Interview: Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar

One of our favorite games from 2006 was Stardock's outer space 4X strategy epic, Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords, and we recently had a chance to speak with producer Scott Tykoski regarding the game, as well as its upcoming expansion, Dark Avatar.In the march up to the end of the year, all of us here at eToychest are beginning to throw our weight behind various titles that we believe deserve the coveted "Game of the Year" nod, both overall and with regard to particular genres. While some arguments are inevitable, a handful of games have garnered universal acclaim from the eToy faithful. One of these is unquestionably Stardock's outer space 4X strategy epic, Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords. While other pretenders to the throne were released over the course of the year, it was Galactic Civilizations II that set the bar early in February and has remained the only such game still religiously played by many of us here. Perhaps that's why when Stardock broke the silence regarding the game's upcoming expansion, Dark Avatar, we climbed over each other and our loved ones to find out all we could by whatever means necessary. Thankfully, nobody was hurt in the process, and we managed to pin down the core game and expansion's producer, Scott Tykoski, to answer all of our raging questions.

Hello Scott, and thank you for taking the time to speak with us regarding the upcoming expansion to Galactic Civilizations II. For fans of the core game, what does Dark Avatar bring to the table?

With Dark Avatar we really wanted to push for something more robust than your traditional expansion pack. While most expansions focus on additional content with some slight variation to the game mechanics, we took a list of features that you would normally save for a sequel and pumped them into Dark Avatar. Of course we still added new races, additional units and a fresh campaign, but we also included these new gameplay features that fit seamlessly into the experience.

Asteroid fields will now litter the galaxy, requiring a special unit to establish mining outposts to beam resources back to friendly worlds. Controlling these outposts will directly affect your planetary production, creating a new strategic twist to colony management without overwhelming the player with micromanagement.

Planets can also now have an inherent Environment type, making some worlds off-limits until the proper technologies have been researched. This prevents the initial ‘colony rush' tactic that some players use, and adds some strategic excitement to the exploration phase of the game.

Espionage has also received an overhaul in the form of ‘Agents,' allowing a player to build up an army of spies and covertly bring an enemy to its knees.

Besides these three major additions we also have new Diplomatic Treaties, Mega Events, countless new ship hulls and components, player-designed opponents, and hundreds of little tweaks and enhancements that would take forever to go through them all.

We... kind of went nuts with Dark Avatar. It almost feels like a whole new game.

Recently you announced that the expansion's release date was pushed out a bit, and will now be released in February 2007. Why the delay?

While self-publishing has its advantages, one of the dangers is that it's harder to stop adding features. As gamers ourselves, we want to make the expansion as fun as possible.

In addition to the original feature set, ideas from the community continued to pour in, many of which were too great to pass up: Mega Events, Special Abilities, Ship Templates, Custom Ship Styles, etc. So, instead of waiting for a future sequel, we added these key features and pushed back the date. Hopefully any initial disappointment about the delay will be quelled when gamers get their hands on the ‘expanded' expansion.

Alongside the bittersweet news of the delay was mention that Dark Avatar will include "a significantly expanded feature set." Those are tasty words for eager space explorers. One of these additions is a streamlined technology tree. Can you elaborate on what is being done in this regard?

One of the major complaints we received about Galactic Civilizations II was the overwhelming Technology Tree. While the key to any good strategy game is a multitude of choices, we had inadvertently overwhelmed the beginning users with too many technology options. We did enjoy the pace of the game, however, and didn't want to disrupt the balance too much.

What we came up with was a visual reorganization that condensed similar items into a single node, then adding ‘milestones' that unlocked the necessary accomplishments.

For example, in Dread Lords, there was a beam weapon branch for Phasors. There were eight separate Phasor weapons, resulting in a branch that spanned over two full screen lengths. Now, in Dark Avatar, those eight techs have been combined into a single ‘Phasors' node with 8 separate milestones.

The end result is a technology tree that is half the size but equal in depth.

What are "Mega Events" and how are they going to be useful to players in Dark Avatar?

The Mega Events are a way to really separate and personalize each gameplay experience, with the added benefit of keeping gamers on their toes. With any strategy game, players will develop their own favorite tactics and do their best to remain in this strategic comfort zone. What we want to do is force the player to re-think some of their previous strategies and make quick decisions that they may not have had to tackle before.

These events also add some extra uniqueness to each galaxy since you never know what lies ahead your well-constructed empire. Players may complete several dozen games before unleashing some of the rarer events.

With so many new capabilities and powers being introduced, how has the development team struck a balance between old and new while keeping the battlefield fair for players regardless of their civilization?

Ah yes, the special abilities. These were a frightening commitment to make, but one that I think most players will appreciate. In the original game, AI differences were mostly seen in abilities bonuses and hard-coded differences in strategy. However, as the player, there weren't any major differences between these available races; despite these distributed bonuses and pages of customized flavor text, playing as an alien race was fairly cosmetic.

The new special bonuses change this. Players will now see some major shifts in game dynamics based on who they play as, and who they play against. Balancing this has been a major test... all it takes is one exploit and the entire feature falls apart. This became even harder when you factor in the 12 different super abilities that we had promised (one per race).

In the end, the real test will be whether or not players have their favorite races with their favorite abilities. Only when there are community flame wars over which special ability is best will our job be done.

How have the different civilizations been changed?

These new Special Abilities are probably the biggest change. You now have to be careful about who you anger, who you befriend, and who you're neighbors with...several abilities will make you the target of much pain if you antagonize the wrong nation.

On the visual side, ship designs also got an overhaul for Dark Avatar. Each race will now command its own unique fleet of vessels, making your enemy easier to spot when war is raging.

We also have two new races: the deadly Korath Clan and the mysterious Krynn, both with their own unique abilities and AI personalities. These, along with the ability to customize your own nation with event more options, will keep the expansion fresh for a long time.

Has opponent AI been tweaked with Dark Avatar?

Opponent AI has been altered considerably to meet the demands of the ever-changing game mechanics. For every feature we add, we have to make the AI fully aware of the new strategies and pitfalls of using those features. Couple this with the new special abilities that the AI has to utilize, and you can imagine the overhaul required for the expansion.

When you play, you'll see the AI mining asteroids, placing agents, nullifying agents, colonizing formerly uninhabitable worlds, adapting to mega events, and establishing diplomatic treaties. You'll also find the AI will remember past conflicts and become wary of warmongering players with more precision than before.

In the end, you'll be playing against a better equipped and more aware AI than ever before.

Do you feel the changes introduced by the expansion will make this game more or less accessible to newcomers jumping in for the first time, not only into the world of GalCiv, but perhaps to 4X strategy as a whole?

Our goal with Galactic Civilizations II was always to take the varied and sometimes obtuse themes of 4x gaming and organize them for anyone to enjoy. Some would argue that simplification detracts from the experience, but based on the success of Galactic Civilizations II, we would argue otherwise.

In this same vein, we tried to keep the new mechanics as streamlined as possible. The idea was not to add depth through complexity, but depth through simplicity. Give the user more strategic choices on the map, not more sliders or charts that need babysitting.

Our rule for the expansion: if a feature needs a spreadsheet, then we don't need the feature.

What is your civilization of choice, and why? Has this changed as a result of the changes introduced by the expansion?

Oh yes, the addition of the Special Abilities has definitely changed my thinking when starting up a new game. Previously, I'd pick the race with the nicest ship parts. Now my choice is more strategic.

I think it depends on how you want to win. If I'm playing a peaceful game, the Altarians now have the ‘Super Organizer' ability, meaning any players will automatically come to my aide if I get attacked. Of course if I'm trying to dominate, the Korath have access to a special germ-warfare transport called the ‘Spore Ship.' When clearing the galaxy of scum, that's my warship of choice.

Dark Avatar is said to bring a "visual makeover" to Galactic Civilizations II. Are we talking interface changes, prettier graphics, a dab of blush... what exactly?

Galactic Civilizations II was our first adventure into ‘Real-Time' 3D. We had done pre-rendered art assets before, but dealing with in-game models, texturing, and lighting was a new experience for most of our crew. In fact, Normal mapping was added to the core game fairly late in the process, requiring us to scramble to get those necessary assets into the game. Needless to say, as the game shipped, the art team was already mulling over what they could have done differently.

Dark Avatar gave our artists another shot to make the game look as good as possible. With Normal mapping already in, the team knew what technologies they had before designing, making their task more enjoyable.

When you get the final version of Dark Avatar, you'll notice a major improvement in graphical detail on all ships, as well as tweaked weapon effects and explosions.

Oh yeah, and the blush: for everyone that demanded ‘prettier' warships.

Many of these changes came as a result of suggestions from the fan community, right? Has the community's passion for Galactic Civilizations II come as a surprise to you and others behind the scenes?

We are consistently overwhelmed by the support of the Galactic Civilizations community. Our team is smaller than most, and having enthusiastic fans that give constructive feedback and appreciate our hard work makes all the difference.

Lastly, what is it that you think GalCiv and its forthcoming expansion do that other 4X strategy games have yet to match? What do you bring to the table that can't be found anywhere else?

In all humility, I'm very proud of the cohesive way the new features have been integrated. With all the new mechanics we brought together, it would have been easy to see the game turn into a jumbled mess. The end result is a stronger and more exciting gameplay experience, adding considerable strategic depth without cluttering up the interface.

I'm also still really enjoying our Ship Design system. With the new hulls, new components and several tweaks to the UI, that aspect of the game continues to amaze me. As a gamer and an artist, I really hope that level of customization finds its way into more games.

Thank you for your time today. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just that in addition to the expansion available online through TotalGaming.net, gamers new to Galactic Civilizations will be able to pick up Galactic Civilizations II: Gold Edition, a retail combination of the core game and the Dark Avatar expansion pack. Both will be released around the same time.

Thanks Jason!

Dec 7, 2006 - 6:23 am | 0 comments
Jason Dobson