Comments on new graphics.

[Lord Raven]

I guess it's when the scenarios start to come out we really see what we have gotten for our money.

It seems there are several people out there making scenarios at the moment. So i guess when they start to come out we will really see the potentian of this upgraded game.

[Moltke]

I really can't see the furor over the graphics. I can play just fine. The few times I needed another look, one zoom does the trick.

------------------
Jim Cobb

[Carolus Rex]

Which settings do you use (map zoom, screen resolution, animations turned off etc)?

Carolus

[My Wife Hates CIV]

anyone who wants ToT just send me a box with postage paid.

where are all the microprose people?? dont see them around much anymore. off spending all our money i bet. enjoy it now MP... it might be your last time.

[Cam]

I don't know why I'm so surprised, because every time one of these products comes out, there's a revolutionary force that springs up saying that "this is crap". Usually, "it's not as good as Civ2" - well this one is Civ2 with enhancements, and there's still whining.

I'm with Dracon on this - I think the graphics are a vast improvement with a few exceptions...

While I have no problem with the graphics on the main screen, identifying units in the city-view screen is poor - especially when they are in sleep/board-next-ship mode.

The units do not sit on the square that they are occupying, but often the one immediately above. I've moved units in the wrong direction because of this. Easy to fix for sure.

The tribe colours are confusing when looking at the health bar, but I acknowledge that the designers have tried to incorporate the tribe colour in many units. Despite the explanations in the above posts, this is still surprising.

I don't like the new city view (as I didn't with CtP) - the traditional Civ2 one is still clearer. Why does one have to cycle through sub-menus to find out what's going on?

Almost needless to say again, but I too miss some of the video footage such as the WoW movies and the animated heralds. Why Microprose seems to think it's imperative to have only one CD-ROM is still a mystery. When we're paying Aust $80 for the game, surely cost wouldn't be a factor? Why isn't there an 'installation' disk and a 'playing' disk?

I'm sorry 'MWHC' - but I don't share your view, and would gladly send you the box and postage, except I have my own. I think the Midgard scenario is really engaging, and I've yet to roll up my sleeves and get into scenario development yet - but I'm looking forward to it one day soon. I'm sorry for you though that you feel ripped off - I've been there with plenty of other games, but not this one.

Perhaps I'd like to have seen some scenario editors (that work), and perhaps a sprite library for scenario developers to use.

[My Wife Hates CIV]

I see your points. I think they just went overboard on graphics. I like the globe map at the top now, thats cool. the mulitple maps are neat. CIV II graphics are also great - why change a good thing. They needed to add more game play. now, some here say that that is what CIV III is for. That's fine, but why does mircoprose charge $50 for a CIV II senario (which is all ToT is IMHO).

I still feel like I've been taken for a ride.

[Dracon]

So you don't like the city view? toggle it back to the traditional civ2 city screen. You can do that. And you can also make the top info bar turn back into the traditional civ2 info bar on the side. They're menu options!

[gambler]

To Rusty Nail
To change terrain, I changed the file terrain1.bmp (after I saved the original...) with Paint Shop Pro, importing the terrain from terrain1.gif of the original Civ2, just Cut and Paste the right terrains in their right position. For Terrain2.bmp, I simply converted the Terrian2.gif to bmp and it works well.
For Units, I'm using the St.Leo Modpack. You can download it from another thread of this forum.
Since I copied the file in the Original directory, they adffects only Original Game and Extended game. They don't interfere with SCiFi And Fantasy games.

[yh30264]

The more I read about the graphics issue, the more I feel that we don't all seem to have got the same game.

It is extraordinary how different the views are between people. Some people have no problems with the colours.. other people do

I don't believe this is down to hardware, as I have tried this on 3 different systems (IBM, AMD and Compaq), and get the same poor graphics.

If there are any microprose people reading these messages, perhaps they can answer:

1. Have they shipped out slightly different versions of ToT to different parts of the world.
2. Are there any groups of graphic cards, that would not work well with the ToT screens.
3. And if they are really honest... did they notice this problem but didn't think it mattered!!!!!!!!!!!

regards,

Glenn

[Cam]

Dracon,

Errr - thanks for the tip (red face, red face) - I hadn't realised it was there. Why did they choose to make the other the default I wonder?
[This message has been edited by Cam (edited September 20, 1999).]

[Dracon]

I don't mind the city screen, but I've got the info and map screen in the original civ2 position. I guess Microprose were trying to be different

[John Possidente]

Hi, everybody. Sorry I haven't been here, but I took a vacation to deal with that hurricane (we're in Maryland).

We made the new interface bits the defaults just because they were new. If we had left the old ones as the defaults, chances are that the reviewers and most players wouldn't have even noticed that there were new ones. This way, we thought, we can show off what we've added, plus let anyone who doesn't prefer the new to easily revert to the old.

And speaking of easily reverting to the old, I'm sorry that not everyone likes the new graphics. We have not made any efforts in the patch to make it easier to revert to the Civ2 graphics, but if I remember right, there's already a mod available here in Apolyton that does that. I'm glad someone did it, to help make those who are unhappy with the game happier. As I've mentioned elsewhere, we honestly thought that we were making the graphics better, richer, and more detailed--without losing any information. Maybe we didn't get it right. I have no problem telling what units are whose, but I've been playing the game for quite a while now. As it did with the original Civ2 (and every other game I've ever played), it took me a little while to get used to the way information was presented. Once I did, though, it became second nature. I'm not suggesting that it will be that way for everyone, but I can hope...

[DarthVeda]

No, the City flag icon controls the unit indicator color, the map indicator color, and of course, its own flag color. There is 1/2 bars above the flag that also do something (but I forget what). The artists that worked on the flags obviously forgot their effects on the units.

[Sarxis]

I think the graphics for ToT are fine, at least for a turn-based strategy game. I tried the new graphics mod that is floating around here and didn't care for it because it was too bright. Of course, this is all my own opinion, but I do applaud the developing team on their fine work.

[gambler]

yh30264, probably you are right.
There are two group of people with different point of view.
"De gustibus non est disputandum".

But just to show how TOT shows on my PC, I published a screen-shot at the following URL:
http://www.webcentric.interbusiness....all/image2.jpg

And now let me know if for you it is easy to distinguish between Persian, Babylonian an Aztec settlers...