New Barry Caudill Interview

[Locutus]

A very interesting interview with Barry Caudill was posted on the Spanish website HardGame.

http://www.hardgame.net/index.php?zone=news&mod=noticia&id=18270&id_ficha=0

Some highlights:

- A key design principle for Civ4 is accessibility: "We are trying to make this the most accessible version of Civ ever. We are doing this by including tons of tool tips and popup help. We are also working on a really top notch tutorial for new players. In addition, we are trying to eliminate micro-management for its own sake in the form of chasing pollution or managing corruption in individual cities. Accessibility will even extend to the mod community as they will have a level of control that was previously impossible in other Civ titles."

- Civ4 will probably ship with a few scenarios to show off the modding capabilities of the game.

- The maps in Civ4 will be somewhat smaller than in Civ3

Some minor new stuff too, that I'll update the Information section with momentarily.

[alva]

Thanks

[asleepathewheel]

cool

I wonder what the max size for a modded world is...

[Vince278]

I would be disappointed by anything under 1000x1000.

[Robert]

I don't really care about smaller maps. The cIIIv ones always were huuuuge anyway. A little less huge will still be huge!

[Modo44]

Originally posted by CyberShy
A little less huge will still be huge!

You obviously do not understand the principle. Nothing is huge enough.

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Modo44
You obviously do not understand the principle. Nothing is huge enough.

[Robert]

Originally posted by Modo44

You obviously do not understand the principle. Nothing is huge enough.

I'm nog a man of principles
principles are for those without ideals

[Adagio]

Small maps can be fun too. I played a lot of great games on the smallest map with as many Civs as possible

[Nikolai]

It seems like the new AI will cheat, but not ass much as the Civ3 one:

Civilization III had a very advanced AI but many people felt that it “cheated” a bit too much. For many reasons, the AI has to have some bonuses to keep it competitive, especially at higher levels, but Soren Johnson (lead designer/programmer on Civ IV) has taken the criticism to heart and will be spending most of our remaining development time making sure this game has the best Civ AI ever.

Oh, and he mentioned Apolyton.

And, it will be possible to make events!

People having a higher comfort level with programming will be able to add scripted events and such to their mod or scenario.

This made me wonder:

I believe there are several “smaller” versions of Civ in the works already. I know of one for the N-Gage and some regular cell-phone versions as well. I think the power of the PSP and the touch control of the DS could easily make them places where Civ could thrive.

[GeoModder]

Originally posted by Adagio
Small maps can be fun too. I played a lot of great games on the smallest map with as many Civs as possible

Small(er) map(s) are the best, it is the real test of time.

[Unspeakable Horror]

Eventis

Better AI

Firaxis made scenarios Scenarios

Smaller maps (Hopefuly this will be modable too, or else... )

[GeoModder]

Com'on, where's your sense of adventure? Never heard of the one city challenge?
But according to the interview, the max mapsize will be smaller due to 3D limitations on system resources and/or the engine itself.

[Unspeakable Horror]

Bah, 3d

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by GeoModder
But according to the interview, the max mapsize will be smaller due to 3D limitations on system resources and/or the engine itself.

Indeed it says so. But I guess we'll be able to correct that if we want with the new modding possibilites.