System
Terror Moon Extremely Expensive and powerful weapon.
Can destroy virtually any ship in the game.
Terror Star Can destroy star systems
Diplomatic Cruiser Transports Diplomats.
Freighters Establish Trade routes and economic policy
* Ground Units *
Ground troops Just protect the ground
* Colony Improvements *
Planetary Information Network:
Makes people happier, improves research
Global Currency Exchange:
Improves the number of trade units you get.
Fusion Based Manufacturing Plant:
Amount of productivity increased
Planetary Defense: (obvious)
Military Academy: ^
Food Replicators:
Allows your population to increase faster
Research Institute:
Increases research
Stadium:
Makes people happy
Multimedia Stations:
Makes people happy
Genetic Control Network:
Keeps people human. Here you have human beings
spread all over the universe in different environments
for thousands of years. Without something to keep
everyone on the same evolution track, you will end up
with different groups of humanoids who will likely
not want to be part of your empire.
Home Energy Systems:
Allows citizens access to antimatter generators. In
other words they can have virtually unlimited energy
resources in the home. This allows to have home
replicators and such. Makes people VERY happy.
Galactic Trading Center:
Increases trade units
Planetary Computer Network:
Allows home users access to news and research. Makes
people happy and improves research
Hydroponics lab:
Increases food production which allows your population
to grow.
** GALACTIC WONDERS AND SUPER PROJECTS **
In some cases you can have incredibly important projects that can exist in more empires than only 1. For example, anyone can develop a terraforming device and every empire must complete the warp drive and Terror projects in order to start developing those devices. You can't just steal certain technologies since they require a breakthrough. Other projects can only exist in one place such as a Dinosaur park.
The Cloaking Device:
While others can gain this technology, the first to develop this wonder will always be ahead technologically. Your ships will receive extra attack points.
Dinosaur Park:
Doubles your trade.
VaporOS:
Develop a mythically powerful operating system. All other empires will place their OS development on hold while they wait for your VaporOS to get done. While they wait, you get work done with OS/2 v35.1. Allows you to gain The topmost discovery on your list.
DeepThought:
Allows all your planetary networks to work together. An incredible living computer. Dramatically increases your research.
The Warp Drive Project:
You have the technology, now you must develop a specific application for it. To gain warp drive on your ships you must complete this.
The Star Terror Project:
You will have to complete this before you can blow everyone to smithereens with your Terror Stars.
Creation of Life:
Makes everyone happier.
Deep Space Lab:
Will give you the locations of 3 of the ancient artifacts.
The Tur-Ahn training:
A special breed of warriors will be from here. Your ships
from this planet will be extra tough.
The Hyperdrive Project:
Must be developed before you can get hyperdrive. Hyperdrive
allows you to go from one edge of the galaxy to the other in a single turn.
Trison Ring:
A ring of matter about a star. Requires tremendous resources to build but will double the trade to all planets in that system.
More improvements, discoveries, and wonders are in the works.
* Government Types *
Colonizer:
This is where you start out. As populations get larger though, people resent being a mere colony and it will be nearly impossible to stay as a colony. However, when you are a colony, the social programs cost little to maintain.
Empire:
Things now cost money to maintain but your people are happier being part of the empire and not just a colony.
Federation:
Star systems are now equal partners with you which really increases trade but they now expect more improvements in order to be happy.
*** Special Features ***
In the real world things are not as clean as a computer strategy game. Governments will do anything to win and cut and dry strategy does not win a war always. In your galaxy, there are remnants of ancient technologies. With a battle ship, you can find these new technologies. Just entering a star system will discover it but you must have a battle ship in order to discover these things. Only a battle ship has the sensors and resources to find these things. You can find the following:
* Amborian Star Killer
Powerful Super ship. Only 1 in the galaxy
* Troth's Shield
Makes your ship more powerful
* Kendor's Lost squadron
Powerful fighter squad
* Various technologies
* Various amounts of currency
(At this stage, we have not made more)
Just like in Raiders of the Lost Arc where hitler was trying to find artifacts to help his war (and the US). The computer players and you will likely search out these artifacts.
You receive money in the following 3 ways:
Direct Taxation:
When you don't have a project underway, those tax units go to your treasury.
Trade:
You set up trade agreements with other empires. You get money from this trade.
Tourism:
For every quadrant that you dominate, you will get a
certain amount of money from owning that quadrant.
******** Enemy Players: ********
The Drengin Empire
The Torians Confederation
The Altarians
The Arceans
The Iconians
The Yorian Republic
The Borg
The Mongols
The Empire
The Alliance
The United Worlds
Little Things:
There will be intermissions during the game. When a computer player completes an important project or wonder you will get a "Meanwhile" screen (like in Wing Commander or Xwing) to show what else is happening.
There is digitized sound (Even now) in little parts of the game to add a little excitement.
There will be a significant amount of statistical data available to you if you choose to view it. You can, for example, find the top 5 planets, most powerful empires, the happiest 5 worlds, the most productive worlds, the military power of the empires, who likes who. Your diplomatic relationships, etc.
Availability:
The game is in development and nearing a stage where a limited beta will be released some time this fall. The beta will include:
Simple Computer AI (just to make sure the mechanics work)
Sound
High Resolution Required
No Adventures
It will not be feature complete. Quite a few of the features will not be implemented. Stability will be tested.
We will make a post this fall on the Internet when we need beta testers.
Our Suggested Retail Price will probably be $39.95 (who pays retail though?) with a special introductory offer quite likely. We believe this game is significantly more advanced than any other PC strategy game of this type and that the $30+ price is a real bargain (since Empire and Civilization are nearly $50 and they don't offer the features this has nor the graphics and sound).
We are targeting a mid May release (May 23, 1994 to be exact) since it is important that the game be solid and feature complete. We really think that this is a game many could enjoy.
This game is more than a simple piece of software, it is OS/2 advocacy. Typically, one might expect to find such as game listing for $79 or a high price or to whip it out onto the market to cash in. This is not the case here, we honestly want this game to be good and sell well (and get good reviews). SDS has no intention to try to dominate the OS/2 game market but to hopefully set an example on what it takes to succeed in the OS/2 market. If this game sells well, other companies may start making their games under OS/2 -- the ultimate PC game environment. Other products that have been ported to OS/2 have not done well but they also did not take advantage of OS/2's features or were slow. We believe OS/2 users will purchase GOOD software not just because it is made for OS/2. SDS hopes to prove this with a quality entertainment product.
If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me via internet: x90wardell@wmich.edu
