PC Gamer civ3 preview

[To_Serve_Man]

I too have this magazine, and have read the article on Civ3. On the First page, there is a chart, titled BY THE NUMBERS. Under that it has numbers, they are;

16
Number of civilizations
---------
8
Number of civs to play with
---------
12
Number of scenarios planned
---------
6,500
Number of years covered
---------
20
Number of developers on Civilization III
---------
36
Number of Firaxis employees
---------
2
Number of projects Firaxis has in development
---------
0
Amount of information about 'Sid's secret project' <---Whats that??
---------
12
Firaxis' suite address in its 12-story building
---------
13
Actual floor on the demo
---------
89.2%
Average rating the five Meier-named games have received in PC Gamer

I don't have a scanner, but I do have a digital camera, once the batteries recharge, i'll take a picture.

[BeBMan]

A scenario conversion feature/tool is great news. Hope they implement that.

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Civ2000 hosted by CivII Universum

[Ralf]

quote: Originally posted by To_Serve_Man on 05-01-2001 03:51 PM 8 Number of civs to play with --------- 6,500 Number of years covered ---------

God, I hate this type of contradicting game-magazine previews. Now, suddenly its 8
[This message has been edited by Ralf (edited May 01, 2001).]

[Roman]

quote: Originally posted by To_Serve_Man on 05-01-2001 03:51 PM 8 Number of civs to play with

*The below statements apply only if the above is actually true, which is by no means certain due to the contradictory nature of the information given*

Yes!! You know what this means? This means that the hard-coded limit isn't 8 (due to binary nature of computing) and we will be able to tweak this in the text files to at least 15.

My hopes are up again.

[donarumo]

Not sure if it has been mentioned earlier but the article states that the developers, among other things, have to wade through an inch thick document of suggestions from "rabid" fans.

Now I wonder what they could be talking about.

-- Dave!

[MarBaS]

8 Civs per game sounds more likely i think. Its half of 16 and thats how many are in the game. I know my logic is stupid but hey it works I guess. Maybe the preview that said 7 civs really ment you will be playing 7 oponents? Who knows until they confirm.

[To_Serve_Man]

I didn't know people took the 'only 7 civs' literaly. I am not 100% sure of were that source came from, either a interview with a Firaxatarian, or in some Gaming Zine. But I always thought that the whole seven civ thing ment there would be 7 opponents, which did not include the player, thus creating 8 civs playing at once...
[This message has been edited by To_Serve_Man (edited May 01, 2001).]

[Harlan]

I agree that 8 civs sounds tons better than 7, cos it means the number is probably not hard wired, and could be increased through modifications.

The contradictory info about the game years is frustrating. Perhaps its simply a case of Firaxis themselves not knowing for sure. I'm sure there are lots of features they'll want to add, but whether or not they get in depends on if they run out of time or not. Maybe going into the future is one of these things, and if you ask one Firaxis employee you'll get one answer, and if you ask another you'll get a different one, depnding on how much they want that feature. Remember the game is only half finished.

I know Firaxis doesn't want to say too much about the game at this point, to keep the surprise and so forth. But a few short answers would be great to clarify the contradictory info and controversy swirling around. Namely:

1. In what years will the game begin and end?

2. How many civs can be in the game at once, and can that number be increased through modification?

3. Are minor civs in fact in the game, and could we hear at least a hint of how they different from regular civs?

Any solid info on these questions would be much appreciated!

[Roman]

You raise some very good points Harlan. With your kind permission I will plagiarise those issues into a new thread, so that it's visible for Firaxis.

[MazaNaza]

I haven't visited this site in well over a year, but the announcement of Civ 3 in CGW caught me off gaurd. I decided that it's time for me to delve back into the world of Sid and Civilization (god help my tortured grades).

Anyways, I wonder if anyone has considered that 16 civs may not necessarily mean 8 playable at once - it could be that there are 16 totally individual civs (no repeating colors) that can be played simultaneously. Well, probably not all of them at once but maybe they can be played in any combination (unlike the original, where you could have no Egyptians and Aztecs at once).

Yeah, there are a couple of holes in this theory, the main one being that I am not sure they can make 16 different colors easily distinguishable from each other, but it's a definite possiblity (remember the old 16 color video graphics?).

P.S. I tried to update my e-mail address (the current one is outdated by a year) and it told me that hotmail is banned. Um, why?

--> Norm

[Father Beast]

quote: Originally posted by Harlan on 04-30-2001 11:36 PM The 6500 years thing is a bit wierd. It doesn't seem to make much sense to start in the middle of a millenium, so perhaps this means the game is going to end in 2500 AD? Perhaps a surprise they'll drop on us later, and they've been purposely holding back on showing future units and so forth? That doesn't make much sense in terms of the number of wonders given though. If all the old ones are still there, as mentioned somewhere else, that means only 8 new wonders, and as we know of the Great Canal, Internet and Pentagon already, that would mean a max of 5 for the future. So is there an extra 500 future years, or does the game start in 4500 BC instead of 4000 BC, and if so, why??? Its also interesting that they don't say the game covers 6520 years, meaning the game won't be ending in 2020 in any case like Civ2, unless the reporter was just being sloppy. I also find it really interesting that most of the wonders will be minor wonders. Can that really be correct? The examples of minor wonders given, like Manhattan Project, or Apollo Program, make sense. But how can you have 6 United Nations, or Magellan's Expeditions, or Sun Tzu's War Academies in one world? It seems like almost all of the old 28 wonders would be major wonders, i.e., completely unique things. 12 of the old wonders are specifically tied to famous people like Shakespear or DaVinci, so are those the 12 major ones? [This message has been edited by Harlan (edited April 30, 2001).]

sorry for picking on you, harlan, but you summarize most of what we're arguing about.

the 6500 years bit may or may not be accurate. Sid DID say from 4000 BC to AROUND 2020 AD, but that "around" seems to be a bit inaccurate if its 480 years away.
Remember also, the game is only 50% completed, and the future ages may not be set in stone (or silicon, as the case may be) yet. they're still playing around with it, figuring if it'll work.

I am a bit surprised at the proposed number of wonders. in the civ2 manual notes, it said they made a big deal about how wonders are supposed to be in groups of 7! it didn't make sense (they said) to talk about the "6 wonders of the ancient world". I wonder if that's something more they'll tweak...


I like the Idea of minor wonders, as has been discussed here endlessly and on THE LIST. I personally was offended every time I built Apollo and every nation got to bask in the results of my work. I rejoiced to hear that Apollo and Manhattan would be civ specific wonders. I don't see why a number of others could be built for each civ. The hoover dam and the 3 rivers dam in china. Xin Yu's could be broken into central training for your civs units (parris island boot camp), and so on.

Since many of the wonders are linked to individuals, and the CGW preview indicated that in addition to military leaders, cultural and economic leaders could arise, then perhaps Leo will be a person instead of a monument. having Leonardo working for your civ would bring upgrades to your units in some way. same with copernicus, newton, and so on.
Of course, I can't help but wonder if some civs would treat them badly. or if they would leave you if you're a raging despotism. imagine the message "Leonardo Da vinci escapes the despotism of the russians and takes refuge among the egyptians". Maybe linked to your culture rating or somesuch.

[Father Beast]

I can't get this issue until tomorrow, and probably tomorrow afternoon at that... WAAHHHH

But I'll be Back

[Imran Siddiqui]

quote: 16 Number of civilizations --------- 8 Number of civs to play with ---------

You do realize that this could mean 16 Civs in a game, but you can only pick from 8 (which means 8 Major Civs and 8 Minor Civs).

Of course, this, as everything else here is rabid, unfounded, speculation.

[ancient]

quote: Originally posted by Dimorier Maximus on 05-01-2001 02:35 PM Civ and Civ2 went into the future. 2020. Last time I checked it was 2001. It was 1996 when Civ2 came out. Last time I checked, no civilization has harnessed Fusion Power either. It is in Civ and Civ2. What's wrong with 480 more years?

advances which are already being heavily researched and by ak rights are possible have always been a part of civilization. in civ 2 there are many such as, cure for cancer, laser (sdi defense), as well asfusion power. They included them as things to be researched between present and 2020 which they most likely will be. But going far into the future with uncertain things hasnt ever been a part of civilization and by god it never should be.

[This message has been edited by ancient (edited May 01, 2001).]

[joseph1944]

Imran I was thinking the same as you. If we are aloud to pick 7 Civs, will the other 8 civs be the minor civs. If that is true than we will be playing with 16 Civs in every game. Just think in one game the German, English could major civs and in another game they could be minor. Of course the US also could be a minor or major Civs in someone else game.

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