it's decided: civ3 will have customized units

[MarkG]

according to "twin galaxies", after talking with Kelley Gilmore, Firaxis' Communications Manager
http://www.twingalaxies.com/cgi-perl...civ3_update.pl

quote: Speaking of units, probably the best news yet revealed is that we will be able to design our own! And I don't mean in mod packs, though that is being supported even more than under Civ II. I mean as in the ability to strap weapons of your choice to a tank chassis, or infantry unit ala SMAC. Judging from the unit images, Civ III will have many more unit templates than SMAC. Presumably it will also include a similar upgrade feature, spelling the end of the battleship-sunk-by-phalanx scenario

[MarkG]

btw, i fail to see how the "battleship-sunk-by-phalanx" issue has anything to do with units being customizable or not...

[down th' pub]

Great feature to include, one of the best from SMAC.

Puzzled me too. But we do have ranged weaponry too, so the battleship can bombard and not take any chances with that pesky phalanx!

[EnochF]

Great. Well, we'll see how they manage to avoid dumb combinations like the "Submarine Archer," the "Internal Combustion Phalanx," and the "MiG Fighter with a Pike."

[Imran Siddiqui]

Are you saying a MIG with a pike is silly?

[Nemo]

in SMAC the parts to add to a unit were fictional (somewhat) and were sometimes time consuming to build what you wanted. but i think with civ it'll will (should) be all units/armor/etc. we have heard of and understand the reprocusions for alot better, so i wont have to constantly be wasting time looking up armor specs, or range combat specs, just to build a freaking unit. i didnt like it in smac, but it should be cool in civ (provided it stays with the historical/realistic approach for the most part.

[Jon Miller]

MarkG I think he was refering to the upgradability or maybe it was just bad grammer on his part and he had saked the question and got it answered (and just communicated poorly)

this could be done very cool

Jon Miller

[Transcend]

I hope they improve the interface of the unit workshop though. Scrolling 60 units with single mouse click is really a pain. Otherwise, I'm happy that they are going to implement this nice feature.

[tniem]

Sounds good. Getting harder to wait for the game to be released.

But could someone please explain to me what he meant with this:

quote: Will we see the simplified economic model and landscape bonuses from SMAC? Or will we keep the buffalos, corn, gold, and whales? I'm not sure which one I'm hoping for, but I'd have to guess we'll be getting the Civ II model with many types of bonuses, but the SMAC display with just numbers instead of many tiny icons.

Too many 'but's in one sentence make it hard to follow IMO.

[joseph1944]

Not to worry you probably will not be able to build some items. However if you can build some items, and somebody wants to have fun and build them why not. The game sounds like it is going to be lots of fun. A lot of people have been asking for a lot of new things. If you remember and played Civ 1, you will remember that it was a very new game and a lot of fun to play. When Civ ll came out it was a lot better than Civ 1, and I believe when civilization 3 arrived it will be like No. 2 it will be a lot better and most people will be very happy with it.

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[Theben]

quote: Originally posted by EnochF on 02-01-2001 07:45 PM Great. Well, we'll see how they manage to avoid dumb combinations like the "Submarine Archer," the "Internal Combustion Phalanx," and the "MiG Fighter with a Pike."

Well, if they include limits based on the chassis, like a min-max att/def/move, you won't have to worry about that (although this too should be customizable from a file for scenarios).

It sounds like they intend to use the "unit workshop" from SMAC, including the ability to upgrade your units in the field by spending some cash (the "similar upgrade feature"). Just one thing: let players be able to "retire" ALL units in the workshop! I HATED not being able to get rid of those ancient early units of SMAC!

btw, I thought the "battleship sunk by phalanx" went out with civ1. OR did CtP re-introduce that feature?

tniem:

Sounds like they plan to use the various "Terrain1" landscape images, but instead of having 6 bushels, 2 shields, & 3 trade arrows on the city square you'll have 1 BIG bushel with a 6 in it, a shield w/ a "2", etc.

[yin26]

quote: I hope they improve the interface of the unit workshop though. Scrolling 60 units with single mouse click is really a pain. Otherwise, I'm happy that they are going to implement this nice feature.

Yes, my worry exactly. Also, PLEASE MAKE THE UNITS DISTINGUISHABLE according to whatever little tinkering we make!

[EnochF]

quote: I thought the "battleship sunk by phalanx" went out with civ1.

That's sarcasm... right?
[This message has been edited by EnochF (edited February 02, 2001).]

[Imran Siddiqui]

quote: That's sarcasm... right?

Not when you talk about Sid games... Maybe with Crap to Play, but not any of Sid's games after Civ2.

[bagdar]

It certainly is not clear what twin galaxies is saying... The Civ website does mention customisability but not in the way of a unit workshop, as we all know for such a long time. There could be a misunderstanding here. Let's be cautious. Or, the Firaxis site could clarify this issue.