Galactic Civilizations II is one of the best "4X" strategy games ever made -- and with the latest expansion, Twilight of the Arnor, shipping in November we decided to catch up with designer Brad Wardell to get the latest on this installment of the brilliant series.
The Twilight of the Arnor ends the campaign story. Did you initially conceive it as a trilogy?
Yes. In Dread Lords, players are introduced to both the Arnor and the Dread Lords in the opening, but they only deal with the Dread Lords. In Dark Avatar, players recognize the Dread Lords’ strategy of conquest – manipulation of the younger races. Twilight of the Arnor brings back the Arnor in an effort to deal with the Dread Lord menace once and for all.
So who are the Arnor and why is it twilight?
In the Galactic Civilizations mythos, there were the Precursors who once dominated the galaxy and disappeared. In Galactic Civilizations II, we learn that the Precursors were known as the Arnor, who split into two sides – the Arnor and the rebellious faction, the Dread Lords. Twilight of the Arnor concludes the story of Arnorian civilization — along with the Dread Lords — as a major force in the universe through the events in the campaign.
Players have always been able to customize their ships, but now you will let them customize their own maps and scenarios. Do you regret not putting an editor in sooner?
To a degree. The difficulty has been in making these kinds of tools accessible to normal players. The tools we used to create these elements were fine for developers used to dealing with XML but weren’t practical for players who simply want to design maps and scenarios.
What are the limits on the editing tools?
No real limits actually. A player could literally create their own full-blown campaign, just like we did. In fact, we’re developing Twilight of the Arnor using the same tools that the players will be getting.
Each race is getting further differentiated with unique buildings and tech trees. Is this more than just Yor Research Lab and Drengin Armor V?
Oh definitely. For example, the Drengin get slave pits which increase productivity but decrease influence on a given planet. The Terran Alliance will get a technology that gives them a ship component that makes their ships more powerful when they are within their zone of influence. The Yor won’t have “farms” but rather Recharging centers. In hindsight, it’s frankly amazing we didn’t think of having unique technology trees earlier. It makes such a big difference to the game play.
How will these uniques transform gameplay beyond added chrome?
The whole idea is to make each civilization feel very different from the others. The differences won’t be as significant as the races in a game like Starcraft, but it’ll make them a lot more different than what players are used to seeing in games where there are more than a handful of civilizations.
