Your Worst Fear for Civ 4 (The Negativity Post)

[TimeTraveler]

I think my worst fear would be that some people wouldn't be able to run Python, thus disabling them from modding Civ4.

[Dis]

Originally posted by hexagonian
Better and more stable computers.

mine never crashes since I started running Windows XP.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
My worst fear for this thread is that I'll have to read the rantings of Mac zealots thanks to Dis's post.

AAAAARGH, TOO LATE!

sorry, I couldn't resist. I think this thread has run it's course. But maybe not. There may still be some good posts to come. We'll see...

[Aro]

Originally posted by Dis


mine never crashes since I started running Windows XP.

Same here. Five computers (2 notebooks Dell and three workstations), all running XP pro AND civ III

[Darkstar]

Humm. It seems that according to diablovision, the reason why to buy a Mac is that it isn't a Mac anymore.

[Dis]

Actually I do have games crash on me. I'm curious how often games crash on Mac users. Do Mac users have games that don't have any bugs? If so, then I might consider switching.

Civ3 has never been a problem for me. At least in terms of CTD problems. But other games such as Morrowind...

That may be a problem more with windows, than PC in general. Though they kind of go hand in hand. At least if you want to play games.

[Solver]

I don't think it's worth to switch to Mac for gaming. There are tons of games never released for macs, and most that do get released have a delay.

[Darkstar]

Dis, all significant games have bugs. Just as all significant applications have bugs. Switching to the Mac just gives you a chance to have different bugs in your games then what the PC users get.

[Adm.Naismith]

Originally posted by Darkstar
Dis, all significant games have bugs. Just as all significant applications have bugs. Switching to the Mac just gives you a chance to have different bugs in your games then what the PC users get.

Yes, there are bugs in software. It's not a divine law, but a compromise between quality and profitability.

Still, there are plattforms where a bug can collapse the whole system, others - more solid - where damages are limited to the offending code.

We also should consider how complex and difficult is a developing environment - ready and tested library, well managed system events, etc. Sometime a platform (e.g. Apple OS X, Nintendo) can do a better quality job than another, more famous and used one (e.g. MS Win, Sony PS2).

Support from developers is more a fact of available market than technical consideration, IMHO. Sometime this state of things is a pity.

[Spiffor]

My worst fear is with diplomacy.

From the diplomatic screens we saw, it seems that you can "trade anything for anything" like you could in SMAC or Civ3. When the demo showed a tech-trade being initiated, you could only haggle with techs and cash. When the demo switched to a resource-trade, you could only haggle with resources and cash.

I really hope it was a glitch in the demo, and not a feature. The diplomatic complexity was one of the best thing in SMAC and Civ3, and I really don't want a step back to Civ1&2

[Darkstar]

We do a lot of multi-platform work around here. After a few years in that stew, trying to squeeze out support from OS vendors and their associated leeches, most of our devs turn into serious M$ owned people. Even the majority of our starting Apple and Linux devotees end up swapping religions. The fact is that its a lot easier to get support from the Evilest Empire then from any other commercial vendor we've ever dealt with.

From a serious business point of view, that's what matters. In business, everyone is evil, despite the spinning otherwise.

As for "some platforms are better then others"... not true. You can crush any OS with just a bug or two. There are only a few markets that have a significant mass of code created for it. Those markets bugs are better known because of that. More people using something, more bugs known. Even the tightest code has holes and bugs, and if you have enough people using that system, they'll expose them. Indeed, if enough money is sloshing through and OS, some people will chase that money, trying to find new holes and bugs to reach it.

That's a fact of life. It doesn't matter what the name on the OS is.

As far as apps go, games are the buggiest apps there are. Most don't do sequels and do not have significant life spans, so the code base only gets the one pass through and very little support to begin with. Madden has a lot less bugs in it after its 18 generations then Moon Commander or SMAC.

[Solver]

Originally posted by Spiffor
My worst fear is with diplomacy.

From the diplomatic screens we saw, it seems that you can "trade anything for anything" like you could in SMAC or Civ3. When the demo showed a tech-trade being initiated, you could only haggle with techs and cash. When the demo switched to a resource-trade, you could only haggle with resources and cash.

I really hope it was a glitch in the demo, and not a feature. The diplomatic complexity was one of the best thing in SMAC and Civ3, and I really don't want a step back to Civ1&2

Diplomacy was a huge problem in Civ3. You could sell your techs to the AIs for ALL of AI income. So you'd run at 100% tech rate, and get all the AI money through GPT deals. And you'd be able to sell them your World Map every few turns for gold.

On higher difficulties, you could just run 0% research and buy the techs until you were ready to start your own research. Besides, the Civ3 AIs never had any loyalty. You could buy them for an alliance, you could cheer them up with worthless gifts.

I'm, quite on the contrary, hoping that Civ4 diplomacy gets sufficiently changed - like the AI having loyalties, and actually thinking about what's good for themselves and not giving you all their money.

[Addled Platypus]

While reviewing an "old" video clip

the war elephants make nioses....

this will get irratating after a short while

[Solver]

Civ3 units also made sounds. And I don't think a 2005 game can come out without the option to turn sounds off.

[Dis]

Originally posted by Platypus Rex
While reviewing an "old" video clip

the war elephants make nioses....

this will get irratating after a short while

noises