Twilight of the Arnor Beta 4C

Published on February 1, 2008 By CariElf In GalCiv Journals

I'd like to apologize once more for the delay. I kept running into snags with getting the map editor ready for the update. I also caught a few more minor things with TA in the process that won't be visible to you as users. This is also the first build of TA built on my new work PC. Yay!

If any of you are playing GC2 on Windows 98, ME, or 2000, if you could try out the map editor even if you don't plan to use it and see if it works for you, I'd appreciate it. I'm sure that some of you on Vista will want to use it so I'm sure that I'll hear from you.

Some of you have been reporting AI fleets with ships that have negative hitpoints. I had a debug message put in that would pop up a windows message box if the game detected it, but it was popping up behind fullscreen windows and made the game appear to be frozen, so I removed it. So, if you notice a fleet with negative HP (appears to happen after a battle), please note down the name of the fleet, save the game, and then try to find a recent save game from before the battle to send in so that we can try to reproduce it here.

As a reminder, please make sure to zip your save games before sending them in, and unless you actually can't start the game, e-mail bug reports and crash logs to gc2bugs@stardock.com so that you save the support people the trouble of forwarding them to me.

Also, I forgot to enable custom maps so you won't be able to load them into Twilight. If you really want to try it out before next week, you might be able to get around it by making your own tournament and putting it in the tournament directory.

+ NEW: Map Editor
+ NEW: Added option to enable/disable tech stealing
+ NEW: Added buttons to Lease/Maintenace screen to toggle between listing ships and improvements on the maintenance part
+ NEW: Hyperion Starbase modules now in

+ FIXED: Added code so that if an AI space miner can't find a new destination, it will go home instead of parking on an asteroid
+ FIXED: Crash in AutoPilot line graphic
+ FIXED: Gaia Vortex so that it will now update the planet surfaces for the affected planets
+ FIXED: Crash in InvasionWnd
+ FIXED: Bug where ships could get stuck on asteroid fields
+ FIXED: Stuck turn bug caused by a space minor on auto improve that was targeting an asteroid where another minor was parked

+ TWEAK: Added code to try to prevent bug where CTRL+N results in a game with all civs set to Fool level of intelligence.
+ TWEAK: Drengin AI now uses some new code for choosing planetary improvements. Beta testers: please let us know if you notice anything.
+ TWEAK: Minor Races made significantly more intelligent

Comments (Page 4)

Snarkotamus

on Feb 04, 2008

I just preordered my copy of Twilight of the Arnor through stardock, how do I get to play the beta?

Use StarDock Central to download/install it.

@Cari: One peculiar thing I noticed when playing this weekend is that the Thalans will fill entire planets with embassys. Somehow, they still have the economic ability to dominate the game too!

TC44

on Feb 04, 2008

yeah there is a zoom mode and when you push ctrl you can have a 3d vision of the map

But how do I get to or access zoom mode?

When I open Mode in my Map Editor, all I get are options for Select, Star, Planet, Rescourse, Ship, Asteroid Field, and Asencsion Crystals, but no Zoom

econundrum1

on Feb 04, 2008

not have access to without tech trading or tech stealing. Will they soon have a way to add this effectively essential component to their bases soon?

Just move the mouse wheel there is no special mode.

Ishantil

on Feb 04, 2008

Why not simply have a Option that allows:

Minor Races:
0 - No Colonization
1 - System Only Colonoization
2 - Unlimited Colonization

Also, they need to "turn on" spying on Minor Races. When you get the Jagged Knife event, or even a powerful Minor, you should be able to spy on them.

RE: The Thalans

I really hope these guys are getting some new stuff, because they are missing:
1. Missing Morale technology branch
2. No access to "battle stations", even though Battle Stations 2 is in the Hyperion Starbases branch
3. Soldiering brach beyond Planetary Invasion and Advanced Troop mod
4. Standard Starbase fortification branch
5. Low-end buildings, they have no starting buildings that allow them to remain competitive with other races until the get the ultra-good stuff far into the tech tree. They don't have a starting factory, reserach center, or morale building.

I found them to be completely unplayable.

Thanks,
Ishantil

DivineWrath

on Feb 04, 2008

@Cari: One peculiar thing I noticed when playing this weekend is that the Thalans will fill entire planets with embassys. Somehow, they still have the economic ability to dominate the game too!

You should know that tourism income has got a boost since DA, so its more possible to rely on that income.

I found them to be completely unplayable.

I find them quite powerful, in the last game I played as them, I won an influence victory before the colony rush was over. All those embassys that the Thalands build don't go to waste.

I would like to see brand new tech's that only show up to research if you have two race specific tech's from two different races.

Interesting idea, but the devs were quite busy the last time I checked. I doupt that they would have the time to be able to get it done.

Luckmann

on Feb 04, 2008

This was the "preview"? Well.. that's a bummer. :/

The Watcher

on Feb 04, 2008

Why not simply have a Option that allows:

Minor Races:
0 - No Colonization
1 - System Only Colonoization
2 - Unlimited Colonization

Nice idea! Wonder if it is at all possible as this is what i have been looking for in the game since GC1

Mekanical

on Feb 04, 2008

t_t thalan needs nerfing

Sole Soul

on Feb 04, 2008

t_t thalan needs nerfing

...what?

Franco fx

on Feb 04, 2008

Why not simply have a Option that allows:

Minor Races:
0 - No Colonization
1 - System Only Colonoization
2 - Unlimited Colonization

Nothing is ever simple. They can't just have a switch. If they allowed that the minor race would need better AI, they would need to be open to spy and probably a dozen other things that would come into play. I would just like to see them tweaked, including allowing them to flip under some circumstances and a revision of their trade policy.

I found them to be completely unplayable.

Like Divine Wrath says, they are quite playable if you understand them.

Snarkotamus

on Feb 04, 2008

I tested the Arcean and the Kork, and I love the tech trees for these two. The Weather Zenith is awesome, as are the Korx Mercenary and Super Trade modules. The best technique I have found (so far) for surviving the lack of early base structures is:

Go full throttle early to make factories/labs, build several colony ships, then throttle the production rate Way Back while the colony ships are exploring. As my population grows, I research while slowly increasing the production tab to keep near a break-even rate. If I can survive until treaty-time, the new TA features really kick in, and I can do quite well. It does not hurt to put all the customization points into social, enonomics, and research, either. The purchase-now/interest rate reduction is also a very handy feature.

An earlier poster mentioned the increased tourism rates, and I can vouch that this is a significant income boost for high-influence races. I was making over 2800 bc/week (in tourism $) in my Kork game before my computer informed me that it cannot handle the immense galaxy. Now I understand why the Thalans keep knocking me around so bad.......

dfalken

on Feb 05, 2008

I, for one, would really like to allow the minors to colonize. It wouldn't make them into one of the "big boys" so much as make them more realistic. They can't have influence, so they will never have an empire of thier own. Restricting them to no colonization just makes them a sort of useless in games terms. They can be trading partners, but little else. I'd like to see them colonizing, invading planets, etc. just like any of the other races. Just don't give them influence and maybe even take away their ability to make influence starbases.

I like the minors, and giving them a bit more flare would really add to the game. Short of unique tech trees for each, giving them the ability to flourish would go a long toward that end. At least in my opinion.

CariElf

on Feb 05, 2008

Minor races are supposed to be almost useless. They are there to be exploited. They are like the little groups of monsters scattered around Warcraft 3 maps that are there to be killed, thus improving your experience level and maybe dropping some goodies.

You can invade minors early and get a good planet right off the bat, or you can trade with them and get techs more easily, and extra cash.

The truth is, no one will be completely happy with the minor races ever because none of you agree on what the minor races should be able to do, and if we spend all our time making everything in the game optional, there won't be a game to play.

Sole Soul

on Feb 05, 2008

They are there to be exploited.

Hey, official approval is all I need.

*runs off to exploit the minors*

The Watcher

on Feb 05, 2008

You can invade minors early and get a good planet right off the bat, or you can trade with them and get techs more easily, and extra cash.

This is very true

However can we please enable spying on the Jagged Knife event as they are still classified as minors but can control huge expanses of the map. Not being able to spy on them hurts

(Takes the hint and runs off to the corner)

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!