One thing that I’ve noticed with every space strategy game (GalCiv included) is that it’s based on a realist’s view of international (or in this case, intergalactic) politics. That is to say, it’s really every empire for itself and the balance of power, ipso facto, in one form or another is the primary driving force behind an empire’s actions. I’ve always wondered why developers don’t run with this and add in a couple more gameplay features to really enhance one’s experience.
As I’ve stated before, realists believe that every nation’s goal should be to further its power in some way. Obviously, this is achieved through military might but can also be found by garnering an impressive amount of diplomatic prestige or economic dominance. While developers have no problem implementing these aspects, concerted efforts seem to fade when integrating them with diplomacy.
Because of the very fundamentals GalCiv is based upon, the human player’s empire will naturally come into conflict with another empire (hopefully of equal or even superior strength, depending on the competence of the AI). Let us say, for the sake of my post, that the human and AI’s empires are the two leading factions in the galaxy. When two opposing nations of relatively equivalent power compete, this creates a bipolar power system (e.g. the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War era).
What I’d like to see are gameplay options that augment this scenario for the player. I’d like to be able to create satellite and buffer states out of other weaker civilizations. I’d like to be able to create collations like NATO or the Warsaw Pact. I’d like the options of trade embargoes, development pacts and so on. I’m sure the members of this community have plenty of other suggestions as well so I probably don’t need to elaborate any further.
I feel this subject needs attention brought to it because games akin to GalCiv continually seem to ignore the implementation of features that could really bring life to the game under these common circumstances. These types of games handle multipolar power systems well (meaning when there are three or more nations of relatively equal power, such as England, France and Spain during colonial times). Gameplay during a unipolar power system (e.g. the United States in present times) is practically moot because the player can do whatever they’d like anyway. However, gameplay ironically lags in a bipolar power system when it could arguably be the most fun time of the game.
Any thoughts?
