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[USEC_OFFICER]

What is Imperium Galactica?

Imperium Galactica is a 4x game made by Digital Reality and released in 1997. The gameplay is a bit like a weird cross between Simcity, Age of Empires and Masters of Orion. You have to plop down buildings in your colonies, and worry about their food, power and living spaces. However having a good layout is important since tanks will start rolling among your finely crafted cities when ground combat starts. Finally you can build and outfit starships however you want, allowing you to spam cheap cruisers or take the time and effort to build up an unstoppable death fleet. Oh, and all of this is done in real time (with pause, thank god). A couple years back the Open Imperium Galactica project started and Digital Reality has given the project their blessings, allowing the game's assets to be modified and downloaded for free. Since the project is more or less completed, I'll be playing that.

Starting a New Game:

Imperium Galactica has three options for starting a new game. Obviously I'm going to let the fine people of Bay12 to pick which one we'll be going with. The options are:

Main Campaign: Unlike a lot of other 4x Games, Imperium Galactica has a campaign to help ease new players into the game. As such we'll be following Dante Johnson in his quest to become God-Emperor Grand Admiral of the crumbling Galactic Empire. As such we'll complete missions to expand our power and reach from military command of a piddly little sector to full control of the entire empire. We'll also get to enjoy lots of cheesy glorious full motion video if we go with the main campaign.

Main Campaign (free): Basically the same as the Main Campaign, but with all of the missions/restrictions removed straight from the start. As such we'll start with ten planets in various states of being terrible and not enough ships to protect them all.

Skirmish: Exactly what it sounds like. We'll be able to set up the number of players, starting planets, victory conditions, etc. We could even play as an alien race if we wanted to. If this option pulls ahead by a large amount, I'll talk about the options we have in Skirmish mode.

Traits:

Imperium Galactica has a trait system similar to Master of Orion, though not as powerful or in depth. We get 8 points to spend on traits, but can get more points by picking negatives and maluses. The traits are:

Spoiler: Traits (click to show/hide)

Pre-Hyperdrive: -10 Points
We don't start with the hyperdrive, and our fleets move at a speed of 6 (ie stupidly slow) until we do.

Ship Builders: +1 Points
125% ship construction speed.

Ship Mockers: -1 Points
75% ship construction speed.

Equipment Builders: +1 Points
125% equipment construction speed.

Equipment Mockers: -1 Points
75% equipment construction speed.

Weapon Builders: +1 Points
125% weapon construction speed.

Weapon Mockers: -1 Points
75% weapon construction speed.

Fertile: +2 Points
+50% growth for all planets.

Less Fertile: -2 Points
-50% growth for all planets.

Bank Mastery: +3 Points
+33% more tax and trade income.

Monetary Analphabetism: -3 Points
-33% more tax and trade income.

Turtle: +2 Points
Planet-based defences get +15% hitpoints.

Jellyfish: -2 Points
Planet-based defences suffer -15% hitpoints.

Weapon Mastery: +3 Points
Weapons to do +15% more damage.

Rocks and Sticks: -3 Points
Weapons to do -15% less damage.

Master Scientists: +3 Points
Research is 33% faster and costs less too.

Slow Comprehension: -3 Points
Research takes 33% longer and costs more too.

Astronomers: +1 Points
Several nearby, habitable planets are mapped out.

Master Astronomy: +5 Points
All planets are mapped out, and we get the satellites to investigate them.

Fantastic Negotiator: +1 Points
Alien races have a +50% chance to accept our terms.

Undiplomatic: -1 Points
Alien races have a -50% chance to accept our terms.

Engineers: +2 Points
Our ships will slowly heal outside of battle, and their shields will recover faster too.

Combat Engineers: +4 Points
Our shields regenerate and fix themselves during a battle.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'd like to say that I've only played enough of the game to figure out the controls. In other words, things are going to be pretty interesting...

[Aqizzar]

A Let's Play after my own heart.  I have many, many memories of this game, most of them good, from playing it back in the original days totally unpatched and unsupported.  I don't even know if it ever had patches.  I do know it was buggy and even on Windows 98 as stable as a three-legged bar stool.  I'd be curious to know how you got the game to run at all on a modern machine.

But yeah, a 4X game that bit off way more than it could chew but was still a fantastic experience in its own right.  Just wish I had the patience to complete it.  I look forward to your raging at the AI's blatant cheating and finding some way to show the audience the magnificent glory of the countless hours of cutscenes.

I don't remember this Trait system at all, must be something a mod added.  I say go for: Fantastic Negotiator, Master Astronomy, Engineers, Jellyfish, and Fertile.

[Sirus]

Posting to watch. Go for the free campaign and survive as long as you can.

I say go for: Fantastic Negotiator, Master Astronomy, Engineers, Jellyfish, and Fertile.

These sound good.

[Frumple]

I do know it was buggy and even on Windows 98 as stable as a three-legged bar stool.  I'd be curious to know how you got the game to run at all on a modern machine.

A couple years back the Open Imperium Galactica project started and Digital Reality has given the project their blessings, allowing the game's assets to be modified and downloaded for free. Since the project is more or less completed, I'll be playing that.

Which you seem to be able to more or less find here. I'm... in the process of downloading, haha.

[Aqizzar]

Yeah I didn't really think that part through.  Just spent an hour playing it myself.

I mean... I remember the cutscenes being bad but... Wow, I did not remember all the cutscenes being this bad.

[Sonlirain]

Maybe a Skirmish with everyone starting with more or less the same MoO style?

[USEC_OFFICER]

I look forward to your raging at the AI's blatant cheating and finding some way to show the audience the magnificent glory of the countless hours of cutscenes.

I will suppress my loathing of Hypercam long enough to take videos of the cutscenes and then edit them together and post them on Youtube. The rest of the game is still going to be screenshots though since me saying, "Gee, I wish we had more money, eh?" several times a video does not good watching make.

Anyways I'll wait a bit more before starting. In the event of a tie I'll go with the regular campaign, so that we can enjoy all of the great cutscenes the game has to offer.

[Frumple]

Oh yeah... I'd definitely say go with the main campaign. I remember it being fairly neat _{even if I never actually got past, like, the first mission-thingy}

[Delta Foxtrot]

Full campaign for the giddy cutscenes. If this picks up steam you can always do another run with skirmish mode to show off some alternative ways of going about.

As for traits... If this is like any 4x ever you want to get fertile. I'd also like to see how, if at all, the diplomacy works. So:
Fertile +2
Fantastic Negotiatior +1
Master Astronomy +5

Feel free to replace MA with regular Astronomy and picking whatever.

[EuchreJack]

From what I've read, you should pick traits that improve your space capabilities, since if the enemy has a fleet next to their planet, you simply can't beat it in one run.

So faster fleet construction (ships and components), is probably the best, since after your initial attack, it's basically a race to see who can build ships quicker.

I'm glad to hear you're sticking to screenshots for most of the LP!  I love screenshot LPs!

[CognitiveDissonance]

I played Imperium Galactica 2 to bits, so PTW very hard.

[GentlemanRaptor]

Ooh. Full campaign. I love crappy cutscenes, and Imperium Galactica.

[Remuthra]

Full Campaign gets my vote.

[HFS]

Full Campaign.

Traits: Jellyfish, Less Fertile, Ship Builders, Weapon Builders, Equipment Builders, Fantastic Negotiator, Combat Engineers, Master Scientists

[USEC_OFFICER]

Update 1

Spoiler: Introduction (click to show/hide)

Without further ado, let's play the game! Kindly ignore the red line at the bottom of the screen, that's Hypercam letting me know how much it hates me and will be gone in future updates.

Let's start things off with an video, shall we?

If for some reason you can't watch the video, let me summarize:

: Hey Dante. We have a sector. that needs a new commander Get to it.

: Geez wiz. Alright sir!

Less than five minutes in and I already hate Dante. Oh well.


Ignore those objectives for a moment, we've got better things to do.


Clicking on the bottom part of the screen allows us to go into our cabin.


It's just down this hallway.


Pretty swanky pad, eh? And what can we do in our cabin?


Absolutely nothing! Actually I lie, the computer on the left can be used to access a database with a bunch of useful information.


And also a map layout of the current ship and the rooms you can access in it. Dante gets easily lost, you see.


If you're wondering, I took Fantastic Negotiator, Master Astronomy, Engineers, Jellyfish, and Fertile as my traits. I was thinking of switching Master Astronomy out for something else, but... Damn. Look at all of those planets.


Anyways, here's what we currently command. Three planets, and a fleet.


Said fleet is, uh... less than impressive. Still, it should be good enough against pirates.


Achilles is about the same as our fleet. It has some very unimpressive stuff, and they're all pretty much damaged.



Naxos and San Sterling aren't much better. Yeah, they don't have anything that's damaged, but... They don't have anything. Period.


To add insult to injury, we're about 8,000 short of being able to build a colony hub. Gah.


Pictured: My stupid mistake. Fire Brigades automatically repair buildings to half damage for free. Unfortunately I got confused and thought that 98% meant that the building lost 2% of its health. Nope, other way around. So... it's going to be a while until we can get that hub.

Spoiler: Always Bring Your Fire Extinguisher (click to show/hide)

Thankfully we have other things to occupy our time. For instance, merchants are under attack! We have three merchants we have to defend, and they all send us video messages.

This is required viewing. No summary can do justice to the glorious full motion video contained within.


The very first merchant is up here. I'm not entirely sure how long the time limit is for saving him, but it's not like we have anything else to do.


Let's see, two fighters against a destroyer and three fighters. Yeah, this'll be a cakewalk. I'll probably talk about the combat more when we get to some actual fighting. For now, you just have to know two things:

1. I have no tactics beyond blobbing.
2. You can send messages to the enemy during a fight.


Unfortunately the big space pirates are mean to Dante, and refuse to back off.


Overwhelming firepower wins any day of the week.


Great shooting! Respect due! If you can't tell, this game was translated from Hungarian. Still, I'm not one to laugh at 1000 credits. It's about a fourth of our daily income at this point.


Life ain't all about protecting merchants though. Commander Douglas manages to put on his most serious performance so far and informs us that we have a cargo ship to protect. Why? I have no idea.


Said cargo ship comes in from the bottom right of the map from somewhere or other.


Still, what could possibly go wrong?




Pictured: Stuff goes wrong.


My strategy here is pretty much the same as before. Get as close as possible to the ship, than blob up and take down them pirates.


Damn it, we're supposed to be Fantastic Negotiators! Can't even get a bunch of pirates to piss off...


Oh well, something to be said about the tried and true, after all.


That shield 1.0v could be useful.


Assuming that my fleet was near a planet, of course.


And that I had set the spaceport to be repaired since I clearly had enough money for it. Gah.


While we're waiting for more money, Dante gets a call from his loving wife and kid.

Unfortunately said wife and kid are more obnoxious than anything else. Still, I expect great things out of you kid. You have the real makings of a full motion video star!


Anyways, more pirates, more merchants to defend. Yadda yadda.


Someday someone will listen to Dante. :c


More money for the war chest. One of the days it'll actually be full enough to build the damn hub.


What's this? Massive energy readings? Major battles? Looks like we've stumbled upon something exciting guys!


Looks like two armies of pirates are duking it out by Naxos.


And by armies I mean one dude and his mate. Oh well...


Oh, what's this? A branching conversation path?


What the- Someone actually listened to Dante for once! c: This moment will surely be recogn-


Nope. Said pirates must have short-term memory loss because they keep on attacking. Did you know that short-term memory loss is the second most common ailment affecting pirates these days?


Hot burny death is the most common ailment, of course.


No gold this time, but at least Dante made a friend.


Just one more merchant to save and then we can sit around and say, "Gee willikers, wouldn't be it great if we had some money?"


The pirates attacking this merchant are much more dangerous than the one before. Watch out for that destroyer and its massive firepower.


...is what I'd like to say, but it charged straight for the merchant vessel and completely ignored my ships. So... easy victory?


Easy victory.


Having completed all of the missions, we now have more or less enough money for a colony hub.


Finally!


The 'Guardian' also gets its shield generator which I totally could have placed on it at any time. Now we just have to wait an-


...

Wat.


Um... Apparently Achilles is just as pissed about the lack of a colony hub as I was, and... well... Long story short, it's now a public holiday on Achilles.

: Wow! Which holiday?

All of them. I don't care.


I do care about the colony hub though, and soon enough we'll be able to tax Achilles again.



To stop the people of Achilles from complaining about the rolling brownouts and starvation, I've built some hydroponic farms and a nuclear power plant.


Apparently that's enough to complete my objectives.

Spoiler: Hot War (click to show/hide)

Conveniently enough, when we complete all of the objectives, the flagship Thorin appears in our sector.


Commander Douglas is still not amusing and tells us to meet with Admiral Tullen aboard the Thorin.

Needless to say, Dante is excited about this playdate.

If you can't/don't want to watch the video, here's a summary.

: Hello Dante.

: H-

: The Thorin has just... won a glorious battle against the Garthogs, but we... sustained significant damage and must retreat.

: T-

: I suspect that the Garthogs will try to finish us off. You cannot allow this to happen.

: O-

: Inform your superior if you need reinforcements. Any questions?

: Yes. Can I ta-

: No. Dismissed!

: Hey Douglas, can I get some reinforcements for the big, mean scary aliens?

: Alright. I have some. fighters I can spare I'll dispatch them. immediately.

: Yay!


This battle is a bit tougher than the ones against the pirates. Despite having a frigging battleship, both forces are pretty close in terms of firepower.


Luckily Dante's new friend pops up to help out with the battle, which will surely take much cunning and strategy to w-


Hahahaha, no, we're blobbing again. Well, blobbing and telling our ships to focus their fire on individual ships. I'm sure my lack of tactics will bite me in the ass later on, but for now we're sitting peachy keen.


It's about halfway through the battle when I realize that we can talk to the Garthogs and maybe convince them to stop attacking us.


*sigh* Dante had practiced his dance moves for the last week too.


Surprisingly enough, we manage to win this battle while taking only two losses. I'm as shocked as you are.


Our victory earns us a promotion! And Dante makes some more friends! Still, looks like things are getting hot.


Good thing Dante brought his fire extinguisher.


Fun fact: your main fleet will teleport to allow the Garthogs to invade Achilles.


Still, we're in tutorial mode and need to experience a ground battle.


We get six light tanks with which to defend Achilles from the Garthog.


Attacking us are six Garthog light tanks and two non-combat vehicles which we can pretty much ignore. Clearly, winning this battle is going to take strategy and cunning.


And my strategy I mean lining our tanks up to blast at each other.


And by cunning I mean yelling at our tanks to stop being stupid and focus their bloody fire.


So... yeah. Cunning and strategy.


Bugger. Commander Douglas doesn't have good things to say to Dante either. I also like the implication that Dante has screwed up massively in the past. Dante is best commander. c:


Thankfully the game autosaves after each promotion, so...


Let's try that again.


There we go.


Much better.


We lost two units, but at least we repelled the Garthog assault. For now.


Anyways our objective is to fortify the colonies and start producing ships to fight off the Garthogs.


Unfortunately we're still dirt poor and can't afford any factories for a while. And then when we build those factories, they suck up part of our income and make it harder to get more money for more factories and... bleh.



We our fancy promotion we get two new planets, but they aren't anything special besides an additional 3000 income.


Dante's wife gives him a call to... congratulate him on his promotion. With all the emotion of a wet fish, of course.


New Caroline gets itself a fancy new power plant so that they can stop yelling at me.


Right before I start to fix up Centronom Dante gets a message to head to the bridge.


Oh boy, a test!

: Oh boy... A test...



: Oh boy! A test!


That's right, we've got a test to complete. Now I could do this test myself, but... where's the fun in that? That's right, I'm going to let you fine folks at home answer the test for me and Dante!

Spoiler: Testing Time (click to show/hide)

1. I lack self-confidence when it comes to relationships! Do these feelings describe your inner emotions?
A. Yes, I do lack self-confidence.
B. I ocassionally lack self-confidence.
C. I am always confident in relationships.

2. If I need to make spur of the moment decisions, my responses are often:
A. Based upon logical deductions.
B. Quick judgements affected by pressure.
C Off the wall assumptions.

3. When I have problematic issues, am I still optimistic?
A. Yes.
B. Sometimes.
C. Never.

4. Do I ever let my emotions get the better of me?
A. Yes.
B. Sometimes.
C. Never.

5. An inspiring piece of poetry is of more importance than the most powerful weapon.
A. Nothing compares to a well authored poem.
B. I depends on the mood I'm in.
C. Mass destruction is the greatest thrill of all.

6. I am strong enough to face my fears.
A. Always.
B. Sometimes.
C. Never.

7. When I get the blame for situations beyond my control, I feel:
A. I couldn't care less.
B. Concerned.
C. Responsible.

8. Because rationality does not always get the desired response, you may have to resort to extreme measures!
A. At the drop of a hat.
B. Only in extenuating circumstances.
C. A compromise will suffice.

If you're taking the test, put your answers in bold to help them stand out.

Let me know how you like the videos interspaced with the update. If you want, I can also put them in their own spoiler at the bottom of the update, so that you can enjoy the full motion glory without reading the entire thing.

Right now my strategy for the next part of the game is to build a ship factory and spam fighters like there's no tomorrow. Unless it'd be much faster/more effective to build a bunch of cruisers and then upgrade them into death machines once I finally can afford another type of factory. Blah. If someone want to jump in an say that I'm a bloody idiot, that'd be appreciated.