Civ IV will have a 3D map! A discussion of possibilities

[Enigma_Nova]

We can only wait until the game comes out to see if the graphics will look any good.

[Max Sinister]

I think I already wrote it somewhere, but again:
The problem with vector graphics are the streets, railroads and so on: I know at which coordinates my units are, I also know from where to elsewhere the streets do lead, but if I move a unit, how does the program calculate that I've crossed a street? Maybe they would've to program a tile system underneath, that tells me: "unit goes from tile with road to another tile with road, so you only pay one third of a movement point"...

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Trip
I'll repeat: it also makes things easier on the developers, allowing more time to work on other things for the game.

Is that good enough for you?

No.

If they go as far as bothering to make the world into 3D, it will not be much more difficult to actually implement the game in 3D. It will be more of APITA to convert everything back in 2D.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Max Sinister
The problem with vector graphics are the streets, railroads and so on: I know at which coordinates my units are, I also know from where to elsewhere the streets do lead, but if I move a unit, how does the program calculate that I've crossed a street?

Crossed a street? You mean using a road? That's easy, because roads are just a bunch of straight lines with beginning and end points.

[orrery]

Sim City 4 engine.

[Panzeh]

In Highway to the Reich, a vector-based wargame, you can tell units to follow roads by simply giving them the command. There's no need to tell a unit specifically where the road is.

[Max Sinister]

And now for something different: The screenshots aren't here anymore, but I guess if you've seen 'em, you can remember how they looked. I'm sure it wasn't mentioned here, so: Did you see that the isometric tiles seem to have gone? The screenshots looked more as if they were drawn in a kind of central perspective...