Massive Single Player scenario

[vovan]

Originally posted by MrFun
I'm not sure any personal computer is capable of running a game smoothly with a truly GIGANTIC map with 18 civilizations.

Unless you have the latest, most powerful personal computer on the market right now and you buy a new computer every four months.

Actually... I wonder...

I forget the details, but wasn't there some strategy game (Civ3 even maybe?) that would check your system specs, and depending on it would dumb the AI down on weaker computers, so the turns don't take that long.

[Kuciwalker]

What you're thinking of is GalCiv. It didn't actually do quite what you mentioned; what GalCiv did was detect whether your processor had hyperthreading and, if it did, ran AI algorithms in the background while you played your turn.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Son of moose
MrFun:
Indeed, it might well prove rather tricky right now even with a 3.0Ghz processor and 1.0 GB of memory. However, in two or three years time, it could well be an entirely different matter (remember Moore's Law). After all, CTP2 is now about 5 years old and was built with this massive extra capacity ....

And five years later, that capacity still probably isn't usable.

[MrFun]

Son of Moose, I was going to reply on my own, but Kuci beat me to it.

[FrostyBoy]

Actually its not the memory or the processing that will be the major concern.

This game will be relying on your gfx cards memory. I did some calculations and I think you would need a 128mb gfx card to run it smoothly.

64mb gfx card would run it ok, but not for long I assume.


Btw, it does not matter how big the map is; you only need to get the graphics loaded into memory. It only becomes a problem when there are a LOT of graphics to load. This shouldn't be a problem with the 3D engine however.

[Kuciwalker]

It's not just the map though. It's the AI too. IIRC the cost (in processing time) of intelligent AI unit control increases exponentially with map size.

[MrFun]

That is true, Kuci.

Which is why when I play Civ 3 with my mod version, I do not allow for the maximum number of civilizations on my version of a huge map.

[Vince278]

I'd love to play the ridiculously ultra-gigantic map with all of the civs and no limits to cities (or anything) but even something with the horsepower of IBM's Deep Blue would get tied in knots.

[Son of moose]

I'd love to play the ridiculously ultra-gigantic map with all of the civs and no limits to cities (or anything) but even something with the horsepower of IBM's Deep Blue would get tied in knots.

Yes .... that would possibly seem to be the penalty for using such ambitious maps. [At least Deep Blue beat Gary Kasperov .... but not Sid Meier ].

However, it would be great if this option (of designing a "ridiculously ultra-gigantic map") were at least made available to the community.

[Kataphraktoi]

i never played on anything bigger than 120x on civ3,the 250x250 was so big that even with all civs,there was so much space and so little fighting,it was a snore fest(world map)

how many civs would you have on a map this big,500? and why would managing thousands of citys and billions of units be any fun? just be a constant clickfest....if you want that why dont you play some rpg's ?

[Son of moose]

Cataphract887

I would envisage a fair amount of impassable mountain terrain in my proposed megascenario .... so that it would actually be a fairly tactical map with plenty of exploration involved.

Consequently, there would not necessarily have to be quite so many civs (especially), cities and units. Nevertheless, it would potentially represent a major challenge trying to build up a large number of cities and a massive number of units (hopefully most of the military units could be successfully "fortified" in order to prevent the type of "clickfest" that you highlight). [I am certainly not a keen RPG player .... but rather a CB (City Builder) fan who would like to combine some serious city (and empire) building along with some expansionist military-related activity (i.e. the "Builder-Warrior")].

It seems that Civ 4 should possibly reward this "Builder-Warrior" (as opposed to the pure warrior) philosophy with ones individual city structures becoming clearly visible on the game map. I am an eminently patient person and don't mind the quieter periods between the occasional major battle (as opposed to a skirmish) where one can successfully build up ones cities, resources, technologies and (of course) military might. These large battles are the eagerly anticipated reward for such a prolonged and thorough build up ..... therefore I certainly do not have the instant gratification in mind that most RPG players desire.

[Kataphraktoi]

I would envisage a fair amount of impassable mountain terrain in my proposed megascenario .... so that it would actually be a fairly tactical map with plenty of exploration involved.

the actual idea sounds good,but unless cIV was designed with this in mind,i doubt it would have any chance at being good. depending on how strong the editing ability is, it might bo doable here though

the other civ games havnt been much for tactics,besides economics

[Kuciwalker]

I just envision hours of MM.

[Son of moose]

Cataphract887

depending on how strong the editing ability is, it might bo doable here though

Yes .... I certainly think that this type of megascenario would most definitely require some form of modder intervention in order to promote its playability.

Such innovative mods would hopefully succeed in reducing some of the potential monotony involved .... possibly including some of the more tedious micro-management-related aspects.

In many respects, mainly from the building perspective, some degree of extra micro-management might not necessarily be such a bad thing. It might actually be an extremely rewarding experience (for the hardcore CB fans at least .... several of whom were somewhat disappointed by TM's Children of the Nile) to be able to develop several (perhaps even several hundred if the player so desires) interlinked cities that can grow separately and independently of one another. This, in addition to the coherent diplomatic and military model provided by the Civ franchise, could lead to a truly beautiful gameplay experience.

[Hence my suggestion (in my "other" thread) for modders to work together under the banner of the Apolyton forum in order to create additional structures and resources for Civ 4. Each one of these additional structures and/or resources would naturally possess an important strategic purpose].

[Paddy]

Originally posted by Sn00py
Actually its not the memory or the processing that will be the major concern.

This game will be relying on your gfx cards memory. I did some calculations and I think you would need a 128mb gfx card to run it smoothly.

64mb gfx card would run it ok, but not for long I assume.


Btw, it does not matter how big the map is; you only need to get the graphics loaded into memory. It only becomes a problem when there are a LOT of graphics to load. This shouldn't be a problem with the 3D engine however.

tx for this