The crew here at Stardock cares a lot about our community and the games that we produce for you.

That's why we're pleased to announce that version 2.20 for Galactic Civilizations II

is available for you today!

Even when a title is "finished" and put out to market, there are always little things we find that could use a tweak or a change here and there. We also know what it's like to enjoy an old game so much that you keep going back to it, even when there are newer and "better" versions of it out there.

With help of some awesome community members, the Dev Team has taken all of the suggestions and implemented them into this update. You can find he entire change log (spoiler alert: it's long!) at the bottom of this post.

A few words from our CEO and President, Brad Wardell:

"It was awesome being able to work with the fans to integrate years of their own mods and tweaks into the base game. They also gave me a long list of areas where they thought I could improve the AI, which I used to dig into the now 10 year old AI source code base to implement."





We hope you enjoy the update. We have an awesome community here at Stardock and are so very happy that you're a part of it. Have a great holiday season!





Special Thanks

To Antonio "Mabus" Invernizzi, Gaunathor, SilasOfBorg, Kamil "OShee" Bober, DARCA1213, Sam "MarvinKosh" Edwards. Steffem "Maiden666" Jenter, MarvinKosh, Leiavoia, Frogboy and everyone else who helped out!









Version 2.20 Change Log

[ Gameplay ]

General

The Capital now increases Morale to 35 (up from 25) and Economy to 25 (up from 10)



Advanced Hulls is now unlocked from Basic Logistics



Life Support is now unlocked from Advanced Hulls



Several techs moved to improve AI use



Mind Control Center moved to Concept of Malice



Shrine of the Mithrillar now gives a 10% population growth bonus civ-wide



Shrine of Tandis now gives a 10% morale bonus civ-wide



Information Warfare tech now requires Advanced Diplomacy (instead of Planetary Invasion)



Temporal Mechanics cost increased from 10 to 30



Hyperion Packages cost increased from 10 to 30



Entertainment Center now requires Innovative History



Slave Pits, Slave Labs, Collectives and Maintenance Grid have had their costs adjusted



Research Matrix bonus decreased from 12 to 10



School maintenance increased from 1 to 2



University maintenance increased from 2 to 3



Space Weapons no longer grants a Military bonus



Economic Direction Unit bonus reduced from 50 to 25



Ultra Spices now requires Extreme Entertainment instead of Xeno Cultural Trends



Merchant Trade Complexes cost increased from 800 to 1100



Buffed Tier 1/2 starbase attack modules and battlestations 4; removed Singularity Armor



Neutrality Learning Center cost increased from 500 to 1000



Cultural Enlightenment no longer has a pre-req; moved to Pure Research



Healing Pools now requires Planetary Improvements; cost decreased from 300 to 100



Nano Materials now requires Basic Space Construction



Advanced Philosophy now requires University



Enhanced Adaptation cost increased to 150/450/600



Robust Hull Construction now provides 15 HP (up from 10)



Precursor Library cost decreased from 400 to 100



Miniaturization techs bonuses updated to be better



Empathic Tactical Center now grants a defense bonus of 25% instead of an attack bonus of 20%



Various weapons rebalancing



Plus much much more adjustments. See the Progressive Changelog for more.

Terran Alliance

Changed default alignment from 50 to 75



Now start as Mercantile political party



Starts with +10 Economics, -10 Social Production, +25 Trade and 12 Logistics (up from 6)



Starting techs changed to: HyperDrive, Industrial Revolution, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, Innovative History, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction



Terrains gain a 10% bonus to propulsion and diplomacy research

Drengin Empire

Now starts game as War Party political party



Starts with: +10 Military Production, -30 Diplomacy (increased from -25), 20 Loyalty (up from 0) and 14 Logistics (up from 7)



Starting techs changed to: Fusion Reactors, Ruthless History, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, Specialized Research, Capitalism and Traditional Slavery.



Propaganda Machine is now a special project



New invasion tactic added (version of Information Warfare)



Drengin suffer a 50% penalty to trade techs; and a 100% penalty to diplomatic techs

Altarian Resistance

Now starts game as Pacifists political party



Starts with: +10 Luck (up from 0), 10 Logistics (up from 5)



Starting techs changed to: HyperDrive, Industrial Revolution, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, A History of Benevolence, Stellar Cartography, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction.



Social Matrix is now a special project



Altarians gain a 20% bonus in Labs research

Arcean Empire

Now starts game as War Party political party



Starts with: +10 Economics, +10 Morale, +20 Military Production, +30 Ship HP (up from +20), +20 Soldiering (up from +10), +25 Courage, +20 Loyalty and 20 Logistics (up from 8).



Starting techs changed to: Glorious History, Fusion Reactors, HyperDrive, Industrial Revolution, Stellar Cartography, Traditional Research, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction.



Stellar Forge and Cathedral of Valor are now special projects



Arceans now gain a 20% bonus to Hull and Logistics research



Arceans now gain:



15 HP from Superior Hulls (up from 10)





20 HP from Master Hull Building (up from 15)





15 HP from Reinforced Hull Design (up from 10)





15 HP from Hardened Hull Design (up from 10)

Torian Confederation

Now starts as the Populists political party



Starts with: +30 Loyalty, 16 Logistics (up from 8)



Starting techs changed to: Torian History, Fusion Reactors, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, Inherited Technology, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction.



Can now research Advanced Aquatic World Colonization cheaper



Aquatic Transport Station is now a special project



Torians now suffer a 20% penalty to Hull research



Changed Advanced Computing requirement to University (from Scientific Method Implementation)



Changed Planetary Improvements and Enhanced Adaptation to require Basic Space Construction



Added Basic Space Construction with cost 75



Xeno Communications now requires Cultural Enlightenment

Yor Collective

Now starts game as the Industrialist political party



Starts with: -30 to Diplomacy and 12 Logistics (up from 6)



Maintenance Grid and Distributed Energy Matrix are now special projects



New invasion tactic: Terror Drones (Cost 250, 20% bonus to attack, 25% improvement damage)



Yor now can a 20% advantage in Labs research

Dominion of Korx

Now starts as the Mercantile political party



Starts with: +15 Economics, +10 Diplomacy and 12 Logistics (up from 6)



Starting techs changed to: A History of Mercantilism, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, Industrial Revolution, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, Capitalism and Basic Space Construction.



Festival of Capitalism, Mercenary Academy and Freighter Command are now special projects



Korx gain a 20% bonus to economic research

Drath Legion

Changed default alignment from 75 to 50



Now starts as the Populists political party



Starts with: +25 Espionage (up from 0) and 16 Logistics (up from 8)



Starting techs changed to: Way of the Drath, Industrial Revolution, Basic Space Construction, HyperDrive, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, Stellar Cartography and Capitalism.



Drath gain a 20% bonus to diplomatic research

Thalan Empire

Now starts as the Technologists political party



Starts with: -50 Population Growth (increased from -30), +40 Loyalty and 12 Logistics (up from 6)



Starting techs changed to: Fusion Reactors, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, New Propulsion, Artificial Gravity, Xeno Biology, Xeno Medicine, Xeno Engineering, Hyperion Packages, Temporal Mechanics and Interstellar Construction.



Gaia Vortex and Church of Valor are now special projects



New invasion tactic: Mechanized Warriors (Cost 250, 50%/90% min/max bonus to attack, 100% improvement damage)



Thalan suffer a 50% penalty to trade and diplomatic research

Iconian Refuge

Now starts as the Federalists political party



Starts with: +10 Morale (decreased from 20), +20 Research, 0 Espionage (decreased from 100), -5 Soldiering (decreased from 0) and 16 Logistics (up from 10)



Precursor Library is now a special project



Expert Engineering is now unlocked after Advanced Hulls



Soil Enhancement, Xeno Biology and Space Mining moved to the Enhanced Adaptation tree



Iconians gain a 20% bonus to terraforming research

Korath Clan

Now starts game as War Party political party



Starts with: -30 Diplomacy (decreased from 0), +10 HP (decreased from 20), +30 Soldiering (increased from 10) and 14 Logistics (increased from 7)



Starting techs changed to: Fusion Reactors, Ruthless History, HyperDrive, Stellar Cartography, Specialized Research, Traditional Slavery and Black Market.



Graft of Ages is now a special project



New invasion tactic added (version of Information Warfare)



Korath suffer a 50% penalty to trade techs and a 200% penalty to diplomacy research

Krynn Consulate

Now starts as the Universalists political party



Starts with: -15 Research (decreased from 0) and 12 Logistics (increased from 6)



Starting techs changed to: HyperDrive, Industrial Revolution, Basic Space Construction, Fusion Reactors, Traditional Research, The Path, Stellar Cartography, and Capitalism.



Super Spy Training Center, Temple of Espionage, and Oracle of Krynn are now special projects.



Krynn suffer a 20% penalty to labs research but gain a 20% bonus to government research

Minor Races

Changes to various minor races that play more into their background lore. Watch out for the Snathi!

[ Graphics ]

Updated race colors for Iconian Refuge and Krynn Consulate

Improved Rally Point indicator

Various UI tweaks

[ AI ]