God I hate the Civ III graphics

[Tyrannical666]

Before I'm flamed too much, I started with the original Civ back in '91, so I'm a long time player.
I can't stand the Civ III graphics and I'll list why.

1: Leader Portraits: Damn, were they all beaten by the ugly stick? Not just some, but evey one of them. Did they hire a troll for an artist?

2: Units: Umm, sure the little 3d animated unit icons seem nice at first. But they are so small that I can barely tell my units apart. The colored area to denote nationality is so small it is hard to see. Enemy units also blend in well with the terrain. I'd rather go back to the colored square with a 2d icon in it.

3: Resource Icons: Small and hard to see. When I do see them they are sometimes hard to tell apart. I never had a problem telling goodie huts from gold ore in the previous Civs.

4: The Map: I thought the map looked ok until I tried to tell terrain hexes by looking at them. All the terrain graphics spill out onto other hexes, making it real hard to tell if plains near a forest are plains or forest. They do have trees on them after all. It is impossible to even try to determine terrain type by looking without the grid on.

5: Citizen icons: Reminds me of Mona Lisa, you call that a smile? If it wasn't for unhappy citizens being spaced to the left, I couldn't tell them apart. I notice someone released a patch going back to civ 1 faces.

If I think about anything I like about the graphics, I'll add it to this post later.

[yin26]

Well, I like the spaceship screen. Seen that one?

[General Ludd]

Re: God I hate the Civ III graphics

Originally posted by Tyrannical666
2: Units: Umm, sure the little 3d animated unit icons seem nice at first. But they are so small that I can barely tell my units apart. The colored area to denote nationality is so small it is hard to see. Enemy units also blend in well with the terrain. I'd rather go back to the colored square with a 2d icon in it.

3: Resource Icons: Small and hard to see. When I do see them they are sometimes hard to tell apart. I never had a problem telling goodie huts from gold ore in the previous Civs.

You might want to get your eyes checked.

[Pandir]

Yes you need to go see an optometrist. Seriously I have no problems making them out.

[Wexu]

Or maybe a bigger monitor would do the thing? I have NO problems at seeing different units with my 19" monitor.

I think Civ's graphics are quite personal. Maybe a bit too sweet for my taste, but they are ok.

[TheDarkside]

I have to disagree. I'm quite happy with the graphics, especially the units and terrain. The units look very realistic (well except for the early tank... i just get annoyed by how it "breathes" in it's idle animation....) and their animations are superb. The terrain is magnificent and finalyl starting to look 3d, those mountains really look like mountains for once! Especially the way they draw the roads to go around the mountain, instead of just "Webbing" it so it looks flat. (but hills still have this problem).

My only gripe about the graphics is, as a modder, I can't do that!! It would take me years to make an animated unit which *might* fit into the others...

oh and you do have a good point about resources, if Firaxis had a map overlay which made all the resources very visible, sort of like CTRL + SHIFT + M but without military units, then i'd be set.

[uh Clem]

Well, I like the spaceship screen. Seen that one?

Starship Dildo?

[uh Clem]

Gold does look like Goody Huts. At first glance.

But speaking of graphics, is there a way to get rid of city names? I know about CTRL + SHIFT + M, but I mean just the names so I can see what's in the tile directly below the city.

[Robert]

you need to get used to the new graphics.
After playing a few (hundred) hours you'll tell them apart.

btw, if you're playing civ already for 10 years......
you must be 20+ right now, ok ?
Why does your name still contain '666' if you're 20+ ?

And I still wonder what 'God' is doing in the subject line.
You don't refer to him anymore......
God is an Off Topic subject btw, leave that in that forum.

[Evan]

"Units: ... But they are so small that I can barely tell my units apart."

"Resource Icons: Small and hard to see."

"The Map: ... It is impossible to even try to determine terrain type by looking without the grid on."

You either need to get a bigger monitor (what size are you using?) or get your eyes checked.

Neither I or any of my friends that are playing are having anything like the problems you are having.

[Max Webster]

God I love the CivIII graphics

[m_m_x]

the graphics are great!!!

[Blackadar1]

I'm not fond of the graphics either, but found them to be vastly improved with the recent graphics mod that's come out. My apologies to the author of that mod for forgetting who he/she is...but it vastly improves the graphics IMHO.

[Footie Mad]

At least they are way better than SMAC:s dark and hostile graphics, I know its a great game but I just cant get enthusiastic about it when its that dull and lifeless. Civ 3 graphics could be better, but i'll choose those cartoony looking graphics over the graveyard ones in SMAC any day.

[michaelmagnus]

The railroad graphics really suck. They look like highways instead of rails.