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Well, Yin agreed with me that the overall atmosphere of the game made up much of the success of CIV1/2 and so will be an Ãmportant factor for future addictiveness, too 
WHAT IS 'ATMOSPHERE'?
Frankly, even a game like CIV2 (or ANY computer game, for that matter) isn't more or less than playing around with numbers. Fullspot. Whether resource values, combat strength, lightbulbs generated... all are numbers only. Now, besides a balanced game engine (i.e. intelligent and believable algorithms to handle and interpret these numbers), most of the fun in a game derives from HOW GOOD THESE NUMBERS ARE HIDDEN. Come on, we want to be cheated, don't we? Although we KNOW we sit in front of that ol' CPU, we want to feel Emperor. We want nice graphics, cool animations, cute ideas, in short: we want a PERSONAL game, something that lives (or at least pretends to do so).
Civ:CtP showed what can happen: Great graphics, lots of animations, a vast civilopedia (aka "Great Library")... and next to zero atmosphere (at least most people say so).
This thread is to bring up and gather ideas how to make CIV3 more FUN - not about touching the game engine, not about cool units we maybe want to see.
Three examples:
1) The end game / in game feature
In nearly all Sid Meier games, the player is rewarded after, and sometimes even IN the game: By way of giving him titles (CIV), naming special things (from snakes to continents) after him (Col), evaluating what could have become of the player (Railroad Tycoon) etc. This always was more fun than that plain ol' Highscore Screen most games have, right? In CIV, you had the Throne room, which essentially had no function, but was there for the fun of it only and to give the player the feeling "You have accomplished something!". Great, although it wears off after a while
2) The personalization of game elements
Remember the High Council? Boy, I could see those counsellors over and over again, especially the military bully and the Elvis type. They needn't be that way, but this was a fantastic example of how a given game element (the advisors as an important source of information) can be brought to life.
For me (and maybe for many more) CIV2 gained much by having this technically unnecessary feature. Same with the animated heralds, btw.
3) The little bells and whistles
We all have noticed how the citizens in CIV2 change their appearance over the epochs. Well, that's sensible. But that the Elvis guy gets fatter and fatter - well, it's a detail only, but a lovely one, one that made CIV2 (from my point of view) much more human and lovable. Compare that to the sterility of... well, you know which modern Civgame I mean...
Okay, that's the stage. No let the ideas on how to improve the atmosphere, how to simply make the player feel better, roll in!
********************************************
To make a beginning, here's my first idea:
OPTIMIZING THE TRHRONE ROOM
In CIV2, the Throne Room was an add-on, and essentially superfluous - most people have switched it off after a while, I think. Now, I could imagine combining the advisors / the High Council and the Throne room into one. This way, one would have a source of information that everytime when used reflects one's accomplishments. And instead of having those High Council animations every few hundred years, I'd rather have some representatives of my citizens complaining or praising me. Btw., talking about advisors, I'd love to have a historian again, who can always replay the development of my empire...
Now YOU
[This message has been edited by Dominique (edited May 24, 1999).]
WHAT IS 'ATMOSPHERE'?
Frankly, even a game like CIV2 (or ANY computer game, for that matter) isn't more or less than playing around with numbers. Fullspot. Whether resource values, combat strength, lightbulbs generated... all are numbers only. Now, besides a balanced game engine (i.e. intelligent and believable algorithms to handle and interpret these numbers), most of the fun in a game derives from HOW GOOD THESE NUMBERS ARE HIDDEN. Come on, we want to be cheated, don't we? Although we KNOW we sit in front of that ol' CPU, we want to feel Emperor. We want nice graphics, cool animations, cute ideas, in short: we want a PERSONAL game, something that lives (or at least pretends to do so).
Civ:CtP showed what can happen: Great graphics, lots of animations, a vast civilopedia (aka "Great Library")... and next to zero atmosphere (at least most people say so).
This thread is to bring up and gather ideas how to make CIV3 more FUN - not about touching the game engine, not about cool units we maybe want to see.
Three examples:
1) The end game / in game feature
In nearly all Sid Meier games, the player is rewarded after, and sometimes even IN the game: By way of giving him titles (CIV), naming special things (from snakes to continents) after him (Col), evaluating what could have become of the player (Railroad Tycoon) etc. This always was more fun than that plain ol' Highscore Screen most games have, right? In CIV, you had the Throne room, which essentially had no function, but was there for the fun of it only and to give the player the feeling "You have accomplished something!". Great, although it wears off after a while
2) The personalization of game elements
Remember the High Council? Boy, I could see those counsellors over and over again, especially the military bully and the Elvis type. They needn't be that way, but this was a fantastic example of how a given game element (the advisors as an important source of information) can be brought to life.
For me (and maybe for many more) CIV2 gained much by having this technically unnecessary feature. Same with the animated heralds, btw.
3) The little bells and whistles
We all have noticed how the citizens in CIV2 change their appearance over the epochs. Well, that's sensible. But that the Elvis guy gets fatter and fatter - well, it's a detail only, but a lovely one, one that made CIV2 (from my point of view) much more human and lovable. Compare that to the sterility of... well, you know which modern Civgame I mean...
Okay, that's the stage. No let the ideas on how to improve the atmosphere, how to simply make the player feel better, roll in!
********************************************
To make a beginning, here's my first idea:
OPTIMIZING THE TRHRONE ROOM
In CIV2, the Throne Room was an add-on, and essentially superfluous - most people have switched it off after a while, I think. Now, I could imagine combining the advisors / the High Council and the Throne room into one. This way, one would have a source of information that everytime when used reflects one's accomplishments. And instead of having those High Council animations every few hundred years, I'd rather have some representatives of my citizens complaining or praising me. Btw., talking about advisors, I'd love to have a historian again, who can always replay the development of my empire...
Now YOU
[This message has been edited by Dominique (edited May 24, 1999).]
=E
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