Do you think consumers would benefit if Firaxis and Activision collaborated on Civ4?

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Both Civilization III and Call To Power II have their pros and cons. But what if Firaxis and Activision collaborated their ideas and developed a Civilization IV game that has elements from both of these two previous games. And even added a little bit more of their own magic to bring the game to life! What then? Do you think consumers would benefit? Do you think they could really make "the greatest game of all time?"

Exercise your right to vote!

[Dis]

I thought they collaborated for civ3?

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Originally posted by Dissident
I thought they collaborated for civ3?

Uh, nooooooooooooo.

[ixnay]

It'd probably be good. Mabye not great, but good at the least.

[star mouse]

So what features do you think would combine the best of both games?

From CTP2:
* Terrain variety - desert mountains and so forth. Or at least give us desert hills so we can have hills in the desert that don't produce food.

* Armies.

* Combat.

From CIV3:
* Diplomacy.

* Strategic Resources.

* CIV3 Food / Commerce / Shield system (because it's not opaque like the CTP2 system).

* Managing the tiles that individual citizens work in the city radius.

New features:
* Hex Map - As a gamer, I hate the inconsistencies that square maps must introduce when simulating a circle. We're most of the way there already with the isometric map. Why not finish the job?

* Better tech tree. Techs having a maximum of 2 prerequisites is too limiting and makes the CIV3 kludge of "eras" necessary. An ideal tech tree would allow a player to research what they wanted at any time, but the prerequisites should make impossible such absurdities as researching Flight before researching the Wheel. Each tech should have up to 6 prerequisites.

* New trade system. Bring back Caravans! I would make them cost 20 shields, but have a pure trade role (no wonder construction). To trade between two cities, connect them with a Caravan to create a trade route. You can build up a trade network this way. Enemy troops can disrupt the trade route if they can get on it. To trade with another civ, they must be sent there.

[Coracle]

I waited over five years for a Civ III that is a big disappointment. Within a month after it was released people started hoping for Civ4 (tells you how good Civ III is).

I really don't feel inclined to eagerly wait another five years for another bomb.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

What's in it for a name?

I have an idea as to what to name the new game. Instead of naming it Civilization IV how about something like this:

ULTIMATE CIVILIZATION

THAT NAME ROCKS!!!

[Deathwalker]

Personaly the next Civ type game I would like to see in development would be CTP3

[ravagon]

That'd be like adding vinegar to sawdust with the expectation of producing chocolate fudge ...

[Locutus]

First of all, if anything should be fixed to create a better game than Civ3 and/or CtP2, get rid of the bean counters! They are the ones responsible for both CtP2 and Civ3 being released too early...

Originally posted by Deathwalker
Personaly the next Civ type game I would like to see in development would be CTP3

Hear, hear! (I've seen the design docs for CtP2 and some of the most exciting ideas were eventually not implemented - it would be great to see those in a sequel)

If you want to bring the Activision team together again, why would you weaken it by adding Firaxis people to it? I mean, the Firaxis's idea of the sequel to Civ2 is Civ2 + strategic resources. Sorry, not good enough for me, I want actual innovation. Also, I want the developers to care about customizability and be open for fan-input, which Firaxis hardly was; Activision OTOH 'hired' a whole team of fans to alpha-test the game and also took numerous suggestions straight from the forums here on Apolyton and implemented them in the game (i.e. MAD). I don't think I have to bring up customizibility. Now, if you wanted to add Brian Reynolds to the team, that might be open for negotiation...

[Imran Siddiqui]

::shudder::

CTP people corrupting another Civ? As long as Sid gets to be in charge, then, I guess .

And, btw, I highly doubt there will be a CTP3 (Thank God!) judging by the way Activision bailed on the 2nd version of that horribleness.

[Harovan]

This whole discussion is plain theoretical. As far as I believe, at this point, there will be neither a Civ4 nor a CtP3.

The result of a merge would be quite crappy anyway. CtP2 fans would get mad if they had suddenly to deal with workers, and Civ3 fans wouldn't agree with stealth units and such. Well... that's a matter of taste. At least I can see my attorney, and my priest... others may consider them invisible...

Thus, BA-NA-NA!

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Locutus
If you want to bring the Activision team together again, why would you weaken it by adding Firaxis people to it?

To get an AI that can at least give a semblence of a challenge out of the box?

To get other interesting ideas on diiferentiation of terrain that CtP's Civ Rip-Off programmers never dreamed of?

To get a game that can be enjoyed in it's simplicity because it works that way? Played Go?

To bug the h*ll out of you?

No, No. OK. I'll admit. What we need is another 16 civs.

[Pedrunn]

No Earthly idea.

Unles they do the best wich is CTP2 + Civ3 strategic resources + Civ3 culture + Civ3 interface

star mouse,
Dont forget Slic code, Special units and future.
And manage the workable tiles is also one of Activision ideas, in CTP1. And in both CTP games you can have more than 6 prereqs.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by Locutus
Activision OTOH 'hired' a whole team of fans to alpha-test the game and also took numerous suggestions straight from the forums here on Apolyton and implemented them in the game (i.e. MAD).

Do you want to say, the dull and poor CtP2 out of the box version was TESTED and APPROVED by the fans? Yuck, now I'm really disappointed...