New Galactic Civilizations 3 Update Out Now, Refines Diplomacy And More

Almost two years after its initial release, a big new update for Galactic Civilizations III has arrived.

Among the key additions in the 2.0 update are Starbase Administrators and diplomacy improvements. Administrators are a brand-new resource needed to construct Starbases. Developer Stardock said this "will take some of the pressure of feeling like you need to mass-produce Starbases off your shoulders.

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"You'll start with a number of Administrators based on the size of the map, and each Starbase will consume one. Researching certain government-related techs will allow you to hire more Administrators. This new resource gives some advantages to smaller empires who can now choose to use Starbases to improve morale and productivity in their home systems."

Diplomacy, always an area in need of improvement in strategy games, receives what Stardock calls "some major work." AI players now factor in more things--such as how much they like you--when deciding on trades. Additional information will also be provided to explain why a trade was or wasn't accepted. In a press release, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell said, "[T]he diplomatic AI is more sophisticated and plays a lot like a human would both in terms of trading and how they deal with the complex web of foreign relations."

You can check out the full patch notes below for a more in-depth rundown on what's been adjusted in version 2.0.

Coinciding with the release of this update, Steam has discounted Galactic Civilizations III. From now until January 30, you can pick up the base game for $13.59 (down from the usual $40). Its DLC is also on sale, most of it for half price. Its most significant piece of DLC, the Mercenaries expansion, is 75 percent off, bringing it down to $5.

Galactic Civilization 2.0 Update Patch Notes

Starbase Administrators

Starbases are under new management. Each Starbase now requires an Administrator to run it. Your starting number of Administrators is proportional to your galaxy size. You can also research techs in the government tree to train more Administrators. As part of this change, we've greatly decreased the minimum distance between Starbases.

Diplomacy Improvements

We reworked the AI to make it more active and smarter in trading. Be careful you don't loose your shirt while trading!

Change Log

Administrators

• Starbases now require one "Administrator" to build
• Number of starting Administrators depends on galaxy size
• Research certain Government Technologies to increase the number of Administrators
• Current number of available Administrators can be seen on the resource bar or the Starbase list tab.

Diplomacy

• General pass on conversation weights such that the AI will talk more and offer more interesting trades.
• AI players who dislike you will charge you more in diplomacy
• Changed diplomacy attitude label from "allied" to "loves" (they're not allied)
• Changed diplomacy attitude from label "war" to "hates" (they're not at war)
• AI should be better at focusing on a given weapon or defense tech rather than trying to research multiple paths.
• AIs will heavily weight their relations with other players based on who is at war with whom and why
• AIs will tend to come to the aid of their friends even if the enemy is more powerful
• AI now has the capability of explaining in detail why they rejected (or accepted) a trade offer (though will require translation of new strings)
• AI will use a redlining system of evaluating proposals such that each sub-AI routine will add marks to the proposal with potential veto power.
• AI now has the capability of explaining in detail why they rejected (or accepted) a trade offer.

Balance

• Home planet production points base increased from 1 to 10
• Significantly reduced starbase spacing radius to 2 tiles, allowing you cluster them closer together.
• AI is substantially better at evaluating what ship to build, when and where
• Early game improvements made less expensive
• Late game improvement benefits reduced slightly
• Research improvements have been rebalanced.

UI Improvements / Bugs

• By default, the auto-generated military ships will have their categories folded for easier UI navigation.
• When a player designs a ship, it will, by default, be added to the favorites
• Added the currency, morale, population, and turns information to the planet and shipyard window
• Changed Terran and "space monster" fighters size from small to tiny, matching the sizes for other factions. This change prevents a crash in the ROT campaign
• Map Editor: Fixed a problem that prevented the Mini-map Preview from working.
• Replaced Diplomatic Specialization 3 to be "Efficient Administration" on all trees. (Base Game and Campaigns.)
• Fixed bad Matter Disruption Cost multiplier that was making Matter Disruption 2.6 times more expensive than it should have been.
• Changed the width of the asteroid tooltip window and "nearest owned planet" value so that the value can no longer overlap
• Changed the width of the "nearest owned planet" value in the asteroid context window so that the value can no longer overlap
• Updated map lighting settings to decreased ambient light and increased key light to make the ships look less flat.
• Mercenaries: Ships that you can't afford are greyed out.
• Fixed issue where Ancient Kinetic Augmenter had weapon FX even though it is a support module.
• Removed military ring Starbase range boost now that we have implemented Administrators.
• Fixed a problem that was causing rebellions in peaceful corners of the galaxy.