Because there are so many different releases of Galactic Civilizations out there, you will need to use Stardock Central to download the expansion pack. It will automatically be able to tell which files you need to be fully updated. We will be releasing a stand alone update fairly soon but it will take us some time because of the complexity of handling so many different versions out there.

If you already have Stardock Central, just load it up, go to tools and select "Refresh Application Data".

If you don't have it already, please read this next part and then choose the download link.

When you install Stardock Central, our network, Stardock.net, essentially becomes like a big old external hard drive for getting new stuff. And the stuff you download with it can be archived off-line. For instance, you could download all of GalCiv and burn it to CD for use on another machine you own (as long as only one copy of that registered game is run at once you're fine).

Once installed, click on "Software" and then go to the "TotalGaming.net" page which is where we keep Stardock's games.

Stardock Central should detect Galactic Civilizations already installed. If it doesn't you'll still need to do this on your own by going to tools->register products.

From the combo box, just select the product you own (Drengin, GalCiv, Object Desktop, etc.) and then put in the information you received when you purchased it. You can also control where these updates will get installed to.

Now you're ready to install Galactic Civilizations 1.1 (The Expanded Universe). Just click on Galactic Civilizations and press the "update" button next to it or on the lower left.

Screenshots

Technologies are now hyperlinked to allow easy navigation through the tech tree.

Similarly, items in the diplomacy screen are now hyperlinked. Right click on them and it will bring up detailed information on each one.

Just how big is the new "gigantic" galaxy size? The image on the left is equivalent to a pretty large playing map in most games. A sector takes 12 moves to get across. The zoomed map on the left shows 8x8. So it would take 96 moves to get across that. As you zoom out, you can see that the new map has nearly EIGHT HUNDRED sectors. That's over 200 more than the largest map in base game had.

Players can obsolete ship designs. No more having to sift through dozens of units late in the game. Now you can zap out ones you never build.

The new options screen allows you to retire as well as enable the cheat keys plus several other new options are available.

Rally points make navigating the map much easier. No more having to hunt around that giant map to figure out where you want ships to go to.

Rally points in action during a war. Look how tiny my sector view (and ahem empire) is compared to the galaxy as a whole.

The AI has been updated to be more formidable than before. Better grouping of ships, more unpredictable behavior, and more collaborative with friends and against foes.

Many of the graphic items in the game have been enhanced. The stars are updated, about a dozen new anomaly images have been created and other tweaks give GalCiv an even more polished feel.

Galactic Civilizations: Expanded Universe - New Features, Tweaks, and Bug Fixes

New Features :

+ Explored Star List - You can now keep track of stars you've explored but haven't colonized.
+ Search star feature
+ Rally Points Creator. From the main screen, top right button, you can create a rally point on the map.
+ Rally Point Creator Hot Key: P (for point). Hit P and it will create a rally point on the screen. Double click on a Rally point to configure it.
+ Rally Point Planet Screen. On the planet screen you can then have ships go to the rally points you previously created.
+ Rally points can be renamed.
+ Rally Points can give orders to ships once they reach the rally point.
+ Rally Point Order: Create Fleet
+ Rally Point Order: Attack nearby ships
+ Rally Point Order: Hold position (default)
+ Can send individual ships to a rally point from the ship menu (double click on ship)
+ Hot key on selected ship will bring up Rally Point list (hit the X key when a ship is selected
+ Dotted Sector Lines
+ Locked Sliders On Domestic Economic screen
+ Obsolete Button on Governor Screen - you can now make units obsolete
+ Planet screen obeys obsolete list. I.e. old ships can be hidden away.
+ Tech Tree Navigator. You can navigate through the tech tree seeing what each one does and what they lead to.
+ Hyper-link integration throughout the UI. You can right-click on a hyperlinked item to open up the tech navigator.
+ Hyper-linking integrated into the Diplomacy screen.
+ Trade Routes button on Foreign Stats Screen
+ Wrapped text list boxes on trade screen
+ Star Destroyed Explosion
+ Completely re-rendered graphics for the stars
+ Several new anomalies complete with new graphics+
+ Diplomacy Screen now has hyperlink properties for ships (will bring up a map showing where they are and what they do).
+ Hyperlinking in diplomacy screen for star systems that will bring up a mini dialog showing info on that system and where it is located visually.
+ Trade Embargo. Can now prevent trade coming from a particular player.
+ Several new random events added complete with new graphics.
+ Tons of little tweaks, fixes, changes, performance tweaks, etc.
+ Added a "None" option for rally points
+ Added option to turn off tool tips
+ When AI researched final frontier it informs you that this has occurred and final frontier victory condition for human is removed.
+ Retire option added
+ Score system tweaked to reward higher difficulty levels more
+ Arceans do not use a set tech tree but instead randomly choose based on need
+ Updated Scoring System: Players who play at higher difficulty are rewarded with significantly more points than before since teh game is more difficult to win now.
+ new debugging code for Metaverse submission (needs latest sdnetlib.dll)
+ Sort by research production added to Planet List sort options
+ New Ship: Death Knight. A more expensive battle ship class.
+ Weapon Enhancement series of techs. A series of technologies that enhance your existing ships weapons. Requires Corvette Tech.
+ Can left click on techs on the research tree to get into tech navigator
+ You can now search for stars and view all stars in galaxy.
+ Several new technologies added in that can pump up your weapons tech.
+ New random event: Computer civilization's ethical philosophy can now change during the course of the game.
+ All star graphics replaced
+ About a dozen new anomalies added.
+ AI coordinates ships somewhat better
+ New Gigantic Galaxy Size Expanded: Now 28x28 sectors (Nearly 800 sectors now!!!)
+ CHEAT KEYS. On the Options screen on the left there is now a new option "enable cheat keys".

Cheat Keys.
CTRL A adds hit points, move points, attack and defense points
CTRL B battleship
CTRL C clone selected ship
CTRL E decreases morality
CTRL G increases morality
CTRL H heals ship, restores move points
CTRL J make all human colonies complete their social and military projects
CTRL L assign all the worlds and resources to major races
CTRL M money (adds $1000)
CTRL O add anomaly
CTRL P increase the class of the planets in the selected star system
CTRL S research current tech (if shift key is also held, all techs except final frontier are researched)
CTRL T teleport
CTRL U clear FOW
CTRL V create random ship
CTRL Y create colony ship

Note: Don't try to submit a score to the Metaverse once you enable cheat keys. It will report it as 0.

Tweaks:
+ Trade greatly decreases odds of AI asking for tribute or lowering relations.
+ Morality much more taken into account on tribute / lowering relations (no more "Altarian bastards always want tribute no matter how much trade and how nice I am!")
+ Network of friends taken into account by AI. AI looks at who you're at war with and who you're at peace with when deciding whether it should raise or lower relations.
+ Technology pace is significantly increased -- techs cost less to research now so you will go through the tech tree faster.
+ Starbases now cost 10 to maintain.
+ Constructors cost 1 to maintain.

Fixes:
- hard coded text taken out and put into english.str for easier foreign trnslations
- fixed data for first turn graphcs
- fixed gorvernors resetting projects bugs
- fixed bug where events cleared by shift-clicking were coming back next turn
- I League description fixed
- fixed bug where traded starbaess were moving off stacked ships
- Change in philosphy event should work correctly.
- fixed senate election occuring after changed back to Imperial
- fixed date not refreshing with new turn (used to not refresh until clicking on something forced a refresh)
- fixed bug where minimap range lines were not refreshing if an alien ship was selected or no ship was selected
- fixed some typos
- fixed bug that was causing all mini-freighters (including alien ones) to be AutoPilot, thereby causing alien ships to be selected during the move autopilot ships phase of the end of the player turn.
- fixed bug where selected governor was reset every time governor screen was unhidden
-fixed crash if you destroyed a colony while going through news events
-refresh planet list while propaganda sliders going
-fixed crash in during end turn if no one was reasearching anything
-fixed crash on fp if you trade for all remaining planets from a minor civ
-starships found in anomalies now appear in the same spot as the survey vessel to avoid hit detection problems
-fixed info warfare bug
-fixed bug where turn button gets stuck after loading end game save
- Lots of other glitches and bugs fixed.

Why are we doing this?

The PC game industry model has some issues as a business model. The problem has to do with the developer/publisher relationship. Here's how it typically works - publisher pre-pays developer a huge advance on royalties to develop the game. The contract usually commits the developer to release 1 "bug fix" (i.e. patch") after the game is released. The game comes out, often buggy since the developer gets paid most of their advance upon delivery of the "gold master" to the publisher, creating an incentive to get the game out. Then, typically 8 weeks later, a "patch" is released that fixes most of the significant bugs and hopefully with game play tweaks.

So what happens? Well, for one thing it means that the typical lifespan of a PC game is only a couple of months. Imagine that. Spending 2 years of your life working on a game and having it die off the minds of people after a couple months.

We have a different model. Stardock paid for GalCiv's development itself. No advances on royalties. We also have the right to sell the game directly from the GalCiv.com. Statistically, only a tiny fraction of the total sales of the game occur direct. 90% of sales still occur at some retail store. But with that 10%, a different incentive is created -- keep the game fresh and improving over time in order to help sales over a long period of time. That strategy involves being responsive to your customers with frequent updates and instead of the game dying out after a couple months, it can keep growing its user base over many months. This keeps sales of the game going for longer. Everyone wins this way -- the developer (us) has happy customers and continued sales over a long period of time. Customers get free updates and their $40 purchase doesn't end up being a disposable game. And the retailers and publishers see continued sales during the long run.

Contents

Obtaining the Expansion Pack

Screenshots

Why are we doing this?