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Hmmm... Where to start..
The things that worked best (at least in theory) in this game were many of the 'new' additions and not just because they were new.
Factions: better then more or less Equal 'countries'
SE: instead of 1 SE you get to choose a combination of up to 4
Design Workshop: Awesome.. but.. needs work on the UI
Planet as a player: Nice Idea, but needed just a bit more here
Blind Research: Excellent, adds suppense and makes each game more different then shooting up the same 'beeline' every game: directable but not predictable
Borders: Awesome
Diplomicy: see Borders
Automatic Trading: See Diplomicy
The overall 'Dark' feel of the game, This fro me is the biggest thing that makes the game 'feel' distinct from Civ.
Grips:
BUGS!! BUGS!! BUGS!! BUGS!! I get the feeling no one at Firaxis plays this game or else they would have caught most of these.
Music: while it is ok.. could have stood a little more substance
AI: If it's not the Civ engine it's a cut and paste replica. While it is a...'ok' engine I get the feeling it wasn't written for this game, that Firaxis used the Civ engine then 'added-on' the new features, seems to have resulted in a patchwork code that probably drives them crazy when they try to work with it. To paraphrase a Firaxis employee (sorry don't remember who said this) "We didn't change the terraforming code for SMACX because it was too fragile"
Map elevation; Minor Grip: I actually like the way it is implimented; however, to look at the map it don't look like a 'planet' the hills and valley on the game map are continent size in extent. Whole mountian ranges are displayied by a single 'hill' Gives the feel of a tactical map on a MUCH smaller scale.
Graphics: While most of it looks fine; I get the impression they weren't sure on what kind of graphics they wanted the settle on, leading to a graphics hodgepodge. However, the different weapon/armor/ability on multiple chassis is a great idea.
Overall: I feel the whole project was rushed and it shows, this is HOPEFULLY the result of this being one of Firaxis' first products and they were looking for some initial cash to give them a firm footing, Hopefully this problem will now correct itself.
Others:
The Tech Tree: Awesome job! However, since the game is basically substituting in 'Civ units' it can give the impression that was expressed by Vanguard.
City State/National: They stuck with the Civ code. The actual City State works fine for this kind of game IF they had good Auto-Govenors for the late game. Realistically, (whatever that means for a Sci-Fi game) it's not the most accurate, some things would still need to be 'city-based' while others would be 'nation-based' An example of city-based would be reseach in most circumstances. You can't do cutting edge research unless you have access to the proper equipment. (I COULD figure out the Theory of Everything.. but I need a supercollider and it not here, it's in big city#4) Nation-based could work for things like support of units. On the otherhand.,, Why can all your cities build Behemoth Deathspheres? the facilities to make these could 'realistically' only be found in one of 2 bases.
As far as support at a distant: too small a detail for an 'epic' game
Workers in the Fields: Don't think of them as actually working the land, its a general representation.. they could just as easlily be plugging away at the Datalinks or toiling in a factory, but are somewhat limited by 'locally, economically feasable, accessable resources' it's not a far strech from real life. (You build cars in Detroit partly because it is near large Iron deposits)
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"Power does not corrupt; it merely attracts the corruptable"
[This message has been edited by Bblue (edited February 03, 2000).]
The things that worked best (at least in theory) in this game were many of the 'new' additions and not just because they were new.
Factions: better then more or less Equal 'countries'
SE: instead of 1 SE you get to choose a combination of up to 4
Design Workshop: Awesome.. but.. needs work on the UI
Planet as a player: Nice Idea, but needed just a bit more here
Blind Research: Excellent, adds suppense and makes each game more different then shooting up the same 'beeline' every game: directable but not predictable
Borders: Awesome
Diplomicy: see Borders
Automatic Trading: See Diplomicy
The overall 'Dark' feel of the game, This fro me is the biggest thing that makes the game 'feel' distinct from Civ.
Grips:
BUGS!! BUGS!! BUGS!! BUGS!! I get the feeling no one at Firaxis plays this game or else they would have caught most of these.
Music: while it is ok.. could have stood a little more substance
AI: If it's not the Civ engine it's a cut and paste replica. While it is a...'ok' engine I get the feeling it wasn't written for this game, that Firaxis used the Civ engine then 'added-on' the new features, seems to have resulted in a patchwork code that probably drives them crazy when they try to work with it. To paraphrase a Firaxis employee (sorry don't remember who said this) "We didn't change the terraforming code for SMACX because it was too fragile"
Map elevation; Minor Grip: I actually like the way it is implimented; however, to look at the map it don't look like a 'planet' the hills and valley on the game map are continent size in extent. Whole mountian ranges are displayied by a single 'hill' Gives the feel of a tactical map on a MUCH smaller scale.
Graphics: While most of it looks fine; I get the impression they weren't sure on what kind of graphics they wanted the settle on, leading to a graphics hodgepodge. However, the different weapon/armor/ability on multiple chassis is a great idea.
Overall: I feel the whole project was rushed and it shows, this is HOPEFULLY the result of this being one of Firaxis' first products and they were looking for some initial cash to give them a firm footing, Hopefully this problem will now correct itself.
Others:
The Tech Tree: Awesome job! However, since the game is basically substituting in 'Civ units' it can give the impression that was expressed by Vanguard.
City State/National: They stuck with the Civ code. The actual City State works fine for this kind of game IF they had good Auto-Govenors for the late game. Realistically, (whatever that means for a Sci-Fi game) it's not the most accurate, some things would still need to be 'city-based' while others would be 'nation-based' An example of city-based would be reseach in most circumstances. You can't do cutting edge research unless you have access to the proper equipment. (I COULD figure out the Theory of Everything.. but I need a supercollider and it not here, it's in big city#4) Nation-based could work for things like support of units. On the otherhand.,, Why can all your cities build Behemoth Deathspheres? the facilities to make these could 'realistically' only be found in one of 2 bases.
As far as support at a distant: too small a detail for an 'epic' game
Workers in the Fields: Don't think of them as actually working the land, its a general representation.. they could just as easlily be plugging away at the Datalinks or toiling in a factory, but are somewhat limited by 'locally, economically feasable, accessable resources' it's not a far strech from real life. (You build cars in Detroit partly because it is near large Iron deposits)
------------------
"Power does not corrupt; it merely attracts the corruptable"
[This message has been edited by Bblue (edited February 03, 2000).]
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