So, how many patches will Civ 3 NEED?

[Nemo]

with the complexity of O/S and the vast variety of computer settings/components i dont think ANY game can be produced without SOME flaws. and since this is a rather complex game (mathmatically speaking) i think that it might require maybe two. but that is nothing against firaxis, just that things aren't as simplistic as they were when civ2 or civ1 came out. i never patched civ 1 or civ 2...there was no *need*, but that doesnt mean that they didnt exist. CTP and CTP2 were 2 of 3 games that i have EVER played that I actually felt the NEED for a patch for good game play

I thnk maybe that a patch for Civ3 may exist for some less commonly configured systems, and maybe a little for play balancing. but nothing major.

[Simpleton]

I'm one of the few freaks out there who believes that Civ3 will be quite polished and require a minimum of patching. I picked 3 patches but I really meant 2 at the most.

[Trifna]

I'd say same as Zanzin...

I guess Firaxis does good job, but says us nothing since producers that make good job sometimes just make more patch to be perfect (look at Blizzard that changed Diablo II or Starcraft maaaany times to make some changes from times to others)

[Faboba]

Hmmmm in Sid I trust so I'm going to say one. Nothings perfect but from past experience with Civ games most of the bugs are addressed before release.

[Alex 14]

2 Patches. One in November for some last minute updates & reported glitches, and another one in a year or two to generally update the game.

[yin26]

To be more specific:

1st Patch: End of November / Early-Mid December:
This patch will hit the first earliest and most easily fixed issues. A lot of hardware compatibility stuff will be addressed that won't affect most people. A slew of minor bugs that can be readily fixed will make it in...a mis-calculation in troops support...stuff like that. And if there are any showstoppers, those will also be fixed.

2nd Patch: Around March:
This patch will be the last 'free' one we will see. It will continue all that we saw them doing in the first patch plus now reflect a lot more of the nitty gritty stuff relating to balancing units, tweaking AI, that sort of thing. This one will bring the biggest changes to the game overall.

3rd Patch aka "Expansion Pack": June-July:
This one you pay for. The good news it includes MP! It will also continue to evolve along the path of the first two patches and will include some new civs that will have to balanced later, etc.

4th Patch: December:
At this point, final tweaks are made...perhaps the MP code is streamlined a bit. If you didn't like the game by now, this patch ain't gonna fix it...and getting another patch from Firaxis would take a very concerted effort from us. If we haven't heard by this time, we'll also start to know about 'The Next Project' and can reasonably assume that it is time for them to move on from Civ3.

[dennis580]

I voted for None. I beleive Civ 3 will be NEAR-perfect.

[Blake]

2 patches for Civ3
an additional 1 patch for Civ3X
Atleast a couple of minor bugs which never get patched.

But on the whole I think Civ3 will be much more solid than SMAC, bug and gameplay wise.
(Yes, SMAX still has bugs, and SMAC has some fairly serious ones...)

[Adm.Naismith]

Originally posted by yin26
1st Patch: End of November / Early-Mid December:

2nd Patch: Around March:
This patch will be the last 'free' one we will see.

3rd Patch aka "Expansion Pack": June-July:
This one you pay for. The good news it includes MP!

4th Patch: December:
If we haven't heard by this time, we'll also start to know about 'The Next Project' and can reasonably assume that it is time for them to move on from Civ3.

Quite possible, IMHO. Of course it depends from market success if Expansion Pack will see the light.

OTOH, we can have some date change:
1st Patch: early November: as soon as the game goes gold the team realize they left some serious trouble in. A quick, early patch will be uploaded to stop bad first minute complain.

2nd patch: Around March for english version, one month later for translated versions

3th patch: July: if not an Expansion pack this will be the last, probably adding an AS-IS MP module just to close customers mouths.

4th patch: late October - November: Just in case the Expansion pack will be made and sell well enough, we'll see this last patch.


OTOH, may be we can't have patches at all. You know, Bin Laden and his fanatics won't approve computer games over the world, as many others fundamental human rights
Sorry, bad mood for international news.