Slashdot Mirror
Galactic Civilizations Coming Soon
dragonsister writes "Like Master of Orion 3, Galactic Civilizations is a turn-based strategy game involving colonizing and dominating the galaxy - militarily, diplomatically, or economically. Unlike MOO3, GalCiv will (release date March 26th) come without copy-protection; Stardock are addressing the piracy issue by providing a bonus pack and further downloads to users providing a CD key. This 'rewarding the honest' approach is precisely what Slashdotters have asked for ." I've been playing a lot of MOO3, which I love, but this is looking great as well. Ah, the bounty of games.
GalCiv may also be purchased via a subscription to Drengin.net, which also supplies a variety of 'smaller' games which would not sell so well in the normal market.
I have no connection to anyone producing Galactic Civilizations. I'm planning to buy the game because I've been impressed by:
- The developer's interaction with fans, at least on the newsgroup comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic
- The level of beta-testing employed
- The comments from the public beta-testers
- The developer's budget of a year of additional development, including AI improvements (Stardock has a reputation for good game AI anyway!)
So would I be correct in saying that if you buy the game, you get every bit of 'expansion pack' style material that comes out in the following year of development?
That's sure to be a success, although I can only think of one expansion pack I didn't buy for a Blizzard game (they're good at releasing expansions that cost half the same as the original game).
Still, I'm contemplating either MOO3 or GalCiv as I don't have loads of time to spend playing games these days.
Quick poll, which one do you think is better? I'm leaning towards GalCiv as I usually like playing strategy games single player. Multiplayer is much better in fast pace eg. FPS.
Dan. -- So what if it's spelt wrong, nobody's perfect
For those who like space strategy games, and colonization etc, I would suggest Imperium Galactica. It is my favorite space strategy game :) And it's real time, not turn based.
:)
http://imperiumgalactica.com/
About this game outlined in the topic, I think it's a mere advertisement but we'll see if this game is good anyway
Khalid
"What you 'seek' is what you get!"
I think you're confusing 'Copyright' and 'Copy-protection'. Completely different things.
Copy protection on CDs is a completely botched affair - it presents a slight inconvienience to those who wish to copy the CD, while producing problems to those who have bought it legitamately.
MOO3 will run in Linux almost perfectly with WineX. Other than needing to change the cursor to 'system' in the options panel, the game works almost flawlessly for me.
Of course, WineX isn't free, ($5/month gives you binaries and voting rights to what should be worked on next), but I think it's worth it. There's also a bit a movement to get Transgaming to concentrate more on getting older classic games running in Linux, and for that hope alone, I'm behind TG.
I game, therefore I am...
GalCiv has such a bright AI that at most difficulty levels, not only doesn't it cheat, but it is defavorised against the human player - for example, if I understand well, it gets less money.
This has been made possible by the use of a multithreaded AI. To wit, whereas most turn-based games did 'think' only during a short lapse of time between the human's turns, GalCiv thinks continuously while the human is playing. So that allows for a much longer computation time.
GalCiv has already been used on Tom's Hardware to test the hyperthreading capacity of the new Pentium4 3GHz.
Moreover, there's a stuff called the 'Metaverse'. In short : after you end a game, you can automatically upload some crucial game data (your score, elements of your strategy...) to a central server which then deduces improvements to the game's AI. Then I guess you end up with a game which plays better.
The guys from the GalCiv team say it has already been working with the betatesters's games and has very significantly improved the game's AI.
War doesn't prove who's right, just who's left.
"CD's that were poorly manufactured and so have been cracking whilst in the drive etc. EA charge 7.50 UKP to replace each disc and as there are two that's an additional 15 UKP for the game on top of retail price."
Are people paying? Wow! This totally contravenes the 1976 Sale Of Goods Act - section 15 "Must be of merchantable quality". This is a design fault.You get a free replacement or your money back. There's nothing the developers, producers, distributors, manufacturers or retailers can do to stop you. That's a statury right.
Someone needs to sue them in the small claims court for this, if what you say is true.
First, this is just a game, not an Operating System. Far less critical. Second, this is a far better scheme than a lot of companies have been using lately. Be honest, and you get extra stuff. It sounds like these would primarily be expansion pack type enhancements, and not really critical patches.
Life sucks, but death doesn't put out at all....
--Thomas J. Kopp
There is a significant if subtle difference.
Use the serial number that's been previously detected or 'smells' pirated and:
Case A) Windows XP - you get letters from the BSA and eventually (implied) a visit from the Feds who will take everything whether you're guilty or not, after which the burden of proof is on you to prove you are not another dastardly mass market pirate organization.
Case B) GalCiv - you don't get all the free stuff, like extra ships, features, etc. that are only available to legit users.
Sounds like a difference to me.
-Styopa
Oddly enough, good products from good companies with good support don't tend to get shared like that.
It tends to be only the companies that annoy consumers, that try to gouge them that suffer the P2P fate.
For example, Space Empires IV is a very good game, and the community is very loyal to that game, so you won't see it around very much. It's just that simple.
I remember reading people asking for codes for Gamespy's server listing program for games, and everyone was telling them to just spend the little bit of money the program would cost, because it was worth it. Worth supporting the software and worth the use it would get.
That's what motivates people; the feeling that they are being treated with respect by the companies. And in turn that respect will be returned by the community.
When everything is said and done
MOO2 was just more fun
Quicksilver might still snatch great out of the jaws of good, and are some fantastic ideas here (once you get used to the interface) but currently, MOO3 is what we in open source would call a "Release Candidate". I am amazed that Infogrames actually let this one out of the door at this stage.
...I would be surprised if Stardock ever develops for anything but MS OSes. Brad Wardell pretty much despised Linux back in Stardock's OS/2 era (especially after having been burned on an early effort to port GalCiv). Even if BW did not have a fundamental philosophical objection to the concept of free/open source software, he would still need to avoid Linux like the plague. Stardock has a pretty nice business providing add-ons to MS -- and, so far, at least, MS has not tried to muscle in on anything that Stardock is doing. Imagine what would happen to his business, which exists solely due to the sufferance and good will of MS, if he allowed porting (or worse, developed) products for "enemy" operating systems.
Brad has always been a good guy -- I wish him well, even though it is not likely that I will ever use any Stardock software again. (I bought almost everything it released for OS/2 -- but OS/2 is long gone from our family computers).
MEK
Credo quia impossibilis -- Tertullian
Boy does this take me back down memory lane.
I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed Trials of Battle. We did, in fact, do a Windows version of TOB but it was never released.
However, the publishing contract with Stardock is expired so even if they wanted to release it they could not.
It is fun to contemplate what we could do in an updated version of TOB (better graphics, real Internet play), but it will almost certainly never happen since both parties (Stardock and us) have moved on to other things these days.
But it is still fun to think about...
If this program only requires "activation" in order to download updates and doesn't disable the program if you fail to activate it, then that's a big difference. Stardock is using a carrot (extra goodies) while Microsoft is using a stick (activate or the program will stop working.) Also letting you download the full game if you have a serial number is nice, there is at least one game I have where the CD stopped working and I don't think there's much I can do about it. (Under a Killing Moon, it's a bit old at this point.)
This is just how I know Access works; I haven't used XP myself.
sheephead
7d9e63e9501751ff4bf9307989d5623d *SheepHead
The main guy at Stardock (Brad) has written several articles about the gaming industry and I believe he makes the point you made, about one of the advantages of an internet distribution model. The problem, as he also points out, is that we aren't yet at the point where a game distributed solely via the internet can be a success. As such, Stardock had to find a publisher to put the game in stores, with a box and shrink wrap and all that.
The game is going to sell for $39.99 in stores, I believe - and not only would it be a slap in the face to their publisher, but it would probably also be in violation of their contract for Brad/Stardock to turn around and sell the game direct-download for less than the store price.
If you want to support a company that is striving to eventually have all software be distributed via the internet, for the reason you stated and more, then buy this game.
First of all, I played the GalCiv beta and, let me tell you, the BETA of that game was more stable and fun than the final store-release versions of many games (e.g. Moo3).
Second, the game comes, as is, feature-rich and fun to play. It doesn't need a bonus pack or extras to be a great game. The company hasn't extracted certain features from the main game to put in the "bonus" material - the bonus material is stuff being worked on as we speak, after the game has already gone gold.
The company really believes that the best way to ensure customer loyalty is give them a whole heaping lot of extras on top of an already polished, complete game, over a period of many months after its release. That sounds like a great idea to me.
Take a look at this gameplay summary (with screenshots) that the creator of the game wrote up to demonstrate gameplay. He is handily winning and is confident he'll dominate soon, but he ends up losing due to an extremely long-term computer AI strategy. Good read.
:)
There is also a second gameplay report where he does win.
I know you're just being funny, but to those that might not know: the game is already gold and will be shipping March 25.