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Do you still think GalCiv 1 is fun even with GalCiv II out?
758 votes
1- Yes
2- No


Mods and Moral Dilemmas
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by Citizen Phaedyme - 4/19/2003 6:13:49 AM

One thing I've noticed about mods I've downloaded is that the morale dilemmas aren't really very much of a dilemma. As I understand it (from the events provided in the game), the good events are costly, the neutral events are either low-cost, low-benefit, or nothing, and the evil events provide nice benefits in the short term.

What I'm seeing in the mods from the library is a lot of moral dilemmas that give you greater reward for choosing the good path than for choosing the neutral path. Or very little incentive to choose evil - in one case (can't recall which) I would have taken a penalty to choose evil over good.

ANYway, it's obviously not an absolute rule, but these choices aren't so difficult (do I get the good bonus now, or do I take the penalty and get something better in the long term?) as they could be.



                 Posted via Stardock Central
#1  by Diplomat HawaiiFive-O - 4/19/2003 2:13:53 PM

I've noticed the same thing, and it's contrary to Stardock's goals to Morality.

Good is supposed to be the path less taken, short term it hurts but long term it helps. Evil is supposed to accrue short term bonuses, but be handicapped in the long run.

The game engine balances this out by Good having an easier time with making and keeping friends, and that Good is immune to some of the more annoying random events- like the Fundamentalists only take Evil planets.

If modmakers make Good Options that have short term bonuses as well, they are skewing Stardock's original design goal for how Morality should work.

Just something to think about.

                    
#2  by Citizen npb_equalizer - 4/19/2003 2:34:58 PM

usually I become demonic evil but towards the end of the game go good because my poeple seem to approve of it more.

                      
#3  by Citizen Malleus - 4/19/2003 5:32:24 PM

Well, I am beginning to wonder WHAT their criteria is for accepting mods. Some people (like me and some others) have playtested their mods and carefully thought out the balance issues, whereas some others are obviously unbalancing and/or not in keeping with the game design (or broken!). We've had one mod put up that doesn't work at all, one mod that requires us to direct people to unrar it rather than unzip it, etc. etc.

M

         
#4  by Citizen StarDevilThrull - 4/19/2003 6:54:58 PM

I can't believe this thread even exists! Two weeks ago people were lamenting that there wasn't enough variety in events... and now people are complaining that there is!?!

I think that some events SHOULD award neutrality or good over evil. Not every event, but some... I think it makes things interesting and not so predictable.

... but what do I know

      
#5  by Citizen Verenti - 4/19/2003 7:45:39 PM

Malleus, Chill.

For all you know they still haven't gotten around to adding yours yet.
They've added alot yeasterday but that doesn't mean they don't have like 100 backlogged.
Even if yours doesn't get added, its not the end of the world. GalCiv is a game and has no real bearing on our lives... Except Frogboy and the Stardock team.. It has a substantial bearing on thiers due to ... well we all know why.. So slow down, you move to fast.. The rest of that song here



                     Posted via Stardock Central
#6  by Avatar Frogboy - 4/19/2003 7:50:55 PM

We actually have two different levels of mods on there, just no graphic to make it apparent (coming soon). There are SD certified ones and uncertified ones.



                       Posted via Stardock Central
#7  by Citizen Malleus - 4/19/2003 8:10:16 PM

Verenti,

I should ask you, "Why does one wish to add anything to the library at all?"

I am an amateur game designer. If fate had been kind, I would even be a professional one. I am good at what I do, and I wish to share it. I need feedback to make me an even better game designer.

When you spend about ten hours working on something, testing it, tweaking it, reworking it, getting the graphics in place, getting opinions on the writing, and then hit a white webpage saying "This page cannot be displayed," you become a little disheartened.

Then you see others who wrote their work five days afterwards get their stuff up with no fuss. No emails to the company, no error messages; you become a little upset.

My issue is I am modding to SHARE what I have done. The way the Multiverse is set up, in order to gain some legitimacy with your mod you must get it up on the library. My mods are error-free, in line with the original vision as expressed in the game, spell-checked, and tested. I have sent emails to Stardock, put up threads and gotten little help on this issue.

Am I angry? No. But will I persist in this? Yes. I am not enjoying being relegated to an under-class of "non-published" modders who's work will get them banned from the Multiverse.

I move too fast? Nine days after submitting my first work I still haven't seen anything...and that is after five days of trying to get it submitted in the first place. My first mod was ready to go and tested before almost ANY other mod up there now. I would like some answers, and I don't buy the "backlog" argument. I have spoken with some folks who have work up there and they submitted it DAYS after mine. I've asked questions and patiently waited days and have seen flawed work go up in the stead.

Like I said up there, I would like to know their criteria for submission, since correct spelling and functionality are not needed to be put in the library.

On a final note, this week was Spring Break for the school I teach at. This was going to be my big week to work on my ideas and submit them. I have finished almost all of my ideas, but can't play them and help my empire (since I can get banned for that) in the Multiverse. Which should I do? Play the game vanilla without my work, or play it with my mods and not help my teammates? Both issues are important to my enjoyment of the game.

Of course I do realize it is a game, and I certainly maintain my perspective in these things, but I also feel compelled to explain exactly the source of my displeasure in this matter. And thus, I have done.

M

         
#8  by Citizen Verenti - 4/19/2003 8:23:36 PM

When I said "slow down" It was a song, I associate it with calming down for some reason. I understand it can be stressful and such. I understand the need to share ones work: I am an actor, My work exists for the sole purpose of sharing it and so I understand when you pour hours of preperation time into somthing and no body shows up. But you are coming off as an angry person and being angry never solved anything... Except hurting things.. And you don't want to hurt us do you?



                     Posted via Stardock Central
#9  by Veteran RustyBlade - 4/19/2003 9:04:59 PM

I have a MOD in development that has difficult - no - free lunch -choices. I will be posting it in the next few days.



         Posted via Stardock Central
#10  by Citizen Phaedyme - 4/19/2003 11:28:02 PM

Thrull: Choosing evil has long-term repercussions (often unending declarations of war from good civs), so getting a choice that will punish you in the short term for choosing evil or simply benefit you more by choosing neutral makes it a non-choice.

Also, if "people" were complaining about the lack of variety in events, I wasn't participating. I'm also not complaining about the variety of events now (I'm not complaining about *anything*, to be honest). The events have some great concepts behind them. I like how they're presented. I dislike that it's more obviously beneficial in the short- and long- term to play good or neutral on several of them.

It's naturally easy enough for me to change the values with Hawaii's wonderful editor, but that's not really addressing the issue.

Rustyblade, what does "difficult - no - free lunch -choices" mean in this context?



                 Posted via Stardock Central
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