NOTE: This is The Column, a regular feature on Apolyton where anyone can write about anything to do with Civilization or the gaming industry as a whole. If you feel like writing, please visit the article submission page.

PREVIOUS ARTICLES

#151 HOW AND WHY DO BAD GAMES GET MADE AND PUBLISHED Ex-Activisioner David "Pyaray" Ray gives us an exclusive look at his work that investigates games from bad to worse. #150 GOODBYE ACTIVISION; NOW CIVERS, LET'S GET TO WORK It's time to face facts and move on with the Civilization series, says MarkG. #149 APOLYTON: THE TRULY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY Apolyton is a glowing example of globalization at its best, touts Shadowstrike. #148 A LOOK AT A DIFFERENT TYPE OF ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE Winborne chooses to discuss exactly what the title suggests: a different kind of artifical intelligence. #147 MORE BACKGROUND STORIES, PLEASE... DanQ hopes that the tradition of background stories, such as in SMAC, will continue in future incarnations of the Civ series. COLUMN ARCHIVE

We've talked about what should be on a tile, pondered the merits of stacked combat and unit sprites, debated whether a rifleman should have three or two points on his hat (not making this up -- personally I'm wondering should a rifleman even HAVE a hat? Did you ever think of THAT?) But now I propose to stop. And consider what this game is actually going to LOOK like. More importantly -- what SHOULD Civ 3 look like?

I never bothered to think about visual style. It's gameplay after all, and not visuals, that makes a great game, right?

Then came Alpha Centauri. Playing SMAC was like reading a book under the covers with a flashlight. Even if you loved the story, you couldn't help but think how much better you'd feel if you could just turn the light on. It didn't matter what faction I tried, I just could never quite get into conquering a planet whose sun evidently had all the wattage of an Itty-bitty Booklight.

By contrast, think of Civ 2. There's a game that made you want lean into the graphics and whisper "SHHHHH!" Especially at four in the morning. When your house was asleep. There is no bright like the bright of a game of Civ 2 that you should've quit playing two hours ago.

All this to say how important visual style is to gameplay. I offer this column as a start for a deep and fascinating exploration into the subject of what Civ 3 should look like -- in style, nuance, tone, color, mood.

I'll start. Close my eyes. Okay, what do I see? First off, it's not Civ 2 -- let's face it, occasionally you felt like you were moving around cartoon ships -- so no. Civ 3 is a role playing game. Pretend the monitor is a magic window and history itself is pulling me in. That's good. It LOOKS like history.

Around the edges, it's the color of old parchment. In the midgame I see rich purples and the cardinal red of royal coronations. The rivers are vivid blue, and plains of green grass have sunlight glinting off them. When I sail that caravel to the west, rolling back the Black Unknown, I sense gold shining just beyond what I can see. Pulling me ever closer.

And it's about maps. Old world maps, the kind that evoke maritime navigational charts -- again, up around the edges of the screen -- perhaps in other windows -- But you get the feeling ships have sailed off using these charts and never come back. And the style is not just Western European. It's also about spice routes to points east. And that trade screen can actually look dangerous -- these aren't your nephew's World Book graphics. Even the opium trade had ledgers. So make it bright, but remember "bright" don't mean "friendly."

I don't know what colors Civ 3 will be. I only know it will be a Firaxis game -- so it will be a fully integrated design. And that means it will play the way it looks.

---------
About the author: "Oranges? I love 'em. Bananas? Not that funny."

Comment on this article!

The opinions expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect those of Apolyton CS or GameStats. They are just the personal opinions of the writer.