How Do You Ally With Friendly Powers in GalCiv?

You gotta be in close relationships with them. Not warm, or friendly.

~SDC~

And you have to have researched Alliances.

Thanks both. I had Alliances researched, but I didn't realize things had to be Close before Alliance was possible.

~SDC~

Do computer players really play the same game as humans? I've seen aliens ally with each other before they've researched alliances. Also, I've seen the Altarians ally with minor races only a few turns after the minor races pop up. How do they become close so quickly?


~SDC~

I'm beginning to wonder about the "fairness" of the GalCiv AI myself. I mean, I understand that AI has to cut certain corners to stay competitive with a live human, but there's a level of blatancy which just sucks all the fun out of a game for me. I don't even mind losing if I feel I'm playing on a fair-ish playing field, but if a game's AI opponent just gets everything good too quickly, too easily and in too great a quantity, I start to dislike the game simply because it's too obviously rigged. It destroys even the illusion of a fair challenge.

For example, the Star Wars Battlegrounds/Clone Campaigns series of RTS games do this sort of overkill corner-cutting so constantly on anything above the Easy setting (i.e. the obviously dull-witted AI setting) that I've lost any real interest in those games. I'm sure there are many who can still win at these games; that's not my point. I get tired of being trounced only because the AI is "magically" manifesting resources and units as needed, and not even trying to *look* like it's playing by the same rules as I am.

I'm not saying that GalCiv is similarly rigged, just agreeing with you that I've seen some things lately while playing GalCiv that have made me wonder also. For example, the "magic Dreadnaughts" -- late game, and I'm pounding the hell out of the Altarian invaders (they started it, man ). Suddenly, the Altarians start producing all these Dreadnaughts -- and the only other aliens left in the game are the Torians, who are 1) militarily and economically weak, and 2) my official allies, also warring against the Altarian bastards. The Altarians are hurting for tech and resources at this point -- all my espionage and other data says so -- but suddenly the Altarians have Dreadnaughts all over the place! I quit the game in disgust. I don't mind losing, in fact, I haven't won a GalCiv game yet, and I still think GalCiv is a great game -- but I can't stand it when the AI doesn't approximate or even give the illusion of being bound by the same rules of play that I am. As I said above, it sucks all the fun and challenge out of a game for me.

So, I hear ya, Joshua, and I wonder also ...

~SDC~

Sedula - You are wrong in thinking the AI is cheating. If your espionage didn't show them researching Dreadnaughts, they must have traded for them, probably a minor Civ. However, it also could have been the Torians if the Altarians gave them something for them. As to producing them, the Altarians also could have bought them on leases. The graph is not the best way of tracking your galactic neighbors. Just because someone looks weak, doesn't necessarily mean they are weak.

~SDC~

Sorry for jump in

What exactly means "close" in
"close relationships with them. Not warm, or friendly".
I am from Germany and my understanding from "close" is "near to him, near to there planets".
Could you please short explain ?
Thx
Rolfo

It means that you have really good relations with them, enough that they would be willing to commint in an alliance with you.

~SDC~

@Norin
Ahh,thx! I understand

@#6

Thank you for a polite response, Panzerdoetter. It's so rare to see people treat one another respectfully on message boards. Typically, if someone disagrees with you online, they insult your intelligence, your parentage, and your sexuality -- and all in the first sentence. So, thanks for disagreeing respectfully. It's much appreciated.

I'll keep a closer eye on the AI from now on, and rely less on the graphs and espionage reports to predict what my foes are capable of doing. In hindsight, I'd guess that the Altarians either bought the Dreadnaughts on leases, or that they'd been reasearching toward them all along.

Thanks again,

~SDC~

@Rolfo

In GalCiv, Close is one level above Warm. The progression goes Friendly --> Warm --> Close.

When you are close to a person, it means that the person is one of the people you care about most.

In English, I might say "I am standing close to Rolfo", which means that we are physically near each other. But if I said to someone, "Rolfo and I are close", it would mean that we are very good friends.

Hope this helps. The English language can be pretty confusing sometimes, especially compared with Deutsch.

~SDC~

Sedula,

I know exactly how you feel. The AI isn't cheating, but it's notorious for buying new units on lease. The AI isn't afraid to go into debt to buy a bunch of powerful new ships because it can micromanage its way out of debt very quickly. If you watch the AI Treasury reports, you'll see them swing between debt and surplus regularly.

Hang in there, it feels great when you finally beat the electrons out of the rotters. (Until you increase the difficulty level, anyway.)

End transmission.

~SDC~

IMHO I think the AI is cheating, they got alliances off me via a third party and within 12 months they had created a massive AI alliance and I cant get close to the only other civilisation who is not in the alliance. Also this other civ is at war with the others and has been for ages !!!!

Well now, have you been evil? If you're evil, the good races WILL ally against you, unless you have them largely too scared to attack. Just because the AI is doing to you what you do to them in other 4x games does not mean it's cheating. It simply means you're getting schooled.

J

~SDC~