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GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #18 - Should there be a campaign?

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #18 - Should there be a campaign? Sandbox 4X games generally lack a campaign, but that changed with GalCiv III, which introduced one. Over the past 30 years, a wealth of lore has been created for the GalCiv universe. I started writing the lore that would come to be used for GalCiv when I was in college which is when I wrote the first game. The question remains: should we include a campaign in the base game or offer it as DLC? Each GalCiv game has been gui... [read more]

5/15/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova v1.51 is Now Available

GalCiv IV: Supernova v1.51 brings big updates: improved visuals, new gameplay settings, unlocked civs and much more. View the full changelog here Get into Early Access: Steam | Epic Additional Custom Civ Portrait Options Users can now select "More Images" until they get the image they want (based on the description of your civ) . Previously, to get more potential race images to choose from, you had to regenerate the entire civilization. Because ... [read more]

5/11/2023 By redskittlesonly in GalCiv News

GalCiv IV: Supernova - Experiments we're trying

Greetings! In recent years, "Early Access" has meant "Game is basically done but with bugs". And while it's true that the engine for this game is pretty "done" we are trying to take advantage of early access to try out a lot of crazy new things to get your ideas and feedback on. GalCiv IV: Supernova is being developed by the GalCiv II team and so some of the changes the team wants to make are things that come from the things we really liked in GalCiv II but in a GalCiv IV game. Some of ... [read more]

5/8/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #17 - How much should you see?

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #17 - How much should you see? In both GalCiv III and in the Epic release of GalCiv IV (GC4Epic) we were very generous with how much the player could “see”. On turn 1, you could see several solar systems away. Go ahead and see for yourself. When I began designing GalCiv IV: Supernova, I wanted to emphasize the exploration aspect of the game, which was something I loved in GalCiv II. After all, exploration is one of the key elements in 4X games. So how... [read more]

5/8/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #16 - The importance of onboarding

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #16 - The importance of onboarding Long ago we had these things called “user manuals”. I loved reading a good user manual. I’d sit back with my copy of the Civilization manual or the Ultima IV manual and just spend a weekend afternoon reading it. The days of manuals seem long gone. Gamers expect that the game will walk them through how to play the game and there is a real art form for doing this. For Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova we are adding not... [read more]

5/8/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova - The Combat System Discussion

GalCiv IV: Supernova - The new combat system discussion thread Greetings. I’m making use of two particular threads as background for this one: https://forums.galciv4.com/518716 Feedback on the new weapon system and class system » Forum Post by Halicide (galciv4.com) The currently designed system for Supernova I say designed because it’s not actually working correctly. But here is how it is supposed to work: Weapons Weapons have 4 primary characteristics: Potential Dama... [read more]

5/7/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Preview for May 11

GalCiv IV: Supernova: May 11 Lots of big updates coming the second week of May. Here’s some highlights: Civ image re-rolling Previously, to get more potential race images to choose from, you had to regenerate the entire civilization. Because of how taxing that is on the AlientGPT system, we had to limit that to 5 tries per civ and 25 per day. But since most people just want to try out to see more images, we are separating the civ regen to the reroll of the images. So just r... [read more]

5/6/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv News

GalCiv IV: Supernova - AMA & Community Dialogue with Brad Wardell

We're excited to announce that we'll be hosting a special Community Dialogue / AMA (Ask Me Anything) session with our CEO, Brad Wardell, to discuss and bounce ideas around while answering your questions about Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova! This event will take place on our Discord server on Thursday, May 11th at 2PM ET 4PM ET . This is a good opportunity for you to share your thoughts, ask questions, and get insights directly from Brad about the development and future of G... [read more]

5/5/2023 By RammaStardock in GalCiv News

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #15 - Thinking about planets

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #15 - Thinking about Planets I feel like the GalCiv IV planet management is missing something. I think the bones are right but seems like there’s a lot of nobs that ultimately amount to very little. The philosophy of being king of the world In GalCiv IV the basic idea is that raw materials come, you do stuff with them, and the output can then be used in various useful ways. The concept is simple. The execution is…complicated. Adjacency Bonuses Th... [read more]

5/5/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova - First 10 Turns, May 2023

GalCiv IV: Supernova - The First 10 Turns Today we’re going to do a fairly simple game to “smoke test” the AI and general game mechanics. Here we will find bugs, AI issues and balance issues. Setup I’m playing as the Terran Alliance, the default civ. Small galaxy, ONE sector. This lets us do an apples and apples comparison with GC3 and GC2. Only 3 opponents. In the beginning… Our home solar system. I wouldn’t mind if Mars was moved so that it was closer. Month 1: Febr... [read more]

5/3/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #14 - How many turns should that thing take?

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #14 - How many turns should that thing take? So how many turns should it take to get a thing? Turn based games live and die on pacing balance. We don’t have a speed button to zip over bad pacing choices. So we have to be very, very careful on the number of turns something takes to get. Take research for example. How many turns? 1 turn seems too generous. 8 turns is pretty long. But do you make the tech cost more or find ways to reduce the amount of re... [read more]

5/1/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #13 - AlienGPT

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #13 - GPT GPT stands for “Generative Pre-trained Transformer” and since the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT the world of generative AI has really taken off. For the past several months, we have been working to build GPT technology into our Tachyon engine, Stardock’s cloud-based metagaming technology that has previously been seen in Ashes of the Singularity, Offworld Trading Company and Star Control: Origins. Thanks to OpenAI’s ChatGPT API and Tachyon, we are proud... [read more]

4/27/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

Now in Early Access - Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova Edition

Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova Edition now available in early access Early Access adds ChatGPT integration: AlienGPT [Early Access Gameplay Trailer] Stardock has released the latest sequel of its award-winning space strategy game series today into early access. Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova sees the player as the ruler of a united home world that has just discovered faster-than-light travel. Join Early Access Now: www.galciv4.com ... [read more]

4/27/2023 By Tatiora in GalCiv News

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #12 - Humanoids?

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #12 - Humanoids? One of the things we are definitely looking at widely expanding are the number of different species categories: There’s a lot of reasons to do this. For one, I think it would be a good way to have several different tech trees. Right now, the tech tree in the game is different per race but they are all derived from the same master. But imagine if we could make it so that each biology category had its own completely different tech tree? ... [read more]

4/24/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #11 - The AI Elephant in the Room

Supernova makes heavy use of AI art generation. While our human art staff on GalCiv IV is the biggest it’s ever been, the art team has made a great deal of use of using AI to vastly increase the amount of variance of art assets in the game. There are a lot of different types of AI generated content in Supernova including text, missions, AI dialog, citizen portraits and even the aliens themselves. Some uses of AI are controversial. For example, one of the controversial aspects of AI art... [read more]

4/20/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #10 - Little New Things

I spend a lot of time debugging AI in games. This means having to play the game over and over and over again trying to see why the AI is doing something dumb. Two features that will be rolling out into Supernova and then back to the base game are: Fast Move Fast Battles When you turn these on, ships move instantly to their destination and battles occur without any fanfare. It makes the turns go by insanely fast. ____________________________________________________... [read more]

4/13/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

NOW AVAILABLE: Sins of a Solar Empire II - Technical Preview 5

Technical Preview 5 Features Major AI and UI Improvements, Audio Balancing, Quality-of-Life Updates, and More Read the full changelog Greetings, Sins II players! Thanks to everyone who played during our opt-in period and sent us any bug reports or weird issues that you came across. Your diligence helps us deliver the best game possible, and we're happy to let you know that Technical Preview 5 is now officially released. Before we talk about what's in the... [read more]

4/13/2023 By Tatiora in Sins of a Solar Empire News

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #9 - The FAQ

What is Galactic Civilizations? GalCiv is a 4X turn-based strategy game series where players lead civilizations, expanding and conquering the galaxy. What is a 4X game? In 4X games, players explore space, expand empires, manage resources, and strategize in battles for galactic dominance. So this is the 4th GalCiv game, then? Technically, it’s the 7th as there were 3 versions on IBM’s OS/2 operating system in the 1990s. GalCiv is the oldest, continually dev... [read more]

4/5/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #8 - The Supernova Crisis

In the year 2245, the Terran Alliance and their coalition had emerged victorious in a battle against the Drengin Empire, thanks to the recovery of a mysterious Precursor weapon. The Thalans, an advanced civilization that claimed to be from a nightmare future where humans were responsible for the destruction of the entire Milky Way galaxy, persuaded the humans to send the Precursor weapon back into the void of the pocket dimension it had been previously sent to. Shortly after, the Thalan Empir... [read more]

3/31/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

Sins II: Dev Journal 8 - An RTS with a Changing Map

The Art of War tells us that there are five fundamental factors to war: Politics, Weather, Terrain, the Commander, and Doctrine. But the terrain has been largely static in RTS’s. A new feature of Sins of a Solar Empire II is that all the planets are in active orbits. Their location and the links between them change over time. Because the orbit differs based on how far from the sun the planet is (Mercury orbits our sun much faster than Uranus), formerly cohesive empires can become scattere... [read more]

3/31/2023 By DerekPaxton in Sins Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #7 - What's New in Supernova

A recap of what Galactic Civilizations is To recap, Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova is a turn-based 4X space strategy game set in the 24th century with players taking on the role of leader of a civilization that has just developed faster than light (FTL) travel. Supernova adds an additional layer – civilizations are on the verge of discovery subspace streams which allow for intergalactic travel. Civilizations must explore their area of space, expand their influence through colonizi... [read more]

3/30/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova Announced Today!

Stardock Announces Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova An array of new features and improvements include brand-new civilizations, Terror Star units, improved systems, and much more Stardock, a leading developer of 4X strategy and simulation games, announced the launch Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova , the latest installment in their acclaimed Galactic Civilizations franchise today. Explore an enhanced ideology system by ... [read more]

3/30/2023 By Tatiora in GalCiv News

NOW AVAILABLE: Galactic Civilizations IV v1.12 Update

Galactic Civilizations IV v1.12 update is here with fixes, balance updates, and performance improvements Read the changelog It's here: the v1.12 update for Galactic Civilizations IV ! In v1.12, we focused on fixing issues, all the way from minor typo corrections to some bigger problems, like ship components that weren't working properly. Some community members also expressed confusion about why the rush button wasn't working, so we included a tool tip there that expla... [read more]

3/23/2023 By Tatiora in GalCiv News

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #6 - Technology and Ideology Changes

Greetings, fellow space explorers! It's time for another exciting update on the development of GalCiv IV: Supernova. Today, we're going to talk about some changes coming to the technology tree and ideologies. First up, let's talk about the technology tree. Technology choices are currently random in GalCiv IV, and while this added an element of unpredictable gameplay and replayability, it could also be frustrating when you desperately needed a specific technology and it just wouldn't show up... [read more]

3/23/2023 By Design_Zack in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

Sins II: Dev Journal 7 - The Argonev Starbase

Although recognized as powerful battlestations, the Argonev-class starbases began their lives as civilian structures. Prior to the war, the Argonev served as orbital cities where families lived, major commerce hubs were established, and ships serviced on their treks across Trader space. By War Year 15 the TEC had determined that these massive bases would need to be repurposed for the war effort. Many of the civilian accommodations were removed to free up space for military hardware and const... [read more]

3/21/2023 By Yarlen in Sins Dev Journals

Save up to 75% on Stardock games, DLC, and software in the Steam Spring Sale!

Save up to 75% on Stardock Games and Software! Offworld Trading Company ( Includes FREE: Jupiter's Forge Expansion and Almanac DLC) $29.99 Now $11.99 - 60% Off Galactic Civilizations III ( Includes FREE: Crusade and Retribution Expansions, Mega Events DLC) $39.99 Now $12.79 - 68% Off Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation $29.99 Now $9.89 - 67% Off Star Control: Origins - Earth Rising $19.99 ... [read more]

3/16/2023 By Tatiora in Stardock Entertainment Announcements

NOW AVAILABLE: Sins of a Solar Empire II - Technical Preview 4

Technical Preview 4 Features a Multiplayer Refresh, TEC Rebel Gameplay Updates, Research Improvements, and More Read the full changelog Greetings, Sins II players! Thanks to everyone who played during our opt-in period and sent us any bug reports or weird issues that you came across. Your diligence helps us deliver the best game possible, and we're happy to let you know that Technical Preview 4 is now officially released. Before we talk about what's in the new update, here's an imp... [read more]

3/16/2023 By Tatiora in Sins of a Solar Empire News

Multiplayer Tidbits for the Sins of a Solar Empire II Technical Preview

We knew that when we announced Sins of a Solar Empire II that people were going to be excited. When we launched the Technical Preview back in November, there was one question everyone was asking right from the onset: when would we add multiplayer? Our multiplayer update came out of opt-in on February 21st and since then has been widely enjoyed by everyone who has played. We know how fun it is to be able to play with your friends - and we also know how long a good game of Sins can go when o... [read more]

3/9/2023 By Tatiora in Sins Dev Journals

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #5 - The Planets are Liars

As you know, in GalCiv IV core worlds are the backbone of your civilization. But not all planets are created equal. This is communicated in two ways: First, by the raw planetary inputs (minerals, tech, food, wealth, culture) and Second, by the types of tiles that the planet has on it. Unfortunately, in GalCiv IV, the two don't reflect on each other. They're disconnected. What I mean is that you could have a planet with a high tech raw resource input and have no tiles t... [read more]

3/8/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

Galactic Civilizations III v4.52 Fixes Issues and Updates Balance

Galactic Civilizations III v4.52 Fixes Issues and Updates Balance Full changelog available at the bottom of the post Greetings, Galactic Civilizations III fans! Our latest update is out of opt-in and is now available for you. See Lord Kona smiling up there? Yeah, he's excited, too. In v4.52 we focused on fixing a few issues that our users have reported. It was brought to our attention that the Promethion cost in the Industrial Replicator improvement and ... [read more]

3/7/2023 By Tatiora in GalCiv III News

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #4 - Event Updates

Hello everyone, I hope this post finds you well and ready for another update on GalCiv IV: Supernova. Today I will be talking about some updates to the event system. Galactic Civilizations IV (GalCiv IV) is a 4x game that provides players with a vast, dynamic universe to explore and conquer. As a part of that experience, we've included a system of random events that players can encounter throughout the game. These events serve to keep the game world feeling alive and unpredictable, but we've ... [read more]

3/1/2023 By Design_Zack in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

Sins II: Dev Journal 6 - The Dunov Battlecruiser

The Dunov Battlecruiser - from its humble beginnings as a simple cargo carrier for the Trade Order, the Dunov has secured an impressive war record for the TEC. Originally starting its design life as a heavy cargo carrier, the Dunov class plied the trade routes between members of the old Trade Order for centuries. With the creation of the TEC, the Dunov’s heavy frame was modified into a versatile support ship. The vessel’s heavy armor was augmented with a modicum of weapons and a number of u... [read more]

2/27/2023 By Yarlen in Sins Dev Journals

GalCiv IV timeline after 2245

• 2245: The Terran Alliance and their coalition defeat the Drengin Empire with the help of a mysterious Precursor weapon. • 2246: Planet Kona occupied, beginning of the United Planets occupation forced upon the Drengin Empire • 2247: The Thalans convince the humans to send the Precursor weapon back into the void of the pocket dimension, and they disappear shortly after. • 2256: The Drengin Empire finds a crashed Navigator ship and unlock Subspace streams. &b... [read more]

2/25/2023 By Frogboy in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

NOW AVAILABLE: Sins of a Solar Empire II - Tech Preview 3, Multiplayer Update

Sins of a Solar Empire II Adds Multiplayer to Technical Preview, Adds Visual Enhancements Take over an existing AI empire in a multiplayer game or start fresh matches via game codes, searchable lobbies, or quick join options. See the full changelog Stardock and Ironclad Games released a new update to the Technical Preview for Sins of a Solar Empire II today. The update adds the highly anticipated multiplayer feature, new ship models, an updated... [read more]

2/14/2023 By Tatiora in Sins of a Solar Empire News

GalCiv IV: Supernova Dev Journal #3 - Battle Viewer And Ship Behavior Improvements

I hope this dev log finds you well and ready for some exciting updates on GalCiv IV: Supernova. Today, I wanted to share with you some recent work we've been doing on the battle viewer. First and foremost, we have completely redone the cinematic mode. We know that players love to watch their battles unfold in a dramatic and visually stunning way, so we took this to heart and completely overhauled the camera movements. The result is an epic and movie-like experience that truly captures the fee... [read more]

2/13/2023 By Design_Zack in GalCiv IV Dev Journals

NOW AVAILABLE - Star Control: Origins v1.62!

Star Control: Origins v1.62 Update Addresses Crash Reports and Updates Balance For full details, see the changelog! In a galaxy as vast and varied as the one in Star Control: Origins, we can't always see everything. That's why we appreciate whenever our incredible community shares their crash reports with us! We do our best to get into the game quickly and fix the problems so that we can ensure your experience protecting the galaxy is a fun one. In v1.62, we address ... [read more]

2/7/2023 By Tatiora in Star Control News

NOW AVAILABLE: Galactic Civilizations IV v1.11 Update

Galactic Civilizations IV v1.11 Update Adds German Language Support, Adjusts Game Balance, and More Read the changelog It's here: German language support for Galactic Civilizations IV! In addition, v1.11 focuses on updating some numbers behind the scenes to improve game balance and create a better overall gameplay experience. We updated the Warrior ability to deal increased damage, but took away the ranged weapon benefits. Leader events are popular among our commu... [read more]

2/1/2023 By Tatiora in GalCiv News

Sins II: Dev Journal 5 - The Sova Carrier

This installment of our dev journal series we take a look at the updated TEC Sova carrier. Prior to the war, strikecraft had proven to be an effective countermeasure to pirate incursions around planetary systems. After the arrival of the Vasari Exodus Fleet, the necessity for a mobile platform for strikecraft quickly became a necessity. With the need to project power and secure territory more important than ever, the updated Sova-class has been overhauled into a true mobile war machine. ... [read more]

1/25/2023 By Yarlen in Sins Dev Journals

NOW AVAILABLE: v4.51 Update for Galactic Civilizations III

Galactic Civilizations III v4.51 Brings Balance Updates & Game Fixes Greetings, galactic conquerers! Our v4.51 update for Galactic Civilizations III is out of opt-in and fully released today. For full release details, make sure to check the changelog at the bottom of the post. Thanks so much to everyone who tried out the opt-in and shared their feedback with us! Your opinions, bug hunts, and crash reports help us so much to continue making this game the best it... [read more]

1/24/2023 By Tatiora in GalCiv III News

Lookback: Sins of a Solar Empire through the years

The storied legacy of Sins of a Solar Empire began way back on October 10th, 2006 - announcement day! This was long before my time at Stardock - or before I’d even heard of it, for that matter - but fortunately for me, our forums hold a great deal of history that’s just a few search queries away. From Brad’s welcome post: “Stardock Entertainment, the creators of Galactic Civilizations, and Ironclad Games which includes developers from Homeworld: Cataclysm, have... [read more]

1/19/2023 By Tatiora in Sins Dev Journals

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