What can ANY FUTURE STRATEGY GAME learn from CivIII?

[Comrade Tribune]

(Original Title: 'What can MOO3 learn from CivIII?' led to a misunderstanding about the intention of this thread.)

1. Atmosphere matters. Don´t include anything awful (CivIII advisors and leader faces).

2. Game balance is everything. No Race/Unit/Tech/Government should be all powerful/totally useless.

3. More is better. There can´t be something like 'too many' different Units/Buildings/Techs/You name it. The game can still be balanced, if you make the differences incremental instead of extreme. Pleeease take a look at Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds. Countless everything, brilliantly balanced, wonderful atmosphere. That game has everything CivIII has not.

[player1]

There should be no late game tedium.

[ACooper]

I would agree with all 3 points and add 1 more - Don't promise anything specific or else people will take it personally.

[Comrade Tribune]

If you don´t keep the promise, that is.

[Capt Dizle]

The most important thing that can be learned is this. Don't let your efforts to make a game challenging get in the way of the player's fun.

The words we hear from those who are critical of the game are frustration, tedium, unrealistic and unfair. To paraphase the famous hambuger commercial.. "Where's the fun?"

I applaud many of the changes that Firaxis made in this version of Civ, but somewhere along the way someone should have refocused the design team on the importance of letting the player frolick.

I could list manyof the features or elements that people find so aggravating. But it has been done to death. Firaxis is not going to address them, instead, with the patch they continued to eliminate almost every alternate strategy the player could use (and find fun) to play the game. Right now, it looks like they will remove the pop rush military strategy so that there will be only the one prescribed way to play the game.

This is not fun and its a shame. I hope game developers everywhere will consider Civ3 as an example of how not to design a game.

[Fidel]

it should be modelled completely according to yin's suggestions. he is, of course, always right.....

[Immortal Wombat]

From Civ3? People want modding, MP and scenario editors.

[Comrade Tribune]

Originally posted by LaRusso
it should be modelled completely according to yin's suggestions. he is, of course, always right....

Kassandra may not have been popular, but right she was.

[Fidel]

that was kasandra, right?

[Patient English]

that was kasandra, right?

Come on LaRusso. You can debate at a higher level than that!

[Libertarian]

In the course of the game, retain, amplify, and multiply interesting decisions. Consolidate, ameliorate, and if possible, eschew mundane ones.

[ACooper]

Originally posted by Libertarian
In the course of the game, retain, amplify, and multiply interesting decisions. Consolidate, ameliorate, and if possible, eschew mundane ones.

Clear as a bell!

[Heliodorus]

Don't be afraid to incorporate good ideas that other games innovated first (CTP stacked move and/or PW as examples).

Playtest the game thoroughly, especially in a public beta type atmosphere (the reason Starcraft was so good, IMO).

Never plan the design cycle to end "in time for a pre-Christmas release." Ever. Period.

[uh Clem]

The correst answer is: PLAY TESTING!

Have people (preferably LOTS of people) who didn't design the game and who have no connection with the company spend time actually playing the game, noting what works and what doesn't, and reporting what they find.

And then act on those findings.

This would have dealt with at least 90% of the complaints w/CivIII.

[Bubba_B]

Originally posted by Heliodorus
Never plan the design cycle to end "in time for a pre-Christmas release." Ever. Period.

BINGO!!!