Quote Originally Posted by Crandaeolon
EDIT: There were also a lot of other oddities in the release version of CalCiv2 that degraded the overall experience. Here is an old thread in the Arena with some arguments about the issues beginning on page 3.
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...t=61790&page=4
I think a lot of these oddities and bugs were ironed out by successive patches-- for example, I'm almost certainly sure that the AI now does specialise on planets.

I didn't quite notice the problem with the universal production slider thing, because it was carried over from GalCiv until you mentioned it. After I read it I saw that it would indeed have improved the game quite a bit. I guess this is again the predecessor directly influencing expectations and hence indirectly enjoyment of games.

I don't think the controls are made to 'cripple' the human player versus the AI, though, it's more likely just an inherent flaw in the game. If each civilization has a unique code that can fight proxy wars, prioritize alliances and vote according to its interests, I don't think teaching it to specialise on planets would be an insurmountable difficulty.


On an unrelated note, one of the things I was annoyed about in GalCiv II was how some races are inherently hostile or well-disposed towards some race. For example, the Torians have an apathy towards the Drengin, the Iconians towards the Yor, the humans are good friends with the Altarians, etc. It does make the game more characterful, but it also removes an element of variety from the game. In the first game, every imaginable alliance, trade network, scenario can happen. Not so in the sequel.