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GAME DURATION
"Game lasts from 4000BC to 2300AD (instead of 3000AD of CTP1)"
Source: Announcement Press Release
HISTORICAL TIMELINE
"A historical timeline gives players a holistic perspective on their civilization’s achievements over the centuries, and many units are presented with new graphics and animations."
Source: Announcement Press Release
MORE WAYS TO WIN
"Players who choose to develop an aggressive civilization can achieve victory through military conquest. Conversely, gamers who prefer a more subtle approach can achieve dominance through scientific means."
FIRST LOOK ON CTP2!
"And as evident from the new unit types mentioned above, Call to Power II will place a great deal more emphasis on undersea development. Two new terrain types, the kelp bed and the coral reef have been added to the game to make life in the water a little more enticing."
At last, lot's of stuff to discuss! Thanks to Paul for providing the link.
At last, lot's of stuff to discuss! Thanks to Paul for providing the link.
Source: Apolyton
REPLAY AT END OF GAME ALA CIV1?
(10 June 2000, 2:41 EST)
It's possible! Activision had already announced a "historical timeline" feature. It seems that the plan included a record of the bgiest events of the game(something that did exist in civ1). What was not included(until now hopefully) was the animated map showing the changes of the borders through time. Mr Ogre explains:
"Most of the data for a replay showing events will be collected for what's planned will be collected anyway. The geographic part of the thing everyone wants wasn't planned, nor the animated part. But we will at least have a chronological record of all the big events that happen in the game. Given that, it's possible we can record the geography too and work the map replay in. It might be a good learning task for our new programmer when he gets here in a few weeks, to get him up to speed on several parts of the game. I'll think about that."
Activision has really showed that it listens, add your voice, post: "Just like in Civ1!"
"Most of the data for a replay showing events will be collected for what's planned will be collected anyway. The geographic part of the thing everyone wants wasn't planned, nor the animated part. But we will at least have a chronological record of all the big events that happen in the game. Given that, it's possible we can record the geography too and work the map replay in. It might be a good learning task for our new programmer when he gets here in a few weeks, to get him up to speed on several parts of the game. I'll think about that."
Activision has really showed that it listens, add your voice, post: "Just like in Civ1!"
IGN PREVIEW UPDATE
(27 June 2000, 21:16 EST)
It's been six weeks since the first installment, but today IGN updated their preview of Call To Power II...
TERRAIN
"The terrain
for the game is all new and does not include the space levels from the original. There's much more of a focus on land and sea warfare -- especially submarine warfare. There are lots of new undersea units in the game -- like the Moray and the Kraken -- that are sure to have your enemies guarding their coasts".
Source: Apolyton
MONUMENT SCREEN GONE
(29 June 2000, 14:14 EST)
It seems that the Monument screen in CTP1 was not very succesfull. Therefore is Activision is cuting it, without replacing it with something else. Some said that ever since Civ1 and it's "castle" feature, the following games(civ2, smac, ctp1) didnt do anything
better. Post your thoughts on the forums.
Source: Apolyton
CLIFFS IN GAMEPLAY
(30 June 2000, 8:34 EST)
Joe Rumsey of Activision, aka Mr. Ogre, responded to a question in our forums this morning by Slax regarding recently released screenshots in several previews on Call To Power II.
"The cliffs don't affect gameplay. I think our artists are maybe going to tone them down a bit from what you see in the screenshots, but what do you think?"
To share your views with Mr. Ogre and the rest of the team, all you have to do is register in our forums. It's free!
"The cliffs don't affect gameplay. I think our artists are maybe going to tone them down a bit from what you see in the screenshots, but what do you think?"
To share your views with Mr. Ogre and the rest of the team, all you have to do is register in our forums. It's free!
Source: Apolyton
EXPANDING CITY RADIUS
(30 June 2000, 8:55 EST)
TGIF! Members of Activision's Call To Power II team, in particular Mr. Ogre (J. Rumsey) and St. Swithin (W. Lee), have been busy answering a slew of questions about the game thrown at them in our forums.
Wheathin is curious about the "expanding city radius" referred to the most recent previews of CTPII. He asks, and Mr. Ogre explains:
Will players still try to space their initial cities so that when they grow they won't overlap?
"Cities don't overlap any more, whichever one of your cities expands to a tile first, keeps it for itself. So yes, you'll still want to space them out so as to maximize their potential radius. The ideal distance will be a bit farther than you're used to".
Will cities have a set radius or a set number of surrounding tiles?
"There is a maximum size (can be changed in the text file I'm about to mention)".
Will this be open to SLIC or mods?
"There is a text database that sets the relation of population to radius".
Will this also extend the PW/vision radius of the cities?
"PW are buildable anywhere within your national borders, city borders don't affect it. A city's radius is also its vision radius".
Thanks (again), Joe, for your clarifications!
Wheathin is curious about the "expanding city radius" referred to the most recent previews of CTPII. He asks, and Mr. Ogre explains:
Will players still try to space their initial cities so that when they grow they won't overlap?
"Cities don't overlap any more, whichever one of your cities expands to a tile first, keeps it for itself. So yes, you'll still want to space them out so as to maximize their potential radius. The ideal distance will be a bit farther than you're used to".
Will cities have a set radius or a set number of surrounding tiles?
"There is a maximum size (can be changed in the text file I'm about to mention)".
Will this be open to SLIC or mods?
"There is a text database that sets the relation of population to radius".
Will this also extend the PW/vision radius of the cities?
"PW are buildable anywhere within your national borders, city borders don't affect it. A city's radius is also its vision radius".
Thanks (again), Joe, for your clarifications!
Source: Apolyton
LT JOHN DAY
(19 September 2000, 20:41 EST)
It was "Lt John" day today on the CTP2-General forum.
On the tech tree poster:
"We will be including another tech tree poster. We won't be including two charts. I'll look into finding another way to present the data charts, but I think that there are too many stats to fit into the back of the manual in a readily accessible format."
On beta testing:
"The game is already undergoing beta testing with a closed group, by the time we are scheduled to go gold, we will have been in beta testing for about four months. This is one of the benefits of building the game off of the Civ:CTP engine- the game has been playable for quite a while now.
We will not be holding an open beta for CTP II."
On the tech tree poster:
"We will be including another tech tree poster. We won't be including two charts. I'll look into finding another way to present the data charts, but I think that there are too many stats to fit into the back of the manual in a readily accessible format."
On beta testing:
"The game is already undergoing beta testing with a closed group, by the time we are scheduled to go gold, we will have been in beta testing for about four months. This is one of the benefits of building the game off of the Civ:CTP engine- the game has been playable for quite a while now.
We will not be holding an open beta for CTP II."
MORE FORUM POSTS
(27 September 2000, 1:16 EST)
Yeah, it was one of those days...
Lt John with an update about the tech tree poster:
"We could probably release the charts in a PDF format through our web page.
I'm still trying to get the data tables in a booklet format- making some progress- I'll keep you posted."
Lt John with an update about the tech tree poster:
"We could probably release the charts in a PDF format through our web page.
I'm still trying to get the data tables in a booklet format- making some progress- I'll keep you posted."
Source: Apolyton
THE DAVE WHITE SHOW
(29 September 2000, 17:11 EST)
Interesting title, no? Here are some more posts from Dave White, CTP2 Lead Designer
Will ctp1 savegames/scenarios work on ctp2?
[texthighlight]"Unfortunately, no, CTP1 save games and scenarios will not work in CTP2.
While the graphics engine is mostly the same lending to the perception that the game is basically the same, it's not. We've changed/rewritten huge sections of the game including AI, Diplomacy, Combat, Trade, City Growth, and many others. This has caused the save file format to change.
Scenario editing and scripting has undergone a major overhaul as well and coupled with the fact that scenarios are dependant on the savegame format as well makes them no longer compatible. We're hoping that old CTP1 scenarios can be converted relatively easily, but we felt that the additional flexibility and power that the new scenarios have was worth the sacrifice of compatibility."
Will ctp1 savegames/scenarios work on ctp2?
[texthighlight]"Unfortunately, no, CTP1 save games and scenarios will not work in CTP2.
While the graphics engine is mostly the same lending to the perception that the game is basically the same, it's not. We've changed/rewritten huge sections of the game including AI, Diplomacy, Combat, Trade, City Growth, and many others. This has caused the save file format to change.
Scenario editing and scripting has undergone a major overhaul as well and coupled with the fact that scenarios are dependant on the savegame format as well makes them no longer compatible. We're hoping that old CTP1 scenarios can be converted relatively easily, but we felt that the additional flexibility and power that the new scenarios have was worth the sacrifice of compatibility."
PROBLEMS IN CTP2? PYARY ANSWERS
(28 October 2000, 19:17 EST)
The newest addition to the list of Activisioners browsing our forums, Pyaray, gave answers to parts of the GameSpot preview where problems were noted(kindly gathered by Atahualpa). It's simply to much stuff to include in a news item, I'll just guote the last part of the post:
"I assure you all, we are very close. There are no major issues left as far as I know. Obviously there could be issues I'm unaware of, but the game is coming along very nicely. This team is very dedicated to delivering a quality product. I don't know what else I can say to try and address your concerns. If you have any other specific concerns, I would be happy to try and address them for you."
"I assure you all, we are very close. There are no major issues left as far as I know. Obviously there could be issues I'm unaware of, but the game is coming along very nicely. This team is very dedicated to delivering a quality product. I don't know what else I can say to try and address your concerns. If you have any other specific concerns, I would be happy to try and address them for you."
IGN PREVIEW UPDATED
(31 October 2000, 10:58 EST)
It's been a while coming, but IGN has updated their preview of CTPII. IGN's team has spent the weekend playing the beta, and on behalf of the team Stephen Butts relays their thoughts on the game.
... "the main changes to the sequel are matters of utility. Still there have been some neat conceptual changes in this latest version", Butts writes.
After going through the issues of micromanagement, interface, the combat system, diplomacy, and AI, IGN concludes with this:
"The game is due out shortly, so there probably won't be too many functional changes in the final version compared to the build we currently have. Still there are a few things that can still be improved with this game. Even so, Call to Power 2 is much improved over the previous game."
... "the main changes to the sequel are matters of utility. Still there have been some neat conceptual changes in this latest version", Butts writes.
After going through the issues of micromanagement, interface, the combat system, diplomacy, and AI, IGN concludes with this:
"The game is due out shortly, so there probably won't be too many functional changes in the final version compared to the build we currently have. Still there are a few things that can still be improved with this game. Even so, Call to Power 2 is much improved over the previous game."
TURNS, TURNS, TURNS
(1 November 2000, 18:27 EST)
If you didn't get enough of CTP, you will likely find some satisfaction in the sequel. Pyaray, a software engineer at Activision and a member of the CTPII team, confirmed what had been first reported in a PowerPlay.de preview of the game [see story below] regarding the number of turns of gameplay.
"The number of turns has been increased, the exact number is based upon your difficulty level", Pyaray stated late this afternoon. "It's somewhere between 800 and 1000 turns."
This is a significant increase from the 350 to 500 turns, also depending on the level of difficulty, that was offered players in CTP. Initial reaction to the confirmation from visitors who responded to the notice in our forums was overwhelmingly positive, and that trend is continuing.
"The number of turns has been increased, the exact number is based upon your difficulty level", Pyaray stated late this afternoon. "It's somewhere between 800 and 1000 turns."
This is a significant increase from the 350 to 500 turns, also depending on the level of difficulty, that was offered players in CTP. Initial reaction to the confirmation from visitors who responded to the notice in our forums was overwhelmingly positive, and that trend is continuing.
WIN2K COMPLIANCE
(1 November 2000, 19:17 EST)
Ask a simple question, get a simple answer. This is what PeterVDP found out yesterday in our forums. He asked Activision about CTPII's compatability under Win2000. The 'unofficial' response:
"Works fine under Win2k, not sure if it's officially supported or not though", Activision's Pyaray said.
"Works fine under Win2k, not sure if it's officially supported or not though", Activision's Pyaray said.
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