Admittedly with out any community patches or mods this game is crap. That being said, if you patch the game with community content (with or without mods) it actually becomes a decent game. I do not own the GOG version but still have the original discs. Fully patched many of the bugs that crippled this game are gone and it becomes more enjoyable to play, especially with the AI able to invade planets. One of the best features of this game are the planetary assaults. Unlike GalCiv II which had some rather cheesy battle mechanics, or GalCiv III which has an ok system, this game give you a choice on tactics to use as well as the sound of battle (with commentary by the assault commander). The larger the world (number of regions) the harder the world becomes to take from the enemy (or you). Different races have strengths or weaknesses when fighting. Or if you don't want to invade just use orbital bombardment and kill off everything. Migration is another feature that can make colonization easier along with setting targets for colony ships. Building up the regions after a planet is colonized can be left up to the viceroy or be micromanaged. The viceroy system could have been very good in addition to other aspects (which I can't remember the name of). And last was the space combat. While far different than MOO2 it was in some ways better. Again though it could have been done MUCH better. The real time battles (after patching) can be a lot of fun beyond just point and click. A fleet with only spinal mount weapons that is slow to maneuver might be at a disadvantage over a more maneuverable fleet with turret mounted weapons. Without buying the gog version I don't know how much of this holds true. Last I read (a long while ago) it was. If my disks ever give out I will be buying a new copy off of gog. If the reviews here scare you off thats fine, its an old game. For all that if you gather all the patches released by the community give it a try.
