Unlocking the secrets of the new civ select screen

[monkspider]

Man, good work Sgrig
Sorry about my numerical errors in the original list

I think I can see Spanish on there, due to what appears to be a "P" as the second letter in 21. And it looks like I can make out a distinctive V and k in 10 and I think I can make out a "g" toward the end in 9. If I am correct, then we would have the following.

1 Rome 13 Egypt
2 Greece 14 Babylon
3 Germany 15 Russia
4 China 16 America
5 Japan 17 France
6 India 18 Persia
7 Aztecs 19 Zululand
8 Iroqouis 20 England
9 Mongols 21 Spanish
10 Vikings 22 Ottomans
11 Gauls 23 Arabs
12 Carthagenians 24 (unknown)

[monkspider]

Here is a new diagram I have created of a close-up of the civ select screen.
Notice how Babylon and what is probably our mystery civ, 24, appear to have the same number of letters.
Babylon has seven, what else could possibly have seven?
Koreans=seven
Incas=Five
Mayas=Six
Sioux=Five
Canadians=nine
Hebrews=seven
ethiopians= ten
dutch= five

So really, out of the possible civs that could still be considered for the XP, only Hebrews and Koreans seem to have the correct number of letters for that last spot. So despite how inconceivable it is that the Koreans would have an artillery UU, and questions of how that they could get a Golden Age from having such a unit, and how equally inconceivable it would be that they would not have a single American civ in the XP, it seems this may be the strongest evidence for the inclusion of Korea in the Civ 3 expansion pack yet.

[civman2000]

hmmm, using that new analysis the general shape of the word it looks like Hebrews...but that's just what I see

[Bisonbison]

Originally posted by monkspider
Notice how Babylon and what is probably our mystery civ, 24, appear to have the same number of letters.
Babylon has seven, what else could possibly have seven?
Koreans=seven
...
it seems this may be the strongest evidence for the inclusion of Korea in the Civ 3 expansion pack yet.

Sorry, but I'm just not buying it.

First, the Civ select screen does not use true-type fonts, so Babylon (7 letters) ends up being a longer name than not only England (7 letters), but also Iroqouis (8 letters). I don't know what font they're using, but it's not proof either way.
More damning is what Sgrig points out, which is that there is a general convention for naming: if there is a simple, singular name for the region/nation this civ occupied, that name is used. The only "exceptions" in the original 16 were: Aztecs, Iroquois and Zululand.

Given that a Korean civ would most logically be named "Korea" (like "China" or "Japan"), it's 5 letters not 7.

Following this convention for the rest, I get 4 simple ones:

Mongolia (8 letters)
Spain (5)
Gaul (4)
Carthage (8)

and four tough ones that I don't know what to do with: Vikings/Ottomans/Arabs/Unknown

Thoughts?

[civman2000]

no, what sgrig said refutes your position. Although the old civs are as you said, it seems that the new civs are using the longer names of the people (spanish, cathaginians, etc)

[Bisonbison]

Originally posted by civman2000
no, what sgrig said refutes your position. Although the old civs are as you said, it seems that the new civs are using the longer names of the people (spanish, cathaginians, etc)

Point taken.

Well, I still think that that last one is entirely illegible, and given that you could type in

Koreans
Mayans
or
Raptors

and get roughly the same length. I just think we'll have to wait.

[civman2000]

however, you have a good point that it is not a truetype font

[monkspider]

Originally posted by Bisonbison


First, the Civ select screen does not use true-type fonts

That's a good point, I didn't take that under consideration. I only used "America" and "Babylon" as test samples and they both seemed to to about the exact same length.

In any event, this is more evidence, even if not absolute, for the Koreans and Hebrews.

Personally, the last spot *DOES* look like Hebrews to me, but there is more evidence for the Koreans right now (the Hwacha) so it's really tough to say.

[monkspider]

Here are the first three letters of the last civ's name
To me, this really looks like "Heb"
But of course, there is no evidence for the Hebrews while there is a degree of evidence for the Koreans.

[monkspider]

Oops, here they are. So don't give up quite yet Eli.

[Imp. Montezuma]

Originally posted by Bisonbison


...First, the Civ select screen does not use true-type fonts, ...

I disagree. In current versions 1.07 - 1.17 - 1.21 definetly is True Type font just LSANS.TTF in root folder. Make test: rename anything tt font to lsans.ttf and replace original. You will get proof!

[civman2000]

so maybe I wasn't just imagining seeing Heb...that was all of it I could really make out too...

[Cesa]

Firaxis, are you reading this? Are you having fun?

[Adm.Naismith]

Originally posted by Bisonbison
First, the Civ select screen does not use true-type fonts, so Babylon (7 letters) ends up being a longer name than not only England (7 letters), but also Iroqouis (8 letters). I don't know what font they're using, but it's not proof either way.

Hmmm, it seems to me we are confusing True Type tech, that have the primary scope to be hardware (printer) independent, with Proportional / Monospaced fonts, who refer to width and spacing for character.

If you look at any word processor that use Courier New, you can see it's a True Type font with a fixed lenght for characters i.e. you can exactly align two columns of text containing the same number of every character you chose, while you can't do this using Arial or Verdana.

Well, never mind, excuse my bragging

[sgrig]

I guess that unless somebody has some reallly good graphics software which can somehow make the text clearer (although I doubt that it's possible) we'll just have to wait for more evidence (ie more screenshots, firaxis interviews etc).

I really doubt the Hebrews will be it. First of all, their inclusion will make the Middle East 'over-populated' with civs (althoug this is historically correct!), secondly,and I might be wrong in this, Hebrews refers only to ancient Jewish civilization, so a better choice for the civ name would be Israelites or Israelis.

It is also possible that some of the new civs in the civ-selection screen are listed as countries and others as peoples' names, so this would affect the possible lengths and shapes of words.

Anyway we know for sure what seven of the new civs are, and with some probability, the 8th civ could be:

Hebrews
Koreans
Mayans
Austrians
Australia

(notice Australians is too long, so maybe last civ is listed as Australia?)

Out of the above, I'd say Koreans are in with the highest probability, while Austrians with the lowest.