I got the Magazine! Preview, First Impressions, Screenshots forthcoming!

[Ralf]

One thing im curious about:
How do the player choose/rearrange from which city-area tiles to harvest from? By point-clicking directly on the main map? And where are the harvested tile-resources? (equivalent to foods, trade, shields). I dont see that many on the pre-released screenshots. Some clarifications needed.

[The diplomat]

About the Domestic screen, is "fluff" really a tech advance or just a place holder? I sure hope it is not an actual tech advance.

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No permanent enemies, no permanent friends.

[Ceci n'est pas Snapcase]

quote: Originally posted by The diplomat on 04-27-2001 02:21 PM About the Domestic screen, is "fluff" really a tech advance or just a place holder? I sure hope it is not an actual tech advance.

The discovery of Fluff by german scientist Hans Otto von Unterhosen in 1476 heralded a new era of discovery in the textile logistics field. Although the discovery only earned von Unterhosen a minor research position in Hamburg, its implications spelled the end of the Hanseatic states as a major power, and was probably the main reason that Germany entered the renaissance. Without Fluff, Martin Luther's 99 theses would never have been written.

Today's industry bears heavy debt to von Unterhosen's groundbreaking work, not only because it inspired a whole new era of german science but also because the processes used by von Unterhosen remain largely the same to this date, despite modern mechanical and electrolytical methods.

[jordanz19]

In the city viwe I see the Pentagon outside the city walls? That is just confusing. Since there is only a few improvements, how does the Pentagon get built that early?

[MarkG]

[EnochF]

LOL Snapcase.

Reminds me of the "fluff" in the Infocom Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy text game.

quote: Fluff is interesting stuff: a deadly poison on Bodega Minor, the diet staple of Frazelon V, the unit of currency on the moons of the Blurfoid System, and the major crop of the laundry supplies planet, Blastus III. One ancient legend claims that four pieces of fluff lie scattered around the Galaxy: each forming one quarter of the seedling of a tree with amazing properties, the sole survivor of the tropical planet Fuzzbol (Footnote 8). The ultimate source of fluff is still a mystery, with the scientific community divided between the Big Lint Bang theory and the White Lint Hole theory. (Footnote 8, should you care to check, informs you that it's not much of a legend really.)

(That icon at the top is me wearing my Joo Janta Peril-Sensitive Sunglasses. - -)
[This message has been edited by EnochF (edited April 27, 2001).]

[Stefu]

Hmfh. A mixed bag of feelings, I have. It's, of course, always good to find out more, but seven civs got me little worried. Does this mean we can only use seven civs in scenarios? Because that might lead to unhistorical oddities all over again.

Armies, hmm, seem to me like mobile forts. I liked the CtP model, and hoped Firaxis would implement something like it, only modified. Still, seeing that armies are in is absolute plus.

I want lots of new wonders, not just 'couple' of them! I think it might be seven new wonders, but we already have found out that The Internet and Grand Canal will be some of them. What else will there be?

Civ-specific units. I thought Firaxis listened to the people. (If the poll on Civ-specific units ended up with people being pro-specifics, then they are listening to people. I might not like it, but I'll acquiesce.)

Barbarians sounds neato!

All in all, I'm getting these little demons on my shoulders saying that Civ3 might *not* be the game of century after all. *Falls to ground from blasphemy*

[Ceci n'est pas Snapcase]

Found in one of the picture blurbs (I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel here, single quote to indicate journalists interpretation rather than verbatim Jeff Briggs): 'Borders have an even greater role to play in Civilization 3 than in Alpha Centauri. Armed units that cross your border without prior consent run the risk of starting a war.' (My italics)

Prior consent, eh?

[Henrik]

quote: Originally posted by Ceci n'est pas Snapcase on 04-27-2001 04:00 PM Prior consent, eh?

We allready knew there would be a treaty of passage (that information was uploaded to the webpage just one day after I sugested it in a thread, it is probably only a coincidence but I like to think that they listened to me ).

[Ilkuul]

Hoy, what happened???! I'd just finished saving all the images and printing them out, when suddenly they've disappeared from their original posts and been replaced by these new ones with 'Apolyton' and 'PCGameplay' all over them! And sorry to say, but after downloading the replacement city view pic and printing it out, its quality is not as good as the original (at least on my printer)!

[Ilkuul]

quote: Originally posted by jordanz19 on 04-27-2001 02:49 PM In the city viwe I see the Pentagon outside the city walls? That is just confusing. Since there is only a few improvements, how does the Pentagon get built that early?

I think you're getting confused by the shape. It's actually a stadium (modern equivalent of a colosseum) - see earlier posts in this thread.

Great work, Snapcase! I'm off to see if I can get a copy of the magazine at my local newsagent tomorrow - but you're keeping me going in the meantime!

In the Domestic Advisor screen, it's really good to have the Civ2 Tax Rate screen combined with the City Status screen - this is a big improvement. All information conveniently displayed in one place. I like it.

The main map view is very similar to the CGW one - but I also wonder about the red circle around Detroit: just indicating that it's selected?

The info on trade, resources and culture is fascinating. Sounds as tho' you'll have to be something of an all-rounder to succeed at Civ3. No more unalloyed militarism or perfectionism. Of course I know the response to that is that pure militarism/perfectionism didn't succeed in Civ2 either! - and I agree; I just hope that the effort that's obviously gone into preventing 'single-minded' approaches to the game (like bloodlust and ICS), won't at the same time stifle different styles of play, forcing everybody into the same mould if they want to have any success at the game...

But that's too early to tell. By and large everything I've read and seen here is tremendously encouraging. Thank you, Snapcase!

[Cyberbugs]

My opinion is that seven civs per game *is* enough, for at least most people.

What I am really worried about though, is wheather the "stacked combat" will be like in CTP2, with archers and cannons supporting your infantry, or just a mass of units replacing eachother after dying.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

It seems that PC gaming has graphics from different developement phases of the game. The ones that they showed on their website a few days ago had different irrigation tile improvements.

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Its okay to smile; you're in America now

[EnochF]

I also like the new variety in the shapes of rivers and roads.

One minor beef, though, is that the roads and rivers are a little hard to see. I'd suggest making the roads a little wider and dark gray, to contrast with the greens and yellows of the landscape. (Mountains are apparently tinged with red and orange, so dark gray roads should contrast just fine.) I'd also suggest making the rivers a little wider, if possible, and maybe a little brighter. We don't want rivers becoming nearly invisible under a tile of irrigation.

*cough* beta-tester *cough*

[Skeeve]

I must agree with Mr. Roman.
7 Civs: been there done that. I want at least 15.
Come on... everyone must have above a 500MHZ machine by now! Surely that can handle it.
15 is not much to ask. Even CTP2 works with 15... although it does get a tad slow near the end-game, I'll give ya that. (I won't mention the vegetable intelligence of the AI, though)


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My reach exceeds my grasp!