Patch Update

[Asmodean]

Things, I'd like to see in a patch:

Marseilles, without the s

Asmodean

[Boracks]

Mareille ??

(Well, you did say without the s. )

[cutlerd]

I hope this will be in the patch

I have not seen this bug mentioned...if it has been mentioned ad nauseum I apologize for wqasting people's time.

When you trace a path for a naval unit more than 1 square at a time and that path encounters a sub, the game will automatically have your naval unit attack the sub, causing a war if not already at war.

Obviously, this is a very annoying "feature", since I usually move my naval units last in my turn, and to have a war start through no fault of my own means I have to load an autosave and redo my turn (and hopefully remember exactly where the sub was so I do not do it again).

Interestingly, if you move your naval unit 1 tile at a time, then when you try to move over the sub a warning screen pops up asking if you really want to declare war. Would be nice if this patch or a future one fixes it so even on a multi-tile path a naval unit running into a sub will ask if you really want to declare war.

Devin

[FALVES]

Things, I'd like to see in a patch:

Screw Marseille(s), get another city name!

[DaShi]

Re: Re: How come?

Originally posted by Antonin


Same here. I'm having a great time with Civ3. It's not 'broken', it's not a 'beta'....it's a great game. I dont post here very often because i'm actually spending my time PLAYING the game...

It's a game?!

[Dan Baker]

All is fair, or is it?

When I first installed Civ-III and began to play, it was an exercise in frustration. I made the mistake of assuming that Civ-III was simply a follow up to Civ-II, when in reality it is a very different beast. (Early reviews of the game did not help much, since nearly every one advertised it as an updated Civ-II. Do reviewers actually play the games they review? I'm becomming more sceptical) The interface may look similar, but the game is entirely different.

The critisms of style for Civ-III for game play and are unjust and unfair. I think Firaxis learned alot from Alpha Centari, the real updated Civ-II. Civ-II remains one of the most cluttered games I have ever played, it was filled with minutes of senseless video's of poorly produced news-footage splices, lengths of live action advisors repeating useless speaches, and cluttered with too many units/buildings/techs to micromanage.

Alpha Centari was even worse. It was Civ-II v 2.0 with a smaller budget. The video production was horrid, and even worse the game was littered with a puerile, recycled sci-fi plot which only manged to interupt game play while making one's soul cringe in the way that only bad-scifi can. Somehow, they managed to make the interface even more cluttered then a spreadsheet application. Thank goodness thats all gone!


Remarkablly, Civ-III has very little video. Firaxis didn't waste time and money on useless artwork which would be skipped by any second time player. Instead, they focused on issues which actually matter to the playability of a game. The interface reflected a welcome clean simplicity that is underrated. To quote interface experts, the best interface is the one you don't notice. The only flaw in the interface is its lengthy lag time, attributed to bugs rather then design decisions. This is a serious problem, but hardly a design flaw.

The largest improvement of Civ-III over previous reincarnations of Civ-I is the AI is actually GOOD. Civ-II had horrible AI, Alpha Centari was equally bad. Civ-II could only be challenge if the AI consitently and substantially cheated. The actions of Computer Countries where typically irrational and sometimes entirely random. Although the names were the same, Civ-II wasn't really a 'civilization' game, but more of a conquest game. Civ-III, on the other hand, is more about peace and co-existance: Compition, but through means other then constent warfare. The design decisions for Civ-III were almost entirly correct. Spend money on AI, not for useless graphics where are horribly outdated anyway. No one buys Civ for the graphics.

Having said that, the game did feel as if were released prematurely. However, I do not think that this is a problem with the developer. I recently saw a photograph of the dev team, was only about 20 people. Typically, the decision to release a game is made by the publisher, not the developer. Additionally, the testing is done by the publisher as well. This begs some important questions - how did the game manage to ship with the infamous air-supority bug? How did some of the units (like Nuclear submarines) not match their descriptions? Why are Mutual Protection Acts valid if one country is an aggressor? I just don't see how these should have gotten past testing. OR then again, many publishers have a kind of 'release now, patch later' approach to things. Combine this with the Video Card Manufactors attitude of 'make it fast now, make it work later' approach and its no wonder that things don't work.

Although some of the complaints are valid, the 'Why isn't Civ-III like Civ-II' arguments are tiresome. If you want Civ-II, buy Alpha Centari, it only costs $10 these days. Civ-III is an excellent game, with the great misfortune of being compared to its far less gracefull older brother Civ-II.

[Vargas920]

Originally posted by PapaLenin
REMEBER TO PUT STARTING LOCATIONS OF REAL CIVS IN WORLD MAP AND FIX THE WORLDMAP PLZ!

Papa Lenin, your argument is just - as was the argument of Vladimir !!!!

THE COMMUNISM BOUGHT MANKIND INTO THE HEAVENS!!! AND IT DID NOT FIND GOD

[War4ever]

the world map should have proper starting locations..but be able to toggle them off if you like

[Ka Shima]

Hey, brand new here. Long time civer.
Blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, just wanted to comment on this thread, since so many seem to be commenting about people who are complaining... Since it seems to be happening in so many places, I just felt like adding this to support the fact that ones who complain typically represent many, many more silent than the ones who comment in the positive.
Research studies for this usually put the ratio for complainers at 24 people against every singal person in favor of a particular product or service.
So..
Where do I sit? It's unfun. I think it's been ou there in a forum. But, having to play the same game, every time isn't fun. True, in CivII, my games typically followed a very logical pattern, but, I was able to adapt if given a poor starting location. If it happens in Civ3, I might as well restart.
Anyway, first time poster, be kind, even if I'm off topic.
Oh, wait, I can get on topic!
I sure hope the patch addresses SOME of the corruption issues, and the need of the AI to expand to every square on the map by 1200AD.



Oh, by the way, the AI is not good when you can do the following.
1)Extort the AI for a meaning less tech advance. Typically an advance that doesn't allow units, or city improvements.
2)Or have to deal with an AI that is focused on expanding everywhere...as a gas you might say. SMAC anyone?
3) Plays the same for EVERY different faction.
4) Does not play to their strengths.

So, anyway, go patch go!

[wakamoto]

Originally posted by Ka Shima
ones who complain typically represent many, many more silent than the ones who comment in the positive.
Research studies for this usually put the ratio for complainers at 24 people against every singal person in favor of a particular product or service.

Interesting study but I think you're right.
I want the patch !! too bad is not this week.

[James7654]

Thank you!

I wish to thank Firaxis for finally convincing me to NEVER buy a game before it is patched, no matter how enthusiastic I am about it beforehand. This poor excuse for a quality-checked piece of software was the ultimate exercise in frustration.
I must also remember not to buy games published by companies that insist on taking months to approve their developers' patches.
Thank you.

[Venger]

Originally posted by Ming
Again... thanks for the update. While everybody would rather have it sooner than later, I think most of us would agree that we would prefer that it is done right.

Let us know when you can.

Jesus Ming, screw the patch, we felt that way about the GAME!!

Venger

[Ming]

Originally posted by Venger
Jesus Ming, screw the patch, we felt that way about the GAME!!
Venger

I'm just trying to be more realistic... there are many "problems" that IMHO need to be fixed... I'll wait for the patch before I whine too much

[Libertarian]

I'd love to see what kind of game the whiners themselves would release. And when.

[Raion]

I just wondering if most people are turning off the 'win' options they do not want to play against the computer. 'Military win' and 'Dominating win' are the two to think about. I am sure the computer game plays the game different whether what type of 'win' 'game' one wants to play.
By default, they are all on, including the 'specific abilities' and those options are easy to miss when starting a new game.
All the 'win' options on makes the game a formidable opponent.
I guess!