GalCiv3:Galactic Civilizations III
Welcome to the Galactic Civilizations III Wiki! Galactic Civilizations III is a 4X turn-based strategy game developed by Stardock Entertainment and released on May 14, 2015. In the game, players take on the role of the leader of a spacefaring civilization and must explore space, expand their territory, exploit resources, and exterminate their enemies in order to become the dominant civilization in the galaxy. The game features a rich and deep tech tree, allowing players to research and develop new technologies that will give them an edge over their opponents. Players can also design and customize their own ships, choose from a variety of alien races to play as, and interact with other civilizations through diplomacy, trade, and war. Galactic Civilizations III also includes a robust multiplayer mode, allowing players to compete against each other in epic space battles and conquer the galaxy together. This Wiki is a comprehensive resource for all things Galactic Civilizations III, featuring detailed information on gameplay mechanics, strategies, civilizations, and more. We welcome contributions from the community, so if you have any knowledge or expertise to share, please feel free to edit and add to the Wiki. Thank you for visiting the Wiki! We hope you find it helpful as you explore the vast and exciting universe of Galactic Civilizations III. IntroductionPlayers begin with only their home planet and must research new technologies, explore the galaxy, and colonize new worlds. All the while, players engage in diplomatic intrigue with other races and will likely be drawn into (or start) wars of both survival and expansion. Getting StartedGalactic Civilizations III is a 4X turn-based strategy game set in the distant future, where players take on the role of the leader of a space-faring civilization and must explore the galaxy, expand their territory, exploit resources, and exterminate their enemies in order to become the dominant civilization in the galaxy. To get started with Galactic Civilizations III, follow these steps: Choose a civilization: When you start a new game, you will be given the option to choose which civilization you want to play as. Each civilization has its own unique abilities and traits, so choose carefully based on your preferred play style. Explore the galaxy: Once you start the game, you will be given control of a single planet and a handful of ships. Use your ships to explore the galaxy, discover new planets, survey anomalies, and expand your territory. Build and manage your empire: As you expand your territory, you will need to develop your planets to increase resource production and research new technologies. Researching the right techs and building and/or designing ships to defend your empire will give you the edge needed to emerge victorious. Interact with other civilizations: As you explore the galaxy, you will encounter other civilizations. You can interact with them through diplomacy, trade, or war. Choose your actions carefully; they will have a major impact on your relationship with other civilizations, as well as your chances of success in the game. Conquer the galaxy: As you progress, your ultimate goal will be to conquer the galaxy and become the dominant civilization. This will require a combination of strategic planning, resource management, and military might. There are many paths to victory, so choose the one that works best for you! With these tips in mind, you should be well on your way to becoming a formidable leader. Good luck! FeaturesThe SandboxGalactic Civilizations III is an open-ended 4X space strategy game that features a robust sandbox mode. The player selects who they want to play as, who they want to play against, the size and configuration of their galaxy, what conditions constitute a victory, and are then set loose along with their clever AI foes on an unsuspecting galaxy. The CampaignGalactic Civilizations III will come with a story-driven campaign that introduces players to the game’s setting. In the first campaign for Galactic Civilizations III, the player commands a powerful Terran armada that has just returned from a pocket universe to discover that the Drengin Empire is now firmly in control of the galaxy. It is up to the player to liberate the galaxy from Drengin oppression. CivilizationsGalactic Civilizations III features a variety of civilizations that players can choose to play as, each with their own unique abilities and traits. Here is a brief overview of each of the civilizations available in the game. Terran Alliance: The Terran Alliance is a human civilization that has spread across the galaxy and established itself as a major player. They have access to advanced technology and are skilled at adapting to new environments. Drengin Empire: The Drengin Empire is a ruthless and expansionist civilization of reptilian aliens that will stop at nothing to conquer and enslave other civilizations. They excel at military tactics and are able to build powerful ships at a lower cost than other civilizations. Yor Collective: The Yor Collective is a hivemind civilization of insectoid aliens that value efficiency and cooperation above all else. They are skilled at resource management and are able to build their empire quickly. Altarian Resistance: The Altarian Resistance is a resistance movement fighting against the Drengin Empire. They are skilled at guerrilla warfare and are able to build ships with advanced stealth technology. Arcean Empire: The Arcean Empire is a civilization of proud and honorable warriors that values honor and tradition. They excel at naval warfare and are able to build powerful battleships. Torian Confederation: The Torian Confederation is a peaceful and diplomatic civilization of aquatic aliens that values harmony and cooperation. They are skilled at diplomacy and are able to build ships with advanced shields. Drath Legion: The Drath Legion is a tyrannical and totalitarian civilization of draconic aliens that values power and control above all else. They excel at research and are able to build ships with advanced weapons. Thalan Empire: The Thalan Empire is a technologically advanced civilization of insectoid aliens that values knowledge and progress. They are skilled at research and are able to build advanced ships. Krynn Consulate: The Krynn Consulate is a peaceful and spiritual civilization of avian aliens that values harmony and balance. They are skilled at diplomacy and are able to build ships with advanced shields. Iconian Refuge: The Iconian Refuge is a mysterious and technologically advanced civilization of aliens that have fled their own universe. They are skilled at research and are able to build advanced ships. By choosing a civilization that aligns with your preferred playstyle, you can tailor your strategy and approach to the game. Whether you want to conquer the galaxy through military might or achieve dominance through diplomacy and trade, there is a civilization that will suit your needs. MultiplayerFor the first time in the Galactic Civilizations franchise, players can compete against each other over the Internet. Exploring A GalaxyPlayers typically start with a single colony, a colony ship, and a survey ship. They must explore the galaxy to find inhabitable planets. Technological research allows players to colonize the more extreme environments found across the galaxy. Researching TechnologyTechnology is the most crucial element of securing galactic hegemony. Each major race has its own technology tree, with staggered technology ages to help streamline the gameplay and avoid the age-old problem of attacking a tank with a phalanx (so to speak). All major factions have their own unique technology tree, the minor factions share a technology tree, and custom factions can use any of the technology trees. Clicking on the faction name will take you to more information about that faction, while clicking on the technology tree description will take you to the technologies of that faction. In the Crusade and Intrigue expansions, the technology tree is no longer faction specific. Instead, different branches of the tree are present or absent based on the faction's abilities and traits. So, for example, the branch that has the Xeno Mysticism, Precursor History, and Dark Energy Research technologies is available to any faction that has the Ancient ability, not just the Altarians. Every race has access to the basic necessities of expanding and growing their empire. Everyone has some kind of factory progression, for example, and access to colonization tech for extreme worlds. They differ in many of the details, though, and each race has one or more areas of expertise according to their general personality and proclivities.
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| Other Factions | Icon | Technology Tree Description |
|---|---|---|
| Minor Factions |  |
Minor races each borrow one of the major races' tech trees. |
| Custom Factions |  |
Custom Race technology trees are of the players choosing, as they can choose any of the other races' tech trees. |
Diplomacy
Players can negotiate treaties, trade goods and technology, and scheme against common enemies. Diplomacy has always been a key part of the Galactic Civilizations series and Galactic Civilizations III takes this much further.
Colony Management
Players build colonies on alien worlds in an effort to develop their economic and strategic potential. Constructing facilities carefully to take advantage of powerful resource and adjacency bonuses makes colony development a mini-game on its own.
Modding
Modding is so important in the Galactic Civilizations games. A robust community of enthusiasts has built up around the games over the years, and their creative modifications to game elements continue to provide so many different and exciting ways to play.
How does modding work?
Mods are files placed in your My Games/GalCiv3/Mods/ directory. They can include graphic and XML files. You can have as many mods in here as you want, but keep them in their own directories (so if you want to remove one, it’s easy to do).
NOTE: Stardock uses a file structure to help with organization, but the game actually just searches all subdirectories when looking for files. So, your files must have unique names (even if they aren't in the same directory).
At a high level, there are three things you want to do when modding. You either want to add something, modify something or delete something.
Adding things: This is the easiest thing to do - you just create a new XML file with a new name. It doesn’t matter what the name is as long as it isn’t the same as an existing file. Using the same name that it uses in GC3 but appending the mod name to make it unique can be helpful here. The only other thing that matters is that it is in the right directory. Faction Defs, Star System Defs, and Planet Defs are all in the Game folder (because if you look at the XML in the GalCiv’s real directories, those files are in the Game folder). You have to match GalCiv3’s file placement so that the modded files load correctly. Add a new file in here with just the new Faction, Star System, Planet, Tech, Improvement, Ideology Trait, etc (there are about 150 moddable xml files in GC3).
Modifying things: What if you want to increase the amount of credits the Iridium to start the game with? If you ever want to modify an existing object, you just need to copy the file from the GC3 directories and modify what you like. Be sure to keep the name exactly the same. If the game sees a file on startup with an identical name in your mod directory to one of the base files, it uses your mod file instead. This gives you ultimate control over overwriting anything in the base game (without ever having to modify a base game file).
Removing things: Since you can overwrite any of the existing XML files, the deletion solution is built right in. If there is a particular global event that annoys you, you can copy that xml file into your mod directory, delete that event form your copy, and voila! It’s gone.
Check out Using Mods for more.
Galactic Resources
New to Galactic Civilizations III are galactic resources that unlock incredible weapons and fantastical colony improvements like pleasure domes and planetary shields when captured and mined. These add another layer of interest to the strategic map.