PC Gamer takes on weeks-long GalCiv battle
by Kyle Orland 
{ May 18th 2007 at 1:28PM }
People on the internet generally don't enjoy reading long articles. We understand. You've got places to go, people to see, episodes of Heroes to watch. Who has time to actually scroll through several screens worth of writing when there's so much to do?That being said, we heartily recommend that you set aside a few minutes and read through PC Gamer's epic account of what is likely the longest game of Galactic Civilizations 2 ever played.
How long exactly? The "Gigantic" sized match has been going on for 16 days now and is just beginning to show signs of an imminent ending. Besides being routinely laugh-out-loud funny, Tom Francis' running account captures the intricacies of interstellar diplomacy, taxation, genocide, despotism, popularity rankings, and extremely foolhardy military planning in a form that even people unfamiliar with the game will find interesting.
Go ahead and read it. That status report will still be there in fifteen minutes.
[Via Kieron Gillen]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cutriss @ May 18th 2007 2:05PM
This made me want to go install Space Empires IV again. This seems very much like the same game on steroids. I should play more 4X games.
Pixelantes Anonymous @ May 18th 2007 2:21PM
That's nothing.
When I was in college I was hooked on Empire (http://www.wolfpackempire.com/) for about three years. The most epic games used to take 2 - 3 months, and it was on 24/7. It was torture. But it also had some of the best gaming moments in my life ever.
Unsurprisingly my grades weren't really that great during that time.
Viridium @ May 18th 2007 3:11PM
This is an excellent game at an excellent price. Stardock should be commended for their lack of DRM or copy protection of any sort - and allowing you to play by default without the disc in the drive!
The benefits of the Dark Avatar expansion are also well worth it.
rodan32 @ May 18th 2007 3:15PM
Oh, hell yes. This is one of the best games ever, and the article is hilarious.
Paul @ May 18th 2007 3:25PM
The USS You Are All So Boned is one of the greatest ship names in history.
orAngeMicro @ May 18th 2007 3:30PM
that was a damned good read. im getting this game. it will the first game of its type ill attempt to play but it sounds too cool to pass up. thx for the tip!
Chaotic @ May 18th 2007 4:34PM
I need to pick this game up. Today.
This could be the end of my social life for the next year.
ukridge @ May 18th 2007 5:07PM
Well, darn. Now I've got to buy the game.
Damn you, Tom Francis!
Brian Sexton @ May 18th 2007 5:48PM
After reading Tom Francis' article earlier today, I do believe I would like to play Galactic Civilizations II. I have seen the game on the shelf at Fry's Electronics, but the box did not arouse in me nearly the interest that Tom's article has.
I have to agree that "You Are All So Boned" is a great name for a ship. I suspect the various names he said he could not print were probably pretty funny too.
Brad @ May 18th 2007 10:11PM
I really love these types of games, (4x, civ, etc.) especially after hearing or reading someone else's account or their experience. These games just seem to have an amazing flow and ability to create powerful stories.
The problem? I'm stupid. I just can't seem to learn a game well enough to wrap my head around all the different variables required.
I guess I'll stick to reading about other people's experiences, as I'm unable to create anything similar on my own.
syco @ May 18th 2007 10:15PM
The article only seems long because the text column is way too skinny. Am I the only person who can read a line of text that is an appreciable percentage of my screen width?
I'm going to go read it now.
Brian Sexton @ May 18th 2007 11:38PM
OK, I just returned home with the Gold Edition in hand. I would not have bought this game today if not for that article. Funny.
"syco", there are reasons newspapers do not print their articles in columns the widths of their entire pages and why even many textbooks break their text into columns and my twenty-inch Cinema Display—the smallest one Apple makes (yes, I currently have an Apple display connected to a Windows system)—is rather wider than either. I like columns of reasonable width; they do not require as much eye-tracking or head-turning across their pages, they seem to make it less likely that I will lose my place, and I seem to read them faster. If you prefer longer lines of text, though, you can disable page styles or apply your own style sheet to override a page's defaults.
Kerber @ May 19th 2007 12:14AM
Wow. Awesome.
miles foreman @ May 19th 2007 9:56AM
Not to take away from the fantastic GalCivII, but that link to the eyetracking article was awesome. Especially this picture:
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/images/1300/image7.gif
Tom Francis @ May 19th 2007 7:43PM
"I suspect the various names he said he could not print were probably pretty funny too."
As usual when I stop myself from swearing in something for PC Gamer (we have no strict policy but like to keep it to a minimum), the non-profane alternative came out better.
If you really want a laugh, read the story of Graham Smith trying to have sex in Second Life. And being unable to buy a working penis.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=163623&skip=yes
Andir3.0 @ May 20th 2007 3:10PM
@Viridium: StarDock is DRM. You can't copy the game to another PC (IE your laptop) and play it without having to reconnect to the server to re-register your game. They still claim that's not Digital Rights (Restriction), but it clearly is.