YOUR wish list for GalCiv III!

[Frogboy]

Greetings!

We are so excited at the number of people playing GalCiv III.

Now, the question is, what NEXT. Stardock's perspective is that your purchase doesn't just get you the game "as is" but rather is the beginning of what will be a multi-year journey of updates to the game.

So in this thread please list FIVE things (no more, no less) that you would like to see in an upcoming free update (and by upcoming, I mean, by end of Summer).

Preface that list with the understanding that these should not be expansion pack type things (i.e. "full blown interactive invasion" or sophisticated espionage system).

To get the ball rolling here is my list:

#1 Steam Workshop support. That means, I want to be able to easily download other people's ships and custom civilizations. [DONE]

#2 Massive, community driven AI update based on the expertise of all the players (rather than just internal devs playing it). [DONE]

#3 Anti-Micromanagement UI improvements. That is, kill constructor spam, make managing a huge empire more interesting and fun. [DONE]

#4 Better, more satisfying fleet battles (both visually and in terms of player decision making)

#5 Major diplomacy updates. Let me have full blown diplomatic discussions with the AI. [Mostly done]

NEW for 2018:

#6 More clear definitions for different ship roles

#7 More events that present choices for players.

#8 A better use for Minor civs

#9 Visual overhaul to fleet battles (and do #4)

#10 MORE choices for diplomatic interactions.

That's my list. What's yours?

[Mistfox]

Campaigns from the other races POV. It would also help get the players familiar with the different tech trees without having to make and play a game from scratch.

Would be really fun to see the universe as a Drengin.

We already seen the Terran POV, next might be the Altarians as they push back the Drengin, then the Thalans as they side against the Humans to stop the "Crusade" while the Drengin takes advantage of the distraction to restore a stalemate. Then the Yor tries to clean up all organic life.

The Iconians, Krynn and Iridium can have an "economic campaign" going on the side as well.

Just one wish, but a huge one. It's not the quantity that counts but the quality! :)

[Wolf0608]

1.) better sorting of ships

2.) an ability to make a race and your own custom ships for THAt race rather than a template from other races.

3.) AI that makes better choices and maybe even is concerned more about its centralized area rather than making the galaxy look like a cluster of colors.

4.) Planetary Invasion changes... also... I feel more than one transport should be needed to capture a planet. Maybe even needing warships to accompany it to invade too.

5.) More balanced AI where in every game 2 certain ones *cough* kryn and drengin *cough* dont completely dominate everything and be your only enemy in every game.

6.) Workshop support for peoples to share their creations!!

My main sadness is the AI... but I believe it improves over time and learns how players play and counters someone was saying?

game is hella addicting though.... I am shocked to discover when i have been playing for 3 hours lol

[SirCabbage]

1) Visual changes for planets based on class. It seems odd that even after you "terraform" a class 4 planet up to class 12 it still looks horrible. I would love for planets to reflect the changes we are making to the planets. ala GalCiv1- It gets greener, lusher, more water, maybe more diverse colour palets (such as class 20-30 planets looking amazing and all colourful.

2) Morality Slider for races (during game creation) + graphics to go with them. Maybe the lighting goes more red or blue based on how good or bad they are. Yes, you can already change morality using custom races- but my way would be more "on the fly". Hypothetically it would allow players to have a good excuse to add more then one race of each type. Right now for example you can only have one of each race unless you make custom race versions. Well, with this feature you could say have 2 altarians- one is the normal benovolent trait- the other is pure evil. They would look different in diplomacy due to the lights changing in the background and would make for much better storytelling.

3) Tech tree queing. I want to be able to shift click on a series of technologies in order of what I would like. Allowing me to cut back and pre-plan better. I dont mean, click a late tech and it maps the course to it- I mean say I want to shift click to research something in one tree before going to another.

4) MORE EVENTS + graphics to go with them. As it stands the events both for colonisation and the random events really are lacking the flavor of the old GalCiv games. This is not helped by the tiny variety of background pictures for events. Not all of them need to be super complex, just some pills and vials sitting on a table or something- change it more based on what the event is saying. Events used to have their own pictures for each event, that was great.

5) More modifiers for map generation. For example, I may want to set it so each cluster in a tight clustered map may have to have a mininum of 1 habitable planet, max of 5. etc. or, maybe a "planet quality" slider. say, I may want hyper abundant planets but make them all be lower 1-4 class worlds- or I may want super rare planets but make the few I come across be 20-30's. That is what I wanted to make, massive insane size galaxies with rare stars and planets. Problem is- the equation deciding on planet quality is the same regardless, so most of my planets were horrible. Having an option like this would help ensure high quality planets for my rare planet maps.

[TheFunMachine.]

Draginoi -- your list pretty much trumps all. I really want to see all of those ideas come to fruition. I will also add:

1. Visual changes for planets, as you upgrade or terraform. Would really add to the atmosphere.

2. More galactic events!

3. Space monsters (could tie into 2)

4. More ways to personalise your custom factions, like having custom advisors for example.

5. Probably re-iterating on your diplomacy ideas, but I would suggesting making the United Planets a bit more interactive and expansive on the things you could achieve (and brining out more faction personality as a result).

The game is already really solid and polished and is only going to become better and better if you manage to follow through on your ideas for updates and expansions. I will definitely be supporting you!

[EleventhStar]

1. A minimize/do this later button on the trade/diplomacy screen, so i can have a look at what the trade is actually about.
It grinds my gears a screen just pops up with someone demanding money from me, and i have to decide right then and there instead of being able to look up their diplomatic standing with me, their military power, etc. Only game i know that does this is endless space :(

2. Change to surrenders, right now the surrendering party has all the power which makes little sense imo. I made a suggestion here thats basically a button for the agressor to dispute the surrender. http://forums.galciv3.com/467092

3. Clearer research tooltips on things like this http://i.imgur.com/EqLT76j.png Some tooltips don't make very clear exactly what they effect.
Does 2x shield +15% mean it affects ships and starbases? hard to say. Does manufacturing +1 apply to farms? to colonies? is it manufacturing or is it pruduction? etc.

4. Ultra Terraformer for Altarians. (or a nerf to ultra terraformer, but then i cant make OP planets anymore)

5. In game mod manager, so that i do not have to move a mod out of the mod folder if i do not want to use it. Hoping this one will be including with the workshop patch.

[Zak0r]

I would like to ask you to consider a Play-by-Email-Mode for Multiplayer.

I have played two MP-matches with friends now and it is real fun and we really like what you did to speed up turns (give build orders and design while others move). But we are no students anymore so we can't skip a night to play a game. Galciv3 is a game that can't be finished in one session. So for players with a limited timetable it would be a great thing if you could set up a Play-by-Email-session similarly to what the devs did in Age of Wonders 3:

You start a game in that mode, everyone joins and the host makes his first turn. Then he saves and uploads the game and the next player gets an email with a message that his turn is ready. He makes his turn, saves and uploads, next player ...

In Age of Wonders 3 this has its downside because you can then only fight automatically with human players. But Galciv3 has automatic battles anyway so the biggest downside of this wouldn't even exist.

[Mitosis]

1) Diplomacy Updates - I want to be able to see what other races relations are with each other, because suddenly getting -1's with my ally because I attacked a dude that they apparently liked makes no sense.

2) Experience on ships - Not necessarily like it was in Galciv 2, just something so that keeping a ship alive gives it a bonus somewhere.

3) UP could use a better UI - I'd like to at least see what the vote totals were. I'm playing a game with 31 factions, and I have no idea where like half the decisions come from anymore.

4) Easier to edit existing custom races in the Menu. Added in 31 races out of star wars, and after about 10 hours in I realized I misspelled a few words. The only way to change it in the editor is to "copy" them to fix it and then erase the old one.

5) Better tooltips - Do I want guardian or interceptor drones? Information warfare or chemical gas? My only answer is "maybe." (Actually in those ones specifically I'm not sure why "both" isn't an option but whatever).

I...uh...I think thats it.

[Rhonin the wizard]

1) Civilization unique research trading.

2) Hotseat multiplayer

3) Invasion viewer.

4) I think maintenance costs could do with an increase, colony capitals have no maintenance at the moment. This would also make wealth improvements more useful and reduce early colony spam.

5) In-game encyclopedia, with profiles on the factions, leaders, maybe some techs.

[Jiks]

1) Rebalance of refit costs so this is a viable option
2) Ability to find fleets rather than/as well as ships
3) Rebalance of invasion mechanics so resistance and defence are viable options
4) Rebalance of research costs scaling as you move along the tree branches. Currently even with research set very slow 20 planets will get a tech every 1 or 2 turns.
5) Reduction in AI mining starbase priority. As it is they will set up every single possible one of these, no matter where it is. This seems a higher priority than building a military, even if they are at war.

[Zion_Shall-Fall]

1. In each game, there comes a turn when you know you're gonna win no matter what (usually too soon) - make the game more unpredictable, so that even when you reach that turn, something interesting or unexpected can happen. This is the most important thing I would like to see in GC3.

2. More diplomatic options

3. Add a new major faction to spice things up

4. Ship designer isn't really neccessary - add special events or rewards so that it's worth taking the time to create your own ships.

5. Add mini missions or quests that - once completed - give you a bonus or attitude change with a certain faction

[runifoc]

1. I'd like to see regional governors where I can group planets by location or specialty or sponsored shipyard. Then let them choose planetary builds based upon priorities that I set for them. A limit for the number of planets under one governor may be maximum distance between planets or distance from the governor's planet. Provide a regional governor bonus for the governor's planet if he has a certain number of planets under his administration.

2. A selectable background color for enemy ships that I am at war with. When I am at war against multiple players I'd like to distinquish whether the ships belong to a major or minor player. It becomes a real pain when playing against 70 opponents and some enemy ships are the same color as friendly ships or my own ships.

3. Let me select the order of my tech research across tech tracks. Also, don't default to the top item in a multiple choice tech. Either remember what I selected or stop and ask me before applying left over tech points.

4. When the UP first meets let the peaceful members vote on whether to admit players who are in a state of war. Give warring players the option of ending their wars in order to be admiited to the UP. Also, how about forming factions in the UP based on ideology? Whoever becomes the leader of a faction can control or influence the votes of the members of that facton.

5. When a player makes a demand or request to go to war show me where the object or potential enemy is in relation to my empire. Also, give me the option to compare relative strengths before making my decision.

[Aleksei.Volchok]

1) Reduce micromanagement for a situation with dozens of planets.

2) Improve AI - the most irritating problem is AI not specializing his worlds. If you make good governers for #1 you could naturally fix this problem.

3) Interface. When you load the game tech tree is always hidden from you again for some reason. Minimap always zooms back to your territory. Possible movement area is not highlighted for you or enemies.

4) Show us battle results after quick battle. All this info about what weapons were useless.

5) Do something with sensor stacking.

[xycotta]

1) The game not using 95% of my computer's memory

2) Redo pirates, they shouldn't spawn till after a certain time, not sure what/who they are robbing when everyone has 1 planet. Make them more dynamic, they just sit in the middle of nowhere. Have diplomacy with them.

3) Make certain research options not available untill after a condition is met

Examples: Universal translator shouldn't be possible till after meeting a new race, additional space mining shouldn't be available till after a mining station is built, extreme colonization till after an extreme planet found

4) Don't show terrain improvemnt choices if they can't be used, it just annoys people

5) Reduce starbase spam by the AI, or increase base costs maybe? Seems they are everywhere on Insane maps.

[Raradragoon]

1. More pictures for custom races
2. Would not mind research queing
3. better ui for colony's

[Icemania]

I think the Top 5 from Brad are very good.

That said there are a couple of specific things balance wise that are needed. Brad I know you don't mind having some exploits around but some things are just WAY overpowered, as is the case with any relatively new release. I almost always avoid these entirely in-game after seeing what can be done with them.

The coloniser trait allows shipyards to be built immediately and enables excessive colony ship spam. The coloniser trait should be nerfed to ensure that it’s not so OP and/or the cost of shipyards increased.

5 free transport ships is absolutely huge and combined with colony spam can be beelined to very quickly. Even if you are playing a peaceful game you can use it to provide a really big boost to population on your existing worlds. I suggest it is moved back a slot in the ideology tree. Or alternatively instead of 5 transports change to say 2 or 3 (I would recommend moving it though).