Get Your Own Galaxy!

Not too long ago, I had a hankering for mass cultural domination on a galactic level and dug out my old copy of Master of Orion II. The game loaded as quick and easy as I had remembered, but for whatever reason the graphics kept bugging out and crashed the game nonstop. Bummer. I sifted through the pile of my old games and saw that I did indeed have Master of Orion III. I took only the slightest pause to remember the huge disappointment of that release before shoving it back where I found it. We won't speak of it, ever. But I still needed a new game.

Lucky for me, someone mentioned that a turn-based, 4X (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) space-conquest game existed on retail shelves. I made a quick trip to my local Best Buy to pick up a copy of Galactic Civilizations II and was pleased to find it was the Dread Lords edition. It was on sale to boot! Installation was a piece of cake and I was ready to start playing in less than 10 minutes. As I thumbed through the instruction booklet, a wave of excitement rippled through me as I started to understand that this game is what Master of Orion III had hoped to be.


*** Starting Off ***
Right from the get-go I was familiar with what to do. I skipped the campaign and went straight to the customized, single-player "sandbox" mode. It may seem a little daunting to new players at first, but creating your own galaxy, rules, race, and choice of opponents lets you ease into and
understand how to play better than what the tutorial will teach. The campaign is rather restrictive despite having the Dread Lords storyline, and I play these types of games so I can win however I please. I did go and try to play the story campaign but lost interest after the first few scenarios. I didn't buy this game to be told how to win (conquer this planet, or research this technology, etc). The scenarios don't carry over, so each one is a fresh start from square one, even though they continue to tell a piece of the story. After enough tedium, I dove back into my customized game so I could continue to have fun.

The setup interface is clean-looking and straightforward. Having the game manual in hand while setting up the first few custom games will definitely help new players figure out how they want to decide things. A player starts off by selecting the size of the galaxy, possible ways to win, the speed of the game, and the abundance of: stars, planets, asteroids, and anomalies. These choices help shape how the resources are allocated in the galaxy, so imagination decides the playground. I sometimes like to pick extreme scenarios, where my galaxy may be gigantic yet nearly barren of habitable worlds or small with plush planets galore. For those who can't decide at first, there is the option to set everything to random and leave it all up to chance. The next step is to pick one of the 12 races to play. Each race has their own strengths, weaknesses, and temperament (AI). I always opt to create my own custom race so I can pick and choose what bonuses I get. Once again, players are given full option to play as they please, and being able to pick abilities that compliment play-style really makes the game fun and lets you challenge higher AI difficulties. Depending on how one sets the galaxy, opponents, and difficulty, some abilities would be much more beneficial than others. All of the AI opponents to choose from can be modified as much as the player's custom race can be modified. Needless to say, we're given full control over how the game scenario is set, even down to the nitty-gritty of smarts, ship designs, and colors.

Once everything has been set, the galaxy is randomly generated while abiding via the rules and options, and then the game is on! One wins by researching supreme technology, making nice with everyone (diplomatic alliances), or controlling at least 75% of the galaxy (which may or may not involve the elimination of other races). Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords is a turn-based game, so one makes all their micromanagement decisions, hits the turn button, and then starts the next round. During each of these turns a player is going to manage their empire, populate and build on planets, explore the galaxy, negotiate diplomatic relations with the other races, decide research, and even wage war. It may sound boring on a turn by turn basis, but the fun comes through the progression and interaction with the rest of the galaxy. The interface allows players to view and manage all the details at their disposal, and it takes a reasonable number of turns before familiarity and understanding set in. Once one knows how to do what they want to do (micromanaging), the rest (diplomacy and tactics) is cake.


*** Developing ***
Each controlled planet has a set number of tiles to build on. Higher-quality planets have more tiles available so you know these are much more valuable. Players get to decide what they want to do with each planet and how to allocate the planet's resources. Part of the game's strategy is done by a player's micromanagement skill and leadership decisions. You can choose to have a planet focus on research by building lots of research academies, or have a planet dedicated as a shipyard by building lots of factories with a starport. More and upgraded building choices become available as they are researched, so it's up to the player to decide what their civilization needs. Some planetary tiles grant specific bonuses to complimentary buildings erected on it. Every construction type has a purpose, so it's up to the player to choose what is built where and when. The time it takes to complete buildings is all dependent on the population and social (factory) power, but the game lets one queue construction on each planet as desired. At the start of each turn there will be notifications about planets that have completed certain buildings or have nothing lined up to build, so the player has little reminders of when they might want to go back in and do some more micromanaging on their colonies.

Behind the success or failure of a civilization is overall happiness. Happy planets are more productive and make more happy people to pay taxes. The tax rate is set for an entire civilization, which is a good thing because setting individual, planetary tax rates when one owns more than a dozen planets can become a headache when trying to manage approval ratings. Higher tax rates are going to make citizens less happy and reduce your leadership approval, but that's what entertainment buildings are for: morale to keep them happy, populate faster, and to pay happy taxes. Most buildings come with a maintenance cost that can lead to a turn by turn deficit if the total economy can't net funds through taxes. Morale plays a key role in how well a civilization can prosper, and everything that one wants to make is going to cost money, which come from taxes best paid by happy citizens. Civilizations with deficit spending can lower the production-spending of all their planets. 100% production strength/effectiveness costs more for the output, and a player can set that slider between that and 0% to help keep their economy in the black, though zero production isn't going to do much. Regardless, this puts more financial power in the hands of the player, just in case some short-term big decisions need to be made to get things done.

Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords gives enough micromanagement jobs without letting it bog a player down. It really does have a great balance. In tandem with morale and taxes, production focus can be set both civilization-wide and by a planet-by-planet basis. As mentioned, players can choose what buildings to construct on their planet to determine it's primary output. At the same time, individual planets can focus the attention of it's population towards military, social, or research purposes, or just have it balanced out evenly across the three, depending on what's needed when. The main civilization production controls are in the form of three sliders adding up to 100%: military, social, and research. Adjusting these sliders changes how a civilization's population force does work. During the early stages of the game, it's beneficial to set military production low (between 10-20%) and the social and research production higher. Ships aren't being built and probably don't need to be built quickly at the start, but planets need to develop buildings and populate (social output) and research needs to be done to learn new technology and construction. During the times of war, players will want to boost their military production up and put social and research production low, just so fleets of ships can be produced fast enough to conquer or prevent being conquered. The bottom line is all about balance, and as long as players keep these in mind during the course of their campaign, success will be proven by allocating proper resources as needed.


*** Exploration ***
So when one isn't giving planetary orders, it's exploring time! Exploring goes hand in hand with developing, since new planets will need to be sought out to colonize. It's also a good idea to bump into the other races to open up relations and see where the influence boundary lines are. It never hurts to know where friend/enemy planets are, especially those which may be designated to fleet construction. The game starts players off with a survey ship, colony ship, and a space miner. Giving direction to ships is as easy as pointing and clicking. The mini-map in the bottom corner of the screen will show where all stars and planets are located in the galaxy, but there are no details showing which planets, if any, are habitable. That's left up to the exploration. The survey ship is useful to head to star systems to scout for planets to colonize. Once one is found, the colony ship can be sent so players will have more planets to busy with. If anomalies are turned on, the survey ship can bump into them and reap random rewards. As ships move and explore, the fog of war is lifted around the uncovered areas. Ships are limited by range, which can be increased through research, colonizing more planets, or deploying starbases. Space miner ships can be set up to automatically construct mining stations on asteroid fields. These mining stations "beam" resources to the nearest selected planet to help boost that planet's production rates. After enough turns, most available planets will be claimed and boundaries will be set, so the exploration takes a bit of a back seat to diplomacy and fleet construction.

The mini-map is versatile in letting users pick and choose what they want to have shown. Turning everything on adds a LOT of clutter, but the default information to show is perfectly sufficient. The mini-map can be zoomed in on, though the drawback is the inability to view the entire galaxy at once (like when one wants to monitor ship movement).


*** Diplomacy & Influence ***
Negotiating with other races was almost non-existent in Master of Orion II. The AI was never really advanced enough to stick to their guns or maintain any particular personality. Sometimes it acted downright dumb or schizophrenic. The AI in Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords is pretty smart and resistant to bad deals at the negotiation table. Even with high diplomacy bonuses and very close ties with a particular race, unreasonable demands are met with polite refusals. Even though you can't weasel easy control over planets or ships, the fun comes from the little steps taken to sweeten your position in the galaxy. All of the races have a certain personality they abide by in virtually every game, with you and with other races. It doesn't take long to understand who is more likely to be friendly to you or not, but a lot of it is relative to a player's perceived civilization strength. If you're doing well overall (economy, research, military rating, etc) and aren't being hostile, the other races will be much more receptive to proposals of research, economic, or peace treaties. Little negotiations and gift-offerings can be proposed to help secure these treaties and maintain improved relations with the races. Good ties help ensure one doesn't get dragged into a war or suffer dissolving relations because he/she decided to drop military starbases all around alien planets. Without good diplomacy, a player may find themselves subject to harassment and demands of monetary donations, where refusal is met with threats, disdain, and the looming potential for warfare. Playing the diplomatic game also lets a player be a manipulator, where tact and strategy are used to put other races up against each other. Sometimes it's never about what one gets for his/her civilization, but about coercing the other races to be puppets. Why wage war when Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords lets you encourage other races to fight it out instead? Being diplomatic helps players who've found themselves with less planetary ownership. The option to negotiate can keep players out of the line of fire as resources are built up. Sometimes it's not even necessary, as the AI will bicker amongst themselves without any help, to which a player can intervene to try and bring peace to the galaxy (players don't have to play a tyrant!). In any situation, the AI adds that character and depth to the game to keep players on their toes.

Influence is much like the quiet war that can be waged in the game, even between allies. This element is nonexistent in Master of Orion II and I use influence abilities in EVERY game that I play. It's that much fun. I think of it as cultural domination by popularity. In Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords, planets and starbases one owns project a sphere of influence, boosted by any racial or technological bonuses. The mini-map can display each races' territories that are set by the bounds of their influence range. In essence, a player can win (or lose) planets without firing a single shot or having to go to war. A player can extend their sphere of influence to include planets or mining bases owned by other races. Provided the influence is persistent and stronger than that projected by the other race, it will lead to eventual defection. As long as a player has patience, tact, and fairly good diplomatic relations, usurping planets becomes a fun hobby that can cripple the enemy and tip the scales in one's favor. Well-placed and supported influence starbases can nearly dominate an entire sector and all the planets within. It's not a quick process, but it's quite effective when used discreetly. The influence factor of Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords is double-edged, so sometimes it's used to acquire more resources while other times it's used to defend the ones you have. Either way, it's a subtle edge that players can use when raw resources aren't available to them.


*** WARFARE & Technology ***
Simply put, the technology trees in Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords are varied, expansive, and cover all the aspects necessary to progress one's civilization. The research screen feels a little cramped, but it's only that way because there are so many different trees to choose from. The types of research are all color-coded so it's easy to tell the type right off the bat. Diplomatic research options are colored yellow, warfare and combat research options are colored red, planet quality research options are colored green, and so forth. The technologies are pretty singular in the sense that they serve their own purpose and really don't have combinations with other technology branches. Some of the technology upgrades could have used a bit more description too. Only one technology can be researched at a time, but players can view research options via a list, ordered by the number of turns it takes to complete the research in ascending fashion. Greater overall research points reduces the time it takes to learn new technologies.

Combat research is critical to ensure protection of one's colonies or the invasion of others. There are three types of ship-to-ship offensive armaments: lasers, missiles, and projectiles. There are also three types of defensive mechanisms designed to specifically counter and protect against the offensive weaponry. One type is not necessarily more effective than another, that is until players find out what the ENEMY is using. This is why exploration of all star systems is a good idea, so we can peek at the other race's fleets and see how they're packing heat. If a threatening race is choosing to tech up their missile technology, it's a good idea to research and implement missile countermeasures on one's own ships. By the same token, if another civilization is researching defenses against one's preferred offensive choice, it's a good idea to start some research on weaponry their ships would be weak to. The AI may be slow to adapt at times, but they're certainly not ignorant and will definitely design ships to counter against the greatest overall weapon threat. If a player is delving deep into a particular weapon tree, expect the AI to plan defenses against it.

The planetary invasion hasn't changed much from Master of Orion II, save for additional invasion tactics and advantages. It's pretty much a 1-button crap-shoot boosted by technology. I don't think I would have minded more involvement for ground combat. The ship-to-ship combat has been refined so players don't have to hassle with every individual move, but at least it has more involvement than ground combat, even if it's all done automatically. There are in-game options to determine which battles we can view versus battles that just notify us of the result, though viewing and reviewing the space combat in progress is pretty fun to watch. The combat action has multiple play speeds and can be paused at any time. Those who don't care to watch can press a button to skip to the end and view the results. A combat log shows the details of all the attack and defense rolls, and players will see what ships are left after the space dust has settled. The AI is smart and fair for both sides, despite seeming rather simplistic. Ships will focus attacks on weak targets first, followed by high-threat targets afterwards, then whatever else needs to be shot down. Most of the success or failure behind fleet encounters is derived from the technology choices and fleet sizes. Larger fleets have a much higher chance at defeating the opposition without too much loss. The strategy that comes from warfare is delivered from how one manages fleet encounters while providing defensive coverage for an entire civilization. The enemy is ruthless and will take every direct shot at planetary invasion they can during war. Whatever gaps a player has in their sensor range to monitor fleet movement will turn into sneaky thoroughfares for the enemy to sack planets for their control. At first I missed the micromanagement of fleet battles from Master of Orion II, but I eventually came to realize the great balance Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords delivers by taking that minute control out of our hands. It saves time so we don't get distracted away from the bigger picture; making us feel like a civilization Commander-in-Chief. Some players might find it lame to sit and watch fleet battles take place without actual strategic intervention. Unfortunately, this is not the type of game that lets players make every individual combat move, since it keeps the scope a little broader. It would be nice if future editions opened the option for player-decided tactical space battles for those who would like to spend the time and effort to make the most of detailed strategy.

Military starbases can be constructed to give significant offensive and defensive boosts to fleets within their sphere of influence. By themselves they can be pretty fragile without protection, even if they have built-in defenses, but their mere presence can turn a smaller, underdog fleet into a decided victor and tip the scales of battle. As far as I've encountered, the AI doesn't put excessive effort in military starbase construction, but they DO KNOW when a player deploys one and they become increasingly wary of it as it grows in strength. Starbases are improved by modules made available through research and can become pretty expensive investments. During war, the AI will knock out any starbases they feel are easy or threatening targets, so players must balance out their fleets and decisions on how to allocate resources to improve starbases, since the benefit only lasts as long as the base does.


*** Customization ***
Players can spend more time customizing than actually playing the game itself. Aside from being able to customize all races and galaxy settings, Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords lets players create and design ships used by anyone, limited only to the list of in-game parts and one's own imagination. There are a few selections of ship hull styles, followed by multiple hull types for each ship class size. Then there is a HUGE list of cosmetic components that are easily added with virtually no limit whatsoever. The ship editor is easy to use. Real easy. The game provides "lock points" that pieces can be attached to and there are more than enough positions to choose from. The camera angle to view the ships is easy to rotate and zoom in or out. Each individual piece can be sized larger or smaller, and the list of pieces is expansive enough where the combinations are infinite. A color palate is available to set the base look and color scheme of all one's ships. Any and all of these creations can be saved as a ship template so players can load up their designs to use in any game they play. Technological components are never saved, since those change from game to game, but the actual look and designs are. That's the important part, since hours can be spent creating and designing unique ships from all the different components, and it's a pain in the butt to recreate everything new each time. If you've ever played with Legos and enjoyed it, you're going to have a blast inventing ship designs.


*** Graphics & Sound ***
There isn't much for the game's sound and graphical capabilities. The background music is appropriate and keeps the game from being too quiet. There are sound effects that come from menu navigation, button clicks, and combat. They give that space-age feel without being too over the top and distracting. In fact, more could have been done to improve and include additional sound effects. The graphics in Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords aren't revolutionary, but they're clean, colorful, stylish, and minimal in the sense that computers won't need the most powerful hardware to run it. Planets will come in varying sizes and colors, both on the galaxy map and planetary screen. The planetary screen will show colorful, detailed continents, skies, and even bodies of water. Stars will glow while some planets have orbiting moons or rings. The planets themselves don't orbit the stars, which is kind of a bummer, though I could see how it might be irritating to click a sector and constantly pan around to find a planet that's in motion. The background is full of glowing nebulae, faint stars, and the little details that look awesome if you zoom in. It gives that feeling of space and depth in a two dimensional field. Space combat sequences are going to have the greatest amount of graphical action in the game as players watch three dimensional dogfighting unfold, complete with lasers, missiles, projectile weapons, and explosions. The ground combat sequences are rather bland. Otherwise, the game graphics are pretty simple; some might even say old. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because intricately-designed custom ships can pack a LOT of polygons that need to be handled. Large fleets can have a lot of action going on, so the graphics balance out intense Star-Wars'esque action without suffering any PC slowdown. As long as a computer can meet the minimum specifications to play, it will be able to run all the graphics smoothly. Everything is viewed through the omnipotent, 3rd person perspective, so players don't have to worry about rotating the galaxy to find stuff. The galaxy is always a two-dimensional grid, even if all the objects are in glorious 3D form.


*** AI at Higher Difficulties ***
I think that this is where Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords really truly shines. Some players might think that the game is cheating at higher difficulties, when really it only has an economic multiplier in tandem with sneaky smarts you wouldn't expect. Regardless of the difficulty, the AI will treat you the same like it does other races. The AI won't always treat the player or other races the same way in every game, though it has tendency to particular dispositions. At higher difficulties, the AI will most certainly pay attention to your technology, fleet deployment, starbases, and especially pay attention to where they're all located. Dropping an influence starbase in the middle of enemy territory to convert their planets may work on the normal difficulty setting, but at higher settings the AI knows what you're trying to do. They take measures to stop it from happening, if not eliminate it all together. The nuances of alignment, diplomacy, and treaties mean a lot more at higher difficulties, when the races value communication history and their own self-interests a lot more. Declaring war against your enemy might leave you a little speechless when mutual friends decide to side with them, against you. Opposing leaders can choose to surrender themselves to a close ally of theirs just so you can't conquer their empire and claim their planets and territory. The AI is likely to target those planets which would cripple your civilization's economy, research, or manufacturing power. The higher difficulty settings open up the AI's devious creativity to watch you, find your weaknesses, adapt to your play style, and then exploit in ways you might not see coming. They're also going to spy on you and be upset when they catch your spies. In a sense it's almost like a chess game, except that there are multiple sides using their own tactics to further their own interests. Since Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords gives the player control of virtually every aspect of the game, the intelligence level of each race can be individually modified to mix things up a bit instead of setting a completely even field. The AI acts and reacts differently each game, so it keeps things fresh and unexpected. The developers also scripted a sense of humor with the alien dialogue. The choice of words surrounding diplomatic situations can either surprise you or make you laugh. Even when the AI is set to a "dumber" setting, they know what you're doing and will call it out, even if they can't react.


*** Summary ***
There are a lot of other minor details involved with Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords that would be best left to discovering while playing. Needless to say there are reports, charts, graphs, and every piece of information at easy disposal. The game itself has additional features that add to the depth, such as random events meant to destabilize the game, resource nodes, political party elections, trade, galactic council meetings, ethical decisions & alignments, espionage, and a few other things I might be forgetting. Not much is held back from the player. In fact Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords gives players full control over how they want to play the game straight from the start. Virtually every aspect of the game is customizable and it's completely open to any and all styles of play to win. The balance between control and excessive micromanagement has been handled beautifully, so players can feel busy with multiple channels of action without being bogged down by any particular aspect of the game. The variety of leadership elements and adjustable, clever AI makes every game new and exciting, and supports a high replay value. The graphics and sound, while dated, present an immersive atmosphere that is readily playable on almost any computer. It's a shame that there is no multiplayer, but considering how I'll run through 100 turns before taking a break for a few hours.. I think I would be an irritating opponent against those who can sit in a game all day long. But if you love to solo-play turn-based strategy games, Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords is a ton of fun.