Galactic Civilizations III

When I first bought this game a couple of years ago it played fine. Got in the mood to play and reinstalled it recently. Game crashes and is unplayable. Tried all of the trouble shooting tips from GoG and Stardock still no dice. Something is seriously wrong.

Galciv tries to be both a RPG and RTS but fails at both. Minor races, (which can only be conquered) major events (where what you decide effects your "alignment") offer strong RPG elements but never get any follow up. RTS side is okay though the GUI is over complex and you never have enough resources to build items on your colonies. Like many RTSs the NC races have tech advantages you will need to catch up. These advantages can lead to very unbalanced situations (like NPCs being able to support larger fleets than you can) Also be aware that once you send a fleet to hit a target the AI might upgrade the target just before you get there making the battle a sure loss for you

Overall love the world building and RPG elements, I also love the story telling. I love many systems like the morality decisions even if they lack some followup. The gameplay overall is good, I come from a background of games like Space Empires 3, Stellaris, Masters of Orion and Endless Legend. And this overall is a well made game. It does have some issues however that almost left me at 3 stars but I am in a good mood. Major issue #1 is the lack of hotseat multiplayer. It's simple to implement, I have ZERO interest in online play, this kind of game is meant for friends/family on a laid back evening session around the big monitor. Issue #2 is too many DLC to get what use to be basic features, look if necessary raise the price of base games a bit, include all the features, and stop trying to get us to buy DLC to make them playable. Issue #3 AI sucks, which is part of why I would rather play hotseat with friends and family. AI lacks any well, intelligence. It can be difficult through artificial difficulty stat boosts and such, but it is never intelligent. Other than those issues, fun game.

I've really enjoyed my time playing this game. I haven't completed a full game yet... every time I get so far into a game I restart so I can use all the knowledge I gained from my previously plays from the beginning. The game is fun and stable. I don't think I've had a single crash, don't have any bugs with the coding, variables, etc. There is a TON of DLC but it goes on sale often enough that you can usually get each one for less than two dollars. People complaining about DLCs confuse me... would you rather have a game with less content? The game is almost a decade old... we should be happy there's still so much to it. Bring on the DLC! The learning curve is quite steep. Some races just seem to do WAY better than you'll ever be able to right from the get go. I highly recommend reading a few posts or watching a few videos on the game *after* your first game. Familiarize yourself with the game and a few of the ideas and strategies in the game, then learn how to refine them.

Many of the reviews here claim the game crashes often. I have the Steam version and it's been running for hours without any crashes. Loaded up a saved game no crashes. All the comments about this game needing so many dlc's isn't a new thing in gaming. The pricing of the dlcs is one main frustration I have here (when not on sale) but often game companies create dlcs to enhance the base game years down the road. Paradox games is notorious for their multiple dlcs which are all necessary if you want a great experience. I've been playing Gal Civ 3 with Retribution, Crusade and Mercenaries and it's a great experience. Get them on a sale and you got a deal.