Snow capped mountains, and other niceties

[Sarxis]

Yes- the mountains nearer the poles have snow!

The graphics look great all around.. very clean looking, and just the right colors (not too bright, not too dark).

The screens are all very clean, not cluttered, and very accesible.

The unit animations are awesome! Battle scenes and movement is very nice, but the real bonus is things like when the settlers found a city- they will kneel down and make like they are unpacking a sack. Or when units are fortified- they will set themselves in a different stance. Very kewl!

Also, ships, when destroyed, have a very good 'sinking' animation where they flip up and backwards, then disappear into the water.

I will post more later...

[Ironwood]

One thing I want *details* about is forests. In Civ and Civ2, forests *always* covered plains, and jungles and swamps *always* covered grasslands. In real life, when you clear cut forests, you may end up with dry but fertile land (plains), some really nice wet farmland (grasslands) or you may trigger erosion and strip away the plant supporting life cycle (desert). Draining swamps may have similarly differing effects. Trees can grow on land that would otherwise be cold and lifeless (boreal forest strippes away to tundra).

Does the game have more terrain types? Do the forests look different, depending on what terrain underlies it? Tell me about the standard squares!

[Sarxis]

I know for sure there are at least two types of forest- evergreen and regular. They don't give different bonuses or anything, but they do look different.

There are some new terrains, a few- Flood Plains (massive food and slight commerce bonus; these look like deserts near rivers, except the parts of the tile that touch the river look lush with green life) and the different sea types.

hmm, probably more, but I don't have all day to spend chatting here- must go play!