When is this game coming out?

[Alexander's Horse]

Do we have any firm idea?

[FinnishGuy]

No, but I'd bet Q1-Q2 2002. I'm an optimist...

Of course if Firaxis decides to do Civ 2.5 instead of Civ 3, it could come out in the 2nd half of 2001.

[UltraSonix]

A few months back, there was this little snippet about Civ3 being released in 2002, which I thought was weird because the game was already supposed to have its major features already implemented or something.

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No, in Australia we don't live with kangaroos and koalas in our backyards...

[FinnishGuy]

Brian Reynolds & Co's bail out meant that development of Civ 3 pretty much returned to square one. Those guys WERE the Civ 3 development team within Firaxis you know.

Brian Reynolds' departure was announced publicly early this year, but it was also stated then that he had been gone for some time already. Most probably he didn't manage to do very much to Civ 3. Some preliminary coding perhaps, but no "major features implemented" or even a playable alpha version I'm afraid.

After BR had left, the Civ 3 project was apparently drifting. Sid was devoted to Dinos and no-one of the "little guys" really took lead on Civ 3. Hard to say how much work was done in this period. Then people started leaving left and right...

Maybe Firaxis is now getting its act together again with Civ 3, after hiring new people. However, when a project undergoes this kind of total personnel change, as a programmer I can tell you that it's probably easier to start from scratch than try to re-use someone else's old code.
[This message has been edited by FinnishGuy (edited August 16, 2000).]

[UltraSonix]

Look on the bright side - a lot of guys were wondering here whether our suggestions were too late - at least they'll have time to implement new stuff...

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No, in Australia we don't live with kangaroos and koalas in our backyards...

[DarkCloud]

Hmm.. I thought it was coming out Q1 2001, but according to some game magazines a few months ago it will be Q1 2002 I guess the departure of Brian Reynolds set it back. Well at least it really won't be
Brian Reynold's Sid Meier's Civilization III
instead it will be just plain old
Sid Meier's Civilization III

[Alexander's Horse]

God this delay is annoying

[Bkeela]

Civ III is going to be passe by the time it finally gets released. If Firaxis wasn't bothering about this STUPID dinosaur project, I'm sure it could be out a lot sooner. I truly pity people who are looking forward to this game....several years is a long time to yearn and wait, and agonise over little details - and the let down would be incredibly dramatic if it ended up being more of a dinosaur than the actual dino game.

With a 3-4 year time period since Civ III has been in production, it will have to be more than a mere facelift of Civ II. Either way, I will not pay money for it. Firaxis owes me one

Bkeela.

[Imran Siddiqui]

What Stupid Dinosaur project? They are actually doing something new and different and being critized and then other people say they are milking Civ! Jeez, they can't win!

[Shadowstrike]

Let's just calm down in here and say its coming out some time in the future... Assuming that the entire design team doesn't meet a tragic or mysterious end somewhere.

[Alexander's Horse]

I suppose the real worry is that this is yet another sign that the TBS game genre is in dire straits.

[UltraSonix]

I have the feeling this will be prophetic - some day I'll do a search and find this post and marvel at my ability to predict the future...

Civ3 is dead. Turned Based Strategy is dead. Civ, you have given all of us great memories... Rest In Peace.

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No, in Australia we don't live with kangaroos and koalas in our backyards...
[This message has been edited by UltraSonix (edited August 23, 2000).]

[Shadowstrike]

Heretic!

*Apolytoners tie UltraSonix to a Stake and lay logs at his feet. In the meantime, a man with a torch approches*

[UltraSonix]

I didn't want to say it , but the feeling has just gotten stronger the longer I've been here (we're all coming up with ideas and all we've got is half the development team quitting), but nevertheless, I will endeavour to offer any suggestions as they come.

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No, in Australia we don't live with kangaroos and koalas in our backyards...

[FinnishGuy]

I believe that Civ 3 will come out eventually - the demand for it is simply too enormous. It just takes a little longer than we first thought.