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Imperium Galactica 2 : Alliances
(c) 2002 DracoLord
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Guide Game     : Imperium Galactica 2 : Alliances
Guide Name     : DracoIG2.txt
Guide Version  : 1.0
Guide Size     : 93.5 kb?
Guide Author   : DracoLord
Author Contact : [email protected]
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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 : [email protected]) 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.

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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

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-------------------
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

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-----------------------
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)

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--------------
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!

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-------------------
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

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-------------------------
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

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--------------------------
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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

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