Major Additions to Galactic Civilizations III[ | ]
- 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 trade resource tiles have major impacts on what a planet is strong (or weak) at accomplishing.
Detailed comparison[ | ]
The following table [1] compares the notable features of the different games of the Galactic Civilization franchise, including Crusade and the rest of the expansions of Galactic Civilizations III.
| Feature | GalCiv OS/2 | GalCiv I | GalCiv II | GalCiv III | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloaked ships | |||||
| Ship designer | |||||
| Set the morality of opponents | 
|
Through faction designer and ideology. Merged into base game. | |||
| Faction designer |
|
Limited version merged into base game. | |||
| Political parties | In some ways merged into the government mechanic. | ||||
| Trade bartering |
|
Merged into base game. | |||
| Planetary pollution | |||||
| Simulated galactic economy |
|
Merged into base game. | |||
| Starbases | |||||
| Espionage |
|
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| Combat viewing | |||||
| Planet surface construction | |||||
| Tactical improvement placement | |||||
| Elections and governments | 
|
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| Commonwealths |
|
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| Destabilization | |||||
| Civil wars | |||||
| Fleet designer |
|
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| Missions |
|
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| Colony deliverables |
|
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| Citizens |
|
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| Fleet commander |
|
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| Flavor text editor |
|
Merged into base game. | |||
| Interactive invasions |
|
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| Stand-alone ship designer |
|
Merged into base game. | |||
| Play as alien race | |||||
| Galactic anomalies | |||||
| Galactic artifacts | |||||
| Planetary artifacts | |||||
| Planetary artifacts w/ chargeable powers | 
|
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| Galactic resources | |||||
| Planetary resources | Only accumulate in .
| ||||
| Accumulating resources |
|
Merged into base game. | |||
| Galactic market |
|
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| Tactical ship design | |||||
| Word on the Street |
|
Merged into base game. | |||
| Strategic zoom | |||||
| Space-based shipyards | |||||
| Supply ships |
|
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| Multiplayer | |||||
| Ideologies | |||||
| Pirate hives | |||||
| Asteroid mining | |||||
| Black Holes/Nebulae | |||||
| Hypergates |
|
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| Hire a Mercenary | 
|