Enjoy Vast Improvements with this Major Engine Update for Galactic Civilizations III and Crusade!

For a detailed list of updates, view the changelog at the bottom of this post and check out the two part dev journals (Part 1 and Part 2) from CEO Brad Wardell.

Major engine update to the base game and Crusade expansion

Improved UI
The AI is now stronger, better, smarter, faster! It is now especially adept at fleet building and management.

Better Game Balance
Player feedback is the cornerstone of many of our updates. In an effort to continue to make the game more fun, we've re-balanced how population works, adjusted the costs of improvements, improved some ship components, and more.

Faster Turn Times
For players who love enormous maps with lots of action, the sheer amount of ships on the screen and in the game could cause some major wait-time on turns. We've made adjustments so that the turn times are faster, even when the galaxy is crowded with lots of ships.

Increased Performance
As we continue to work on our engine, frame rate and memory useage should improve. We want to make sure that the game runs smoothly for everyone and have made lots of efforts toward that.

Featured updates to the base game

UI Adjustments
To make the game easier to navigate, Crusade's summary tab has been added on the right (but sorry, you still don't get citizens!). The tech tree, planet screens, ship screens, and govern screens have been adjusted for a better experience as well. To top it all off, we've added the "word on the street" feature from Crusade so that you can keep tabs on how your people are feeling!

Performance Enhancements
Something that doesn't show well in screen captures is performance. We moved over the AI system in the base game to a core-neutral engine, like what we've done with Crusade.

Economic Changes
Galactic resources now accumulate in the base game, just like they do in Crusade! We think this makes for a better experience overall.

AI Improvements
We've done a lot to the AI in order to improve it for the base game. The most noteable change is the Diplomacy system - we've ported over what's in Crusade to help the AI factions make more informed decisions about trade offers. We've also included the trade bar! In addition, trades, planetary management, and other AI improvements that we made in Crusade have been ported over into the base game.


New UI


Updated Economic System


Improved AI Fleet Management

Additional screenshots:
Updated Diplomacy System
Improved Map Generator

Don't have Galactic Civilizations III? Get it now on Steam or at Stardock.

Owners, the v2.5 update is ready and waiting for you in your Steam client. If you haven't already joined the Crusade, the expansion is available on Steam or at Stardock.

www.galciv3.com | www.galciv3.com/crusade

See the full changelog on the Steam forums here.