GALACTIC CIVILIZATIONS:
The Strategy Guide

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BY: The Ambassador
LAST UPDATED: 06/26/06
EMAIL: [email protected]
VERSION: 2.00

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DISCLAIMER:
If you want to use this guide, please email me first. I will let you 
know whether or not I want you to use it. Currently, the only sites 
this guide should be at are gamespot.com, supercheats.com, and gamefaqs.com. If 
you see any other sites with this guide, please contact me. Thanks for your 
cooperation.


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UPDATE HISTORY:

Version 1.00: Began and finish original guide.
Version 2.00: Totally revised the guide and added changes based on 
Altarian Prophecy and updates on the original game.


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Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. At the Beginning
3. In the Game
4. Quick Overview (Including the Master Strategy)
5. Things to Aim For
6. Variations for Altarian Prophecy/updates for the original game
7. Endnotes


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INTRODUCTION: 

I created these general strategies for people who are struggling to 
beat Galactic Civilizations. I know it is not ordinary to advise people 
to look at someone else's guide, but if you are just looking for the 
basics, visit the other guides. This is more for those who already know 
how to use the game. 

The strategies will help those who struggle with tougher opponents. 
These are not designed for players who can easily beat the masochistic 
level and want to up their score. These strategies won't get you more 
than 1000 points at the most. My strategies are (in order of appearance 
in the game):


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AT THE BEGINNING:

1. Don't fully trust the manual for intricate details. Some of the 
things they say are wrong. However, the manual is good for the overall 
picture.

2. Learn which political party you like. Federalists give your economy 
a boost, so it is a great all-around government. Mercantile is good for 
doing a lot of trade or espionage. Pacifists are good for spreading 
your influence, normally as well as wonders. Populists are good for 
keeping your people happy in the voting in-game governments (such as 
the republic). Technologists are great all-around as well because the 
sensors give you a boost at the start while you need technology to 
advance your civilization. War Party is good for what else? War! My 
personal favorite is the Technologists, as they are well grounded at 
the start all the way to the end. Federalists and Populists are good 
for beginners. If you are a warmonger, you probably want the War Party.

3. USE THE PLANET QUALITY BONUSES, at least 5%. Just the 5% boost will 
allow you to colonize level 12 planets (this is the biggest strategy in 
the game, spread out through the guide and restated at the end). The 
other bonus(es) are up to you. There are too many choices to list them 
all, but some of my favorites are production, creativity, sensor range, 
research, and economics.

4. Start off on the tiny galaxy. It is much easier to learn off of, 
however if you are going for points, pick the bigger ones. However, if 
you keep getting conquered early, bigger galaxies can give you extra 
time to use research to your advantage. This is truly your preference.

5. CHOOSE RARE HABITAL PLANETS. If you have the Planet Quality bonus, 
then the computer will have two planets at the most, compared to your 
4-10 planets (on tiny), depending on the randomness of the game. Two 
versus five really tilts the odds in your favor (this is a part of my 
master strategy).

6. The clusters don't really matter that much. Either put it on tight 
clusters and prepare to use control + N, or put it on scattered and 
don't sweat it. This is also really your preference. Also, decide on 
how you want to win the game.


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IN THE GAME:

7. The first thing you want to do is try to get up to trade, going 
through Communication Theory, Universal Translator, Diplomacy, and 
Trade. The Universal Transmitter allows you to talk with the aliens. 
Diplomacy allows you to change to Republic. If you have confidence in 
your morale, do it, for the bonuses are quite decent. Trade is the key 
to your economy, so getting your trade up-and-running provides a huge 
boost.

8. Make sure you check your economics panel. You want to be spending at 
a rate of 100% until your money is below 100bc. Also, I normally put 
military production up to 70% with the other two at 15% because while 
trade gives you a huge boost, the start is about claiming planets, 
resources, and anomalies. I almost never use loans. The money spent on 
loans will destroy any good coming off of the sped up process. 100% 
spending is the good solution. The one time I will use loans is if a 
constructor/colony ship is nearing completion and if I use a loan, I 
can barely beat an opponent to the resource/planet. Then, it is not 
that expensive (pay up front), and the gains more than pay for the 
cost.

9. EXPLORE. On the first difficulties, don't worry about anomalies; 
just explore because your opponents won't explore them. This allows you 
to, once you're done exploring, go back and look into all of them. On 
the tougher difficulties, explore the anomalies, but try to see farther 
out as well. Have your colony ship go to the nearest cluster of planets 
(look at your mini map), and look for a yellow planet. If there aren't 
any, choose the next best. The reason why you explore is to find out 
what planets are good and where the resources are. Why create 
constructors if you don't know of any resources? Keep exploring until 
everything is revealed. WARNING: If you are playing with an updated 
version of the original or Altarian Prophecy, you cannot auto-explore 
anomalies as the rocks/spikes will reveal space sharks, who destroy 
nearly all starting ships (only starbases and Rangers+ have a chance 
against them). However, a mean strategy is to explore one deep inside 
an opponent's territory. As a last note, anomalies continuously popup 
every once in a while, so after they are all taken, leave your ship in 
the middle of the world on auto-explore and then fortify it(make sure 
it does not go to space sharks).

10. Learn to love your minimap. It is your friend. Put everything on 
(you cannot put both population and manufacturing on, so just choose 
one). This will give you a heads-up on where everything is and what is 
going on.

11. Once you are done with constructors, turn to colony ships and make 
as many ships as there are colonizable (which is actually 12+ for you 
as soil enhancement/habitat improvement and the 5% boost will make a 12 
into exactly a level 15 planet). After the colony ships, concentrate on 
constructors and make as many freighters as you can use from your 
capital and send them out to other races. Once you research Defenders 
and Shields, build at least three, and up to seven, ships for each 
planet, depending on the quality of the planet.

12. Research, research, research. Research Medical Theory next, and 
follow it up by Basic Environmental Control to gain Aphrodisiac and 
Habitat Improvement. Then move on to Defense Theory, Defenders, and 
Shields to get some military going. Also, research Propulsion Theory, 
Cold Fusion, Impulse Drive to gain the use of Transports to knock off 
any new minor civilizations or anyone who doesn't have a military. Once 
those are done, you can really decide where to go. I will note that 
Terracomputers opens up the door to many research-increasing 
technologies. Another note on research is to go to galciv.com and print 
off the technology tree. If you can read it, it can be a huge help.

13. Improve your planets. Start off each new colony with Soil 
Enhancement and Habitat Improvement. Then you will probably need the 
Entertainment Network to keep the morale up. The Manufacturing Center 
and Banking Center are both good, as well. Make sure to put capital 
improvements, such as Economic Capital, on Earth and other good 
planets. Don't give them to struggling ones, as they will do much more 
for good ones. Also, build wonders and trade goods. Building wonders 
and trade goods stop your opponents from making them and give you a 
large boost. Don't go for Frictionless Clothing or Tri-Strontium Alloy, 
for the AI will start off going for them. Trade goods are excellent for 
diplomacy. They are extremely powerful for bargaining. Wonders are also 
excellent, but just for you.

14. Learn your opponents. Whenever I played, the Drengin Empire was 
very militaristic and economically stable and will crush you if you are 
not careful. They have been the greatest threat in most of the games 
that I have played, so BEWARE of them. The Altarian Republic will love 
you if you play them right and have an average military. The Arcean 
Empire will also love you if you play them right and have a military 
almost up to the Drengin Empire. The Torian Confederation is hardly a 
military might and also will hate you if you are not careful. Same 
thing with the Yor Collective. Put civilizations on Chaotic Good or 
Good because normally they will be more peaceful.

15. Figure out your alignment. I strongly suggest a Good alignment. The 
short-term consequences can be huge, but you get better bonuses. Also, 
I think the morale and popularity increases. Also, if your opponents 
have a Good alignment, then they will become your friends more quickly. 
If you are a Good alignment, one technology you should aim for is The 
Better Way. This will give you Trade Centers, which are incredible 
improvements, giving a 15% bonus in almost everything except planet 
quality.

16. When it comes to Starbases, the order is really your choice, but I 
would suggest Defense, Resource Mining, Normal Mining, Speed, Trade, 
Influence and then other Military. Remember, the more you research, the 
more things will open up, so don't forget to go back to a "completed" 
one after a while. Don't forget that you don't necessarily have to 
build Starbases on resources. Also build them by planets. Only put a 
maximum of one per territory (unless there are multiple resources), for 
bonuses are said not to overlap. I say Defense first because you never 
know what may happen. Space Sharks, Prisoner vessels, or other races on 
a spur-of-the-moment basis might attack you. Always be ready to take a 
beating and hold firm.

17. Use the other forms of government. If you are doing a good job, 
then you have nothing to fear of giving your colonies a vote. Even if 
you are only in control 80% of the time, the improvements make up for 
the loss. Also, if you cannot pull off a happiness rating, use the 
planet profile (when on a planet, click on the planet icon) on unhappy 
planets to increase spending on happiness (this can also be done on the 
economics screen). 


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QUICK OVERVIEW:

Start off with some planet quality bonus.
Use only Rare habitable planets.
Research Trade.
Put spending on 100% at the start.
Build colony ships (yellow planets) to constructors (resources) or 
freighters to colony ships (12+) or battle-axes to constructors.
Go for wonders and trade goods.
Beware of the Drengin Empire and anyone else who gets an extra planet.
Research Impulse Drive for transports for taking out late minor races.
Learn a strategy that works for you.

The Master Strategy: This is a simple strategy that literally means the 
difference between loosing on easy to winning on masochistic. It is to 
start with rare habitable planets and a boost in planet quality and 
then to go and colonize 12+ planets. There are generally 4-10 planets 
(on Tiny) that are between levels 12-14 that your opponents will not 
colonize (no matter their difficulty). Thus, you will have an extra 5 
or so planets, which really does make the difference in the game.


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AIMS (I am sure I will forget quite a few):

Wonders/Trade Goods:
Aphrodisiac
Gravity Accelerators
[The sensor one-I forget the name]
Terror Stars (It is a huge thing, although it is not a Wonder)
Trade Monument/Ultra Spices
Virus Elimination/Cure for Cancer
NOT The Terraformer (in the original game)

Improvements:
All Capitals
Soil Enhancement/Habitat Improvement/Terraforming
Trade Center
Stock Market
Teleporters
Bank
Fusion Power Plant/Manufacturing Center/Anti-matter Power Plant
Research places

Ships:
Battle-Axe
Transports/Battle Transports
[The one from Defensive Phasers]
Dreadnaught
Ranger
Avatar
Overlord
EXCALIBUR (Just one will rule the entire world)

Research:
Trade
Basic Environmental Control
Impulse Drive
Transporters
The Better Way
Brain Wave Mapping
Terracomputers
Terraforming
4D Techs
Near O's
Excalibur Technology


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VARIATIONS:

When you download an updated version or Altarian Prophecy, the game 
changes drastically. Changes include:

More good political parties
The need to watch out for space sharks in anomalies
More events and council ideas that are more powerful
Logistics (which limits the amount of starbases you can have and the 
number of improvements on starbases you can create)
The Terraformer (a wonder) now works (the most powerful of ALL wonders 
(you can now colonize 11+ and perhaps 10+ planets)
You now have a campaign to beat, if you want (it is not well-done, in 
my opinion)
Two more civilizations and the opportunity to turn races on/off


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ENDNOTES:

Thus closes my guide. I greatly welcome any questions or comments (my 
email address is [email protected]), such as:

Ways to make my guide better
Knowing the names of things I have forgotten
Aims and strategies you have found that are good
Questions about the game
A reason to expand on the Altarian Prophecy (And no, I do not plan on 
beating it, so you are on your own in the campaign; however, there is 
more content than just the campaign.)
Anything more

Please keep the emails clean, and please do NOT email me about Galactic 
Civilizations II. This guide is for #1, and while there are some 
similarities (the Master Strategy ought to work for both), they are too 
different for me to answer questions about it when I don't have #2. 

Also, if you need something that is not on my guide, please email about 
it, but also check out galciv.com. It is the official site for Galactic 
Civilizations and it is a relatively good site. It even includes 
instructions for customizing the game through modding (I am not a 
programmer, so I cannot help in this area). 

Other Guides:
Mario Tennis: Power Tour
Monopoly Tycoon
Cossacks 1
Gallop Racer 2004


Good luck and God bless.