Tweet
FOR FIRAXIS - Gameplay speed
Firaxis, I hope you are listening. One of the most serious aspects of the "civ genre" is being overlooked: speed of gamplay. The players' ability to get tasks complete is essential to making a game fun. In recent versions of the civ genre I have noticed that this essential fun factor is sslipping away.
A history:
Civ 1 - Instant point and click. I click on the map and my view is instantly centered. I click on a city and the city display screen is at my fingertips. I move a chariot and within .10 second it reaches its destination. The fast gameplay keeps the game fun, not frustrating.
Civ 2 - Gameplay stil fast, but slowed a bit. (Maybe the advanced graphics) caused the slowdown, but whenever I click to move the map, there's a short delay before the screen is redrawn. Units still move quickly and the game is fun.
Civ 2 MPG - Ack! Problem! Some bonehead put in a casualty timeline. Yet one more interuption (that can't be blocked by the options menu) whenever I try to play a turn. Come on, unit losses are essential to the game; the last thing I need is a message interupting the gameplay telling me that a tank is dead -- I already know that. The casualty timeline, coupled with messages about "city size decrease" and other warnings get in the way of basic gameplay as I'm trying to watch the world evolve and the computer move. (And no, not all these messages can be skipped.) At least the units still move quickly.
SMAC - To be honest, SMAC's gameplay suffers because of the visual complexity. For instance, every time I'm bombarded by artillary in a city, I have to watch each unit in my garrison go through the explosion. Often it's a big garisson -- what could have been a simple, single explosion now takes many seconds to complete (keep in mind that several seconds of waiting is actually a lot and can become VERY frustrating for players). The menus are great, no casualty timeline and options to turn any pop-ups off. Still, the biggest problem in SMAC still remains: unit speed. 3D units were a nice change, but ultimately the make the game hard to play. Even though they are rendered well, they take a full second apiece to move from square to square. With SMAC's large landscapes and large armies, players must now spend what seems like a teedious eternity to move an invasion force EACH TURN.* Even if I group the units and put on "fast piece slide" I still have to watch every individual go from square to square instead of moving all at once.
*For those who would say "get a faster computer" I'm running SMAC on a graphics workstation with 384 RAM.
--------------------------------------------
The bottom line: slowness is taking a toll on gameplay. Gameplay is true the source of fun for gamers.
Recommendation: Civ III needs a true "fast piece slide." Render the units in 3D for those players who want them, or for skirmishes that don't last long. But remember that hard-core single players need speed. No extraneous warnings. Make a 2D unit opton as well. It would be simple: Render in 3D first (which you would already do), find each unit's best pose, take a snapshot, done.
Firaxis, please take these suggestions to heart. Fast gameplay is what your loyal fans really need.
A history:
Civ 1 - Instant point and click. I click on the map and my view is instantly centered. I click on a city and the city display screen is at my fingertips. I move a chariot and within .10 second it reaches its destination. The fast gameplay keeps the game fun, not frustrating.
Civ 2 - Gameplay stil fast, but slowed a bit. (Maybe the advanced graphics) caused the slowdown, but whenever I click to move the map, there's a short delay before the screen is redrawn. Units still move quickly and the game is fun.
Civ 2 MPG - Ack! Problem! Some bonehead put in a casualty timeline. Yet one more interuption (that can't be blocked by the options menu) whenever I try to play a turn. Come on, unit losses are essential to the game; the last thing I need is a message interupting the gameplay telling me that a tank is dead -- I already know that. The casualty timeline, coupled with messages about "city size decrease" and other warnings get in the way of basic gameplay as I'm trying to watch the world evolve and the computer move. (And no, not all these messages can be skipped.) At least the units still move quickly.
SMAC - To be honest, SMAC's gameplay suffers because of the visual complexity. For instance, every time I'm bombarded by artillary in a city, I have to watch each unit in my garrison go through the explosion. Often it's a big garisson -- what could have been a simple, single explosion now takes many seconds to complete (keep in mind that several seconds of waiting is actually a lot and can become VERY frustrating for players). The menus are great, no casualty timeline and options to turn any pop-ups off. Still, the biggest problem in SMAC still remains: unit speed. 3D units were a nice change, but ultimately the make the game hard to play. Even though they are rendered well, they take a full second apiece to move from square to square. With SMAC's large landscapes and large armies, players must now spend what seems like a teedious eternity to move an invasion force EACH TURN.* Even if I group the units and put on "fast piece slide" I still have to watch every individual go from square to square instead of moving all at once.
*For those who would say "get a faster computer" I'm running SMAC on a graphics workstation with 384 RAM.
--------------------------------------------
The bottom line: slowness is taking a toll on gameplay. Gameplay is true the source of fun for gamers.
Recommendation: Civ III needs a true "fast piece slide." Render the units in 3D for those players who want them, or for skirmishes that don't last long. But remember that hard-core single players need speed. No extraneous warnings. Make a 2D unit opton as well. It would be simple: Render in 3D first (which you would already do), find each unit's best pose, take a snapshot, done.
Firaxis, please take these suggestions to heart. Fast gameplay is what your loyal fans really need.
Comment