c#214 THE COURTS OF CANDLE'BRE: AN INTRODUCTION

[MarkG]

#214 THE COURTS OF CANDLE'BRE: AN INTRODUCTION
Vel opens the door of the Candle'Brewing laboratory just for glimpse of what's happening in there...

[Tuberski]

Thanks for sharing.....and caring.

[tniem]

Can't wait for a playable prototype. Looking to see what has been acomplished and would not mind helping if there is anything I could do. But I have trouble seeing visualizing what is going on without something in front of me.

[Skanky Burns]

Hey, seems pretty interesting!

[ravagon]

Indeed it does.

I rate this the best column yet.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Not having Candle Bre in my hands is bad...M'kay!

[Skanky Burns]

People who don't do Candle Bre are bayd...M'kay!

[Gwylim]

i totally agree with the statements regarding game balance and victory conditions.
I just winned a game by culture and was really depressed. I played for 3 weeks on that game (very huge map, 16 civs) and when i was again surviving a difficult period i was suddenly told that i win the game - i was really disappointed, because it was just 1690 and the last era had just begun and i was in a very good position finnaly and would have liked much more to conquer all other civs, and perhaps i even will but its much more less fun now but at least now i know which victory conditions to disable in the next game.

One of my ideas regarding the gaming balance, was to integrate something like Catastrophes/disasters espeacially hitting the most big civilizations. a little like in the board game "civilization" of AvalonHill. I think it would be also a good challenge for the players if they are confronted with exceptional situations especially in the later game where normally the human players are in a better position then the AI civs.
Things like urban revolts, nuclear catastrophs, tornados......there are a lot of posibilities.

[vmxa1]

I beg you no random events. They only plague the human. I do not like to win by culture for the reason you gave, so I turn it off.

[DeepO]

No random events? Sorry, vmxa1, there will be. But they're not random, they're fate

ATM, the fate system is under design, it should be ready in a week or so. I'm especially looking out to make it balanced, in that it will hit bigger factions more then it will smaller ones. However, fate is not always negative, disaster like, in most cases it will be positive. And yes, we're doing a lot to make sure it's something the AI players can also use, or aren't hampered with. More info on this in a week or so on the Courts of Candle'Bre

DeepO

[moomin]

Could you have the option to turn of the random events?

[DeepO]

Good idea... sure it should be possible. However, you would also miss the story aspect of the fate cards... I have to think on this.

DeepO

[alva]

Nice to see that you are working on this DeepO

(good for the game's credibility ) and some flemish input/influence is most definately a bonus

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by DeepO
Good idea... sure it should be possible. However, you would also miss the story aspect of the fate cards... I have to think on this.

DeepO

While you think on it, consider that people will likely play with it on the first time or so. They will see the events and then decide if they enjoy it or not. If not then they won't really miss the story aspect.
I look at it like I do the global warming. I would turn it off if I could as it seems to be only impacting me and it make little sense. I see AI with plenty of pollution on the ground and nothing seems to happen. I have none and get hit with loss of grassland or something. No reduction of the occurrence for getting anit pollution device built and cleaning up. It seems to occur at the same rate.

[DeepO]

vmxa1, that's not how fate is going to work. It is being designed with story telling in mind... atm we're tweaking it, but one of the goals of the fate system is that it tells the story of Candle'Bre throughout multiple games (and I mean you'd probably need over 100 games to have seen all of the pieces of the whole story, while only a few pieces also can tell you a bit more)

Fate is for us not so much a case of adding random events, it is much more at the core of the game. It will make sure that different games will be varied each time, and while the different fate cards you get are random, the effects are not. I mean after such a fate card has been 'played' you will have to adapt to the situation. It can be a small effect, like gaining some troops in a particular province. But it could also be a huge effect, like for instance a fate card that will make it impossible to build cavalry by any of the players.

These different effects can turn the feeling of a game around, and require you to adapt, which is what makes them fun. And, it will be believable, because these effects are bound to superb story telling -- our literature team will make sure of that

So it is hard to compare fate with just a 'random event' like global warming, even if some of the effects can be nuisances. As to turning it off: very probably it won't be an option for the normal SP game, but in scenarios it should be possible anyway. But as it really defines the games you play, it shouldn't be good for us if we would include an option to disable such a large part of Candle'Bre with a simple option. People who really need to play without fate can do so.

Nice to see that you are working on this DeepO

Thanks Alva! It's been great so far, a terrific team and a super game will see to that. As to the credibility of the game: I've been amazed by all the work already done, this game is really going to make it, I'm certain of that. Maybe it will have a smaller audience then Civ3, but I'm sure players are going to love it! I already do

DeepO