Brad Wardell: There probably won't be a sequel to Galactic Civilizations II for quite a long time. You've probably noticed that we tend to add a lot to our expansion packs, so you can imagine how long our feature list would be for a sequel and we just won't be able to get to it anytime soon. We had always planned on having at least two expansion packs to Galactic Civilizations II in order to complete the Dread Lords trilogy, but we were worried that we wouldn't have time to go back to Galactic Civilizations for a long while once we are full-bore on the fantasy strategy game we're working on.

Wardell: The biggest features would have to be the per-civilization technology trees. Let me emphasize that feature -- we're not talking about a couple of unique technologies per civilization. I am saying each civilization gets its own complete technology tree, complete with its own ship components and planetary improvements.



Another big feature will be "Terror Stars." These are units that can destroy entire star systems. Then there's the multitude of new ship components that affect fleets and just provide a lot of new strategy items for players.



A feature I'm really looking forward to is tournaments. Players play a particular map or scenario and then can submit their score so we can have apples-to-apples comparisons. I want to see how I can do compared to other players against the computer AI.

Wardell: The Terror Star destroys entire star systems. It's quite handy, especially late game, for... finishing off entrenched players. They are very expensive to build and quite vulnerable so only players who have significant military superiority can really benefit.

Classic turn-based "4X"-style conquer-the-world strategy aren't exactly cluttering up store shelves at the local Electronics Boutique. Fortunately, a few holdouts continue to hold the flame for a community of budding digital despots. One of the best in the business is Brad Wardell and his team at Stardock. In the past few years, they've built thefranchise into the gold standard of the genre. In February 2007,, the latest expansion pack for, took an already stellar game and turned it into a classic.It's a mark of the dedication of the Stardock team that they decided to not rest on their laurels and instead givefans a little surprise this upcoming November.is the second expansion pack forand a quick glance over its feature list reveals that this expansion just might shake up the series as much asdid. We sat down to talk with Brad Wardell about the latest addition to the game.Your last expansion pack came out this February to rave reviews. Why another expansion pack so soon?What are the big features this time around?Tell us about the Terror Star. The inspiration is obvious, but what will it cost to make such a thing and do you really think it'll get used very much?