GameSpy preview including two new screenshots!

[Buck Birdseed]

http://www.gamespy.com/e3/civ3/

Wait a few minutes and I will write up the news item...

[Henrik]

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase on 05-17-2001 09:54 AM GameSpy preview including two new screenshots!

There are three new screnshots

One which must be a screenshot of the bargaining table,
One of the map,
And one of the city screen.
[This message has been edited by Henrik (edited May 17, 2001).]

[Fiera]

quote: Originally posted by Henrik on 05-17-2001 10:13 AM There are three new screnshots

Ah, Henrik, you beat me to it!

Also, I've spotted a city called Salamanca. Will the Spanish finally make it into Civ3? Thanks for the link, Snapcase!

[Buck Birdseed]

Damn. I missed that one. Corrected for the news item, at least...

[Grumbold]

The map screenshots being produced still look deeply suspicious to me. Despotism in 450 A.D. Roads going in odd places. Text sitting underneath a horse for no reason.

Seeing the 'culture' borders at work with several civs jostled together I am worried that it will result in a mess whenever two nations collide. Each will build new cities in available spots unhindered by the borders because of poor culture. Then the borders slowly grow into place leaving isolated pockets potentially cutting each other off from their capital. If you built a road away from your capital and founded a city at the end of it, you would consider both the city and the road as part of your domain even if the new city did not have the influence to push your culture further outward. I'm reminded of games like Disciples and Starcraft where you slowly change the terrain around your buildings to indicate your control. Your influence should flow outward along roads a lot further than across undeveloped tiles. Almost as if your cultural influence got the movement bonus I.e:


XXX
XXXXXXXXX
XXC~~~~~~C
XXXXXXXXX
XXX

[Buck Birdseed]

Already posted as a news item a few days ago.

KISS: Psycho Circus is a light-weight FPS from a few years ago, which had the band members from KISS going around doing stupid things.

[senowen]

quote: Seeing the 'culture' borders at work with several civs jostled together I am worried that it will result in a mess whenever two nations collide. Each will build new cities in available spots unhindered by the borders because of poor culture. Then the borders slowly grow into place leaving isolated pockets potentially cutting each other off from their capital.

I don't think that will happen because of the ability of culture to take over cities. Why would you or your enemy build too close to each other when you know that when the older cities get more culture they are going to take over your new cities? Another thing is that I think this is an extreme example. You are looking at at least 3 civilizations all clumped together in a very small space, but it could actually be more than that originally. It looks like the Americans took over one of the Native American civs. Look at the tribal warrior at the bottom of the screen. It also looks like Salamanca may have gotten taken by some other non-Spanish civ.

quote: If you built a road away from your capital and founded a city at the end of it, you would consider both the city and the road as part of your domain even if the new city did not have the influence to push your culture further outward. I'm reminded of games like Disciples and Starcraft where you slowly change the terrain around your buildings to indicate your control. Your influence should flow outward along roads a lot further than across undeveloped tiles. Almost as if your cultural influence got the movement bonus I.e:

How do you know that isn't the way it works in some respect. If you are attached by road to the capital city maybe you do start off with some culture in new cities as long as the capital city has a certain amount of it's own. But you shouldn't get lots of culture with a new city because of the chances of ICS.



[This message has been edited by senowen (edited May 17, 2001).]

[Ralf]

Thanks Firaxis!

That all-inportant visible city-area tile feedback, has NOT been "streamlined away" after all, as it was in CTP-2. Click on the blue link and check it out. I guess I suspected that all along - but its really nice and reassuring to get 100% confirming screenshot anyway. Great!!

Two extra-important milestones left to go:

1: Artificall Intelligence
[*] Better AI production-strength and better civil improvement emphasis. [*] Better AI advantage-taking of tech-allowed production possibilities.[*] Avoid dust-collecting AI-fortunes: put excess into practical use. [*] More efficient AI city-placements and better land-area exploitation.[*] Better AI diplomacy: greedy AI-exchanging rather then gullible.[*] More/less internal AI quarrels depending on weak/strong HP position. [*] Less potshot border-quarrels; more penetrating stacked army AI-attacks.[*] Better HP-one-square-away AI-decisions; attack, or flee and/or fortify?[*] Better HP city-strength AI-estimations; pillage and/or sieges?[*] Better AI-response to extensive HP military build-ups with obvious intentions.[*] Quality-before-quantity AI-unit build-strategy: less draining upkeep.

2: Game-customization
[*] Extensive and flexible checkbox preference-screens, ala SMAC.[*] More extensive and more enhanced game-rule text-tweak files.[*] Player-editable AI-build & emphasize files; allow AI spoon-feeding.[*] Map-editing invisible arrays of fixed potential AI-city locations. [*] More advanced and extensive tools for the scenario-experts out there. [*] Drag-and-drop for newbies allowing quick standard-rule scenarios.[*] At the moment, I cant think of anythÃng more. Feel free to add...

[This message has been edited by Ralf (edited May 17, 2001).]

[Maxxes]

In the city screen there is no 'units supported by this city' box, so unit's are probably supported nationwide.

[Fintilgin]

Looking good.

I like the diplomacy screen, although I was hoping the leader picture would take up half the screen like it did in Civ1. I /really/ liked that look. The little tiny boxed leader is less impressive, although it'll probably be a different story with animation and civilization appropriate music. I can understand why they had to shrink the leader to allow all the different options, but maybe they could be twice that size? So much more atmospheric the Civ1 way.... mmmm....

Joe

[DaveV]

Lots of interesting stuff in that city screen:

Twelve population icons are shown; one is an entertainer. Twelve squares are being worked, so I conclude that the "free" city square is still alive and well.

Although the city contains twelve citizens, the food box size is only 40. Does this mean the food box is constant in size? Yet another anti-ICS measure?

EVERY square is generating at least one dollar sign (trade arrows from Civ2). Although the total is shown as 19, the trade breakdown shows 13 arrows going into the treasure chest and 9 arrows into the beaker. Maybe there's a marketplace improvement that isn't shown?

The temple is shown with one smiley face; luxuries are shown generating six smiley faces. Maybe temples, luxuries, and entertainers will work in the same way to make people happy now?

The cyan triangle above the (rather strangely pictured) colosseum project probably opens the build queue.

The barracks is the only building shown with a support cost (red $ next to it in the list).

City population is being calculated by a different algorithm than Civ 2, which would put a 12 citizen city at 660,000.

Edit: typos.
[This message has been edited by DaveV (edited May 17, 2001).]

[DaveV]

More observations:

Those appear to be desert squares next to the river that are generating three food (and no shields) each. Has the production of desert squares changed?

The rules on irrigation seem to have changed. I don't think any of the irrigated squares to the east of the city has access to a river or an ocean square, and the single irrigated square to the south definitely doesn't. So none of those squares could be irrigated in Civ 2.

[Gramphos]

quote: Originally posted by Maxxes on 05-17-2001 01:58 PM In the city screen there is no 'units supported by this city' box, so unit's are probably supported nationwide.

I think I've read somewhere that the support is taken from the total trade and not from the production of the city anymore.

[Nikolai]

Hmmmm... This is VERY interesting!

Notes:
*I can see they use the same icon for civil disorder as in SMAC.

*The colosseum in the city screen looks like a mayan temple...

*A new unit: Privateer

*The city semms to grow out of its square

*The "red" is now a civ(look at the city screen)

*The map looks better than before(forests, roads). There you can see, the ones that didn't like that; it DID change!

------------------
Who am I? What am I? Do we need Civ? Well....

[Gramphos]

The picture of the production doesn't seem to be a Colosseum to me. I guess it's a temple. The Cityscreen has changed a lot since the Baltimore screenshot, and that icon isn't probably working jet.

Still I think that the graphics and numbers that showed production in the Baltimore Screenshot looked better.