Scouting: is it in?

[Theben]

A little tidbit from the civ3 page:

quote: A few subtleties have been added, such as sighting bonuses from mountains and hills, but Civ-veterans will find the terrain system quite familiar.

A sighting bonus? That doesn't sound to me like an extra square to see things, but an increase to some % chance of detecting the enemy. As per our wishes.

Is that what it is? Could someone from Firaxis fill us in? And what other possible unit commands/abilities will be offered?

[Ralf]

quote: Originally posted by Theben on 05-12-2001 03:12 PM A sighting bonus? That doesn't sound to me like an extra square to see things, but an increase to some % chance of detecting the enemy.

I believe (and hope) that it is "extra squares to see things" - probably both then uncovering blacked-out squares with scouts and spotting oncoming enemy-units with mountain-fortressed guard-units. I dont like percentage-outcome chances - it just provokes the spineless reload-saved-game routine. Should be avoided as much as reasonably possible throughout the entire game.

[This message has been edited by Ralf (edited May 12, 2001).]

[Roman]

quote: Originally posted by Ralf on 05-12-2001 04:42 PMI dont like percentage-outcome chances - it just provokes the spineless reload-saved-game routine. [This message has been edited by Ralf (edited May 12, 2001).]

I don't think anybody would be "cheap" enough to do that in a game, Ralf, so you needn't worry about that. I must agree with you, though, that I also prefer more deterministic rules rather than percentage chances.

[Theben]

quote: Originally posted by Ralf on 05-12-2001 04:42 PM I dont like percentage-outcome chances - it just provokes the spineless reload-saved-game routine. Should be avoided as much as reasonably possible throughout the entire game.

I don't like % outcome chances either, IF the % chance is known to the player (one of the things I disliked about SMAC combat). But an unknown % is IMHO much better than auto-detecting a band of warriors 300 miles away. I would be very happy to have armies & fleets pass thru the same square w/o seeing each other.