
Dev Journal
GalCiv IV Dev Journal #15 - Internal Factions
A million years ago in the 1990s when I was designing the OS/2 versions of Galactic Civilizations I gave the player sliders to adjust what they were spending their resources on. This system lasted right on through Galactic Civilizations II for Windows. GalCiv I for Windows GalCiv II for Windows GalCiv III v1.0 for Windows While highly useful for min-maxing a relatively simple economic system, it suffered from being pretty opaque in how it worked and was pretty ... [read more]

Dev Journal
GalCiv IV Dev Journal #14 – Pacing Comparisons
Pacing in 4X strategy games is crucial. So I decided to look at GalCiv II, GalCiv III and the GalCiv IV alpha to take a look at how fast things move along. T urn GalCiv II (Twilight of the Arnor) GalCiv III (Retribution) GalCiv IV [Alpha] 1 · Researched New Propulsion Techniques [7 turns] · Planet Project: Innovation Complex [16 weeks] · Music: Haunting · Startport: Rush bought Co... [read more]

Dev Journal
GalCiv IV Dev Journal #13 - The Vault
The Galactic Civilizations games are known for their ship design features. But ship design occurs before the ship is made. What about after? Galactic Civilizations IV will be introducing a new feature for upcoming Beta version (this Winter) called “The Vault”. The Vault is a set of special items the player either produces or, more commonly scavenges across the galaxy. Destroying the monster ships, pirates, enemy fleets, etc. will result in scavenging th... [read more]

Dev Journal
GalCiv IV Dev Journal #12 - AAR Drengin Human Wars I Part 1
For many years, I have put the Galactic Civilizations games through their paces to see how well a given game does at feeling like a story. I do this to help nitpick things we need to change. With the beta for GalCiv IV just around the corner, I thought I’d see how well the game stacks up so far. I also will be inserting comments that normally we would have at internal meetings, but for you aspiring game developers I wanted to show some of the feedback the team gets fro... [read more]

News
Galactic Civilizations IV Releases .65 Alpha Update
v.65 is here and brings two new civilizations, the Arcean Republic and Drath Freehold. The update also offers new policies, galactic bazaar, and supply ships. Arcean Republic Civilization The military is the backbone of Arcean culture. They start with access to the Tradition, Opportunity, and Harmony ideology trees. Their citizens are never pacifists, have a higher Resolve, and get an Approval bonus when they are specialized into Soldiers. Arcean citizens are also never overly Ideologi... [read more]

Dev Journal
GalCiv IV Dev Journal #11 - Combat AAR
In the previous entry , we discussed whether we needed a battle viewer. That’s because combat in GalCiv IV works somewhat differently than previous entries. Specifically: Combat on the map can involve multiple (ranged) tiles which complicates things a bit. Combat can take multiple turns which complicates things After getting a lot of helpful feedback we think we’ve come up with a way to have our cake and eat it too: AAR (After Action Reports). Whenever combat take... [read more]

News
Galactic Civilizations IV: Community Q&A #2 [22nd October 2021]
Before releasing Galactic Civilizations IV 0.60 we hosted a second community questions & answers session on our discord. This time we were joined by lead designer Derek Paxton. Questions were both submitted before and asked live in person by various members of the community. Derek Paxton – Lead Designer Henry Pailing – Community Manager A big thank you for everyone who were able to make the Q&A. Our team enjoys doing these and appreciate the key insights t... [read more]