New Jeff Briggs Interview Up

[SnowFire]

Unfortunately I couldn't find an appropriate thread to post this in. Check out http://www.fgnonline.com/news/8954.html , they have some interesting CivIII stuff there, but nothing we haven't really known already. The only new thing is that trade will get a dramatic reworking.

Also note that programmers are already programming away at CivIII, meaning many of the ideas we'd like to see may never get in since the game's code is "hardening." Again, I say that this should probably be the last summary sent off to Firaxis, since it's going to be kind of pointless and a waste of time after now.

[Maniac]

"The thing we're not saying yet is whether or not it's going to come before Civilization, after Alpha Centauri or between the two."

????????
Civilization III will be the same time span as Civ2 + perhaps some future, right?
Then what is that guy talking about "after Alpha Centauri or between the two"?

[MarkG]

yeah, that was strange...

thanks for finding it snowfire(posted about it in the civ3 section some time ago)

[Mark_Everson]

My guess (hope) is that the interviewer didn't understand the distinction Between Civ 3 and the third title in Sweep 'o Time, and confused responses for one to pertain to the other when writing up the interview. Its a Lot simpler explanation than complete corporate schizophrenia.

[Maniac]

Another Jeff interview. This time the Morris lunatic (is it obvious I don't like the Jeffs -actually whole Firaxis- very much?).

There are certainly some games that bombed because they were super buggy, but the fact of the matter is that bugs really don't seem to irritate the casual gamer. While vocal, hardcore gamers can certainly influence the way a game is generally perceived, and recommend or discourage a non-gamer acquaintance from purchasing a game, they're not the only factor. Hit games, ones that sell over 100,000 units, aren't reaching those numbers by only appealing to the gamer minority. They click with a somewhat less sophisticated consumer of computer games, and for them unless the game refuses to boot, bizarre gameplay bugs or AI deficiencies rarely interfere with their enjoyment of the product.

Firaxis doesn't fail to surprise me with it's arrogance.
If you want to read the full stuff, check out http://www.sidgames.com/ac/#-44
and http://www.gdse.com/ezine/issue2/firaxis.shtml

[loinburger]

It's not arrogance they speak but the simple truth. Leave it be, I say. If Firaxis makes a shoddy product, I will be disappointed and won't buy the game, but I have no doubt that the game will be a best-seller. Whether Firaxis listens to our list ideas or not, the very fact that they are nodding their heads our way speaks a great deal for their arrogance, or rather their lack thereof.

Have you ever looked at how many registered users there are on Apolyton? 3300 and change. Of those, how many do you think are active contributors to THE LIST (who haven't been chased off for their ignorance by the thread constables )? I'd say no more than a hundred, if that. Firaxis could insult each and every one of us to our faces and Civ III would still be a best-seller.

So I say, be thankful that Firaxis is listening at all. You don't necessarily have to like the situation that we "hardcore" gamers are in (I'd hardly classify myself as that, but under Jeff's definition I suppose I am), but you better start accepting it or else you better start your own game company, because you'll never be satisfied otherwise.

(technophile steps off soapbox)

[Maniac]

Firaxis not arrogant? You gotta be kitting. Do you know what those guys have done the last months? Go to alpha.owo and ACOL.

And I really doubt Firaxis is paying attention well. They just don't care a damn about us. They don't even answer Yin's mails. I know I know, all companies only want money, but most companies at least listen to their customers a _bit_ and try to look a bit customer-friendly.

[Jimmy]

Yeah, I know that what Jeff said about civ3 maybe coming before civ2, or between civ2 and SMAC or after, sounds crazy but here is what I think: from a story line point of view civ3 will be about human civilizations growing. However, the storyline could pick up on Earth after the ship leaves to AC. The story line would be like "Meanwhile on a post-apocalyptic Earth, human civilizations rise again ..."
Or they might start civ3 even earlier than civ2 did. You would start at the very dawn of Man with sticks and rocks and go all the way to modern day. You would start with a Neanderthal unit and the tech "fire".

[Jimmy]

Another thing: when you meet another Neanderthal tribe, the diplomacy looks something like this:

"Ugh ,ugh, ugh!!"

And you select either:
a) "ugh !!!!!"
b) "ugh ?????"
c) "ugh ?!?!?"
d) "ugh ! ugh ?"

"The Neanderthals have signed a peace treaty with the Cro-magons."

[Maniac]

Post-apocalyps I would hate.
Starting Civ3 even earlier than Civ2 I would love.

[Icedan]

lol Jimmy, thats not actually a bad idea. hehe

I would talk in ugh for a laugh.

[Tornado7]

ugh? UGH??!!!
UGH!!!
Cro-magon to neanderthal-
Our words are backed with nuclear weapons-
Neanderthal to cro-magon-
Our patience is exausted-Prepare for war!!!
Sorry, I'm just a serious mental idiot. Oh well, I'm kinda disappointed that Firaxis is gonna pull that kind of garbage on us pyscho fans.

[Jimmy]

Tornado7: Don't start flaming firaxis just yet because we don't know when civ3 starts. I sure hope we don't get cro-magnons and neanderthals because I think it would make the game really suck (even without the ugh's)!

[Tornado7]

Yeah, I'm calm. It still sucks, but I guess that's what happens when big companies decide to do what they want. (If you think that rant was bad, check out the last page of the space exploitation post. I had to be sedated by the nice people in the isolation suits...)

------------------
"And how much, my fellow warriors, can a world change in a mere 800 revolutions??!!"
-Shiplord Kirel, Worldwar:In the balance, right before the Race realizes they're in deep trouble.