When is the patch coming out?

[Akaoz]

I’m sorry if this has been asked a million times before but, does anyone have any idea when we will see the first patch for Civ3?

-Alech

[genghisvick]

Re: When is the patch coming out?

Originally posted by Akaoz
I’m sorry if this has been asked a million times before but, does anyone have any idea when we will see the first patch for Civ3?

-Alech

it better be out soon!

[Rasbelin]

No one on ACS apparently knows it.

Let's see if Dan the Great of Firaxis has something tell us next time his online...

[ScottVib]

Read the Soren Johnson Chat Transcript some things have been revealed about the patch in that... Also Jef Morris posted some information on it.

This comes right out of the chat transcript:

[ACS_MarkG] let's get the upgrades/patches question out of the way no
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] cultural acquisition of cities does not make the AI get mad b/c
[ACS_MarkG] Soren, what decisions are there right now for the patches?
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] it is not really directly under the user's control (unlike capturing a city) * nidz-onehalf would like to ask a rather silly, but fun-to-know question
[Jannekorv] ok, thats the only way I aquire cities so
[connorkimbro] Soren_Johnson_Firaxis: i've noticed that alot of times, the AI seems to really like to share techs with other AI civs. . but not with the player. It's almost as if, diplomatically, they're ganging up on the player. Is that intentional?
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] oh sorry... we are working on a patch and it will address bugs and interface issues first as well as a few balance and AI holes...
[ACS_MarkG] upgrade on the editor?
[Mark13] Any hint of a release date?
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] ...sorry, I can't be too specific b/c we don't want to promise anything until it gets through testing...
[ACS_MarkG] Ok, thanks
[Misfire] ?
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] the editory will be upgraded soon although I am not sure if it will be in the first patch...
[SamSmithnz] But we're talking before christmas for the patch right?
[ACS_MarkG] thechief, please ask
[TheChief] Is simple trespassing enough of an excuse to start a war with an AI player without losing points with other AI players. In other words, I don't want to ruin my reputation in the long run to win by the UN vote.
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] yes, before X-mas
[ACS_MarkG] yes, sam, Jeff Morris mentioned "end of month"(this month).

Hope this helps...

[Akaoz]

That does help, thanx...

Maybe I should read that transcript...

-Alech

[genghisvick]

Originally posted by ScottVib
Read the Soren Johnson Chat Transcript some things have been revealed about the patch in that... Also Jef Morris posted some information on it.

This comes right out of the chat transcript:

[ACS_MarkG] let's get the upgrades/patches question out of the way no
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] cultural acquisition of cities does not make the AI get mad b/c
[ACS_MarkG] Soren, what decisions are there right now for the patches?
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] it is not really directly under the user's control (unlike capturing a city) * nidz-onehalf would like to ask a rather silly, but fun-to-know question
[Jannekorv] ok, thats the only way I aquire cities so
[connorkimbro] Soren_Johnson_Firaxis: i've noticed that alot of times, the AI seems to really like to share techs with other AI civs. . but not with the player. It's almost as if, diplomatically, they're ganging up on the player. Is that intentional?
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] oh sorry... we are working on a patch and it will address bugs and interface issues first as well as a few balance and AI holes...
[ACS_MarkG] upgrade on the editor?
[Mark13] Any hint of a release date?
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] ...sorry, I can't be too specific b/c we don't want to promise anything until it gets through testing...
[ACS_MarkG] Ok, thanks
[Misfire] ?
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] the editory will be upgraded soon although I am not sure if it will be in the first patch...
[SamSmithnz] But we're talking before christmas for the patch right?
[ACS_MarkG] thechief, please ask
[TheChief] Is simple trespassing enough of an excuse to start a war with an AI player without losing points with other AI players. In other words, I don't want to ruin my reputation in the long run to win by the UN vote.
[Soren_Johnson_Firaxis] yes, before X-mas
[ACS_MarkG] yes, sam, Jeff Morris mentioned "end of month"(this month).

Hope this helps...

Thanks dude!

[Deathwalker]

Dont worry when they come up with a way to make us pay for patches then there speed one out

[Th0mas]

Back-off DW...

Originally posted by Deathwalker
Dont worry when they come up with a way to make us pay for patches then there speed one out

Hey..DW..Calm down

If you are a Software Developer as your profile states then you will be well aware that patching released or productionised code is fraught with issues!

...The last thing that Fraxis or the Civ community wants is for a patch to be rushed out which causes more problems than it fixes or seriously unbalances the gameplay.

The last point is especially important, as many people are complaining about the level of corruption and demanding that it gets fixed in the 'next patch'

- however the corruption levels have a profound effect on many aspects of the game model. ie. rates of taxation and therefore science production - limitations on Civ expansion..etc. The AI would have been tweaked to play optimally against these settings.. therefore a patch will need to have some thorough game testing...

I am sure you would be the first one to complain if they released a patch that made the game unplayable...

Finally Your beef about releasing MP is a separate issue (which is where I think your anger comes from)...
Patching is about fixing something that is not working and therefore is the responsibility of FRAXIS ...releasing a CIV III Gold version is a marketing and new development issue and is the responsiliblity of INFOGRAMES.

[bahoo]

Re: Back-off DW...

Originally posted by Th0mas
...The last thing that Fraxis or the Civ community wants is for a patch to be rushed out which causes more problems than it fixes or seriously unbalances the gameplay.

Maybe they should have thought of that before they released the GAME.

All I want is a patch to fix air superiority, how friggin' hard could that be to make?!

[Th0mas]

Re: Re: Back-off DW...

Originally posted by bahoo

Maybe they should have thought of that before they released the GAME.

Well why bother developing CIV III in the first place..Why bother posting on this forum... why bother breathing...What's the point of it all.

Duuuhhhh.

Originally posted by bahoo
All I want is a patch to fix air superiority, how friggin' hard could that be to make?!

....Take it from me it is not a simple exercise, so please don't be so quick to critise until you are more conversant with the facts.

On a less flippant note:

It is better to release a patch that contains a number of fixes that have been tested and game balanced than release multiple patches for minor changes (you can end up with a version control nightmare...one patch undoing the fixes of another)

[FALVES]

That's all bollocks!
I know some few good games that never had patches released. Why? Because their developers took extra precauton to assure that the product they where releasing was a COMPLETE product.
In a perfect gaming world, there would be no need for patches, so I gess we're a long way from that.

[gromp]

FALVES: Could you please give a few examples ? (Just curious ...)

[scientific civ]

i just dont understand y they tested the game over and over again an just didnt c that that the corruption was beyond 'a minor problem'. they'd better fix it. i cant play huge map this way!!

[Th0mas]

Cor"£*upt&ion...

I don't believe the corruption settings were a 'bug' per say, but rather a game balancing feature.

I am not sure yet whether I think the levels of corruption are a good thing or not.

What I do know is that Sid designs his games to maximise the number of interesting choices a player has to make. In my humble opinion the curruption adds further elements of choice to the overal CIV game concept (above what was done in CIV II).

However currently there is no way to combat corruption, which goes against Sid's design premis (e.g. choice: do I biuld defensive units in my colony VS an anti-corruption aministration centre)

With the correct (game balanced) anti-corruption measures, I think the current levels of corruption in CIV III are a very good feature.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FALVES...apart from Air superiority and some diplo/trading bugs, the majority of bugs are hardware/performance issues. I too would like some examples of modern (popular - important or the developers won't bother to fix faults) games that have not needed patches.

[Fredric Drum]

Originally posted by scientific civ
i just dont understand y they tested the game over and over again an just didnt c that that the corruption was beyond 'a minor problem'. they'd better fix it. i cant play huge map this way!!

I can't play a TINY map!

Even the next island has every shield minus one wasted.. courthouse has some effect, though.
I wanted a forbidden palace, but it took 300 turns to complete... with courthouse, it's "only" 150.

Fred