A short-winded plea for new "ear-candy"!

[SerapisIV]

About the talking leaders, I was thing more along the lines of they speak English for US/UK version, German for the German version, etc. All you'd need is the accents. Though hearing the arguements, I think that'd dynamic music (changing from happy to pissed with my usual demands) and the cartoonish facial movements would be sufficient. For lack of speaking, dynamic music in the diplomacy screen is a must though!!
[This message has been edited by SerapisIV (edited April 11, 2001).]

[EnochF]

Talking units have become a staple in many real-time strategy games. But actually, I don't want them in Civ 3. I found them an interesting but ultimately frivolous addition to Call to Power.

I wouldn't mind some background noise when I pull up the City Screen, though, gradually changing with the times. Horses and marketplace babble at first, then wagon wheels and blacksmith hammers, and eventually cars and gunshots.

[Lung]

Yeah, ambient sounds for sure! Certainly when you start your game with your lone settler dude, you should have ambient bird noises or whatever to accentuate the feel of walking through the countryside. Perhaps these sounds should only apply to settlers, as they would generally interfere with the game, particularly if there is background music, which i'm sure we all want.

Hey! Why not have a choice of background music or ambient noises? To make it simpler, the background ambience should be determined by the square that the unit whose turn it is to move is?

For example;-
Grassland - bird and animal calls
Plains - mostly animal calls
Forest - mostly bird calls. Oh, and owls, too
Jungle - monkey calls, toucans, etc.
Swamp - Ribit! Frogs
hills - birds, animals
rivers - babbling brook sounds, especially on hill/mountains
oceans - sound of water lapping on ship hulls
mountains - swirling wind sounds. Oops, i forgot mountain goats!
desert - wind sounds and snake hisses and/or rattles!
cities - city sounds appropriate to age/size
shoreline - surf

In the case of non-city squares with roads or rail, an occasional train/car/horse & cart/carriage interrupting the default sounds would give some immersive qualities to the game. Terrain improved tiles such as farms should have occasional cows, sheep, etc.

I think this is a great idea. Perhaps this should be added to the "epic" thread?

[This message has been edited by Lung (edited April 12, 2001).]

[Ilkuul]

quote: Originally posted by Echinda on 04-10-2001 07:02 PM Do you need translations?

As a linguist I have to say, YES, you do! There are plenty of people from many different languages and cultures who play Civ (just look around these forums!), and they're not going to be too pleased if a supposed French or German or Chinese unit comes out with a babble of nonsense!

Maybe Serapis's idea of customising the game for the major languages, and having all speech sounds be in that particular language, would be the best solution. Plus all the wonderful ideas for ambient sounds, or course!

[King Richard]

Hellooooo!

This isn't a real-time strategy game!!! It doesn't make sense!

[SerapisIV]

No this isn't RTS, but the diplomacy screen is where you put a face to all those multicolored sprites you see moving around on the screen. A really great feature of SMAC was how it really gave life and personality to the game leaders. It was more fun as you weren't plotting against whichever civ was the white color in this game, it was against Miriam, or against Morgan. It gave me a mental picture to aim my strategy darts at. The diplomacy screen must have personality. Maybe not talking, but its got to draw you in.

[King Richard]

quote: Originally posted by Ilkuul on 04-12-2001 08:54 PM As a linguist I have to say, YES, you do! There are plenty of people from many different languages and cultures who play Civ (just look around these forums!), and they're not going to be too pleased if a supposed French or German or Chinese unit comes out with a babble of nonsense! Maybe Serapis's idea of customising the game for the major languages, and having all speech sounds be in that particular language, would be the best solution. Plus all the wonderful ideas for ambient sounds, or course!

Good idea! If it is done, that is... Age of empires has something like this.

[SerapisIV]

Oh you were talking about the ambiance sounds of trees and forest and stuff. Well, I'm all for it, just because I want the world to be alive and grow as I play. Its little touches like hearing the surf that add to the epic feel of a game.

[King Richard]

quote: Originally posted by SerapisIV on 04-12-2001 09:13 PM Oh you were talking about the ambiance sounds of trees and forest and stuff. Well, I'm all for it, just because I want the world to be alive and grow as I play. Its little touches like hearing the surf that add to the epic feel of a game.

Yes, but as long as it doesn't annoy your gameplay (could be optional).

[SerapisIV]

The sounds would be subtle, not obnoxious, sort of as in AOE if you moved across the map to an area without any units. Nature sounds are there, but relatively quiet. Just as nature is, a hell of a lot quieter then humans

[King Richard]

quote: Originally posted by SerapisIV on 04-12-2001 10:12 PM The sounds would be subtle, not obnoxious, sort of as in AOE if you moved across the map to an area without any units. Nature sounds are there, but relatively quiet. Just as nature is, a hell of a lot quieter then humans

What about hearing trains pass, cars moving, and so on.

[SerapisIV]

Mentioned earlier in the thread. The ambiance sounds would change with time and the level of tech shown on the map.

[King Richard]

quote: Originally posted by SerapisIV on 04-12-2001 10:29 PM Mentioned earlier in the thread. The ambiance sounds would change with time and the level of tech shown on the map.

Ooops! Sorry! I didn't read everything...

[SerapisIV]

$hit happens, these threads get long enough I myself usually end up only skimming too.

[King Richard]

quote: Originally posted by SerapisIV on 04-12-2001 10:36 PM $hit happens, these threads get long enough I myself usually end up only skimming too.

Yeah, and when you are answering to many topics, it isn't easy...