Galactic Civilizations IV

[Martok]

Looks nice.

However, I have the feeling that the free travel is going to be skipped this time and will be replaced by a star to star system on a sector level. It would be too much micro to have big GalCiv 3 maps connected with othe GalCiv3 maps in a huge universe.

Yes, Brad has stated star sectors will be connected via "subspace streams". 


From the FAQ: 

How are the maps different?

    Galactic Civilizations IV maps are much, much bigger. However, unlike in previous GalCiv games where various star clusters would have a bunch of empty space (which meant a lot of drudgery late game) GalCiv IV introduces the concept of “star sectors”.

    A Galactic Civilizations III tiny, small, or medium map could be considered a single star sector with its normal free-form movement between stars and such. In fact, someone could play GalCiv IV the same as GalCiv III in terms of setting up a single big star sector.

    The most powerful player in a given sector is considered the sector owner and gains various bonuses for owning that sector.

    However, there can now be more than one star sector which are connected by subspace streams. Players do not know where subspace streams are at the start of the game nor can they navigate them (they must be found and then researched). This allows players to effectively travel to other maps (star sectors).

    We plan on also having a late game technology that allows players to bypass the streams entirely (quantum drive), that aren’t quite as fast as using a subspace stream, by allowing them to enter subspace and travel to any part of the edge of a star sector.

    Thus, map travel will have 3 acts:
    Act 1: Star sector travel (just like GalCiv I, II, III)
    Act 2: Subspace stream travel (traveling to new star sectors via a subspace stream)
    Act 3: Quantum tunneling travel (entering subspace and exiting at a specific point)

[Martok]

It may not be "reskinned" but it sure looks like they are using the same lego blocks.

Oh yes; as I said, it's definitely still recognizable as a GalCiv game.  In comparison, however, a lot of people felt like GalCiv3 was merely GalCiv2 with modestly updated visuals (and changed from tiles to hexes).  At least the difference is more district this time. 

Not that it concerns me much, I've no doubt it will be a big change from GalCiv3. Hopefully for the better.

I suspect it will.  I don't think I've ever seen a game series make such a major change (or so many) before, and/or in such a deliberate fashion in an attempt to address not only its own weaknesses, but (to at least some extent) the genre's as a whole. 

I'm sure that not every idea or feature will pan out, but I love that they're trying. 

[Martok]

Brad has posted Dev Journal #2, which talks about characters in Galactic Civilizations IV. 


https://forums.galciv4.com/504737/page/1/



The Crusader Kings III influence is obvious (he's cheerfully admitted to having over 600 hours in the game), which I don't think is a bad thing.  One of the most frequent -- and longstanding -- critiques of the GalCiv series has been blandness, and I suspect making GC4 a more character-driven game could help improve that a lot. 


Also, this bit definitely made me cackle: 

But fear not - while there are thousands of characters out there, you only need to really care about a handful. Which handful you should care about depends on who you give what power to. Put someone in charge of 37 colony worlds and now you should probably care about them. But, some colonist on Backwater world 53 is probably not someone you need to think about…until it turns out that they contracted a parasite that takes over everyone minds and that it has since spread to nearby worlds. Or maybe that scientist on Urara IV whose wife is being held captive by the Drengin Empire and has been supplying them secrets in the hopes of getting her back.  But you know, otherwise - nothing to worry about.

 

[Undercovergeek]

If it has these and other narratives built in it sounds like a winner

[Martok]

Meant to add it to the previous post, but here's a screenshot of the current iteration of the research menu. 






It's definitely a bit like Stellaris, in that instead of being able to see the entire tech tree and plan out your entire research "path", you have to choose between a selection of 4-7 technologies at a time. 


One key difference, however, is an added wrinkle that I really like the concept of:  If you genuinely don't care for any of the technology options currently available to you for research, you'll be able to press an "Inspire" button that essentially re-shuffles the technologies, and presents you with a new (and hopefully better) set of choices.  If you still don't like the new (2nd) set of techs to research, you can click Inspire again, and again, and again, etc., until you get those technologies you *really* want to research. 

To prevent this "inspire" ability from being abused, it comes with a cost:  Every time you press the Inspire button, the price for the new set of technologies increases by an additional 10%, so that they take longer to research.  Although it obviously remains to be seen how well this works in play-testing, it definitely sounds good in theory. 

[bbmike]

That does sound interesting. It sounds like the standard 'random technology' option but with a twist. The increased cost each time you 'shuffle' is genius.

[Anguille]

Very disappointed that this is again the traditional "Civilization" type of just one reseach item at a time. Stellaris is slighly better with 3 at the same time but it's still far from the 6 techs in MOO (except New MOO) and 8 in Horizon. Sorry but i think this is so dumb and a real immersion breaker.

[Martok]

That does sound interesting. It sounds like the standard 'random technology' option but with a twist. The increased cost each time you 'shuffle' is genius.

Yeah, I think it's a good way to balance between those situations where you're just not interested in any of the current choices presented to you, whilst also preventing the system from massive exploits. 

Very disappointed that this is again the traditional "Civilization" type of just one reseach item at a time. Stellaris is slighly better with 3 at the same time but it's still far from the 6 techs in MOO (except New MOO) and 8 in Horizon. Sorry but i think this is so dumb and a real immersion breaker.

Well then hop on the forums and say so.  Or get in the alpha once it becomes available.  I'm pretty sure this is something that can be changed before release.   


Personally, I'm fairly ambivalent either way.  I don't particularly *like* the "researching only one thing at a time" model (mostly from an immersion/realism standpoint), but I get why it might make sense from the standpoint of gameplay, balance, or both.  Ultimately, however many techs we're allowed to research, I'm sure I'll be okay with it. 

[Martok]

First Q&A session is up.  Some nice little nuggets of info contained herein. 

[Undercovergeek]

With gaming time limited I reckon Ive got room for one space epic - I have stellaris, dw2 is almost upon us and now this

 

[ojsdad]

Not sure why, but I never jumped on the GalCiv band wagon.  I'll keep watching this and maybe pick it up sometime.

[Martok]

With gaming time limited I reckon Ive got room for one space epic - I have stellaris, dw2 is almost upon us and now this

 

Take comfort in the knowledge that GalCiv4 won't come out as a full release until next year.  That at least simplifies your options in the meantime.   

Not sure why, but I never jumped on the GalCiv band wagon.  I'll keep watching this and maybe pick it up sometime.

My personal experience with the GalCiv games is that they're very solid mechanically, look nice visually, and perform well technically.  However, they are also rather bland, almost generic -- a fairly common criticism, from what I've read elsewhere.  For all the series' strengths, I find the games lack...not necessarily atmosphere or immersion, per se, but...soul. 


Stardock's efforts to really bring the galaxy to life in this coming iteration is why I'm especially (if cautiously) excited for GalCiv4.  Between the new focus on characters (citizens & leaders, ala Crusader Kings III), combined with the inclusion of lore-based missions & events in the sandbox gameplay (ala Stellaris), I suspect/hope that GC4 might finally break free of its predecessors' blandness and truly make its mark.  Fingers crossed! 

[Undercovergeek]

With gaming time limited I reckon Ive got room for one space epic - I have stellaris, dw2 is almost upon us and now this

 

Take comfort in the knowledge that GalCiv4 won't come out as a full release until next year.  That at least simplifies your options in the meantime.   

Might be time to get into dw2

[ojsdad]

Not sure why, but I never jumped on the GalCiv band wagon.  I'll keep watching this and maybe pick it up sometime.

My personal experience with the GalCiv games is that they're very solid mechanically, look nice visually, and perform well technically.  However, they are also rather bland, almost generic -- a fairly common criticism, from what I've read elsewhere.  For all the series' strengths, I find the games lack...not necessarily atmosphere or immersion, per se, but...soul. 

Stardock's efforts to really bring the galaxy to life in this coming iteration is why I'm especially (if cautiously) excited for GalCiv4.  Between the new focus on characters (citizens & leaders, ala Crusader Kings III), combined with the inclusion of lore-based missions & events in the sandbox gameplay (ala Stellaris), I suspect/hope that GC4 might finally break free of its predecessors' blandness and truly make its mark.  Fingers crossed! 

I think that may be it.  When I looked at it, there was nothing new that wasn't already being offered or had been offered before.

[Martok]

Might be time to get into dw2

Hopefully not too much longer, although we'll see.  Erik Rutins still hasn't said anything about a release date, beyond that one comment from earlier this year about them aiming for a July release.  Personally, I'd be surprised if it didn't slip another month or two, although I am guessing it will at least be out no later than early autumn. 

I think that may be it.  When I looked at it, there was nothing new that wasn't already being offered or had been offered before.

Yep.  Hell, GalCiv3 wasn't even that different -- mechanically or visually -- from GalCiv2.  It was an unimaginative iteration on an already unimaginative game (though it was still enjoyable in its own way). 

(To be fair, I don't think Brad Wardell ever really intended his games to "break the mold", at least when he first started out.  He was just trying to make games he wanted to play.)