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Jeff Morris, Associate Producer for Civ III, took some time out of his busy schedule today to answer our questions about coastal bombardment, natural disasters, multiplayer, Great Leaders, and many other areas of Civilization III. We hope you enjoy reading it!
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CivFanatics: What do you do when you are not developing or playing games?
Jeff Morris: Wash my car, drink expensive beer and read.
CivFanatics: Are some terrain features animated? Such as oceans? Will it be possible to turn off unit (and terrain) animations?
Jeff Morris: Map cities animate to show different situations such as civil disorder and we love the king day.
CivFanatics: The recent GameStar video shows a destroyer bombarding a city. How does coastal bombardment work exactly?
Jeff Morris: All bombardment involves the use of a range overlay, which you can use to determine what you can hit. You then select the target that's within the grid..
CivFanatics: We heard Barbarians will have encampments on the map instead of appearing randomly. How will this change affect gameplay?
Jeff Morris: You can actively hunt down the sources of barbarians by hitting these camps. This allows the player to be proactive in dealing with barbarians, rather than simply weathering their assaults..
CivFanatics: What Wonders of the World are visible on the map, besides the Great Walls?
Jeff Morris: We experimented with this, but ultimately found the scale was too much of an issue. When you build a wonder a gorgeous "wonder portrait" pops up over the main map. The wonders are then visible on the city aerial view screen.
CivFanatics: How many Great Leaders are there in the game? Do Great Leaders live forever?
Jeff Morris: Each race has a stable of great leaders that are drawn from when you create one. They live until used for either rush building an improvement or building an army.
CivFanatics: Why were the historically insignificant Aztecs, Iroquois, and Zulus included, and the much more important Spanish and Mongols not?
Jeff Morris: The designers looked for an interesting mix of diverse civilizations. Since the amount of art generated for each civilization is significantly higher in Civilization III, we couldn't include as many as in Civilization II. Those civilizations that are represented are 'rendered' in much more detail than their peers in Civilization II.
CivFanatics: There were lots of resistance to the concepts of special units, Golden Ages, and different abilities for each civilization in the Civ community. Did you anticipate this kind of reactions when you decide to implement those ideas? Also, Dan wrote in the developer update on Wonders that Golden Ages are now triggered by Wonders. Does this mean special units no longer trigger Golden Ages?
Jeff Morris: No. We've actually gotten a lot of positive feedback from civ fans on these new features. Golden ages are still enabled by a victorious combat of your civ specific unit. [Two ways to trigger Golden Age]
CivFanatics: Will the AI be significantly improved and do they still cheat on higher levels?
Jeff Morris: The AI presents a very challenging opponent in all eras and all difficulty levels. Just like the AI is 'crippled' in easier difficulty levels, it is stronger at higher ones.
CivFanatics: What is the current status of multiplayer?
Jeff Morris: We're still working out all of the details around multiplayer and will give you more information later.
CivFanatics: Will the short-cut keys remain the same? (Fortify = F, Airbase = E, etc...)
Jeff Morris: In most cases they should be the same. We're still tweaking them and making sure they make sense with the increased functionality of Civ III, so some of them may change.
CivFanatics: Will the game include natural disasters? If no, why not?
Jeff Morris: No. While these could possibly add some new challenges, we felt that since you couldn't really play a certain way and prevent them from occurring, they were a little too random (and always destructive). Global Warming is an example of what we're talking about. While you can't solely prevent this from occurring (the AIs have a role as well), you can 'do your part' by moderating city growth and building improvements that directly combat the phenomenon. No such mechanism existed for, say, an earthquake.
CivFanatics: What has been the most challenging task in creating Civ3?
Jeff Morris: Never losing sight of what makes Civ great while integrating new systems and features into it.
CivFanatics: Lastly, what do you think is the single most important change from Civ2 to Civ3?
Jeff Morris: That's an easy one. Resources and trading. This is one of the main features that will challenge players of the previous games to significantly alter their strategies.
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A big thanks to Jeff Morris for taking the time to answer our questions! :-)
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CivFanatics: What do you do when you are not developing or playing games?
Jeff Morris: Wash my car, drink expensive beer and read.
CivFanatics: Are some terrain features animated? Such as oceans? Will it be possible to turn off unit (and terrain) animations?
Jeff Morris: Map cities animate to show different situations such as civil disorder and we love the king day.
CivFanatics: The recent GameStar video shows a destroyer bombarding a city. How does coastal bombardment work exactly?
Jeff Morris: All bombardment involves the use of a range overlay, which you can use to determine what you can hit. You then select the target that's within the grid..
CivFanatics: We heard Barbarians will have encampments on the map instead of appearing randomly. How will this change affect gameplay?
Jeff Morris: You can actively hunt down the sources of barbarians by hitting these camps. This allows the player to be proactive in dealing with barbarians, rather than simply weathering their assaults..
CivFanatics: What Wonders of the World are visible on the map, besides the Great Walls?
Jeff Morris: We experimented with this, but ultimately found the scale was too much of an issue. When you build a wonder a gorgeous "wonder portrait" pops up over the main map. The wonders are then visible on the city aerial view screen.
CivFanatics: How many Great Leaders are there in the game? Do Great Leaders live forever?
Jeff Morris: Each race has a stable of great leaders that are drawn from when you create one. They live until used for either rush building an improvement or building an army.
CivFanatics: Why were the historically insignificant Aztecs, Iroquois, and Zulus included, and the much more important Spanish and Mongols not?
Jeff Morris: The designers looked for an interesting mix of diverse civilizations. Since the amount of art generated for each civilization is significantly higher in Civilization III, we couldn't include as many as in Civilization II. Those civilizations that are represented are 'rendered' in much more detail than their peers in Civilization II.
CivFanatics: There were lots of resistance to the concepts of special units, Golden Ages, and different abilities for each civilization in the Civ community. Did you anticipate this kind of reactions when you decide to implement those ideas? Also, Dan wrote in the developer update on Wonders that Golden Ages are now triggered by Wonders. Does this mean special units no longer trigger Golden Ages?
Jeff Morris: No. We've actually gotten a lot of positive feedback from civ fans on these new features. Golden ages are still enabled by a victorious combat of your civ specific unit. [Two ways to trigger Golden Age]
CivFanatics: Will the AI be significantly improved and do they still cheat on higher levels?
Jeff Morris: The AI presents a very challenging opponent in all eras and all difficulty levels. Just like the AI is 'crippled' in easier difficulty levels, it is stronger at higher ones.
CivFanatics: What is the current status of multiplayer?
Jeff Morris: We're still working out all of the details around multiplayer and will give you more information later.
CivFanatics: Will the short-cut keys remain the same? (Fortify = F, Airbase = E, etc...)
Jeff Morris: In most cases they should be the same. We're still tweaking them and making sure they make sense with the increased functionality of Civ III, so some of them may change.
CivFanatics: Will the game include natural disasters? If no, why not?
Jeff Morris: No. While these could possibly add some new challenges, we felt that since you couldn't really play a certain way and prevent them from occurring, they were a little too random (and always destructive). Global Warming is an example of what we're talking about. While you can't solely prevent this from occurring (the AIs have a role as well), you can 'do your part' by moderating city growth and building improvements that directly combat the phenomenon. No such mechanism existed for, say, an earthquake.
CivFanatics: What has been the most challenging task in creating Civ3?
Jeff Morris: Never losing sight of what makes Civ great while integrating new systems and features into it.
CivFanatics: Lastly, what do you think is the single most important change from Civ2 to Civ3?
Jeff Morris: That's an easy one. Resources and trading. This is one of the main features that will challenge players of the previous games to significantly alter their strategies.
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A big thanks to Jeff Morris for taking the time to answer our questions! :-)
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