I have been playing around with the new big expansion / overhaul for GalCiv 3 called Crusades.
Lots of things have changes and some are a little confusing if you're used to the old way.
Please read the linked article for a good synopsis on gameplay changes and mechanics. But please ignore the ads and the hyperbole being used in some places in the text.
I dont know the website, but the article struck me as translating the core changes in mechanics quite well!
Crusades has rocketed GalCiv3 right to the upper reaches of my favorite 4x list! Having lots of fun with it!
https://www.pcgamesn.com/galactic-civilizations-iii/galactic-civilizations-3-crusade-review
Got the vanilla game on sale a few months back and was extremely disappointed. I seemed like nothing more than a mod for GC2 rather than a new release game.
Like posted before on this board and countless others, the base game isn't very good indeed. For fans of the GalCiv series vanilla v3 was quite a big letdown.
The team has been working hard, through ups and downs, for these last few years and support has been ever ongoing as is now shown by the truely humongously sized re-do of the game in the form of Crusades.
Brad Wardell has returned to the team to give the development process focus again, something GalCiv 3 sorely needed. He has also worked his AI programming magic again and it shows; the game's AI is devious and cunning.
The new Civilization editor is great as well. You can expand the game's content pretty much infinitely now with new races and custom ship builds which is great for the future.
Espionage has returned. They nicked Civ 6's Great People mechanic in some form with (Specialized) Citizens and the Economy and Colony management has seen a complete rework. The Constructor-spam of old is gone as well.
The game might not score high on innovation in relation to what is already out there, but the game is a complete and sturdy package with many of great things we love in 4x games and the AI will truely kick your ass on higher difficulty settings! :knuppel2:
Forget any GalCiv 3 version up until Crusades. Really.
Thanks Ys.....might be worth checking out!
Quote from: Yskonyn on June 01, 2017, 08:10:05 AM
Like posted before on this board and countless others, the base game isn't very good indeed. For fans of the GalCiv series vanilla v3 was quite a big letdown.
The team has been working hard, through ups and downs, for these last few years and support has been ever ongoing as is now shown by the truely humongously sized re-do of the game in the form of Crusades.
Brad Wardell has returned to the team to give the development process focus again, something GalCiv 3 sorely needed. He has also worked his AI programming magic again and it shows; the game's AI is devious and cunning.
The new Civilization editor is great as well. You can expand the game's content pretty much infinitely now with new races and custom ship builds which is great for the future.
Espionage has returned. They nicked Civ 6's Great People mechanic in some form with (Specialized) Citizens and the Economy and Colony management has seen a complete rework. The Constructor-spam of old is gone as well.
The game might not score high on innovation in relation to what is already out there, but the game is a complete and sturdy package with many of great things we love in 4x games and the AI will truely kick your ass on higher difficulty settings! :knuppel2:
Forget any GalCiv 3 version up until Crusades. Really.
I was also thoroughly unimpressed with GC 3, but picked this expansion up a couple of weeks ago after seeing how positive the reviews were. Only thing is, where am I gonna find the time? Booked to the gills with Mass Effect Andromeda and Steel Division Normandy, and Cold Water coming soon!
One of these days, Alice, one of these days . . . I'll get to it.
I picked up the Crusade expansion when it came out and have really enjoyed it. It is a different game. Being able to focus development or espionage with citizens is great. They have gotten me to engage in diplomacy as well, which I normally ignore in 4x games. I'd say it has risen to the top of my space 4x likes, for now at least.
With Crusades came a huge price...small maps. One of the ongoing selling points to why we even needed another Gal Civ was the ability of huge maps- which was taunted with the new engine. It's ironic just as the game finally caught up to par with Gal CivII the maps shrunk- killing the game in my opinion as I deplore small maps in 4x games.
Quote from: ghostryder on June 03, 2017, 07:39:14 AM
With Crusades came a huge price...small maps. One of the ongoing selling points to why we even needed another Gal Civ was the ability of huge maps- which was taunted with the new engine. It's ironic just as the game finally caught up to par with Gal CivII the maps shrunk- killing the game in my opinion as I deplore small maps in 4x games.
They are saying that the patch that's about to drop fixes that.
'Ludicrous' is the term used for the tier higher than Huge.
Its about to drop soon enabling super sized maps again. There was an explanation about the why's and how's but I forgot the details.
Point is, you beloved huge maps are about to return.
Yep, here's the linky (https://forums.galciv3.com/483323/Ludicrous-update-to-Galactic-Civilizations-III-Crusade-arrives).
For me, it doesn't matter. I prefer smaller maps. There's too much to keep up with on those giant ones.
Galactic Civilizations III: Gold : package for $ 19.99
https://store.stardock.com/product/ESD-SDE-W154
Includes
Galactic Civilizations III
Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade
Galactic Civilizations III: Mercenaries
Altarian Prophecy DLC
Lost Treasures DLC
Rise of the Terrans DLC
Builder's Kit DLC
Precursor Worlds DLC
Revenge of the Snathi DLC
Mega Events DLC
Map Pack DLC
Soundtrack
I guess this package is worth it ?
Quote from: Pete Dero on June 21, 2017, 01:44:15 PM
Galactic Civilizations III: Gold : package for $ 19.99
https://store.stardock.com/product/ESD-SDE-W154
Includes
Galactic Civilizations III
Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade
Galactic Civilizations III: Mercenaries
Altarian Prophecy DLC
Lost Treasures DLC
Rise of the Terrans DLC
Builder's Kit DLC
Precursor Worlds DLC
Revenge of the Snathi DLC
Mega Events DLC
Map Pack DLC
Soundtrack
I guess this package is worth it ?
That's a great deal!
I've spent many hours playing Stellaris, and haven't encountered a single space hamster.
Doesn't mean they aren't there, but Stellaris has much better aliens than Gal Civ 1 and 2 (have burned out on that series so I don't think I'll be trying 3).
Quote from: Philippe on June 21, 2017, 01:55:47 PM
I've spent many hours playing Stellaris, and haven't encountered a single space hamster.
Doesn't mean they aren't there, but Stellaris has much better aliens than Gal Civ 1 and 2 (have burned out on that series so I don't think I'll be trying 3).
I agree that the races in Stellaris are among the best, but where in GalCiv III are there "Space Hamsters"?
There is the "Snathi" and they are indeed stupid, but they are only in a DLC, which can easily be avoided.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on June 21, 2017, 01:54:31 PM
Quote from: Pete Dero on June 21, 2017, 01:44:15 PM
Galactic Civilizations III: Gold : package for $ 19.99
https://store.stardock.com/product/ESD-SDE-W154
Includes
Galactic Civilizations III
Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade
Galactic Civilizations III: Mercenaries
Altarian Prophecy DLC
Lost Treasures DLC
Rise of the Terrans DLC
Builder's Kit DLC
Precursor Worlds DLC
Revenge of the Snathi DLC
Mega Events DLC
Map Pack DLC
Soundtrack
I guess this package is worth it ?
That's a great deal!
When I click the link it says 29.99
Edit: When I clicked on the Store I was able to find 19.99 version
Quote from: Tuna on June 21, 2017, 05:02:16 PM
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on June 21, 2017, 01:54:31 PM
Quote from: Pete Dero on June 21, 2017, 01:44:15 PM
Galactic Civilizations III: Gold : package for $ 19.99
https://store.stardock.com/product/ESD-SDE-W154
Includes
Galactic Civilizations III
Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade
Galactic Civilizations III: Mercenaries
Altarian Prophecy DLC
Lost Treasures DLC
Rise of the Terrans DLC
Builder's Kit DLC
Precursor Worlds DLC
Revenge of the Snathi DLC
Mega Events DLC
Map Pack DLC
Soundtrack
I guess this package is worth it ?
That's a great deal!
When I click the link it says 29.99
Edit: When I clicked on the Store I was able to find 19.99 version
Hmmm.... they raised the price! It was $19.99 when I looked earlier today but, yep, it says $29.97 now. I was mildly interested at $19.99 but not at all interested now.
Quote from: Millipede on June 21, 2017, 09:01:09 PM
Quote from: Tuna on June 21, 2017, 05:02:16 PM
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on June 21, 2017, 01:54:31 PM
Quote from: Pete Dero on June 21, 2017, 01:44:15 PM
Galactic Civilizations III: Gold : package for $ 19.99
https://store.stardock.com/product/ESD-SDE-W154
Includes
Galactic Civilizations III
Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade
Galactic Civilizations III: Mercenaries
Altarian Prophecy DLC
Lost Treasures DLC
Rise of the Terrans DLC
Builder's Kit DLC
Precursor Worlds DLC
Revenge of the Snathi DLC
Mega Events DLC
Map Pack DLC
Soundtrack
I guess this package is worth it ?
That's a great deal!
When I click the link it says 29.99
Edit: When I clicked on the Store I was able to find 19.99 version
Hmmm.... they raised the price! It was $19.99 when I looked earlier today but, yep, it says $29.97 now. I was mildly interested at $19.99 but not at all interested now.
Because $9.98 is the difference between letting yourself try a pretty good game with tons of content and DLC, and bankruptcy... :crazy2:
As I have said before; Crusades makes the game darn solid IMO.
It's nothing like GC3 vanilla anymore.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on June 22, 2017, 05:34:01 AM
Quote from: Millipede on June 21, 2017, 09:01:09 PM
Quote from: Tuna on June 21, 2017, 05:02:16 PM
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on June 21, 2017, 01:54:31 PM
Quote from: Pete Dero on June 21, 2017, 01:44:15 PM
Galactic Civilizations III: Gold : package for $ 19.99
https://store.stardock.com/product/ESD-SDE-W154
Includes
Galactic Civilizations III
Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade
Galactic Civilizations III: Mercenaries
Altarian Prophecy DLC
Lost Treasures DLC
Rise of the Terrans DLC
Builder's Kit DLC
Precursor Worlds DLC
Revenge of the Snathi DLC
Mega Events DLC
Map Pack DLC
Soundtrack
I guess this package is worth it ?
That's a great deal!
When I click the link it says 29.99
Edit: When I clicked on the Store I was able to find 19.99 version
Hmmm.... they raised the price! It was $19.99 when I looked earlier today but, yep, it says $29.97 now. I was mildly interested at $19.99 but not at all interested now.
Because $9.98 is the difference between letting yourself try a pretty good game with tons of content and DLC, and bankruptcy... :crazy2:
I'm just leery of GalCiv, since the earlier versions where a waist of my money, and, although I was considering it at the initial price, the increase tipped the scales against a purchase. You may be correct in that I'm making a poor decision but I'd feel really foolish if I added it to my hard drive, along with the many, many games that I don't have time for, and it just sat there after a brief introductory session.
^I think its fair to say that if you really didn't enjoy the first two games in the series, you probably won't like the third either. The play style is much the same...
Agreed.
Crusades was a day of release buy for me and worth it. Rock solid game.
Patch 2.8 is out!
The game now takes full advantage of multi-core systems to make the AI perform several tasks at the same time and a new 'Supreme Cmdr AI' for all computer nations should make the AI play more like a human being.
Excited to try this out! The game has been in a great state ever since Crusades hit!
Steam has the full Galactic Civilizations 3 Gold Bundle (including the core module, both the Crusade and Mercenaries Expansion Packs, and 7 DLC's) on sale this week for $12.61
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/274/Galactic_Civilizations_III_Gold/ (https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/274/Galactic_Civilizations_III_Gold/)
Seems like a huge pile of goodness for the price....