The game's understanding of geography

[johnmcd]

Originally posted by commando007
what i think could be interesting for map generation in the first place is if the terain creation was driven by simulated geological forces. if the map was divided into continental plates, then continental drift was simulated, folowed by errosion and so on, you would get a better more realistic map. then it's just a matter of placing civs in logical positions.

I'd also like this, it would be great if on building Oxford or something you got an animation of your world's development to its current state too. A little like the replay at the end of the game, but for the last six billion years, not the last six thousand.

[snoopy369]

Some maps actually do have some (basic) simulated geological forces. Read through the python sometime...

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Krill
[q=Snoop]Particularly functionally; you can argue with the rules and balance all you want, but the game was functionally built with MP at the forefront.

Now if only they wouldn't have used GameSpy as the matchmaker, and instead spent more time making TCP/IP work properly... [/q]

I think those two sentances are contradictory...

The internal mechanics of the game were design from the ground up with MP in mind (it was playable as a MP game before as an SP game in early alpha builds). The connection to Gamespy was a later thing

[Krill]

If CiV doesn't **** about with ****ty systems like gamespy and has MP as smooth as WiC then I'll be very happy. I may have cause to be very unhappy for other though.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Ming


Actually, rivers do drive trade... you can connect cities by rivers without roads and share resources within your empire, and they also open up trade with other civs while also helping the spread of religion

Yes but it's very limited compared to the role they played in real history. There's a reason why most of the biggest European cities are located on a river. It acted as a highway for the entire region, bringing in trade and goods, providing a very early incentive to growth. That's not really represented very well by the current system. One possibility might be to have Markets and other buildings only buildable in river cities until a certain time period or tech.

[snoopy369]

I think that would be very bad for gameplay, as it would limit city placement overmuch. It's interesting for a historical simulator, but too far in-depth for Civ.

[Willem]

Originally posted by snoopy369
I think that would be very bad for gameplay, as it would limit city placement overmuch. It's interesting for a historical simulator, but too far in-depth for Civ.

I agree it might be too limiting for the normal buildings, but there's always the possibility of a special building that eventually becomes obsolete. Like with Engineering when overland travel is easier to accomplish.

This thread has been very interesting for me. I've been trying to add the Agora building from one of the Warlord's scenarios but I haven't really found a good use for it. Now I do.

[Blake]

Originally posted by commando007
what i think could be interesting for map generation in the first place is if the terain creation was driven by simulated geological forces. if the map was divided into continental plates, then continental drift was simulated, folowed by errosion and so on, you would get a better more realistic map. then it's just a matter of placing civs in logical positions.

I actually made a tectonic plate simulator once. It actually generated pretty good landmasses. But I never got around to erosion and such. I didn't spend more than a few hours on it.

The source code is long gone.

[Unimatrix11]

"uhem, well, yeah, i programmed a tectonic simulator once on that boring afternoon, but soon thereafter lost the code. Well, i am not even mad about it, cause it´s no big deal..."

GOSH ! You got me in one envious rage, Blake ! Gimme Your brain !!

[Blaupanzer]

Originally posted by Unimatrix11
"uhem, well, yeah, i programmed a tectonic simulator once on that boring afternoon, but soon thereafter lost the code. Well, i am not even mad about it, cause it´s no big deal..."

GOSH ! You got me in one envious rage, Blake ! Gimme Your brain !!

Blake will have to be sacrificed and his brain divided between us! Who else builds tectonic simulators and then lets the code drift away?

The whole AI, when aggressive AI is turned on, is so superior to all previous games, it's a whole different game. Go Blake. Even if you do show off from time to time.