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Introduction:
Imperium Galactica was a game I grew up with as a child. After discovering it
at age 8 in 1998 it quickly became my favorite game. In part due to my parent's
superstition that games corrupted computer files, the very occasional periods
where I could borrow it from my friend, and due to it's very dodgy programming
the game often didn't want to cooperate between 1999 and 2009. I eventually
forgot about it until I fashioned a real life DOS box and bought the game off
Ebay. I managed to rig it where it would run on my Windows 7
computer with Dosbox 0.74. This is the version/format I found to work the best,
better even than the 0.6x version of Dosbox that they recommend due to the
built in CPU throttling. This is the version the walkthrough was written and
variations from playing in the actual DOS operating system are minimal. For
those who are wondering I did patch the game.
I'm writing this FAQ because the only complete one I can find on GameFAQs or
other sites is horrendously out of date with lots of bloating information. The
stats of a Laser vs. a Pulse Laser and what the research requirements of the
Fusion Projector are are currently beyond the scope of this FAQ and frankly
irrelevant as all that information is easily obtainable in the game for anyone
at the point where it would actually be relevant. What I discuss are tactics, a
basic walkthrough of the earlier ranks, and more advanced techniques. This FAQ
is aimed at people both new to and veterans of Imperium Galactica. I wrote the
guide while playing the game through three times; once on Hard and twice on
Normal, so they read like a collection of notes and thoughts on the various
issues that come into play with each rank.
If you're wondering why I'm doing this now when the game has been forgotten for
so long it's due partly to childhood nostalgia for a game that even modern RTS
gamers must admit is strikingly good for a DOS game, and partly because the
game is not forgotten. Open IG, an open source version of Imperium Galactica,
is in development currently and over the past year has surprisingly not
descended into development hell. With this in the works I hope to get a
polished walkthrough out that might be added on to once Open IG gets released.
Contents:
Walkthrough:
LI1: Lieutenant
CA1: Captain
CO1: Commander
AD1: Admiral
GR1: Grand Admiral
Random Tips:
LI2: Lieutenant
CA2: Captain
CO2: Commander
AD2: Admiral
GR2: Grand Admiral
Contact/Legal
Walkthrough:
LI1: Lieutenant:
You start off the game as the lowest rank, Lieutenant. Your goals are humble;
listen to goofy messages and keep your colonies happy. The first pressing
matter is Achilles, a planet on which every building is severely damaged. In
addition it is missing a Colony Hub. You may notice it is impossible to build
any additional buildings until the hub is rebuilt so go ahead and demolish
everything except the Nuclear Plant and the Military Spaceport. You may also
wish to keep the Radar Telescope. Build the Colony Hub and repair the remaining
buildings. The Military Spaceport takes a very long time to repair and is quite
expensive but it's much cheaper and much faster than building one from scratch
(buildings only need to be at 49% to still be functional so feel free to stop
repairing at that point). While things are building take your extra cash and
look around the other two colonies, San Sterling and Naxos.
San Sterling is a pain in the ass of a planet. It's far too small and too
cluttered to be of much use as far as production buildings go (we'll get to
that later), so for the time being build a Hydroponic Food Farm. Naxos is a
very different story, it's wide open and an Earth-type planet with plenty of
production and tax potential. This colony needs a Hydroponic Food Farm as well.
If you've been playing for any length of time you've likely seen a little
message telling you to help a ship under attack by pirates. Attack the pirate
ships and engage the enemies as they come. The pirate battles are relatively
easy, at most a few fighters or a destroyer. To make these battles even more
one-sided you have a Light Shield in your inventory that the game doesn't tell
you about. Equip it to your fleet by moving them near Achilles as soon as the
Military Spaceport is functioning. Traders' Spaceports are fantastic long term
investments for your colonies, each increases your daily income by 600. Adding
a bank to a colony with a Traders' Spaceport will double the spaceports' income
so it's a good idea as well. Do this if you find yourself with any extra cash.
About half way through the rank your Colonel will call telling you to escort a
ship. Follow the ship with the move command and eventually some pirates will
attack. This is nothing to worry about and is exactly like every other pirate
attack. It is however a good point to start getting your ducks in a row for the
next rank. Make sure all your buildings are repaired, get your spaceports and
banks built if you can, and try to keep the colonists happy. After this the
Governor of Naxos will call explaining that three pirates are fighting near the
planet. The governor will refer to it as a "major battle", thus setting a new
galactic record for exaggeration. Go there and save the rebel pirate's life. A
few minor hassles later and you'll receive a message saying that Admiral Mark
Tullen wants to speak with you on the Thorin. This is the final mission of the
rank.
Basically all you have to do is fight a fleet of aliens, they're very similar
to the pirates but attack in force. On the message screen click Send and ask
the Colonel for reinforcements. The stingy tight ass usually doesn't give in
but in this case he is persuaded to part with 3 fighters and hey, free stuff is
free stuff. Get all your planets ready and engage the aliens. You may notice
some pirate ships on your side. If you helped the pirate rebel they were his
doing. Make sure to use them to protect your own fleet as after this engagement
they will be gone.
CA1: Captain:
Captain grants you the power of two more planets, the Production menu, and a
cruiser as well as a few more fighters. This rank lasts longer and is a bit
tougher as, like anything else in Imperium Galactica, you get broadsided with
every event. Some would call this "realistic" but I just call it "ridiculous".
Either way it's trial and error unless you have a guide, which now you do.
Basically, as soon as the man with the hilarious voice tells you to "recapture"
Achilles, PAUSE THE GAME. The Garthogs have not attacked the planet yet and you
can give yourself a bit of a boost before the ground battle. Just use the
Equipment screen to remove two Light Tanks from any other planet and place them
on Achilles, they are well worth it. When the ground battle begins place them
near the Nuclear Plant as all aliens love to take out the power plants. There
is a reason for this: if you have any ground defense buildings or Fire Brigades
they will power down if the plants are destroyed. Ground battles are pretty
straight forward, just destroy the enemy vehicles, indicated as red on the
radar. With any luck you should be able to defeat them without losing a tank.
Once the Garthogs lose take a moment to evaluate your colonies. New Caroline
has an A.I. Dev. Centre which is unnecessary at this point in the game and
brings in a good chunk of cash so go ahead and delete it. If you feel confident
in your defensive abilities the Barracks can go as well. Repair the rest.
Centronom has a Computer Dev. Centre which is equally useless. The Military
Spaceport however is not, keep it. You may want to use the free cash to build
additional Traders' Spaceports, Banks, and to consolidate building space by
turning Prefab Housing into Arcologies.
After all this is dealt with it's time to take stock on the mission objective.
Basically it's the same as Lieutenant; keep things in shape. This is however
much tougher if you don't know what's coming and don't know exactly what to do.
Things to keep in mind are:
- Production requires massive resources to perform, both in actually making the
items and in building the Equipment, Weapon, and Spaceship Factories necessary
to build them/build them quickly. Don't invest in your fleet until your
colonies are in ship shape (lol puns).
- Happy colonists = more money. The higher your tax morale the higher your
income regardless of settings (don't use Demanding or Oppressive unless you're
bumping into the 80-90% region or the morale will drop like a rock). This means
stuff like Churches and Bars pay for themselves over time.
- Keep the lights on, make sure you build additional power plants on any colony
that has it's Power in the yellow. Yellow power means the buildings aren't
operating at 100% efficiency.
You will still get the occasional pirate attack but they are less frequent now.
They are much more powerful though so be sure to keep your fleet safe. This can
be hard since the game starts to use cheap tactics like Destroyer 1s with
missiles. Most of your problems at this stage will be larger and scripted.
Shortly after making Captain, Dr. Kathrine will have a test for you on the
bridge. Answer the questions as such:
Q1: I am always confident in relationships.
Q2: Based upon logical deductions.
Q3: Yes.
Q4: Never.
Q5: Nothing compares to a well authored poem.
Q6: Always.
Q7: Responsible.
Q8: Only in extenuating circumstances.
Basically if you fill it out like you would one of those damnable online
application questionnaires then you'll be fine. Answer like a twit though and
you'll lose the game. By now you should have a Traders' Spaceport on every
colony, if you don't make that a priority as well as building banks. It's time
to worry about making your colonists happy. Ideally you should have at least
one of every morale-boosting building on a planet but in some cases this simply
isn't possible. Also, since income is still limited and you only have access to
Nuclear Plants it may be a good idea to only do the basics. Police Stations and
Churches get big bonuses so be sure to use them first. Also, if you have some
extra scratch look into building an Equipment, Weapon, and Spaceship Factory.
You need at least one of each to produce everything on the Production menu.
Eventually San Sterling will call complaining about a smugger. This basically
means attack all the red blinking ships, forcing them to turn around at the
point of a bayonet. After some time an Unknown ship will appear. Either get
this one to turn tail and run or wax it, it doesn't matter. Contrary to what
the governor says it does not arrive within 24 hours so get back to colony
building in the meantime. Before the smuggler arrives Dante will have a dream,
this is a little side story and is pretty interesting if you follow up on it.
You can do so by visiting the Local after each dream and following the
suggestions of the crew members.
A few days later the Governor of Centronom will arrive, heading to Naxos. While
you have to escort him nothing actually happens which makes me wonder why it's
an event in the first place. Once again this could be "realistic" in that not
every ship that sets off actually gets attacked but who knows. Anyway, try to
get a Weapon Factory built to fully equip your fleet. Adding as many lasers as
your ships can hold increases their damage. You can also use it to build more
Light Tanks if you want. Within no time a planet will be attacked by the
Garthogs again. This planet is chosen at random and while New Caroline is the
easiest to defend (unless you destroyed the Barracks) it's doable with only 8
tanks. In this fight you'll be against Medium Tanks which are significantly
stronger, just make sure you attack them first as they aren't hard to kill.
Chances are they'll take out a nuke plant but just replace it. If it was on New
Caroline or Naxos, consider a Fusion plant as an alternative.
New Caroline will then call with a virus infection. This always struck me as
the most annoying mission. It plays out the same way as the San Sterling
smuggler but with a twist. As soon as you get the message click on Send and
tell the Colonel. If you don't know to do this the infection will last a very
long time and will become recurring. Attack the trade ships and don't take any
of their back talk, just get them turned around. Eventually the virus carriers
will be identified and you can pick them off. This also gets you a nice set of
Hubble 2s on San Sterling and Naxos. It's interesting to note that even if you
don't report the infection and it goes away, you can still report it later on
before the next infection wave.
By now you probably want to build things for your fleet. A Radar Array is a
good idea for your Cruiser 1, as is about 5 laser cannons for your cruiser and
old destroyer. A Radar Car is also a good choice to prepare for Commander rank,
just don't deploy it on any planets. Mostly you should worry about two very
important things: colony protection and income. By now you should have all your
colonies with Traders' Spaceports and Banks as well as at least one of each
production building between them. The time has come to build Ion Projectors.
These are pricy at 10,000 credits a pop but try to get all five built on
Achilles. Doing so will make the final mission much easier. Once Achilles is
covered scatter these projectors around on all the planets.
Admiral Benson will soon be on his way to New Caroline. Escort him and wait for
the attack. You will be assaulted by a fleet of Garthogs containing a flagship
so be sure to ask for reinforcements. The flagship you have contains missiles
so use them to dismantle a destroyer or some fighters. Let the flagship tank as
many ships as possible as it won't join your fleet afterwards. After the battle
(or before if you're fast enough) build enough equipment to supply your new
destroyer and get back to building Ion Projectors.
If you didn't tell the Colonel about the virus on New Caroline this is when the
new strain will strike. It's the same song and dance as before so quarantine
the planet and build Hospitals as necessary. This time though be sure to report
it. Attack the virus transport when it appears. Around this time you should
also begin to suspect a spy is on the ship, so you should check back at the bar
for new information and another laughable stereotype. When you destroy the
transports tell the colonel.
The rank is in the home stretch now and you're going to want to make some final
preparations. After all the planets are armed with five Ion Projectors each
start thinking about your space battle strategy. You'll be fighting a large
fleet with missile launching destroyers and flagships. If you build lots of
fighters you'll have plenty of lasers flying but if you have lots of destroyers
you'll be able to endure a few of those missiles. Either way works and neither
is entirely necessary so skip ship production if you think your current fleet
can handle it.
An armed transport (it's not actually armed) will come through and it's your
job to make sure it doesn't get bumped off. I haven't the foggiest why paper
money exists in the year 3427 but it does. Anyway this is standard fare, expect
an engagement in space near San Sterling. If you have Ion Projectors built they
will come in handy.
Finally you will be prompted to recover a stolen prototype. This is the final
mission of the rank so pull your fleet in to Achilles. The Garthog fleet moves
slowly so take this time to prepare whatever you need for a major battle.
Engage the enemy when they are very close to the planet. When the battle starts
pull all your ships back towards the cannons and let them do the brunt of the
work. The Garthogs will attack one by one so you shouldn't have any trouble
except for the missiles. Win this battle and you get promoted to Commander.
CO1: Commander:
You now have control over the colony on Zeuson as well as access to the
Research menu. Your objective here is to take over all Garthog planets.
Assuming you built your cannons up on the planets you already had the Garthogs
shouldn't stand a chance of taking your planets. Build up Zeuson and begin
constructing the necessary development centers needed to research the various
things on the menu. Only a few will be doable right now by mix and matching the
development centers on the colonies but it should be enough to get you caught
up with the Garthogs, at least for the most part. When researching be sure to
add as much money as possible to the development project, that way it finishes
quickly.
You should have plenty of time to research things, get your new colony
organized, and get your Orbital Factory made (for flagship production) before
the first mission starts. Eventually you will be asked to blockade Zeuson. This
is sort of a phantom request as none of the trader ships actually flash red,
indicating they are not targets. Just sit and wait for the Alliance of Free
Traders' ship to appear and take out the destroyer in it's midst. Once this is
done a cut scene will play and you're off the hook for a while. Hooray!
Try to research and produce as much as you can before starting your invasions.
This includes necessities like the Solar Plant and Medium Tank. If you built a
Radar Car put it in your fleet. After a while a scripted message will come
about an attack on a colony. Do a sit rep request to figure out which one it
actually is (the message header is lying usually) and defend that planet if
it's defenses aren't up to snuff. After this event a prototype of a Destroyer 2
will need to be escorted. I guess they didn't give up development after the
Garthogs stole the first one. Escort it and you will gain a Destroyer 2.
This is a good time to pay attention to factories. Build as many as your
colonies allow except on San Sterling which won't have the extra space. These
suckers are expensive, take a lot of manpower, and suck up a lot of juice. You
need full power to maximize operating capacity so make sure those Solar and
Fusion Plants are in place. When dealing with your fleet make sure all your
flagships are running Pulse Lasers and have Cargo Pods attached. Throw some
Destroyer 2s and Cruiser 1s in there for good measure. Once all 3 flagships are
produced and equipped, regardless of the rest of your fleet, throw all your
ground forces on them and attack Garthog 1.
Garthog 1 is the second strongest military planet the Garthogs have and you
need to take it out early. With any luck you should have no trouble penetrating
their defenses with careful use of your bombs. Place your units and let the
enemy come to you. If you mostly used Light and Medium Tanks then you won't
stand much of a chance of taking the planet the first run. You will however put
a serious hole in their defenses. If you fail just retreat to Achilles, restock
with whatever is left, and attack again before they can rebuild their cannons.
As soon as the colony is taken set it's tax settings to Very Low and build Ion
Projectors. If it doesn't have one, build a Police Station or two.
Thus begins your rampage of the Garthog worlds. Give them no quarter and attack
Garthog 2 and 3 as quickly as you can reequip your fleet. Don't worry about
research for now but make sure you're constantly building Medium Tanks and
bombs. Add a Spy Satellite on Garthog 5 to be able to attack it. Once the four
planets are taken you'll have more than enough colonies to finish your research.
In your time on the alien colonies you may have noticed they're very limited in
what can be built. Police Stations are your only morale-boosting building and
Nuclear Plants the only source of power. Fortunately these have smaller
footprints so have at least two Police Stations on the alien worlds for income
support.
Main technologies to look at here are the Rocket Sled, the Plasma Projector,
and the Inversion Shield. The former makes colony attacks ridiculously one
sided, the latter two make your colonies stand a better chance against the
aliens in Admiral. As soon as you get them be sure to fit every colony with
them. When your research is completed and you've run out of funds/fitted every
colony, attack Garthog 4. It's going to be a harder battle in space and on the
ground than the other planets. If you run out of light tanks attack as soon as
you've stocked up on reserves. This planet may present you with a choice
depending on how the Garthog fleet is positioned:
- If you attacked Garthog 5 while the main Garthog fleet was in transit you can
take Garthog 4 without having to fight the main fleet. This will save you
considerable time and fleet preparation.
- On the other hand, waiting while you build your fleet gives you a chance to
amass some credits for the next rank, finish filling out your colonial defenses,
and refit your fleet with full Rocket Sleds.
Both options have their ups and downs and both will prove highly effective ways
of getting to the Admiral rank. For the sake of the FAQ I'm going to assume you
took the longer route and built every conceivable factory and projector and
shield on your colonies and built your fleet up before attacking the main
Garthog fleet. When you engage it it should be a one sided battle but expect
casualties, especially fighters. The Garthogs will be near their planet so
they'll have the advantage of Ion Projectors and possibly Plasma Projectors so
stay away from those. If you attack the planet with Rocket Sleds what will
become immediately apparent is their splash damage. This is the reason they're
superior to pretty much every other form of ground force. The bad news is when
it comes to attacking buildings and those damn Radar Cars they hit everything
BUT their target since their rockets are blocked by other buildings and terrain
features. For this reason I like to bring along a few strong tanks. Regardless,
once you capture the planet you will attain the rank of Admiral.
AD1: Admiral:
In Admiral rank you learn that basically all that research you did in Commander
was moot. The alien races have much more powerful weapons at their disposal.
The good news is you can now competently play catch up. What you get is the
remainder of the old empire, that is four extra planets all of which are either
ridiculously or under developed. Spend some time patching them up and don't
forget about Garthog 4. You should have all the dev. centers needed to start
researching the Colonization Ship. Do so A.S.A.P. When it finishes researching
bang out about 5.
Begin colonizing planets. Colonization and rapid research are sure to drain
your money pool very quickly so after about 5 colonies have been grabbed take a
breather to recover your lost funds and make use of those new planets with dev.
centers. What you should do now is invest in research. Upgrading your colony
guns and shields to Fusion Projectors and Hyper Shields gives you a huge edge
against the aliens that are (or will be soon) attacking you almost constantly.
Fortunately those Plasma Projectors you added should keep your plants yours
until you can upgrade them but even Fusion Projectors aren't a 100% guarantee.
With about 20 planets or so under your belt you shouldn't have any trouble
researching just about everything the Admiral rank has to offer. Once you get
the weapons researched though you have a few choices:
- Reequip your existing fleet with all new weaponry. Commander rank ships can
still be lethal if given the proper firepower (especially Destroyer 2s). You
will want to switch your flagships out for Flagship 2s as they carry more
ground forces but other than that the original ships can stay. Put Neutron Guns
on all your Cruiser 1s and U.V. Pulse Lasers on your Destroyer 2s.
- Get entirely new ships. The Destroyer 3 an the Cruiser 2 are powerful weapons,
the latter of which mainly due to it's tougher shields. Destroyer 3s are quick
to make and can tear enemies to pieces.
- Sit on your ass. This is a valid strategy as the other aliens are still alive
and kicking, attacking your planets. Eventually the Dargslan will beat them
into submission which means when you get to Grand Admiral you will only have to
worry about one enemy instead of four or five. The bad news is this means you
likely have to conquer every single planet to win, which if you blaze through
the ranks can be avoidable.
If you decide to sit and bolster your forces then do so until you stop getting
attacked. If you decide to start sacking alien colonies then start with the
weakest ones first, namely the Morgath and Ychoms. When you get 25 planets the
Dargslan will see you as a threat and attack with no warning. It's been
speculated that a certain amount of time will pass before the Dargslan attack
you but I was attacked just after colonizing my 25th planet and it seems too
much of a coincidence for it to be timing. At any rate the Dargslan will kick
the planet's ass unless you have some serious defenses both in space and on the
ground. This launches you into Grand Admiral.
GR1: Grand Admiral:
This is the final rank with no real objectives, just like Admiral. Everything
is at your disposal and you get access to the Diplomacy screen which, all
things considered, isn't very useful. Try to get Meson Projectors, Flagship 3s,
and Cruiser 3s researched as quickly as possible. The Meson Projectors should
keep your planets safe from even the Dargslan fleets if you play them right.
The flagships will allow you to hold the maximum amount of ground forces, and
the cruisers have insane weaponry with bombs and missiles. If the Dargslan take
any planets just take them right back and keep at your research and production.
When you take over the last Dargslan planet you win the game.
If other races are still alive it'd be a good idea to become buddies with them
if for no other reason to keep them off your back. None of them will stand a
real chance against the Dargslan but races like the Eclaps and the Sulleps
should survive longer than others, and those can be a major pain should they
find you an enemy.
Random Tips:
LI2: Lieutenant:
Lieutenant rank doesn't really have a lot of tips considering it's so
straightforward. The only things I can suggest are modifications to the
colonies and orders of operation.
- I highly suggest only repairing what is absolutely necessary at this point
in the game. You should really be demolishing all the unimportant buildings on
Achilles, that is, leaving only the Nuclear Power Plant, Radar Telescope,
Military Spaceport, and Fire Brigade. Getting the Fire Brigade to 49%, and then
letting it work on all the other buildings is a good idea because it will
repair them for free to an operational level. Repairing the Nuclear Plant to
full is also a good idea because it maximizes the power output.
- At your financial discretion, remove the Prefab Housing and replace them
with Arcologies. This may not be a wise decision but it will save time and
effort later if you find yourself with the spare money.
- Remove tanks from San Sterling or Naxos and put them on Achilles in
preparation for Captain.
CA2: Captain:
Captain rank offers a bit more freedom so this tips section is definitely worth
a look. This is where strategies will start to diverge.
- If you want to raise money fast you can begin building a tax base instead of
throwing Ion Projectors on every single colony. Do this by adding Police
Stations and other morale-boosting buildings.
- Defense is like Vegemite; it's only good if you spread it thick. Having one
Ion Projector on a colony isn't gonna do Jack, three or more are necessary to
repel a Garthog fleet. Similarly, having a Barracks is a good idea but not
fully utilized unless you add the extra vehicles to the planet. Keep this in
mind when deciding on how to build your defenses.
- As with Lieutenant, think hard about what you want to keep and what you want
to destroy. The Recreation Centre on New Caroline is a good way to boost tax
income, but demolishing it is a short term cash boost. Also, having a Military
Spaceport on Centronom, so close so the one on Achilles, may be frivolous
considering they bring in a lot of money.
- Although it is ultimately a matter of opinion, building a fleet is rather
unwise unless you have all your colony matters settled first as the missiles
the Garthogs will launch are likely to rip it apart. Your colony building
however will endure into the next rank almost unscathed.
CO2: Commander:
- You don't have to attack the Garthog planets in any particular order, the
one I outlined is entirely personal preference. Keep in mind the longer you
play the better defended all the planets become, so in whichever order you take
them try to keep momentum going.
- Exterior 14, how controversial. Should you take it or leave it be? The gains
could be enormous; the addition of an extra planet and the stolen technology of
the Fortress. On the other hand the far superior Morgath shall attack you at
every turn, and even with Plasma Projectors they're hard to repel. Plus, the
planet itself is a tough nut to crack. So, what to do? This tactic is only for
the bold and preferably experienced. If your economy is well founded and your
planets amply defended then you can take a shot at it. A possibility would be
to create an entirely new fleet just incase the planet defenses rip your main
one apart. I'd wait until the Garthogs are on the ropes and you have plenty of
bombs and Rocket Sleds. Furthermore, only attempt to take the planet if you are
planning on doing a ground-based defense in Admiral. If not, then Fortresses
really won't be a priority and certainly won't be worth getting the Morgath mad
early.
- If you freeze the game, fire a bomb, unfreeze and quickly refreeze, fire
another, unfreeze and quickly refreeze... you get the idea, you can fire bombs
really fast. This gives more bombs a better chance of hitting their target
without getting shot down.
- Fighters are your best disposable friends. Build many and keep your fleet
fully stocked as a full fighter brigade can easily dismantle space bases and
projectors alike. Their effectiveness grows significantly as you advance in the
ranks and unlock Fighter 5 and 6 but even now they are the best way to keep
your destroyers and cruisers in top shape.
- Don't fire missiles at space bases and enemy flagships, their ECMs will send
them flying back at you.
- The Ychoms have Fusion Projectors and Space Base 2s at their disposal, do
not trifle with them.
- Instead of adding all the left over Light Tanks to your fleet you could sell
them. Unless you're strapped for cash I wouldn't recommend this as they make
great shock troops for softening up the enemy.
- The Garthogs took my planet, wat do!? Don't panic. They can't build defenses
any faster than you can, just fill your fleet with what you have and turn off
nearby radars so the fleet hovering over the planet disappears. Then attack
quickly to reclaim it. You shouldn't run into more than a few fighters in orbit
and no more than 8 tanks on the ground.
AD2: Admiral:
- Be wary of frequent alien attacks. Even if you manage to repel their fleets
with planetary and orbital defenses, due to the *unique* way in which Imperium
Galactica calculates damage, any structure that was even hinted at being hurt
during the encounter will be critically wounded and require repair. In some
cases the aliens will attack the same planet with such frequency that it will
be impossible to rebuild before the next wave.
- You'll notice a lot of the technology you gain access to says "upgraded from"
or "slower than" in the research description. You don't actually upgrade units
to become the next tier, it's more to give you an image of the stuff you're
researching. The majority of the technologies described as this are really not
that great compared to their later counterparts.
- Admiral rank is where the major differences between Normal and Hard modes
are noticed. If in Normal mode the other races will apparently be more
preoccupied with the Dargslan and less concerned with rapid expansion. In Hard
mode even if you progressed quickly you will be hard pressed to find any
available planets. I had luck finding some in the upper right corner of the
Starmap but that was only three planets. Also, the enemy attacks combined with
extremely powerful fleets compared to their counterparts in Normal mode will
cause the game to slow to a grueling pace, with nearly every spare dime going
towards rebuilding your colonies. I'd highly suggest you spend what you can
reinforcing your tax base and getting your income as high as possible.
- Completing all the research isn't necessary or even really warranted given
the nature of the game at this point. For instance you don't need the Hubble 2
and it has a strange pattern of dev. centers to research that don't fall in
line with anything else. If you want it, fine, but it's not mandatory.
- Although I mentioned reequipping your Commander fleet as an Admiral fleet in
the other part of my FAQ I should point out that only applies to the destroyers
and cruisers. You definitely want to upgrade your ground forces, flagships, and
fighters. Fighter 4s and 5s are incredibly deadly even against reinforced
Dargslan defenses.
- It's important at this point to understand how weapons scale. Both lasers
and guns have 4 levels, and they increase exponentially. A Laser has 5 power,
Pulse has 10, UV has 20, and UV Pulse 40. Stacking them adds more, so 4 Lasers
would be 20 power while 4 UV Pulse would be 160.
GR2: Grand Admiral
- With all your additions in Admiral your tax base should have increased
exponentially since Commander. All this increased income means you can spare no
expense in fortifying your planets and not have to worry about money. For
instance, in addition to having Meson Projectors you could include the durable
Space Base 3s on your planets, especially frequently attacked ones. Having a
stockpile of about 100 of these isn't absurd towards the middle of the rank.
- If you find you really want more money in a ridiculous way you could try
killing off the population of an alien planet. It shouldn't be hard to figure
out how to do this, just destroy all the buildings and jack the taxes up. Once
done you can recolonize it as a Human planet. It takes a while and in the
meantime will have an impact on your income but the new Human colony will, in
the long run, produce more income.
Contact/Legal
You can contact me at "
[email protected]" with any suggestions or comments
about the FAQ. Please include "IG" or "Imperium Galactica" somewhere in the
subject. Please contact me before hosting this FAQ on a site other than
www.gamefaqs.com, I'm usually pretty open to letting people use my material
however.
Imperium Galactica is a trademark and copywrite 1997 of GT Interactive Software
Corporation. All other trademarks and copywrites are owned by their respective
holders.
