The Landscape - A Final Plea

[tniem]

Apparently since Firaxis has given us screen shots of the map on their website the graphics are near finished. They look nice. Certainly crisp and a lot brighter than that of SMAC. No complaints there.

But I would still just like to make a final plea that the landscape should not be flat but have the rolling hills of SMAC. I found this a fantastic addition to the game and hoped to see it in Civ III. I still look forward to charging down a hill with a horseman into Rome. Unfortunately it appears that such a wish will not be fulfilled. I know others feel the same way, please Firaxis, do not give us a flat map!

[ancient]

noo that was a cheasy effect keep flat.. the mountains look good dont change it

[Darkknight]

I didn't like the big rolling hills of SMAC but I think they should use some degree of it in civ3. A 3D map with just slightly oversized hills and mountains. I cant see why they haven't done this or at least a version of it. It's only a "board" game it cvertasinly wouldn't be as hard as making a 3D map on a globe (I know)

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" Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few "

[Ralf]

quote: Originally posted by tniem on 05-11-2001 06:23 PM But I would still just like to make a final plea that the landscape should not be flat but have the rolling hills of SMAC.

No thanks! Wavy SMAC-terrain is definitly not suitable for Civ-3. If anything I instead preferes to look forward to a more embossed architectual 3D-landscape look. The level-differences should be small, but clearly noticeable.

- Level 1: Deep ocean
- Level 2: shallow ocean
- Level 3: Shore, lowland (support all terrain-types)
- Level 4: plateau, highland (support all, except djungle & swamp)

Sea & river both on level 3-4, but minus 0.5 level. The water should be bluish semi-transparent so one can see any sea/river/ocean indentations.

[Lung]

Deep ocean should be a tad darker than aqua blue. The continental shelf (nice touch ) looks ankle-deep, while deep water looks like the deep end of an olympic pool.

The colour seems right, but the shade is just too light! You're supposed to look upon the ancient seas as sinister and foreboding. You know, full of deadly giant sea creatures and the very real possibility of the end of the earth just over the horizon!! This doesn't look dangerous in the remotest sense. I've swum in backyard pools murkier than the entire oceans in Civ3!!

[Timeline]

quote: Originally posted by Ralf on 05-11-2001 08:58 PM No thanks! Wavy SMAC-terrain is definitly not suitable for Civ-3. If anything I instead preferes to look forward to a more embossed architectual 3D-landscape look. The level-differences should be small, but clearly noticeable. - Level 1: Deep ocean - Level 2: shallow ocean - Level 3: Shore, lowland (support all terrain-types) - Level 4: plateau, highland (support all, except djungle & swamp) Sea & river both on level 3-4, but minus 0.5 level. The water should be bluish semi-transparent so one can see any sea/river/ocean indentations.

Some very nice ideas Ralf, I concur with the idea that wavy SMAC terrain does not really fit in with the way Civ III is designed. All hills and mountains are represented accurately in Civ the way they are, and long wavy hills would not be coherent with the distance that is represented by one civ tile.

I also agree with your idea of 4 different terrain levels, as it would give the game a hint of elevations without over doing it. Maybe they will take your advice seriously.

Timeline
[This message has been edited by Timeline (edited May 11, 2001).]
[This message has been edited by Timeline (edited May 12, 2001).]

[Cyberbugs]

One thing I DON'T like about the landscape, is the sort of green color of the sea; The sea should be dark blue, no question about it.
And also, the forests look a bit blurry.

Otherwise it looks pretty good.

[ancient]

i think it would be cool if the seas were different colors in different seas like lets have the mediteranean sea be light blue green and atlantic ocean be dark blue. being able to sea waves that are animate and have your city be hit by huricanes as well as other storms would be nice..

[java4me]

quote: Originally posted by Ralf on 05-11-2001 08:58 PM No thanks! Wavy SMAC-terrain is definitly not suitable for Civ-3. If anything I instead preferes to look forward to a more embossed architectual 3D-landscape look. The level-differences should be small, but clearly noticeable. - Level 1: Deep ocean - Level 2: shallow ocean - Level 3: Shore, lowland (support all terrain-types) - Level 4: plateau, highland (support all, except djungle & swamp) Sea & river both on level 3-4, but minus 0.5 level. The water should be bluish semi-transparent so one can see any sea/river/ocean indentations.

Those are very good ideas Ralf!!! Those levels would actually make the game more interesting!!!

[Ralf]

quote: Originally posted by java4me on 05-12-2001 01:07 PM Those are very good ideas Ralf!!! Those levels would actually make the game more interesting!!!

Thanks! Well, I would like to believe the same, of course. However, since Firaxis recently have annonced that they will keep the number of terrain-types unchanged compared with Civ-2, without any further additions - maybe they also have plans for a Civ-2 -> Civ-3 map-conversion tool; thus (perhaps) forcing them to keeping the standard flat map. What do I know...

On the other hand: By the look of some screenshots, some terrain-types seems to suggest "mix-and-match" approach. Forrest for example grows on several type of underlying terrain-types.
Also (I dont remember exactly) I have read somewhere, that the maps in Civ-2 WILL have some kind of protruded 3D-look. I really HOPE that they mean something more then the existing screenshots: With the exception from the mountains, the existing landmap looks very flat indeed.

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

[Krypter]

Overall the game looks great, but I'm not very impressed with the landscape tiles. The forests look terrible, like a smudge of green. The units and cities look very nice, but the coast is too much 'beach'. Like someone else suggested, hills, forests and mountains should descend right into the sea to make the continents look more realistic.

Make the landscape look like Age of Empires (not a game I like, but the graphics look great).

This may be impossible to do in practise, but it might be nice if the landscape was in between the 3D rolling hills of SMAC but the current screenshots. The may 11 screenshots look a little too flat, with mountains and hills just popping out of nowhere.

And how about a varying the landscape with plateaus?

Looks good nonetheless.

[Pedrun]

I'm confused accordig to the civ team interview in the official civIII site the terrain wasnt going to be flat at all and this is not what we have seen from the screenshots.

[Theben]

No, the map should stay flat. I didn't even like it in SMAC, except for landmarks. However Ralf's idea about having very slight increases/decreases to note elevation might help- those mountains do seem to be coming up out of nowhere.

BTW does this mean that they're still using the "patchwork" map generator? The screenshots seem to say so. I was kinda hoping that the maps would flow together a bit better, and not have desert here, jungle & swamp next to it, then some grassland and 1 or 2 tundra...

Firaxis, x2 check the climate model from the List!!

[belusa]

Can someone tell me what the green, blue, grey dots on the map are? It seems like there is one grey dot for each desert square, two green dots for the grassland squares, ... Does it mean something? If it doesn't, I think the map would look better without those dots. What do you think?

Just one last thing ... the sceenshots are maybe too yellowish? The ocean should definitely be dark blue, or at least blue.

Otherwise, I like what I've seen!

[Admiral PJ]

Is it me or is that small city with a warrior in it a MINOR TRIBE??
its in the bottomish left of the map with Rome in it.. or maybe its a
colony to collect remote resources.. it dosen't have any bourders i think so maybe its a minor.

AdmiralPete

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