4000 BC to 2020 AD, is that to short?

[Mars_Col_44]

quote: Originally posted by Adm.Naismith on 04-23-2001 04:51 AM ... Of course it's totally unrealistic to have mankind in 2020AD ready to send a starship to Alpha Centauri; probably until then we won't go to Mars, for that matters. ...

What?! We are not going to Mars?!



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Service means Citizenship. I'm doing my part!

[SerapisIV]

I think that 4000 BC and 2020 are just fine for technology limits, I don't want to see space/ocean cities in CivIII.

I think that the changing of time should change based on you tech. As some people have done, launching the spaceship around 1000AD. Well once you've gotten railroad, it doesn't take 60 years (3turns@20years/turn) to build a railroad in 920AD. I wouldn't mind an adaptive year scale, with time taking as long as your tech would allow. Once you have Industrialization, turns are 2year/turn, Computers, 1year/turn. That kinda thing.

[Adm.Naismith]

quote: Originally posted by SerapisIV on 04-24-2001 01:32 AM I think that the changing of time should change based on you tech.

Serapis IV, are you considering that the more advanced player will force the timescale for all the others?
You know, it's not as you are really alone on the map

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Admiral Naismith AKA mcostant

[SerapisIV]

Thats the idea. The years really don't mean anything to me other then give a baseline as to how long I've been playng (usually too long). It's just an idea, I really don't care either way, it doesn't effect the game.

Actually adding more turns (the length of the game, not the artificial years) would be a really nice feature, but then the game would require more depth, because I haven't played a game past 1950 in a few years. The same with SMAC, I rarely got past 2425. More stuff to do would be nice.

[jdlessl]

I think the six thousand years will be plenty long _provided_ that the early and mid game isn't just blown off in a the game's rush to get to the modern age. In so many of my games absolutely nothing interesting happens until I get to gunpowder and it's really a shame. 20 or 50 years per turn in the beginning is just way too fast.

I agree with the "no space or sea colonies" sentiment. Fortifications at sea might be cool, but no colonies. Same goes for space-based weapons (nuclear and kinetic bombardment platforms) and defenses (ABM systems), as it's reasonable to think we could be using them in the next 20 years. Basically the stuff from SMAC; no colonies. Throw in items like communication satellites and weather satellites to provide happiness and food bonuses repsectively. Small improvements; SMAC satellites were , I think, a little to beneficial.

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Jared Lessl

[Jeje2]

quote: Originally posted by cyclotron7 on 04-22-2001 09:50 PM More turns are needed, but 4000 and 2020 are good limits... so we just need more turns!

I second this.
SMAC is for future CivIII is past and today.
More turns could possibly be good, but CTP-midgame might then be a problem.
(Oh, haven't myself played CTP - heard rumors)
On the other hand I like it when a game of SMAC doesn't take too long.
I can play a game in a weekend. (And doing something else also that weekend.) Europa Universalis took me a whole weekend to finnish and then I'd been playing too fast. (Feels just too long for a game/scenario.)

[King Richard]

I like the idea of more turns! The first 4000 years (or more..) I usually just build cities and wonders anyway (kinda boring). I think that every turn should have the same amount of years gone by (let's say 5 years), then we'll need more techs for the early years, or some sort of slower science in the beginning. I prefer to have as many turns as possible. Perhaps if you can choose how long you want to play, instead of small maps (quick game), you can choose more turns (long game/full game). When it comes to future tech, I think that techs like the human genome project, the human brain, national missile defence (not SDI), a trip to the Moon and Mars and other more likely techs that we might just see in the future. Both a trip to the moon and the human genome project has been done, so these should at least be implemented in the game. A trip to Alpha Centauri isn't very likely to happen in a while, so this should be taken away from civ3!

[Your.Master]

quote: Originally posted by Adm.Naismith on 04-23-2001 04:51 AM Hmmm, AFAIK the Spaceship seems will be keept, at least for continuity and link to the previus Civ episodes. Of course it's totally unrealistic to have mankind in 2020AD ready to send a starship to Alpha Centauri; probably until then we won't go to Mars, for that matters. This is still a case were I vote to keep a Great Dream over more realistic "inside Solar System" game target.

You know, the plan is to have people landing on Mars by 2010? And NASA said that it was a pessimistic forecasting. My source is Popular Science magazine. So Mars by 2020 CERTAINLY isn't infeasible for a parallel universe.

[Ecthy]

I also think the game should be extended... but they should make those extensions in regard to time span covered by a turn rather than number of years the game lasts... for example, the middle ages were hardly touched in civ or civ2, not even mentioning call to power, were we had a direct connection between ancient times and renaissance...

I say let's have some 4000BC - 2500AD but more turns than in CIV2... and mor etechs and units between ancient and renaissance!! and between renaissance and modern times also!

[Caber]

Instead of having a hard-coded number of turns built into the game, why not include it in a file like CivII's "rules.txt"? All that is needed is a simple variable that would tell the game how many turns it takes to go from 4000BC to 2020AD.

If someone prefers short games, they could set this number to 500 or less, while someone who prefers long games could set it to 1000. Obviously there should be a set minimum and maximum, or this modification could make the game unplayable.

The calculation to determine how many years each turn takes should be fairly simple, but I don't have the energy to figure it out right now.

[Ralf]

quote: Originally posted by Caber on 04-29-2001 05:07 PM Instead of having a hard-coded number of turns built into the game, why not include it in a file like CivII's "rules.txt"? All that is needed is a simple variable that would tell the game how many turns it takes to go from 4000BC to 2020AD.

If theres an easy way to implement this - well, why not. Good idea!

[Roman]

Well, even in Civ2 you could carry on playing after 2020, so I am sure the same will be implemented in Civ 3. Therefore, I wouldn't worry about this issue.

[Sirotnikov]

Future units? Why the hell would I want that? I have SMAC for that, and I don't particulary care for it...

Increased number of turns is the option.

The thing is, Civ 2 used to decrease the number of turns drastically the higher was the difficulty. But that caused the ancient era and the middle ages to be forgotten.... If I had an Island start. I would have met other civs only around 100AD which isn't right!

more turns = more fun = more game play.

That's another reason why there is no way one couldn't conquer the world in diety. On a large map, you simply don't haave the time to build enough units... you have something like half the turns of warlord or something...

[Roman]

quote: Originally posted by Sirotnikov on 04-30-2001 05:18 PM Future units? Why the hell would I want that? I have SMAC for that, and I don't particulary care for it...

No, don't worry about that. Luckily there will not be futuristic techs in Civ 3 . I am also greatly opposed to them and hail the Firaxis decision to exclude them. Continuing beyond game year 2020 simply means you get more turns - not the inclusion of future techs.

[MarBaS]

Well from one of the screen shots, it shows a space ship blasting off, and from what i have heard there are no Wonder movies so you can be leaded to believe that it is either..

a) They have something where you blast off and go to the moon, showing the first people on the moon or...

b) It is the same ol going to Alpha Centauri, or at the end you go to mars. Hey this ways off the origanal topic of is the game to short, but its just my opinion thanks.