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Someone -- technophile? -- posted a question re how others who worked on The List (and The List 2, and the Essential Civ 3 list) feel about the results of their efforts. It seems evident that the designers read and understood both what was being wished for, and how best to address those wishes. As one who contributed, I'm gratified.
Consider:
Religion
Anyone who worked on the religion thread remembers the big focus was on 1)modeling human belief in the game, and how those beliefs affect the growth of civilizations over time, and 2) being able to brand identify your own population (Turrywenzo, Muslim, etc.).
Now, the designers could have created a more streamlined wargame/trade-game that skirted the issue of religion altogether, but instead they focused that direction, ingeniously folded what we were saying into the much more Civ-like and inclusive concept of 1) "CULTURE" that demonstrably and strategically changes the very power of your nation and 2) added brands vis a vis "NATIONALITIES" to the game model.
Listen, I worked on that religion thread for months. I did the final summary. I voted for it in the EC3. And what Firaxis has come up with not only delivers in spirit what I was hoping for, it does it in a way that shows those of us who worked on Religion that we were genuinely on to something.
The Energy Model
This was also something I worked on, and felt was essential to the full iteration of Civ into a 3 (as opposed to 2.5). Here we asked that the game model actual energy resources that were necessary to build the units, thereby taking trade/warfare/diplomacy to a whole new level. We posted about it, we summarized it in the lists, included it in the EC3 as one of the Ten most essential new ideas, and later debated it (Cyclotron 7 will vouch here) ad nauseum.
I ask you, how could I possibly be disappointed with what Briggs, et al are delivering in Civ 3 as a resource model?
Doubtless they were way out ahead of us on many of these ideas. Sure, some will feel the game is closer to Civ 2.5, although I can't imagine how they would. Let's wait til it comes out, but I suspect already that would be an unfair judgement. We have to step up and acknowledge that some of our ideas were Civ 4.5 ideas, just plain not workable in the context of the whole.
In closing, we who contributed singular and inspired ideas to the design team would do well to remember the story about Rodin's hands. Rodin was of course the great 19th century sculpture, and he was laboring one night to complete the hands on one of his masterworks. At last he had them just right; he felt the statue was finally complete and in a fever of creative celebration he went and woke up all his students. They went and saw what he had done and the first student exclaimed, "Master, it's beautiful but those hands are pure genius!" One by one, each student echoed the first, those hands!, until finally Rodin in a rage went and grabbed an axe and to everyone's horror chopped both the hands off and threw them away, declaring the statue saved. He said, "Never forget that no one part is more important than the whole."
EDIT: thanks for the spell correct -- Rodin
[This message has been edited by raingoon (edited May 19, 2001).]
Consider:
Religion
Anyone who worked on the religion thread remembers the big focus was on 1)modeling human belief in the game, and how those beliefs affect the growth of civilizations over time, and 2) being able to brand identify your own population (Turrywenzo, Muslim, etc.).
Now, the designers could have created a more streamlined wargame/trade-game that skirted the issue of religion altogether, but instead they focused that direction, ingeniously folded what we were saying into the much more Civ-like and inclusive concept of 1) "CULTURE" that demonstrably and strategically changes the very power of your nation and 2) added brands vis a vis "NATIONALITIES" to the game model.
Listen, I worked on that religion thread for months. I did the final summary. I voted for it in the EC3. And what Firaxis has come up with not only delivers in spirit what I was hoping for, it does it in a way that shows those of us who worked on Religion that we were genuinely on to something.
The Energy Model
This was also something I worked on, and felt was essential to the full iteration of Civ into a 3 (as opposed to 2.5). Here we asked that the game model actual energy resources that were necessary to build the units, thereby taking trade/warfare/diplomacy to a whole new level. We posted about it, we summarized it in the lists, included it in the EC3 as one of the Ten most essential new ideas, and later debated it (Cyclotron 7 will vouch here) ad nauseum.
I ask you, how could I possibly be disappointed with what Briggs, et al are delivering in Civ 3 as a resource model?
Doubtless they were way out ahead of us on many of these ideas. Sure, some will feel the game is closer to Civ 2.5, although I can't imagine how they would. Let's wait til it comes out, but I suspect already that would be an unfair judgement. We have to step up and acknowledge that some of our ideas were Civ 4.5 ideas, just plain not workable in the context of the whole.
In closing, we who contributed singular and inspired ideas to the design team would do well to remember the story about Rodin's hands. Rodin was of course the great 19th century sculpture, and he was laboring one night to complete the hands on one of his masterworks. At last he had them just right; he felt the statue was finally complete and in a fever of creative celebration he went and woke up all his students. They went and saw what he had done and the first student exclaimed, "Master, it's beautiful but those hands are pure genius!" One by one, each student echoed the first, those hands!, until finally Rodin in a rage went and grabbed an axe and to everyone's horror chopped both the hands off and threw them away, declaring the statue saved. He said, "Never forget that no one part is more important than the whole."
EDIT: thanks for the spell correct -- Rodin
[This message has been edited by raingoon (edited May 19, 2001).]
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