Galactic Civilizations IV vs Stellaris vs Endless Space 2

[Elder]

Hi all! I've recently become interested in Galactic Civilizations IV and would like to know how interesting it is? Is it immersive compared to other popular space strategy games? And are there any other unique game features besides procedural generation?
P.S. I've never played the Galactic Civilizations series before.

[Maharthain]

maybe also add "vs Galactic Civilizations 3"

[graphitepaddle]

And vs. Distant Worlds 2?

[SLG]

Have you played Stellaris? I have played both and enjoyed both,

[Tynendir]

In my opinion GalCiv IV is half-baked. It's different enough for the other game you mentioned to fill a niche but it's a still an unfinished product.
If you like Paradox Games, grand strategy and real time go for Stellaris. It has the most depth out of all the other games mentioned if you pick all the expansions. It is however expensive (but also expansive).
If you itch for a Master of Orion like with a unique universe then Endless Space 2 will be your jam. It is a typical Moo-like with enough depth to be quite interesting while still being easy to play. The battles however are unique in terms of gameplay and people either love it or hate it.
GalCiv4 is more tactical in terms of gameplay. It is however quite rough as I stated earlier with bugs and unimaginative features. It's still a decent enough 4x but it pales in comparison of the other mastodontes.
Now some people mentiones Distand Worlds 2: great simulation and with a tons of depth but the learning curve is rough. Do some research before buying that one. It's very rewarding though quite slow once you manage to get into it though.

[Illauna]

Stellaris is space immersion sim. Much of it's design isn't to conquer the Galaxy but to live in the Galaxy. It's mechanics are geared as such. It's got elements of a 4X strategy game but the game is about creating a story.

Distant Worlds is a space empire sim.

Endless Space, Master of Orion and Galactic Civilizations are 4X strategy games. The point is to beat the other AIs and achieve a victory condition. Master of Orion has tactical battles and Endless Space and Galactic Civilizations have strategic battles. Tynedir stated GC4 is tactical and that is incorrect. You have no control over the tactical layer the battles are resolved the moment you click begin combat. The battle viewer is just to see what happened.

All of these games tackle different challenges.

Keep in mind this is the first expansion. GCIV: SUpernova. Galactic Civilizaitions 4 has a huge amount of changes since GC3 and even GCIV which was originally available on Epic. Supernova is much deeper but currently lacking documentation. Because of this you may not be aware of features unless you try out multiple different civilizations or deeply explore the UI. Many players including myself have gone 200 hours and not realized a critical feature was available to them.

Devs are working on the documentation problem right now with the new Galactopedia. Also, keep in mind that the Supernova expansion changes a lot but it's in Early Access. You'll encounter bugs as you play. It's release date isn't until later next month.

[Frogboy]

GalCiv IV (Supernova) is still in early access so it still, as one person said, needs more baking time.

But the games are pretty different. GalCiv is a *turn-based* game more like Civilization. Stellaris is a real time space sandbox game. This means that GalCiv is much more focused on the strategic elements. The map is literally made up of tiles that you can freely move around to.

If you like any of these other games, you will probably like GalCiv. It's rare to meet someone who likes Stellaris who doesn't like GalCiv or vice versa.

[Tynendir]

Originally posted by Frogboy:

GalCiv IV (Supernova) is still in early access so it still, as one person said, needs more baking time.

But the games are pretty different. GalCiv is a *turn-based* game more like Civilization. Stellaris is a real time space sandbox game. This means that GalCiv is much more focused on the strategic elements. The map is literally made up of tiles that you can freely move around to.

If you like any of these other games, you will probably like GalCiv. It's rare to meet someone who likes Stellaris who doesn't like GalCiv or vice versa.

Multi-queue would add so much to the game please please please. :p

[z|A|bik2]

Originally posted by Tynendir:

Multi-queue would add so much to the game please please please. :p

Multi-queue, as in queueing same stuff at different planets on one screen, or producing several things at one planet simultaniously?

[graphitepaddle]

Originally posted by Illauna:

Distant Worlds is a space empire sim.

Own it, and curious what gaming itch GalCiv4 scratches that DW2 doesn't. Based on watching 2 video series about the Super Nova version (this one), I see these differences, comparing the former to the later:

• Turn-based vs. Real Time
  
• MUCH BETTER graphics in the former
  
• Location of things on planets matter in the former; later treats planets as black boxes; habitability & terraforming matter in both
  
• Greater emphasis on character personalities in the former
  
• Tremendous automation control in the later: You can sit back & let the game play itself
  
• Separate civilian economy in the later
  
• Grid for moving ships around in the former
  
• Later is a CPU pig: My i9900 cannot handle the largest galaxies
  
• Races are different; former seams to have greater diversity in the existing ones, plus the ability to create new ones
  
• WHERE you put components in the ship designer in the later, matters for DW2

Guessing that I missed a lot of major differences; you can only get so much from watching videos.

[Tynendir]

Originally posted by z|A|bik2:

Originally posted by Tynendir:

Multi-queue would add so much to the game please please please. :p

Multi-queue, as in queueing same stuff at different planets on one screen, or producing several things at one planet simultaniously?

Multiple things simultaneously on a Shipyard. Or a fleet producing queue (like I want a fleet composed of 1 BS, 3 Cruiser, 4 Frigates and 6 Fighters, tell me when it's done.

[Frogboy]

Originally posted by Tynendir:

Originally posted by Frogboy:

GalCiv IV (Supernova) is still in early access so it still, as one person said, needs more baking time.

But the games are pretty different. GalCiv is a *turn-based* game more like Civilization. Stellaris is a real time space sandbox game. This means that GalCiv is much more focused on the strategic elements. The map is literally made up of tiles that you can freely move around to.

If you like any of these other games, you will probably like GalCiv. It's rare to meet someone who likes Stellaris who doesn't like GalCiv or vice versa.

Multi-queue would add so much to the game please please please. :p

You might think that but the imagine a scenario where 10,000 ships were being made per turn. It would absolutely kill perf.

What we are working on is having a tech that lets 2 ships per turn be made.

[endoric]

Originally posted by Elder:

Hi all! I've recently become interested in Galactic Civilizations IV and would like to know how interesting it is? Is it immersive compared to other popular space strategy games? And are there any other unique game features besides procedural generation?
P.S. I've never played the Galactic Civilizations series before.

for now i would get III. if you start here it will seem unfinished, as it is.

it is no where as deep as a Stellaris and it does not has the story of an Endless Space.

this game will be good. it just isn't yet.

[Illauna]

Originally posted by Frogboy:

Originally posted by Tynendir:

Multi-queue would add so much to the game please please please. :p

You might think that but the imagine a scenario where 10,000 ships were being made per turn. It would absolutely kill perf.

What we are working on is having a tech that lets 2 ships per turn be made.

He can correct me if I'm wrong but I think Tynedir is basically wanting to queue a whole fleet and once the entire fleet has been produced then they emerge from the shipyard all at once. Right now you can queue a whole fleet but you have to give orders to each ship when they emerge or arrive at the shipyards rallypoint. It can bog down the late game when your having multiple ships needing orders every turn.

Something like the stellaris fleet manager which is a new feature to that genre might be a good idea.

Again apologize if I have this incorrect Tynedir.

[Tynendir]

Originally posted by Illauna:

Originally posted by Frogboy:

You might think that but the imagine a scenario where 10,000 ships were being made per turn. It would absolutely kill perf.

What we are working on is having a tech that lets 2 ships per turn be made.

He can correct me if I'm wrong but I think Tynedir is basically wanting to queue a whole fleet and once the entire fleet has been produced then they emerge from the shipyard all at once. Right now you can queue a whole fleet but you have to give orders to each ship when they emerge or arrive at the shipyards rallypoint. It can bog down the late game when your having multiple ships needing orders every turn.

Something like the stellaris fleet manager which is a new feature to that genre might be a good idea.

Again apologize if I have this incorrect Tynedir.

Yep that's the gest of it. Frogboy did not misunderstand me as well though but I had already gotten the perf argument in another thread (which I understand). I think my fleet solution would be a nice compromise to reduce the micro in late game or production heavy games. I've calculated that it's more than 75% of my time each turn being consumed by the process of moving ships. it's straining and makes me not finish games.

[Illauna]

A little "workaround" is I queue a fleet at a time when the first ship emerges I put the ship on sentry. When prompted to build another ship that tells me to move my sleeping fleet to the desination. It drastically reduces the amount of orders you have to give out.