************************************************************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Imperium Galactica 2 : Alliances (c) 2002 DracoLord -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ************************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------ Guide Game : Imperium Galactica 2 : Alliances Guide Name : DracoIG2.txt Guide Version : 1.0 Guide Size : 93.5 kb? Guide Author : DracoLord Author Contact : The_RSM@Hotmail.com ------------------------------------------------ LEGAL DISCLAIMER: THIS GUIDE IS THE SOLE PROPERTY OF IT'S AUTHOR (DracoLord), AND AS SUCH CANNOT BE COPIED, EDITED, MODIFIED, CHANGED, OR WROTE TO ANY FORM OF EXTERNAL MEDIA (SUCH AS PRINTER, DVD-R, CD-R, CD-RW, FLOPPY ETC.) IT IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. IF YOU WISH TO USE THIS GUIDE ON A WEBSITE ARTICLE OR ANY OTHER SAID 'EXTERNAL MEDIA' YOU MUST CONTACT THE AUTHOR (DracoLord)(E-MAIL : The_RSM@Hotmail.com) AND ASK FOR THEIR PERMISSION, AND THEN, AND ONLY THEN MAY YOU USE THIS GUIDE IN IT'S FULL AND COMPLETE FORM. THE TERM 'PERMISSION' MEANS THAT YOU MUST E-MAIL THE AUTHOR, AND WAIT FOR HIM TO E-MAIL YOU BACK WITH A NOTIFICATION THAT YOU CAN USE THIS GUIDE, IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU JUST E-MAIL THE AUTHOR, AND THEN USE THE GUIDE, YOU MUST WAIT FOR THE REPLY. (1) THE TERM 'FULL AND COMPLETE FORM' MEANS WITH NO MODIFICATIONS IN EITHER WORDING, SPELLING, FONT MEDIA (SIZE, TYPEFACE, COLOUR ETC.) THE FORMAT OF THE FILE MUST ALSO REMAIN THE SAME (.TXT) AND NO CHANGES TO THE NAME WILL BE TOLERATED. THE TERM 'PERSONAL USE' MEANS THAT YOU MAY ONLY USE THE INFORMATION IN THIS GUIDE TO HELP YOUR GAMEPLAY, AND YOURS ALONE. YOU MAY PASS ON THE INFORMATION TO ANYBODY ELSE, BUT THEY TO MUST ABIDE BY THE RULES CONTAINED WITHIN THIS DISCLAIMER. IF YOU ARE FOUND TO BE USING THIS GUIDE WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR (DETAILED ABOVE), YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, WHICH MAY RESULT IN YOU LOSING YOUR I.S.P., A FINE, OR A MORE EXTREME PUNISHMENT. (1) THE AUTHOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE ANYONE'S REQUEST FOR USE OF THIS GUIDE, AND MAY AT ANY TIME INFORM ANYONE USING THIS GUIDE WITH PERMISSION TO IMMEDIATELY RETRACT THIS GUIDE FROM ANY FORM OF EXTERNAL MEDIA (LISTED ABOVE) AND TO REMOVE ANY FORM OF THIS GUIDE FROM ANY AND ALL ACTIONS WHICH ARE NOT CLASSED AS 'PERSONAL USE'. *In English* Have the decency to ask me that you want to use this guide for something other than personal use, it's just for curtsey as I will mainly grant permission so long as you aren't trying to make a profit from it, so just ASK FOR PERMISSION, to avoid any complications. (When you ask for permission, please make the subject "IG2PER") Thank you. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents : 1.0 Version History 2.0 System Requirements 3.0 Races (Main) 3.1 Solarian 3.2 Shinari 3.3 Kra'hen 4.0 Races (Secondary) 5.0 Space Fairing Vessels 5.1 Fighters 5.2 Warships (Support) 5.3 Warships (Capital) 5.4 Other Ships 6.0 Weaponary (Ship Mounted) 6.1 Laser Weapons 6.2 Main Guns 6.3 Torpedoes and Bombs 6.4 Inventions/Equipment (Ship Mounted) 7.0 Ground Forces 7.1 Projectile, laser, and rocket turrets 7.2 Special turrets 7.3 Inventions/Equipment (Tank Mounted) 8.0 Buildings 8.1 Civilian and Production 8.2 Scientific 8.3 Military 8.4 Special 9.0 Gaming Tips and Tricks 10.0 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 11.0 Credits and Acknowledgments 12.0 Final Notes 13.0 Links 14.0 Copyright -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- 1.0 Version History ------------------- 0.1 (10/08/02) - Early layout 0.2 (16/09/02) - Updated Layout for easier reading 0.3 (18/09/02) - Added 'Disclaimer' 0.4 (20/09/02) - Updated Disclaimer 0.5 (12/10/02) - Added 'System Requirements' 0.6 (14/10/02) - Updated all sections - Added 'Space Fairing Vessels' - Added 'Ground Forces' 0.7 (15/10/02) - Added 'Links' 0.8 (16/10/02) - Added 'Gaming Tips and Tricks' 0.9 (20/10/02) - Added 'FAQs' - Added 'Buildings' - Added Enviromental Strengths/Weaknesses to all races - Updated 'Space Fairing Vessels' and 'Ground Forces' 1.0 (27/10/02) - First Release Version -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- 2.0 System Requirements ----------------------- *Minimum* - Windows 95 or 98 OS - Intel Pentium 233MHz processor - 32 Mb of RAM - Direct 3D compatible 3D Accelerator graphics card - Direct sound compatible sound card - 4x (Quad) speed CD-ROM drive - 600Mb of Hard Disk space (Plus additional space for DirectX, game saves, and Virtual Memory) - TCP/IP Internet / LAN connection (For Multiplayer mode) *Recommended* - Windows 95 or 98 OS - Intel Pentium II 300MHz processor (or faster) - 64 Mb of RAM (or more) - 2nd or 3rd Generation, Direct 3D compatible 3D Accelerator graphics card - Direct sound compatible sound card - 600Mb of Hard Disk Space (Same as in *Minimum* Requirements) - TCP/IP Internet / LAN connection (For Multiplayer mode) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- 3.0 Main Races -------------- To fully understand the game, you must first understand the advantages, and disadvantages of each of the 3 playable races, so you can find which one suites you, and your style of play best. ------------ 3.1 Solarian ------------ The Solarian race might as well be called the 'Human' race, but as that isn't original, the game designers decided to call them 'Solarian.' They are (just like every other game with Humans) Jack or All Trades, master of none, meaning they can do everything, but not as well as some of the other races. 1 Word Description: Balanced Advantages: + Great reasearch capabilities + Deflector Shields + Balanced forces (Ground and Space) + Relatively powerful vessels + Can Trade + Can Spy + Can use Diplomacy + (Great looking ships) Disadvantages: - Average Spying skills - Average Diplomacy skills - Average Trading skills (gets less ships and tanks at trade screen) Enviromental Strengths/Weaknesses: 150% Population Growth: Forest Grass Rocky 100% Population Growth: Desert Volcanic Icy Barren 50% Population Growth: Mars Moon-like Main Strategies: Research high-level weapons before the other races, and attack before they can use weapons of equal or greater power. Or: Use Spys and Diplomacy to Ally with all the other races. ----------- 3.2 Shinari ----------- The Shinari are a race or traders, diplomats and spys, giving this race an economical and 'underhand' advantage over the other races. To balance this advantage, their military forces are extremley weak (in relation to the Solarian and Kra'hen forces.) 1 Word Description: Sneaky Advantages: + Great Diplomacy skills + Great Trading ability (Double trade income) + Great Spying skills + Has 'Control' (Subvertion) weapons for tanks Disadvantages: - Weak military (both space and ground) - Average research abilities - Cannot research Deflector Shields Enviromental Strengths/Weaknesses: 150% Population Growth: Icy Rocky Mars 100% Population Growth: Forest Grass Barren Moon-like 50% Population Growth: Desert Volcanic Main Strategies: Use your spying advantage to spread distrust and confusion between all the other races, and get them to attack each other, whilst you sit back and relax. Or: Use your Diplomacy advantage to Ally with all the other races. ----------- 3.3 Kra'hen ----------- The Kra'hen are a race set on the conquest of the universe, and as such have incredibly powerful military ships and tanks. In fact, their entire race revolves around military might, bringing their weakness, lack of trade, diplomacy, and spys. 1 Word Description: Brutal Advantages: + Very powerful ships, weapons and tanks + Nobody can spy on the Kra'hen + Can use the Destructor Ray + The Kra'hen are 'hidden' for the beginning of the game Disadvantages: - Cannot use spys - Cannot trade - Cannot use diplomacy - Cannot use Deflector Shields Enviromental Strengths/Weaknesses: 150% Population Growth: Desert Volcanic Barren 100% Population Growth: Rocky Icy Mars Moon-like 50% Population Growth: Forest Grass Main Strategy: Destroy the most powerful race first (usually the Solarians), and then the next, then the next etc. And the universe will be yours! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------- 4.0 Secondary Races ------------------- (Note: These races can only be played in multiplayer mode (or Skirmish.)) Antarian Empire: ---------------- They look like the stereo-typical alien, big oval head, short, big eyes etc. They are experts when it comes to hyperdrives, which is there main advantage over other races. 1 Word Desription: Fast Advantage: Hyperdrive 2 factors faster than average Enviromental Strengths/Weaknesses: 150% Population Growth: Moon-like Desert Mars 100% Population Growth: Rocky Volcanic Grass Forest 50% Population Growth: Icy Barren Iberon Empire: -------------- The Iberons live in trees, and have an advantage when it comes to building. 1 Word Description: Builders Advantages: - Double building speed - Colonisation ships built 25% cheaper, and 50% faster than average Enviromental Strengths/Weaknesses: 150% Population Growth: Forest Grass Barren 100% Population Growth: Rocky Mars Volcanic Moon-like 50% Population Growth: Desert Icy Godan Empire: ------------- The Godan are incredibly versatile when it comes to living on planets with harsh enviroments, which is their main advantage over other races. 1 Word Description: Hardy Advantage: 150% Population growth on all planets Enviromental Strengths/Weaknesses: 150% Population Growth: All types 100% Population Growth: N/A 50% Population Growth: N/A Cheblon Empire (AKA Cheblon Clans): ----------------------------------- A race with incredible diplomacy skills, maybe even more so than the Shinari, their one true strength. 1 Word Description: Diplomats Advantage: Improved diplomatic success Enviromental Strengths/Weaknesses: 150% Population Growth: Volcanic Mars Moon-like 100% Population Growth: Desert Grass Icy Barren 50% Population Growth: Forest Rocky Toluen Empire: -------------- The Toluen empire are a race of 'rabbits', as they have an accelerated reproudtion rate. (You know what I mean :) ) 1 Word Description: Breeders Advantage: 30% faster reproduction rate Enviromental Strengths/Weaknesses: 150% Population Growth: Desert Grass Icy 100% Population Growth: Forest Rocky Volcanic Moon-like 50% Population Growth: Mars Barren -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- 5.0 Space Fairing Vessels ------------------------- The back-bone of any attack force has to be Space Fairing Warships, and fighters. Not only do these warships carry the ground forces from planet, to planet, but they protect them from any threat (both ground based, and space based.) (For those of you who have read any of my guides, you will know that I use predefined layouts, and this guide is no different.) N: Name of ship (Class) H: Hull Strength F: Firepower T: Tank Capacity O: (My) Opinion of this ship S: (My) Score of this ship ------------ 5.1 Fighters ------------ The smallest, cheapest type of space fairing vessel availible. Fighters are practically useless on there own, but in large numbers, with warships in support, they can provide extra firepower, and hopefully protect all your ships in the fleet. N: Fighter H: 1 F: 10 T: - O: Not very useful S: 1/10 N: Advanced Fighter H: 2 F: 15 T: - O: Not very useful S: 1/10 N: Interceptor H: 3 F: 25 T: - O: Very useful against other fighters S: 8/10 N: Heavy Fighter H: 5 F: 40 T: - O: Very useful against larger capital ships S: 8/10 ---------------------------- 5.2 Warships (Support Ships) ---------------------------- Now although these ships are usually placed under 'capital' ships, I have decided to put these under 'support' ships, as I feel that their firepower rating does not rate them high enough to be consider 'capital' ships. 'Support' ships are generally used for escort duty, and in extreme situations, can be used to slow down large enemy fleets so that the main fleet can arrive and take care of the remainder of the fleet. N: Destroyer H: 10 F: - T: 1 O: Only good for a light patrol ship, and possibly a scouting ship S: 2/10 N: Heavy Destroyer H: 15 F: - T: 1 O: Can be used to escort 'Destroyer' class ships in a 'patrol' ship role S: 3/10 N: Corvette H: 25 F: - T: 2 O: A generally useful ship which can fulfil a few roles (including patrol, scouting, escort, light offensive ship) S: 5/10 N: Heavy Corvette H: 40 F: - T: 2 O: Same as 'Corvette', but can be used as a medium offensive ship S: 6/10 --------------------------- 5.3 Warhips (Capital Ships) --------------------------- These ships I consider to be 'Capital' ship class, as they boast extensive firepower, high hull strengths, and relatively high tank capacities. Although these ships are incredibly powerful, they can still be destroyed by large concentrations of enemy fighters, and support/capital ships with long-range weaponary, so it is advisable that these ships be accompanied by smaller 'Support' ships (which will draw the enemies fire away from the more important, and larger capital ships.) N: Cruiser H: 60 F: - T: 2 O: The first class of ships which is useful in a ground-attack role S: 8/10 N: Heavy Cruiser H: 100 F: - T: 2 O: Overall, this can be classed as the best type of ship (with respects to armour, weapons, and price) S: 10/10 N: Battleship H: 200 F: - T: 4 O: The strongest ship availible, but excessively priced, and is usually availible too late to give you a huge advantage over your opponents S: 10/10 --------------- 5.4 Other Ships --------------- This section concerns other classes of ships, and space-bases which are either 'story-based' ships, or can be researched and built N: Transport (Story-event ship) H: 5 F: - T: 2 O: Used for a random event within the story line S: - N: Colonisation Ship H: 5 F: - T: - O: Without these ships you cannot expand your empire, which means you will not have enough revenue to research, and construct larger 'capital' ships, and tanks S: 10/10 N: Terraformer Ship H: 5 F: - T: - O: These can be useful when you cannot colonise enough 'suitable' planets, but other than that, this ship is a waste of credits S: 5/10 N: Satellite H: - F: - T: - O: Used to show population/buildings of an enemy or a non-colonised planet, and IMO is not worth it's price in credits S: 2/10 N: Spy Satellite H: - F: - T: - O: Unlike the normal 'Satellite', these show population/buildings/tanks, which make this an ideal intelligence gathering device for future attacks on enemy occupied planets S: 9/10 N: Space Base H: 50 F: - T: - O: Only good against small fleets (Pirates etc.) and then usually requires either another base, planetary guns, and/or 'Support' ships and fighters S: 4/10 N: Adv. Space Base H: 70 F: - T: - O: Much better than the 'Space Base', but is still outmatched by many space fairing race's 'capital', and even 'support' ships S: 6/10 N: Heavy Space Base H: 90 F: - T: - O: Although better still, this base is also unable to defend against multiple warships, and requires planetary guns, fighters, several bases, and possibly 'Support' ships to be of any use S: 8/10 N: Mobile Base H: 90 F: - T: 4+ O: A great ship if you want to invade an enemy planet, but extremely slow, and requires an escort if it is to make it past any enemy defence ships S: 8/10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- 6.0 Ship Mounted Weaponary -------------------------- The reason why all the ships in the above section have a ( - ) for their firepower rating is because they can be equipped with different weapons and inventions, which will make this rating greatly vary. The most important role of 'Support' and 'Capital' ships is Space Defence, and as such, they require both defensive, and offensive systems to be useful in this role. This section deals with the 'offensive' systems of these ships. Yet another layout guide: N: Name of the weapon F: Firepower M: Manoeuvrability (if applicable) S: Speed (if applicable) O: (My) Opinion of the weapon R: (My) Rating of the weapon ----------------- 6.1 Laser Weapons ----------------- The basic weapons of any ship/base, and are extremely useful as Point Defence weapons, used primarily against fighters rather than warships (Laser weapons can be used as secondardy anti-warship weapons.) N: Light Laser F: 10 M: - S: - O: Pretty useless against most ships, but is not bad against 'Fighter' class vessels R: 2/10 N: Quad Laser F: 15 M: - S: - O: Not too bad, but is useless against any ship above 'Destroyer' class R: 4/10 N: Pulse Laser F: 25 M: - S: - O: Pretty useful, but is useless for attacking any ship above 'Corvette' class R: 5/10 N: Beam Laser F: 40 M: - S: - O: Incredibly useful (and the most advanced weapon in some race's arsenals R: 8/10 N: Turbo Laser F: 65 M: - S: - O: The best of the best, this laser can destroy practically any fighter in 1-shot, and can do significant damage to both 'support' and 'capital' ships R: 10/10 ------------- 6.2 Main Guns ------------- These weapons are useless when it comes to destroying enemy fighter craft, but present a great danger to any enemy 'support' or 'capital' ships which happen to stray into it's firing arc. N: Neutron Gun F: 20 M: - S: - O: This weapon should be the minimum equipped on any ship capable of carrying 'Guns' R: 5/10 N: Impulse Gun F: 40 M: - S: - O: This weapon augments the firepower of any ship, and provides an incredible anti-warship solution R: 6/10 N: Photon Blaster F: 80 M: - S: - O: Significantly stronger than the 'Turbo Laser', and a true danger to any enemy warship R: 8/10 N: Mezon Gun F: 150 M: - S: - O: One of the best Main Guns availible, with high damage, and a respectible rate of fire R: 10/10 N: Paralyser F: 200 (Relative power) M: - S: - O: Rather than do direct damage to an enemy ship, the Paralyser does as it's name-sake, and stops an enemy ship from moving, giving you a chance to have your other main guns to bear R: 9/10 N: Ship-Manipulator F: 300 (Relative power) M: - S: - O: Like the 'Paralyser' the Ship-Manip. does not do direct damage to an enemy ship, but instead lets you control an enemy vessel, and use their own weapons to destroy other enemy ships! R: 10/10 N: Anti-Matter Ray F: 600 M: - S: - O: Although this weapon has incredible power, it's extremeley slow rate of fire makes this weapon practically useless (you could do more damage with the 'Mezon Gun', due to it's higher rate of fire) R: 4/10 N: Destructor Ray F: 900 M: - S: - O: The strongest weapon in the entire game, the Destructor Ray can destroy almost any ship in 1 or 2 shots, even Battleship class! The only drawback is it's extremeley slow rate of fire. (A Kra'hen only weapon) R: 9/10 ----------------------- 6.3 Torpedoes and Bombs ----------------------- These weapons, in addition to Main Guns, augment the firepower of the ship, and can be used to quickly destroy enemy ships, bases, and planetary guns, and other defences. N: Torpedo F: 20 M: 6 S: 500 O: Every ship capable of carrying this weapon should be equipped with at least this class of projectile R: 6/10 N: Adv. Torpedo F: 40 M: 9 S: 500 O: Great for taking out faster ships, and ships with faster firining weapons R: 9/10 N: Heavy Torpedo F: 60 M: 5 S: 400 O: Brilliant at taking out larger, stronger ships, but not so good for taking out faster ships at long ranges R: 9/10 N: Napalm Bombe F: 30 M: - S: - O: Good for taking out any enemy ground defences R: 5/10 N: Neutron Bomb F: 60 M: - S: - O: Great for taking out stronger enemy ground defences, but causes more calateral destruction R: 7/10 N: Virus Bomb (Story-event weapon) F: 90 M: - S: - O: The ultimate in space-to-surface weaponary, instead of taking the machine away from the person, it does the opposite, and takes the person away from the machine R: 9/10 ----------------------------- 6.4 Inventions (Ship Mounted) ----------------------------- There is no point on having a ship with an incredibly large arsenal of weapons, if they cannot defend themselves. To suppliment weapons, ships can also carry shields, ECM, extra computer devices, cargo pods, and cloaking devices. Yes, you guessed it, another layout: N: Name of invention U: Use O: (My) Opinion of the invention R: (My) Rating of the invention N: Cargo Pod U: Tank Capacity +1 O: A useful addition to any ship intent on carrying an invasion force R: 6/10 N: Enh. Cargo Pod U: Tank Capacity +2 O: If you want to invade heavily defended enemy installations, this is an essential component on all 'Capital' ships R: 8/10 N: Radar Array U: Increases ships effective sensor range by 30 O: This is an essential upgrade, as it allows any planet, or ship to spot enemy fleets at a longer range, therefore giving you more time to organise a defence fleet R: 6/10 N: Enhanced Radar U: Range +40 O: A small improvement over the 'Radar Array', but worth it R: 7/10 N: Deep Space Radar U: Range +50 O: A tiny improvement over the 'Enhanced Radar', but is required to research the next class of radar R: 8/10 N: Stealth Radar U: Range +60, and detect cloaked vessels O: An excellent upgrade, and well worth the cost, and upgrade time R: 10/10 N: Battle Computer U: Increases a ships direct-hit accuracy, allowing the ship to strike with up to 30% more power than normal O: Perfect for any ship whose main role is attack R: 9/10 N: Computer Jammer U: Disrupt enemies computer and ECM systems, making them less effective, and easier to hit O: An excellent upgrade, and is slightly better than the 'Battle Coumpter' upgrade, IMO R: 10/10 N: ECM U: Disrupts enemy Torpedoes/Bombs O: Not very effective, but helps increase the life-span of any ship R: 5/10 N: Advanced ECM U: Disrupts, and diverts enemy Torpedoes/Bombs O: Helps to increase the life-span of a ship, but nothing more R: 7/10 N: Anti-ECM U: Disrupts enemy ECM systems O: Counters an enemies ECM, and increases your own offensive power, a pretty good upgrade R: 8/10 N: Energy Shield U: Dissipates energy attacks, and increases a ship's hull by 15% O: A good upgrade for any ship which is in direct danger from being fired upon by the enemy R: 5/10 N: Kinetic Shield U: Increases a ship's hull strength by 30% O: A useful upgrade for any patrol/scout ship R: 6/10 N: Inertia Shield U: Improves shield effectiveness by 45% and absorbs up to 30% of laser hits O: The minimum requirement for any 'Capital' ship R: 8/10 N: Magnetic Shield U: Increases shield power by 60%, 45% protection against lasers, and 12% protection against neutron shots O: A very useful shield for battles with enemy ships who use Main Gun weapons, in addition to lasers R: 9/10 N: Gravity Shield U: 80% increased protection, deflects most laser fire, and deflects 36% of neutron and photon bolts O: Essential against any battle with any ship of Cruiser class, and above. (This represents the strongest shield availible to most races.) R: 10/10 N: Deflector Shield U: 100% increased protection, totally deflects lasers, and absorbs a high amount of neutron and photon bolts O: This is the best shield in the game, and is essential for all of your capital ships R: 20/10! Yes 20! N: Combat Cloaking U: Makes the ship almost invisible O: A great addition to any ship (unless your enemy is equipped with Stealth Radar technology, in which case this is practically useless) R: 8/10 or 0/10 (if the enemy has Stealth Radar Technology) N: Fleet Cloaking U: When equipped on a large ship, the whole fleet can be cloaked O: Brilliant, if your enemy does not have Stealth Radar technology R: 10/10 or 0/10 (if the enemy has Stealth Radar Technology) N: Hyperdrive MK.1 U: Ship can travel up to thrust factor 8 O: Can help your fleets to get to sensitive areas, before an enemy can attack them R: 6/10 N: Hyperdrive MK.2 U: Thrust Factor: 10 O: Same as 'Hyperdrive MK.1' R: 7/10 N: Hyperdrive MK.3 U: Thrust Factor: 12 O: Same as 'Hyperdrive MK.1' R: 8/10 N: Hyperdrive MK.4 U: Thrust Factor: 14 O: Same as 'Hyperdrive MK.1' R: 9/10 N: Hyperdrive MK.5 U: Thrust Factor: 16 O: This upgrade allows your ships to go as fast as possible, and therefore allows you to chase, and overtake enemy fleets which would normally have outrun your ships, and escaped R: 10/10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------- 7.0 Ground Forces ----------------- The key to conquering a planet is ground forces, the military hardware which can capture, control, and occupy an enemy planet/stronghold. The ships in orbit although they could potentially destroy the planet, it is more productive, and effective to capture an enemy planet, rather than destroy them (there is one exception, you can destroy an enemy planet, but just one - Story-event.) My layout (suprise, suprise :) ): N: Name of Tank (type) H: Hull strength O: (My) Opinion on the tank S: (My) Scoring of the tank N: Wheeled Tank H: 10 O: Useless when faced with enemy Fortresses S: 2/10 N: Tracked Tank H: 20 O: Great ATV type unit, but still pratically useless against enemy installations S: 5/10 N: Anti-Grav Tank H: 30 O: The best ATV unit availible, but it cannot carry heavy payloads, and is also unable to take on enemy installations S: 6/10 N: Mega-Trak H: 50 O: The strongest tank in the game, and is the only unit fully capable of taking on enemy fortresses S: 10/10 N: Mine-Layer H: 20 O: A good defensive unit, but relativily poor when deployed without 'Mega-Trak' tank support S: 7/10 ----------------------------------------- 7.1 Projectile, laser, and rocket turrets ----------------------------------------- Now that you know the 'bases' on which these weapons can be mounted, its time you find out about each of these weapons. Tank based weaponry, unlike ship based weaponry, does not have to fulfil more than one role, tank weapons just take out defences, period. Layout: N: Name of turret F: Firepower O: (My) Opinion of the turret S: (My) Scoring of the turret N: Machine Gun F: 2 O: A weapon whose only role is close-range support, nothing special S: 3/10 N: Cannon Turret F: 3 O: The standard weapon on any modern day tank, and is the same in IG2 S: 5/10 N: Laser Turret F: 4 O: Due to this weapons low rate of fire, it is not worth using S: 4/10 N: Heavy Turret F: 5 O: Very useful against heavier tanks, and enemy installations S: 7/10 N: Ion Turret F: 8 O: The best tank based weapon system availible S: 10/10 N: Rocket Turret F: 3 O: Good for long-range attacks against enemy tanks, and installations S: 6/10 N: Rocket Turret 2 F: 5 O: Great for long-range attacks against enemy tanks, and installations S: 8/10 ------------------- 7.2 Special Turrets ------------------- These turrets are not used in the conventional way, and in some cases, do not do physical damage against the enemy target, but subvert, or paralyse them, so that you can concentrate your fire on targets of opportunity. N: Paralyser Turret F: - O: Good when you are out-numbered and/or out-gunned S: 8/10 N: Tank Manipulator F: - O: Also useful when you are out-classed by enemy units (Shinari Only) S: 9/10 N: Mine F: 1 O: Good for ground defence S: 3/10 N: Fusion Mine F: 2 O: An even better ground defence weapon S: 5/10 N: Machine Gun Mine F: 3 O: Gives you another gun in the battle, and increases your overall effectiviness S: 7/10 N: Laser Mine F: 4 O: A slightly better Mine than the 'Machine Gun Mine' S: 8/10 ------------------------------------- 7.3 Tank mounted inventions/equipment ------------------------------------- Many of the tank mounted equipment improves movement, range, or weapon power/potential, like that of ship mounted equipment. Layout: N: Name U: Use O: (My) Opinion S: (My) Scoring N: Air Strike Pod U: Fighters dive, and attack O: Good for surgical strikes against enemy units and positions S: 10/10 N: Laser Strike Pod U: Capital ships bombard the site from orbit O: Good for wide area damage, but can destroy civilian buildings S: 9.5/10 N: Missile Jammer U: Diverts/detonates enemy missiles before impact O: Only useful when fighting an enemy who uses Rocket based weaponary S: 5/10 N: Radar Jammer U: Blocks the enemy's Radar Map view O: Very useful when you 'Pincer-Attack' and enemy position S: 8/10 N: Range Extension U: Increases the effective range of any weapon O: Very useful if you have to strike an enemy position from a long-range S: 8/10 N: Suspensor U: Increases the tank's payload, and allows it to climb over any terrain O: Great for use on lighter tanks, or even heavy tanks S: 7/10 N: Detonator U: A wide area bomb O: Only useful if you employ a 'suicide' strategy S: 5/10 N: Devastator U: A more powerful wide area bomb O: Same as 'Detonator' S: 6/10 N: Repair Pod U: Repairs up to 50% of a tank's original hull strength O: Great for long ground campaigns against stiff enemy opposition S: 9/10 N: Holo-Projector U: Produces a hologram of your stronget tank (Shinari only) O: Great for confusing your enemy, and can make it look like you have more tanks than you actually do! S: 10/10 N: Advanced Radar U: Prevents radar jamming, gives detailed terrain details, and can detect mines O: An essential upgrade to at least 1 tank on the surface S: 10/10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- 8.0 Buildings ------------- Unlike most other space-combat games, IG2 includes a colony managment section, almost like SimCity, but with more emphasis on econmic growth, and military defences. You thought space fleets are the beginning and end to IG2, well, you would be wrong, Colony building plays an even bigger role, as you need research labs to be able to use more advanced weaponry, and ship and tank construction facilities to build up your forces, whilst trying to keep the entire population happy. Layout: N: Name of building U: Use O: (My) Opinion of the building S: (My) Scoring of the building --------------------------- 8.1 Civilian and Production --------------------------- Your first duty, is to your subjects, your population on all of the planet which you control. You must appease them, and balance your taxes so that they are happy, and you recieve an income large enough to support, and expand your forces. If you do not please the population, the populus will riot, and eventually become a Pirate world. Also, you require productional facilities to build up your forces, both Space fairing, and ground based, to ensure empire expansion, and victory against enemy races. N: Fusion Plant U: Planet power source. Output: 600 GW/h O: The basic power production plant. These are best kept in small numbers, as more advanced plants give a higher output, for a small increase in price R: 4/10 N: Solar Plant U: Output: 1000 GW/h O: A small number are required, as it is better to wait for Mezon plants before you build large numbers of these R: 7/10 N: Magma Plant U: Output: 1500 GW/h O: Same as 'Solar Plant' R: 7/10 N: Mezon Plant U: Output: 2000 GW/h O: The highest output plant, and an essential building if you intend to use large number of Plantary Guns and/or Plantary Shields R: 10/10 N: Colony Hub U: Builds all other buildings O: Build several of these on a planet, and you can increase the overall construction speed of your buildings R: 10/10 N: Small House U: Houses up to 7000 colonists O: It is better to wait for 'Large Houses' R: 4/10 N: Large House U: Houses up to 12,000 people O: Very good if you want to expand your colony R: 8/10 N: Food Factory U: Feeds up to 9000 inhabitants O: An essential building, but an Auto Food Fact. is better R: 5/10 N: Auto Food Fact. U: Produces food for 18,000 people O: Uses less workers than the 'Food Factory', and has twice the output R: 9/10 N: Hospital U: Provides health care for 8000 people (improves morale) O: Not entirely essential, but the colonists get mad if you ignore their demands for one R: 6/10 N: Police Station U: Provides crime protection for 15,000 people O: More essential than Hosiptals, as these can quell revolts should they arrise R: 8/10 N: Fire Brigade U: Repairs up to 50% of a buildings damage, for free O: Essential after an enemy attack or a natural disaster R: 9/10 N: Park U: Improves morale O: Not essential, but if the colonists demand one, you better give them one! R: 5/10 N: Bar U: Raises morale O: If you intend to increase taxes, ensure there are a few of these to balance out morale R: 7/10 N: Recreation Centre U: Improves morale O: Same as 'Bar' R: 8/10 N: Stadium U: Improves morale O: Same as 'Bar' R: 6/10 N: Spaceship Factory U: Allows you to build Ships/Bases in orbit above the colony O: Essential for producing ships for attack and defence R: 8/10 N: Adv. Spaceship Factory U: Requires less workers, and improves production rates O: Same as 'Spaceship Factory' R: 10/10 N: Tank Factory U: Allows you to build Tanks, for colony defence, or loading onto orbiting 'Support' and/or 'Capital' ships O: Essential for colony defence and colony attack R: 8/10 N: Adv. Tank Factory U: Requires less workers, and improves production rates O: Same as 'Tank Factory' R: 10/10 N: Production Impr. U: Increases production rates of both Ships and Tanks by 50% O: Essential for any major construction colony R: 10/10 N: Trade Centre U: Every trader that docks at your colony is required to pay 5000 credits O: Can produce extra income, and makes up for money spent of the Centre itself R: 8/10 N: Bank U: Increases the revenue from the Trade Centre by 50% O: When built in conjunction with the Trade Centre, this can provide a larger income for your colony R: 8/10 N: Trade Port U: Allows you to trade for Ships, Fighters, and Tanks of any race O: If you have money to spare, this is an essential purchase R: 9/10 -------------- 8.2 Scientific -------------- Inorder to construct larger, more powerful ships and tanks, and then equip them with the most advanced systems, you need to research them first. This makes these buildings essential near the middle of the game, and useless by the end. Each weapon or defence system, or building requires a set number of research centres, the better the device, the more centres needed. N: Ship Research U: Allows research and construction of more advanced spaceship hulls, weapons, and ship mounted equipment O: Essential R: 10/10 N: Tank Research U: Allows research and construction of more advanced tank hulls, weapons, and tank mounted equipment O: Essential R: 10/10 N: Building Research U: Allows research and construction of more advanced civilian, production, power, and military buildings, as well as some story-event buildings O: Essential R: 10/10 ------------ 8.3 Military ------------ In addition to keeping the civilian population happy, you must ensure they are safe from enemy attack and invasion. In addition to space-bases, ships, and fighters, you can use ground-to-space guns to improve your chances of defence, and construction of fortresses help prevent an enemy from taking th colony should they land their forces. Layout: N: Name H: Hull F: Firepower O: Opinion R: Rating N: Planetary Gun 1 H: 10 F: 60 O: Not very useful, is only useful against 'Destroyer' Class vessels R: 1/10 N: Planetary Gun 2 H: 20 F: 100 O: Not very useful, is only useful against vessls up to 'Heavy Destroyer' class R: 3/10 N: Planetary Gun 3 H: 40 F: 160 O: Not very useful, is only useful against vessels up to 'Heavy Corvette' class R: 4/10 N: Planetary Gun 4 H: 80 F: 260 O: Pretty useful, but you require several of these guns, space bases, and a supporting fleet for this gun to be effective against any ship above 'Cruiser' class R: 5/10 N: Rocket Fortress H: 40 F: 3 O: Good for defence against long-range enemy attackers R: 6/10 N: Machine Gun Fort H: 80 F: 6 O: Good for defence against short-range enemy attackers R: 6/10 N: Laser Fortress H: 80 F: 10 O: Good for overall enemy defence R: 8/10 N: Heavy Fortress H: 110 F: 15 O: The best installation availble. When coupled with several other 'Heavy Fortresses' in a small area, no enemy unit can escape R: 10/10 N: Planet Shield H: 10 F: - O: Can be used to increase the life of planetary guns R: 4/10 N: Adv. Planet Shield H: 20 F: - O: Used to further increase the life of planetary guns R: 5/10 N: Distortion Shield H: 30 F: - O: A pretty good colony defence system R: 7/10 N: Bunker H: 50 F: - O: Can save the lives of many of your colonists R: 8/10 N: Self-Destruct H: - F: - O: Destroys the enitre colony! Better to destroy your colony, than allow your enemy to claim their prize R: 10/10 ----------- 8.4 Special ----------- There are some buildings/devices which can only be built as part of the story-line, and as such, some players might not see some, or any of the following. Layout: N: Name U: Use N: Planetary X-Ray U: Allows detection of cloaked enemy ships in orbit N: Crystal Decoder U: Allows you to decode data in the '4 Tears of Knowledge' N: Crystal Decoder 2 U: A more advanced version of 'Crystal Decoder' N: Thermo-Cooler U: Can help to halt volcanic eruptions on your planets -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- 9.0 Gaming Tips and Tricks -------------------------- In this secion I will try and highlight some useful strategies which will make the game much easier. I will go over how to plan attacks, resources, ship design, research, and all the other key areas which will help you win the game, no matter the difficulty level. ------------------ Planets & Colonies ------------------ - Take it slow, there is no point in having 50 destroyers, when your enemy already has corvettes and cruisers, because you will be significantly outgunned, and outmatched. - The first thing you should build are Colonisation ships, and should colonise at least 5 or 6 planets BEFORE building any military ships. - Change the 'role' of the plantes so you have a wide range of abilities: Here is a quick guide to what I mean: * If the planet has a 200% production rate, then set it to either ship production, tank production, or production (there is no point in wasting such a useful planet.) * If the planet has a 200% population growth, then make a research planet, trading planet, or spy base planet (as these require large numbers of people to support.) * If you have a planet with 50% Production, then make it a research planet, (there is no point in wasting money on shipyard and tank factories if you are only going to get 50% efficiency.) - Research, research, and research some more. Once you have your empire well established, it is necessary to research as much as you can, before the other alien races do (just in case they declare war on you.) - Name your planets. Instead of browsing through Magellan 5,6,7,8,9 to find your ship factories, simply rename the planet (click both mouse buttons on the little 'planet' icon in the bottom left.) Name the planet to what it specialises in, e.g. Your main shipyard could be called 'Ship 1' or 'Ship M', and your main spy planet could be 'Spy 1', and your main tank production planet could be called 'Tank 1' etc. (You don't have to name a planet which is either civilian, or military, as these do not have to be overseen, or used directly for any action.) - Keep your civilian population happy, or you will find they will revolt and become pirate worlds, which will give you another problem to deal with (ontop of the main storyline.) - Keep taxes balanced, enough for you to support your expenditure, but low enough to stop the civilian population happy. -------- Warships -------- - Have specialised ships of the same class (For Example, if you have a cruiser fitted with all weapons, and devices which enhance it's weapon power, then make another one which subverts, or jams the enemies weapons or devices, this way you increase the power of ALL ships in your fleet, great for the later battles with enemy heavy cruisers and battleships.) - After having a few 'specialised ships', have some all-rounders, as this will allow your fleet to engage just about any threat, and come out alive, and victorious. - 12:6:4:2:1, is one guideline ratio you can use, (12 fighters for every 6 destroyers, for every 4 corvettes, for every 2 cruisers, for every 1 battleship.) - Balance your fleets. There is no point in having one fleet with 2 destroyers, and an other with 20 battleships, and 40 cruisers, because what happens when the tiny fleet is the only one which can reach an enemy fleet before it is too late? - Forget about equipping Anti-Matter rays, although they increase your weapon rating, it has a very slow rate of fire, and is very inaccurate, so that extra firepower is useless. ------ Spying ------ - If you can use it (Solarian and Shinari in the main game), USE IT! There are so many people who just try and win the game without it, you can't. (Unless you are playing on Easy.) - Try and steal inventions from the alien races every so often, it is much cheaper, and quicker than researching it yourself! (And you may even get an invention which your race could not normally produce. - e.g. The Shinari with Turbo Lasers!) - Always have at least one spy on a 'Counter Intelligence' mission, this way you can stop enemy spys from affecting your empire, and even make them into Double-Agents (or kill them, your choice.) - Traing your spys every so often, otherwise they will get restless, and will become useless due to their low stats. - Use spying earily on in the game to gain tactical advantages which you would not normally of had, (like the location of enemy ship production planets which will be good targets for later on.) - Be careful, and empire might end up declaring war on you if you try and affect them too much (like trying to assassinate their leader), or you do it too often. - Try and get a spy of the same race as you are trying to infiltrate (or a shapeshifter), as this will lessen the suspicion that you were behind it, and will increase the chances of success. -------- Research -------- - Start research earily, and continue ro research throughout the entire game. - Try and research radar systems, hyper-drives, and better proudction facilities first, before moving onto new ship classes, and weaponry. - Have equal numbers of research buildings, not too many ship research, and no building ones, or tank ones. - Have research centres on planets with a high population growth rate (so you can have multiple centres on the planet, in the shortest time possible.) - Use 'Quick Research', it will save you alot of time and effort. - 'Double Funds' is a very good way to get ahead of your rivals, but do not use this unless you have alot of surplus credits. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------- 10.0 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) -------------------------------------- As soon as I recieve some FAQs, I will update this section, but until then, I will answer some of the general questions asked. Is there a Skirmish Mode? Yes, and no. In the original version of the game, there is no skirmish mode, but the update patches do allow you to play a skirmish mode. Why isn't there anybody in the multiplayer mode? This has quite a few reasons. Firstly, you must make sure that you have a connection to the game server (your connection may be faulty, or the game server may be down.) Also, there may not be anybody on-line at that time. Finally, IMO, this game is not a good multi-player game due to the complicated nature of the gameplay, most people like a challeging game, which is easy to play and control (like C&C, Freespace 2 etc.) Are there any cheats? There are, but they do not work on all versions. There are also 'Trainers' (third-party programs which modify a specific memory address to create a certain result, like infinite money.) To find these, go to Google.com, and type in 'Imperium Galactica 2 ...(your version) +Trainer'. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- 11.0 Credits and Acknowledgements --------------------------------- This part of the guide is dedicated to crediting and acknowledging the people (which is giving away by the title) who have contributed their advice, knowledge and/or services to producing and supporting this guide. To these people all I can say is, thank you, and hopefully I will be able to help you in your guides, or something like that :) And now, without further ado (drum role please) I present to you the people who made this guide happen: - Digital Reality for the making the game in the first place - www.GameFaqs.com for hosting this guide - www.neoseeker.com for also hosting this guide - *Reserved for any contributors* - And YOU for actually taking the time to read this guide -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------- 12.0 Final Notes ---------------- I hope you've enjoyed reading this guide, and I also hope that you've found the answers you were looking for, even learnt something you didn't know before. If you have then this guide was worth writing, and the hours of effort was worth it. If you have any suggestions on how I could improve this guide, or general improvements for any future guide, please E-Mail me them and I will get round to doing them (Please do not send any negative comments, if you didn't like the guide then fine, you are entitled to your own opinion and I can't change your mind, so just don't send any comments.) *Contributions* I am very interested in receiving any advice or additions which you can offer to this guide. If you submit something you will be given FULL credit for your contribution, and if you want, you may also request for a link to your guide(s) so long as your advice is relevant to this guide. (Please mark your E-Mails with the subject : "IG2CON") Thank You. Look out for future guides from me and my staff! These include, but are not limited to:: - (PSX) Breath of Fire 4 - (PSX) Final Fantasy 6 - (PSX) Final Fantasy 7 - (PSX) Final Fantasy 8 - (PSX) Final Fantasy 9 - (PS2) Final Fantasy 10 - (PS2) Final Fantasy 11 - (PS2) Summoner - (PS2) Summoner 2 - (PS2) GTA 3 - (PS2) GTA 3 : Vice City - (PS2) GT 3 A-Spec - (PS2) GT 4 - (PS2) WWE : Shut Your Mouth - (PC) Freespace 2 - (PC) Red Alert 2 - (PC) Imperium Galactica 2 : Alliances - (PC) Homeworld - (PC) Homeworld : Cataclysm - (GBA) Golden Sun - (GBA) Golden Sun 2 - (GBA) Pokemon Ruby - (GBA) Pokemon Sapphire - (GBA) Yugioh Duel Monsters 5 Expert 1 - (GBA) Yugioh Duel Monsters 6 Expert 2 - (GBA) Yugioh Duel Monsters 7 - (GBA) Yugioh Eternal Duelist Soul -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- 13.0 Links ---------- www.GameFaqs.com Huge collection of FAQs and guides for nearly every game you can think of, and even more than that! www.neoseeker.com Another huge collection of FAQs and guides for thousands of games, on the PC, GBA, GBC, PSX, PS2, and most other game systems. www.gtgames.com Official site of IG2 Developers. www.ig3.de Official site of the sequel, IG3 : Genesis. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- 14.0 Copyright -------------- This guide is copyright 2002 DracoLord. (c) 2002 DracoLord All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------------