The fastest way to improve balance and make changes is when we can directly play with your saved games. That's because you guys do things we'd never think to do.
Please post your late game saves in this thread. Tell us what is happening along with what you think should be happening.
Thanks!
If you bought GalCiv IV on Epic and which to upgrade to GalCiv IV: Supernova (GalCiv IV + Supernova expansion) on Steam you can do so here:
Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova - Steam Upgrade (galciv4.com)
So in case you didn't know, the images you choose from aren't part of AlienGPT. Those get queued up and made later because otherwise it would take 10 minutes to pick your pictures.
So I want to preface this that you're all monsters. All of you. Especially YOU! Yea you know who you are!
Here are the top new images currently in the queue. BTW, if you wonder why there's already so many poop images in the cache, that's...well that's me. Stop judging me you monsters!
Here we go:
Ok, that wasn't quite as filthy as I thought.
Carry on.
Now with GalCiv IV in early access on Steam (with the Supernova expansion bundled) we’re going to try to provide a fairly comprehensive road map of what we have planned between now and release.
|
Milestone |
Date |
Details |
|
Initial Early Access |
April 2023 |
Early access release of Beta version of GalCiv IV: Supernova |
|
Civ Unlock 1 |
May 2023 |
Major classic civs unlocked |
|
German Language Beta |
May 2023 |
“Ich German sprecher bin am.” |
|
Civ Unlock 2 |
May 2023 |
More aliens unlocked |
|
Big Balance update |
May 2023 |
First big feedback integration on Gameplay feedback |
|
AI generated quests |
May 2023 |
This is where the AI will converse with you to ask for specific things using generative AI. |
|
Core Engine Update |
June 2023 |
Visual improvements, UI improvements, etc. This will be also part of an update to GC4: Epic |
|
Battle System Upgrade |
June 2023 |
Lots of updates concerning the way battles to address player feedback we’ve gotten to that point on making combat more interesting. |
|
Invasion System Update |
June 2023 |
The new conquest system should be “finished” at this point. This will also be part of an update to GC4: Epic |
|
Civ Unlock 3 |
June 2023 |
Additional aliens added |
|
Strategic AI Update |
July 2023 |
AI redesigned for better strategic war fighting |
|
Battle Viewer Update |
July 2023 |
Battle viewer has a lot more details, information |
|
Big Balance Update II |
July 2023 |
Feedback from players gets put into this update. |
|
The big AI update |
July 2023 |
All the evil players and their evil strategies will get put into the AI. This will also be brought back to GC4: Epic. |
|
The big pacing update |
August 2023 |
This will be where we bring it all together to see how everything together. |
|
Ship Designer Update |
August 2023 |
Brand new ship designer screen and corresponding system |
|
Cultural Progression |
August 2023 |
Major overhaul to Cultural Progression |
|
New Planet Economy |
August 2023 |
Planet screen updated with new citizen system |
|
Story-Driven Events |
August 2023 |
Lots of new events added to the game |
|
Civ Unlock 4 |
August 2023 |
Phalenoids, Luxar added |
|
New Diplomacy Screen |
August 2023 |
Re-designed Diplomacy Screen to provide a lot more information to players |
|
Big Graphics Update |
August 2023 |
Top to bottom graphical asset update |
|
AlienGPT Update |
September 2023 |
AI a lot smarter but also a lot more player control over what images are picked |
|
Big Language Update |
September 2023 |
French, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese |
|
Multiplayer Update |
September 2023 |
New Multiplayer system for competitive and cooperative play |
|
New Planet AI |
September 2023 |
AI much better at managing planets |
|
GalCiv Workshop |
September 2023 |
Players can share their ship designs with each other |
|
Civ Unlock 5 |
September 2023 |
Cosmic Contaminate, and other civs added |
|
Consequence Events |
September 2023 |
Do you remember those early event choices you made? GalCiv remembers.. |
|
Performance Optimization |
September 2023 |
Make the things faster |
|
Tech Update |
September 2023 |
New ship components, tech tree cleanup |
|
Tutorial |
September 2023 |
Interactive but entertaining tutorial |
|
Campaign: Supernova |
September 2023 |
Included campaign to give users an opportunity to play some interesting scenarios |
|
Polish |
September 2023 |
Lots of UI polishing |
|
Release |
October 2023 |
Stardock turns 30 years old! |
One of the things we are definitely looking at widely expanding are the number of different species categories:
There’s a lot of reasons to do this. For one, I think it would be a good way to have several different tech trees. Right now, the tech tree in the game is different per race but they are all derived from the same master. But imagine if we could make it so that each biology category had its own completely different tech tree?
In the meantime, I think we should add some here. The question is, what kinds?
Right now the main differences are:
How they reproduce
Advantages on certain worlds
I feel like we could do even more. But first, let’s think about what types of biologies there might be.
For starters: Replace ‘Carbon’ with ‘HUMANOIDS’ and create some additional types like Fungal, Plant, Insectoid. Here are some more:
Energy-based.
Gaseous
Are there any that you would like to see and what would make them distinctly different?
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Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova Dev Journals
Supernova makes heavy use of AI art generation. While our human art staff on GalCiv IV is the biggest it’s ever been, the art team has made a great deal of use of using AI to vastly increase the amount of variance of art assets in the game.
There are a lot of different types of AI generated content in Supernova including text, missions, AI dialog, citizen portraits and even the aliens themselves.
Some uses of AI are controversial. For example, one of the controversial aspects of AI art generation has to do with the art the AI was trained on. We’re not going to wade into that controversy other than to say that our AI generated art is trained on our own art. We’ve been making aliens for a long time, so we have a lot of them.
Training the AI on our own art has some benefits besides avoiding controversy. It allows our style to stay reasonably consistent. More accurately, it stays as consistent as we have been which is to say, not always very consistent.
For example, here is the Altarian leader from GalCiv III.
Now she was made with a variety of tools. But using AI, we can do a lot of interesting things with her.
But then you can do this:
It’s like the Korath and the Altarians had a baby. Which, in a way, they did here.
Now for our team, the AI stuff is just the next logical step. Obviously, I have some ambivalence on the issue since now, “some guy” can just crank out aliens putting all our years of hard-earned artistic experience at risk. But it is what it is.
Stardock used to have a big advantage because we knew assembly language extremely well and could make our games really fast and then, so-called “programmers” using C++ came in and just use compilers. We adapt.
Stardock has always been bullish on AI. GalCiv only exists because I wanted an excuse to make a multi-threaded AI back in 1992. Now, GalCiv IV: Supernova will be making full use of AI in every way we can.
______________________________________________________
Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova Dev Journals
I'm going to use a number of really dumb analogies to try to explain how these large language models like ChatGPT work.
First, you have the amount of training they have done combined with the number of things they can look at at once. ChatGPT 4 is much better than ChatGPT 3 in that regard. Think of this as the AI's "hard drive".
Second, and often unappreciated, is the number of tokens that the model can handle. Think of this as RAM. Tokens represents how much the AI can "remember" about what you re talking about. ChatGPT 3 could do 4K. ChatGPT 4 defaults to 8K and there's a 32K version on the horizon. When it runs out of tokens, it starts to get wonky.
The user asks a question of ChatGPT and gets an answer. The user can then ask a follow-up question.
AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) has many definitions but one of the key components is to get the AI to handle its own inner monologue (answer it's own questions and pose new ones that it will then answer) to work out a larger problem.
So what if you could get ChatGPT to answer it's own questions and then have those answers cause ChatGPT to ask new questions based on those answers?
That is the super simple explanation of what BabyAGI does. BabyAGI takes advantage of some new technologies including Vector databases like Pinecone which effectively gives the AI a longer term memory. You can find the Github distribution here. Vector databaes don't fully solve the token limitation but they help.
Once you have it set up, you can ask it to solve a big problem.
For my test, I asked it how I could make my Russian Tortoises have a better life. An hour later, the world was made of paperclips but boy did I get my answer and here it is:
(note: The AI generated ALL of this)
Happy Russian Tortoises
Goal: Improve the life of the Tortoises
Initial task: Develop a task list
- Maintain proper temperature (70-85°F) and humidity (40-60%) levels in the habitat.
- Clean the habitat regularly to prevent bacterial growth.
- Consult a veterinarian for proper diagnosis and antibiotic treatment.
- Increase the basking area temperature to help boost the tortoise's immune system.
- Maintain proper humidity levels in the habitat.
- Keep the habitat clean and dry to prevent fungal and bacterial growth.
- Consult a veterinarian for proper diagnosis and treatment, which may include topical antifungal or antibiotic medications.
- Clean the affected areas with a diluted iodine or chlorhexidine solution, as recommended by the veterinarian.
- Provide a balanced diet with appropriate levels of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D3.
- Ensure access to UVB lighting to aid in calcium absorption.
- Consult a veterinarian for proper diagnosis and treatment, which may include calcium and vitamin D3 supplements.
- Monitor and adjust the tortoise's diet and lighting to ensure proper nutrient levels.
- Maintain a clean habitat to minimize the risk of parasite exposure.
- Regularly wash your hands before and after handling the tortoise to prevent cross-contamination.
- Consult a veterinarian for proper diagnosis and treatment, which may include deworming medication.
- Provide fresh, clean water in a shallow dish for the tortoise to drink and soak in.
- Maintain proper humidity levels in the habitat.
- Consult a veterinarian if dehydration is suspected.
- Increase the humidity levels in their habitat and ensure access to fresh water.
By implementing these prevention and treatment strategies, you can improve the life quality of your Russian tortoises and help them lead a healthy life. Regular veterinary checkups are also essential for monitoring their overall health and addressing any potential issues early.
Weekly Diet Plan for Russian Tortoises
- Breakfast: Dandelion greens (chopped)
- Lunch: Collard greens (chopped) with a sprinkle of calcium powder
- Dinner: Bell pepper (sliced)
- Breakfast: Mustard greens (chopped)
- Lunch: Romaine lettuce (chopped)
- Dinner: Cucumber (sliced) with a sprinkle of calcium powder
- Breakfast: Endive (chopped)
- Lunch: Kale (chopped) with a sprinkle of calcium powder
- Dinner: Zucchini (sliced)
- Breakfast: Watercress (chopped)
- Lunch: Escarole (chopped)
- Dinner: Yellow squash (sliced) with a sprinkle of calcium powder
- Breakfast: Bok choy (chopped)
- Lunch: Arugula (chopped) with a sprinkle of calcium powder
- Dinner: Carrot (shredded)
- Breakfast: Turnip greens (chopped)
- Lunch: Cabbage (chopped)
- Dinner: Tomato (sliced) with a sprinkle of calcium powder
- Breakfast: Radicchio (chopped)
- Lunch: A small piece of strawberry or apple
- Dinner: Butternut squash (cooked and mashed) with a sprinkle of calcium powder
Note: Sprinkle calcium powder on the food 3-4 times a week to ensure proper calcium intake. Provide a UVB light to help with vitamin D3 synthesis. Always provide clean, fresh water for your tortoise. This diet plan should be adjusted according to the age and size of your Russian tortoise. Consult a veterinarian for specific dietary needs and adjustments.
Exercise and Enrichment Program for Russian Tortoises
Objective: To design a variety of activities and enrichment ideas that promote physical and mental stimulation for Russian tortoises, improving their overall well-being.
- Provide multiple levels or platforms with ramps or rocks for the tortoises to climb and explore.
- Ensure any climbing structures are stable and secure to prevent injuries.
- Create designated digging areas using a mix of coconut coir, topsoil, and sand, allowing the tortoises to dig and burrow as they would in their natural habitat.
- Rotate the digging areas to keep the environment interesting and engaging.
- Set up a maze with cardboard, rocks, or bricks that the tortoise can navigate, encouraging mental stimulation and exploration.
- Rearrange the maze weekly or biweekly to maintain interest.
- Scatter food items throughout the enclosure to encourage natural foraging behavior.
- Provide edible plants, such as dandelions, clover, or plantain, in the enclosure for the tortoise to graze on and explore.
- Hang leafy greens from a string or clip, encouraging the tortoise to stretch and reach for their food.
- Introduce a variety of textures, such as soft moss, smooth rocks, and rough bark, for the tortoise to explore and experience different sensations.
- Use a variety of substrates, such as sand, soil, or gravel, to provide varied terrain for the tortoise to traverse.
- Hide treats, such as cut-up vegetables or fruit, in small containers or under rocks for the tortoise to find, promoting problem-solving skills and mental stimulation.
- If possible, house multiple compatible Russian tortoises together, allowing for social interaction and activity.
- Monitor interactions closely to ensure the tortoises are getting along and to prevent any aggressive behavior.
- Weather permitting, provide supervised outdoor time in a secure and enclosed area with natural sunlight, allowing the tortoise to explore and bask in the sun.
- Introduce safe and tortoise-appropriate toys or objects, such as balls, mirrors, or tunnels, for the tortoise to investigate and interact with.
- Rotate toys and objects periodically to maintain interest and prevent boredom.
Regularly monitor the Russian tortoises during enrichment activities to ensure they are engaging with their environment and to assess the effectiveness of the activities. Adjust the exercise and enrichment program as needed to continue promoting physical and mental well-being for the Russian tortoises.
Note: Adjust the cleaning frequency as needed based on the number of tortoises and their specific requirements. Regularly monitor the tortoises' health and well-being, and consult a veterinarian if any health issues arise.
Russian tortoises thrive in a temperature gradient that replicates their natural habitat. Provide a basking area with a temperature between 90-100°F (32-38°C) and a cooler area with a temperature between 70-75°F (21-24°C). This temperature gradient allows the tortoise to thermoregulate by moving between the warm and cool areas as needed. Use a high-quality digital thermometer to accurately monitor and maintain these temperatures.
Russian tortoises require proper lighting to support their overall health and well-being. They need two types of light: UVA and UVB.
UVB Light: UVB light is crucial for Russian tortoises as it helps them synthesize vitamin D3, which is necessary for calcium absorption and overall bone health. Provide a high-quality UVB bulb with a rating of 10-12% for the best output. The bulb should be placed within 12-18 inches (30-45 cm) of the tortoise's basking area. Replace the UVB bulb every 6-12 months, as its effectiveness decreases over time. Make sure to turn off the UVB light at night to mimic the natural day/night cycle.Whenever possible, provide your Russian tortoise with access to natural sunlight. Sunlight is the best source of UVA and UVB light and is highly beneficial for their health. Ensure that your tortoise has access to a shaded area to prevent overheating and provide fresh water during outdoor exposure. Monitor the temperature and never leave your tortoise unattended in direct sunlight.
By maintaining these ideal lighting and temperature conditions, you will significantly improve the life quality of your Russian tortoises, promoting their health, happiness, and longevity.
A comprehensive diet plan for Russian tortoises should include a variety of leafy greens, vegetables, and occasional fruits. This plan ensures proper calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D3 intake, promoting overall health and well-being.
Creating a comfortable, safe, and stimulating indoor enclosure for your Russian tortoise is essential for its health and well-being. This guide will provide you with the recommended dimensions, substrate, and accessories to set up the perfect home for your Russian tortoise.
The size of the enclosure plays a significant role in the overall health and happiness of your tortoise. A larger enclosure allows for more freedom of movement and opportunities for exploration. For a single adult Russian tortoise, a minimum enclosure size of 4 feet by 2 feet (1.2 meters by 0.6 meters) is recommended, with a height of at least 1 foot (0.3 meters). If you have multiple tortoises or plan to add more in the future, increase the enclosure size by 2 square feet (0.19 square meters) per additional tortoise.
The substrate is the material that lines the bottom of the enclosure. It's essential to choose a substrate that is comfortable for your tortoise to move on and helps maintain the appropriate humidity levels. A combination of coco coir and cypress mulch works well for Russian tortoises. This mixture provides the right balance of moisture retention and drainage, preventing the growth of mold and bacteria. Make sure the substrate is at least 2 inches (5 cm) deep to allow your tortoise to dig and burrow as they would in the wild.
Install a UVB light to mimic the sun's natural rays, which are crucial for your tortoise's health, particularly for calcium absorption and vitamin D3 synthesis. Ensure that the UVB light is within 12 inches (30 cm) of your tortoise's basking area. Maintain a temperature gradient in the enclosure, with a basking area temperature of 95°F (35°C) to 100°F (38°C) and a cooler area of 70°F (21°C) to 75°F (24°C). Use a thermometer to monitor the temperatures regularly.
By following this guide, you can create a comfortable and stimulating environment for your Russian tortoise. With proper care and attention to their enclosure, you'll significantly improve their quality of life, ensuring they remain healthy and happy.
Now, if you've ever used ChatGPT, you know it can't generate this kind of output. This is what BabyAGI does. And remember: This is just the beginning. Soon, the APIs will have internet access, plugins and be able to do vastly more than this. This is why they talk about safety so much. Imagine what the malicious will do.
We are entering an amazing and frightening future. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go buy some kale.
I spend a lot of time debugging AI in games. This means having to play the game over and over and over again trying to see why the AI is doing something dumb.
Two features that will be rolling out into Supernova and then back to the base game are:
Fast Move
Fast Battles
When you turn these on, ships move instantly to their destination and battles occur without any fanfare. It makes the turns go by insanely fast.
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Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova Dev Journals
What is Galactic Civilizations?
GalCiv is a 4X turn-based strategy game series where players lead civilizations, expanding and conquering the galaxy.
What is a 4X game?
In 4X games, players explore space, expand empires, manage resources, and strategize in battles for galactic dominance.
So this is the 4th GalCiv game, then?
Technically, it’s the 7th as there were 3 versions on IBM’s OS/2 operating system in the 1990s. GalCiv is the oldest, continually developed space 4X series.
I played GalCiv II but didn’t like GalCiv III, will I like IV?
Maybe? GalCiv IV was developed by the GalCiv II team (during GalCiv III that team was on other projects and the lead developer was on maternity leave, so you can blame her – we do). If you haven't played GalCiv III recently, you really should. It's pretty good now. But GalCiv IV is intended to take the best from II and III.
I’ve read some people kvetching about GalCiv IV. Why’s that?
GalCiv IV was a big departure from previous GalCiv games. Some (a lot) of the criticism was justified because many of the new ideas didn’t really get balanced as well as they should. In a turn based game, pacing is everything. Imagine if it takes 8 turns on average to research a tech instead of 5?
The biggest issue in GalCiv IV at release was the new multi-parameter AI we introduced. It is much smarter than anything we’d done before. However, it played the game in a way that was frustrating to other players because it exploited game design decisions such as allowing colony worlds to be conquered by non-transport ships. So, the AI figured out how to split up its forces into dozens of small fleets to simultaneously attack many colonies at once.
How have you solved this?
We made the AI powered by a Vic-20. Also, we changed the game design so that every ship now has a conquest rating and that if the # of turns to conquer a planet is > 10 it won’t let it invade.
Wait, so you solved this by changing a number?!
Look buddy, I’m not the one on trial here!
Yes you are!
Well it got fixed, right?
So you’re saying that that was the only thing wrong with the game?
No. That’s just one example. But, it is representative of the perils of trying out big new ideas in a turn based 4X game. It takes time to settle these things.
So you’re going to charge your loyal fans of GC4 money to fix this stuff? You are greedy bastards.
No. The balance stuff and even a lot of the mechanics stuff will be back-ported to the base game.
So why was GC4 only on Epic?
Because we made an agreement with Epic to put GC4 exclusively on their storefront for a period of time.
Well, that was a terrible business decision. You miss out on all the Steam sales! You are fools!
We were paid $100 billion to do this.
What? Oh, I can see now.
No, we weren’t actually paid that much - but the point is, unless you know the terms and conditions you really don’t know if it was a good idea or not. However, it was enough to fund Sins of a Solar Empire II.
So will it ever be on Steam?
We can’t discuss that at this time.
Whatever. So can you give me the super high level big new stuff you put into GC4?
The main new features in GC4 are include:
Sectors. Previous GalCiv games were a single map of a given size. GalCiv IV lets you have multiple maps of various sizes connected together via subspace streams.
Leaders. You can recruit leaders who have their own stats and background story to run things in your civ.
Policies. Rather than just having a few sliders to adjust things, players can select from dozens of policies to control their civilization.
Executive Orders. A new resource called Control has been added. It allows players to instantly execute an action in the game if they have enough control.
Core worlds vs. Colonies. For the first time, we’ve split habitable planets into two types. Core worlds are the ones you directly manage. You have to consume a precious leader to do this. Colonies are typically low quality worlds, but they feed their resources into the core worlds. This makes colonization more interesting and less micro-managey.
Combat/Invasions Changes. No longer are these single turn things. It can take multiple turns for a big battle to conclude, allowing time for reinforcements. Same for invasions. Any ship can invade a colony world.
Prestige Victory. A new victory condition has been created. Players earn points based on how well they’re doing. If they get enough points, they win. This largely eliminates the “I’ve won the game already but I have to spend another 4 hours conquering everyone.”
Missions. Rather than a campaign, players can go on missions that reward them with prestige points. This can help put a player over the top to victory.
Ideology. A sophisticated ideology system was added that let players add traits to their civilization. Players earned points in a particular ideology by how they deal with various events.
New Economic System. A new, much better economic system is in. Raw resources come from the worlds and the improvements players put on planets magnify these inputs. It’s a much cleaner, more satisfying system.
Wow. That sounds awesome! It must have worked out great! So why even bother doing Supernova? I mean, how could you possibly improve on that? You’re obviously a genius!
Well…
Well, what? What could possibly be a problem here? What are you trying to say?
So let’s talk about that…
Sector Subspace Streams. Players will be able to enter them by going near the entrance rather than having to use a single tile (this will be put into the base game, too).
A New Invasion Screen. Planets and colonies can be upgraded to increase their planetary defense, which makes them harder to invade. Invasions are also much more clearly communicated.
Totally New Combat System. For the first time since GalCiv II, we are redoing combat. Instead of having 3 types of weapons and 3 types of defenses, there is no limit on this. Weapon classes will have things like range, rate of fire, and accuracy. Defenses will focus on things like evading, mitigating, or absorbing damage. This comes with a much more detailed combat screen for showing what happened at length.
Ship Classes. In every GalCiv game (even the OS/2 version) the end game always involved players spamming out the biggest/baddest ships and stomping everyone. Now, there are ship classes (fighters, frigates, cruisers, battleships, dreadnoughts) which have their own strengths and weaknesses in combat. Thus, a smaller, better organized fleet can take out a much larger one. This is akin to what the allies learned in early World War II when big battleships fell prey to smaller fleets that had fighters.
More Characters. We will have vastly more characters with far more backstories that will trigger more quests (events/missions) so that players will care a bit more about who they hire for their civilization.
Terror Stars. Players (or AI players) who want to…um…move things along in the late game can now build star destroying Terror Stars that will annihilate a star (and the planets orbiting them).
New Civilizations. We are adding several new civilizations to the game, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Cultural Progress. This system will replace the ideology system. Culture points are a new global resource and player actions during the game will affect the cost of different cultural traits which can shape your civilization.
A more Honest Economic System. This will get back-ported. So, raw resources are multiplied by improvements built by the player. However, now natural buffs on a planet are determined by what the raw resource inputs are. For instance, a planet that has 0 mineral resources as an input won’t have a bunch of planetary tiles with mineral buffs on them to mislead players into thinking this would be a good planet for being a great manufacturing world…cough.
Flagships. Players will have a single flagship. If it is destroyed, they can build another one. Flagships replace Survey ships. But, they can only have 1 (not counting the commander ships they can recruit). This is because of…
Super Anomalies. Anomalies no longer just give you little bits of nonsense. Instead, each one involves a narrative with consequences. As a result, there are a lot fewer anomalies around, but they are much more meaningful.
New Map Generation. Map generation has been completely redone to affect pacing, challenge level, and how valuable things are. For instance, Strategic Resources are much much rarer but also much more powerful. Fighting for resources is going to be a major thing.
Playing Tall is Viable. New policies for certain species will allow players to actually become stronger based on how small they are versus how large other civilizations are (i.e. gain a tiny % of all trade in the universe).
Is there anything else?
OH YES. Some of the biggest things we are keeping close to the vest for now.
So when can I get this?
Early access begins April 27.
How much?
There will be a stand-alone version of the game as well as an expansion pack. If you have the base game, the expansion cost will be nominal while it’s in early access.
What about the graphics?
My mom says the graphics are less ugly than before.
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In the year 2245, the Terran Alliance and their coalition had emerged victorious in a battle against the Drengin Empire, thanks to the recovery of a mysterious Precursor weapon.
The Thalans, an advanced civilization that claimed to be from a nightmare future where humans were responsible for the destruction of the entire Milky Way galaxy, persuaded the humans to send the Precursor weapon back into the void of the pocket dimension it had been previously sent to. Shortly after, the Thalan Empire disappeared, never to be seen again, despite having been part of the galactic scene for almost a century.
The peace enforced upon the Drengin Empire was harsh. Its once-mighty military was stripped and was only allowed a handful of scientific exploration vessels. Its companion world, Kona, was occupied by the United Planets, now dominated by the humans of the Terran Alliance.
This time became known as the Long Peace. For half a century, the galaxy had virtually no conflict, and the Drengin seemed content with their much-diminished position in the known galaxy.
However, the Drengin Empire was not idle during that time. In fact, they had found a crashed mapping ship of a species known as the Navigators. These beings had developed technology to discover and navigate the subspace streams that connected the sectors of the galaxy together. These subspace streams allowed them to quickly visit the other sectors.
The Drengin, armed with the ability to visit other sectors, used this to secretly rebuild and re-arm themselves. While Drengi Prime and its occupied sister world of Kona appeared docile and unarmed, the Drengin had found and conquered another world in the Vela Sector and used it as a launchpad to acquire the resources needed to rebuild their military might.
The peace the galaxy had enjoyed came to a sudden end in 2307 when the Drengin Empire arrived at Kona with a substantial military force and ejected the occupying force from the United Planets. While the Drengin Empire's military power was a shadow of its former self, it was still formidable because the other civilizations, including the Terran Alliance, had dramatically reduced their militaries in this new era of peace.
The breakdown of peace and stability also resulted in the disbanding of the United Planets itself. It did not take long for the other worlds to figure out how the Drengin had accomplished their sudden growth. Moreover, the Navigators, now aware of the threat, were able to use their technology to make the subspace stream entrances invisible to all but themselves. However, this would be a temporary measure as it would only be a matter of time before the Drengin and the other civilizations developed technology to overcome this obstacle.
Worse, the Drengin colony, now cut off from the rest of the galaxy, encountered another civilization known as the Prisimari, a crystal-based species that uses a technology that causes stars to go supernova. The Prisimari do not use their technology as a weapon but as a way to harvest stars for rare resources. However, the Drengin saw it as a way to develop Terror Stars, massive starbases that can destroy the stars of enemies.
This brings us to the year 2317 and a new space race. The powers of the Orion sector such as the Terrans, Arceans, Altarians, Torians, Iconians, Krynn, and Yor are about to encounter a host of new civilizations. The civilizations that develop the ability to detect and utilize Subspace Streaming will find themselves able to travel to vastly distant areas of the galaxy. Those who fail or are slow to achieve this ability will be left behind in a galaxy that will soon have civilizations that can cause the stars of their enemies to go supernova.
The emergence of the Prisimari and their technology has added a new level of complexity and danger to this space race. The Prisimari are a formidable opponent with their crystal-based bodies and advanced technology. The potential weaponization of their technology, known as Terror Stars, has caused great concern across the galaxy, and negotiations are ongoing to prevent its spread.
The situation is delicate, and any misstep could have catastrophic consequences. There are growing concerns that the technology may fall into the wrong hands and lead to an era of conflict and turmoil in the galaxy. Some have even suggested a preemptive strike to eliminate the threat before it becomes too great. However, others argue that this would only serve to escalate the conflict and potentially lead to catastrophic consequences.
As the age of Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova begins, the future of the galaxy is uncertain. The potential for conflict looms large, but there is also the possibility of peaceful coexistence and cooperation. Only time will tell what lies ahead for the Orion sector and the galaxy as a whole.
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Galactic Civilizations IV: Supernova Dev Journals
