Galactic Civilizations III

Galactic Civilizations III is the latest addition to the critically acclaimed, best-selling space strategy game series. It is the ultimate sandbox game that asks: What kind of interstellar civilization would you build?

Features

 * Never the same game twice: Play in the ultimate sandbox where each game has a unique map, unique worlds, and new challenges to face.
 * Multiple paths to victory: Win through military conquest, cultural domination, technological ascension or political alliance.
 * Story-based campaign: Galactic Civilizations III includes a campaign that brings players up to date on the 20-year story arc behind the rise of humanity in the 23rd century.
 * Massive technology tree: Research a technology tree with immense breadth and depth. Player choices determine the capabilities of their civilization.
 * Custom ship design: Players can design their own ships with total control over how they function as well as how they look. Any ship you’ve ever imagined can be created or downloaded.

New features

 * Massive scale: The new, 64-bit, multi-core engine increases the number of possible opponents from 16 to 128 with a similar explosion in maximum map sizes.
 * Ideology: Player actions give points towards various ideologies, which give civilizations unique abilities, planetary improvements and bonuses.
 * Multiplayer: For the first time, Galactic Civilizations is a multiplayer game with full support for custom civilizations, saved multiplayer games and much more.
 * Unique technology trees: Play as one of eight major galactic powers (or design your own), each with their own unique technology tree, ships, colony improvements and abilities.
 * New Battle System: Players can now design ships and assign them a specific combat role. When fleet battles occur, you can now view the battle in a cinematic style to see your creations in action.
 * New Colony Manager: The location of a planetary improvement now matters. Adjacency bonuses and planetary resources make a major impact on what a planet is strong (or weak) at accomplishing.

Version 1.1 Steam Workshop
Version 1.1 of GC3 saw the first step in integration with the Steam Workshop. It allowed players on Steam to share starship templates and custom races.

A Map Pack DLC, which included a map editor was released at the same time as 1.1.

1.1 Patch notes

Version 1.2 Mega Events
Version 1.2 added Mega Events into the core game.

The Mega Events DLC was released was released at the same time as 1.2.

1.2 Patch notes

Version 1.3 General UI
The main focus of Version 1.3 was the game's user interface. It also saw the release of planetary governors to assist in building planetary improvements.

The Revenge of the Snathi DLC was released was released at the same time as 1.3.

1.3 Patch notes

Version 1.4 AI Update
The main focus of Version 1.4 was improvements to the AI. This update saw removal of the planetary wheel as the default way to manage a planet's individual output with Spending Foci replacing it.

1.4 Patch notes

Version 1.5 Diplomacy Update
The main focus of Version 1.5 was improvements to the diplomacy system. This included additional options when talking to the AI, including a request for them to remain outside the player's zone of influence.

It also added the Coercion mechanic, removed the large empire penalty, and readded the planetary wheel as a race trait (Coercive) and as an unlockable feature through the Bureau of Labor improvement.

1.5 Patch notes

Version 1.6 Update
This update was released on the 18th of February 2016. In a post on the official forums in October Brad Wardell listed it as having major updates to the invasion and starbase systems. An interview in December with eXporimate Wardell revealed that the invasion system had been pushed back until a standalone expansion (possibly due in 2017). On Steam the road map was updated with 1.6 is listed has a 'Starbase micro update', though the official forums list 1.6 as "Housekeeping".

1.6 Patch notes

Version 1.7 Update
This update was released on the 21st of April 2016. The main focus of this update will be a new starbase system to reduce the amount of micromanagement required.

On the 26th of February dev stream, Boyer explained that the the player would be able to select the modules they wanted added from the list of available modules and constructor would be ordered from a sponsored shipyard/s.

Additional changes included a rework of the ship list in the Ship Designer. How the list of ships is displayed would be changed and better sorting options would be available to make it easier to find and select ships.

On the official forums Wardell stated Stardock's intention that 1.7 would be the last free content update until the release of the standalone expansion ("Crusade") possibly in 2017. While free bug patches would still be done any new content would be delivered as paid DLC.

Wardell stated the reason for this change in direction was: "What I can say, however, is that it is really clear that the free FEATURE based updates aren't creating enough good will to counter the feeling that the DLC does't[sic] provide enough. Therefore, it makes sense to take the budget being used to create new free features and put that into DLC."

- Frogboy (Brad Wardell)

1.7 Patch Notes

DLC

 * Ship Parts Launch Pack
 * Map Pack DLC
 * Ship Designer's Toolbox DLC
 * Mega Events DLC
 * Rise of the Terrans DLC
 * Revenge of the Snathi DLC
 * Precursor Worlds DLC
 * Mercenaries Expansion