Game Setup
Game Setup
Setting a standard game up in Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova is a relatively simple process despite the large number of options available, and consists of the following steps:
| How to Setup a Game | |
|---|---|
| 1. | In the Main Menu screen, select "New Game". |
| 2. | Choose a Core Civilization, or generate a custom Civ, to play as. |
| 3. | If a Core Civilization is selected, it can be further customized. |
| 4. | Select game and map settings. |
| 5. | Select the AI opponents to play against. |
| 6. | Start the game. |
Civilization Selection
Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova has 23 Core Civilizations to play as, and also features a custom Civilization creation system utilizing our AlienGPT system.
Each Civilization has a different combination of Civilization Abilities, Traits, Biology, Citizens, Cultural Focus and other special rules, and the player should carefully examine these before making their choice, as each Civilization will play quite differently, with their own strengths, weaknesses and playstyle.
Civilization Customization
The Civilization customization screen will only display if a Core Civilization was selected.
On the Civilization customization screen, the player can alter the following settings to make changes to the way the Civ will play, to bring greater variation to repeated playthroughs:
- Civilization Abilities.
- Cultural Focus.
- Biology.
- Citizens.
- Planet Type.
- Homeworld.
- Civilization Traits.
The following options are purely cosmetic or add flavour to a playthrough:
- Leader Name.
- History.
- Ship Style.
- Leader Portrait and Background.
- Map and Ship Colors.
Gameplay Settings
The Gameplay Settings screen contains many options that alter the difficulty of the game. Along with the Civilization you pick, and the AI opponents, the settings in this screen will influence the kind of playstyle or challenge that the player wishes to experience.
| Gameplay Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Galaxy Difficulty | Increases the bonuses or penalties each AI civilization receives, such as starting Credits and ship movement range. The AI will not use certain strategies on the Beginner or Easy, and begins to get bonuses on Bright and above. |
| Game Pacing | Modifies Manufacturing speed of Core Worlds and Shipyards: alter this for a faster or slower paced game overall. |
| Research Rate | Determines the amount of Research Points required for each technological advance. Increasing the Research Rate will generally shorten the game, as the higher technologies bring powerful benefits, and decreasing it will allow the player to enjoy each level of technology for longer. |
| Minor Races | Sets the number of Minor Civilizations in play at the start of the game. |
| Hostile Entities | Determines the number of Space Monsters and Pirates that spawn on the map at the start of the game. |
| Civilization Proximity | Determines the distance between each Civilization at the start of the game. This is not a linear distance setting, instead it informs the map generation algorithm as to where to try to place each Civ in play, and the player will need to experiment with it in tandem with the Galaxy Settings to determine their preferred playstyle. |
| Galaxy Size | Determines the overall size of the game map in tandem with the number of sectors selected. |
| Number of Sectors | Sets the Sector count. For a game map similar to previous Galactic Civilization's titles, set this to Singular. The higher settings are not linear values, instead informing the map generation algorithm of the rough number of sectors to create, in accordance with the Galaxy Size. |
| Star Frequency | Sets the number of star systems to spawn on the map, which in turn determines the number of planets and asteroids in play. |
| Habitable Planets | Determines how many colonizable planets will spawn at the start of the game. For a sparser game with less Core World/Colony management, set this to a lower setting. |
| Extreme Planets | Sets a number of the colonizable planets to spawn as a type that require advanced technologies to settle on. |
| Resources | Determines the amount of Strategic Resources, such as Durantium and Promethium, on the map at the start of the game. |
Note that increasing the overall size and amount of objects in play will increase the load on the computer's Memory and CPU. For the best play experience, please ensure that the settings you choose fall within the Recommended System values at the bottom left of the screen. It is possible to play with values exceeding these, but the performance of the game could suffer, particularly in the late game when each Civilization is well developed and fielding a lot of fleets.
Advanced Settings
Advanced Settings are accessed through the eponymous button at the bottom right of the screen.
| Advanced Settings | Description |
|---|---|
| Disable Tech Trading | Technologies cannot be traded between players. |
| Disable Tech Brokering | Prevents players from immediately trading a new technology gained that turn via diplomatic trade, meaning that a player must wait at least one turn to be able to trade it on to other Civilizations. This setting will be irrelevant if Tech Trading is already disabled. |
| Disable AI Surrendering | Ensures the AI Civilizations will fight on to the last Core World and never surrender. |
| Surrendered Colonies | A surrendering Civilization will transfer any remaining planetary holdings over to the victorious player who defeated them. |
| No FOW in Territory | Disables the Fog of War within your own borders. |
Victory Conditions can also be found in the Advanced Settings tab
| Victory Condition | Description |
|---|---|
| Conquest | Defeat every other AI Civilization in play. |
| Influence | Spread your Influence to 51% or more of the total map hexes in the game. |
| Alliance | Bring every AI civilization into an alliance. |
| Month Limit | Defeat your foes before the time limit runs out. |
| Prestige | This aggregates scores over ten different areas, such as Military power, Technological Development, Population Score and so on, and is designed to bring the game to an end around the point that the player has snowballed in power to the point that defeating them will be practically impossible. |
Opponent Settings
Select the AI opponents to face off against on this map, the number of which is determined by the Galaxy Map settings. Drag or double click on a Leader Portrait to bring them into play. They can be removed from the pool of in-game players in the same fashion. The icon with the question mark at the top left selects a Civilization to be randomly determined by the game, allowing the player some surprise as they explore the galaxy.
Default difficulty settings can be overridden for each Civilization by clicking on the glowing bulb icon below each Leader portrait in in-game players pool. Similarly, teams can be assigned to each in-play Civilization by clicking on the three flags icon.
After opponents are selected, hit the Start Game button to begin the game.