Looking for player opinions - CTP2 modded/civ3...

[ENGINEER]

I find that the most enjoyable thing in Civ 2 and missing from both CTP 2 and Civ III are that things change. I mean many times the AI would finish off other AI Civ's and align with others. SMAC was good with this also. Maybe Craddle takes care of this. I mean with Craddle the AI attacks the human and in Civ 3 the AI is good at attacking the human, but it seems to me that they never wipe each other out leading to a static game. Don't get me started on the AI's ICS in Civ 3, by 0 AD the whole planet is full

[Immortal Wombat]

Originally posted by ENGINEER
Anyone ever find a way to get the A.I. to form alliances and kick the humans butt?

I think Dale was working on that when he drifted away to Alt-Civs, so maybe Peter is working on getting it into the updated diplomod...

[ENGINEER]

Hex,

I got it working, I wish the deleys on the huts were gone, I saw a few different choices in modswapper, what are the different choices? (seafaring and such) I could not find a readme on them? I did not look too hard.

Anyone ever find a way to get the A.I. to form alliances and kick the humans butt?

[hexagonian]

Originally posted by ENGINEER
I would like to play the modded CTP 2 again, but I would like an easier way to get all the files I need with out all the problems of it not working. Any good documentation on this since I have been gone for a while.

Well I do know that from a playability standpoint, my Mod is stable, and if for some reason, you are having problems, I am here to try to help out. I do not know when you last updated Cradle on your system, but I feel that Cradle, in its present form, is very good - especially with the recent addition of player1/Martin's AI Improvement SLICS.

And any additional changes to Cradle will be to the text files, so once you do the main download (approx 16MB), additional updates will be small.

Immortal Wombat has already hinted at a possible SLIC file that will simulate the need for goods to build certain units - if he can pull that off, then CTP2 looks even better to me. Locutus is also back - another positive for the community...

I do want to say that my impressions of civ3 are more positive than negative. Its just that I'm wondering if it is so much better than what I have set up in Cradle.

Given the fact that I have limited time in which to play and limited funds, why waste the money on a game that will be played once or twice and then ends up sitting on the shelf. This is why EU2 looks good to me - the game dynamics are different from CTP2/civ3.

[The Big Mc]

No multiplayer as well well you know what thy are doing. they are going to make a multiplayer add on get a few more quids for it.

as for no scenarios how long are we to spend on the game for days because that's how long it took me to complete ctp2 for the first time.

[ENGINEER]

Hello Hex,

Have not been around lately, damn work banned the apolyton forums

I really like Civ 3, but all your points are valid, I think a lot of the problems that were fixed or improved in either Civ2 (firepower), SMAC (cool team and enemy interaction like with the UN), CTP & CTP2 (with stack combant, good editor, scripts)

Many of the things this group fixed for CTP in the first Medivial Mod are problems in Civ 3, like the tank/warroir problem. Also as with CTP 2 the AI IMO does not ever finish the job against each other, but at least they attack the human good which is more than CTP 2 did out of the box. I would like to play the modded CTP 2 again, but I would like an easier way to get all the files I need with out all the problems of it not working. Any good documentation on this since I have been gone for a while.

I think the main thing that is good IMO is that Civ 3 support will not be dropped after the first patch because all the haters of CTP will by Civ 3 no matter what and will continue to buy it so they will continue to support it.

What I find funny is everyone making fun of CTP series about the bad support and the bugs, but here comes Civ 3 and it has no muti-player and little good support so far, plus it was partially broken. Funny IMO,

The good things about CIV 3 far out way the bad things, the AI is aggresive and many of the concepts like culture work well. I like the resources a lot also even when they really piss me off. I would say buy Civ 3 if they put out a good patch and fix a few more things. The patch should fix the long time at the end and the air problem. The major thing left for the editor is the inability to place starting positions and units on the map which ruins scenarios. Plus MP in Civ 3 should eventually come out. IF ONLY ACTIVISION HAD CONTINUED TO SUPPORT CTP, they were on track to create one the the best TBS ever if the bugs and the AI were fixed.

[The Big Mc]

hello I haven't got civ3 yet and like you want to know what its like. I played civ2 and found that slow and boring. ctp on the other hand had the map editor and the vibes I get form the people here is that civ3 editing is not good. which does not impress me much but for £35 sterling (around $52 I think) it will have to come down a lot before I pick it up. I can't even down load the videos from there site so that's how much care they put in to it.

The main point is that like the civ3 forums you will just get hardcore ctp2 and a bit of how can we get this out of civ3 to work in ctp2.

[hexagonian]

I've been following the civ3 forums for some time now. It's hard to keep up with all of those threads, but I try...

I had been expecting to get the game for Christmas, but due to some unforseen economic issues in my life, I probably will not be getting it as a present from my family (bottom line is that my company did a major cutback on hours, so the kids will be getting presents, but neither me or my wife will exchange gifts - so no free civ3 for me).

The whole aspect suddenly becomes - 'Is civ3 worth the $50?' If I want the game, I will eventually have to buy it myself. EU2 is looking better and better. (and I did get 'Stronghold' recently - though not as good as 'Pharaoh' IMO, is still a good game)

I'm one of those people who is a fence sitter when it comes to civ3. I believe it has a lot of potential, but at the same time, I am wondering if it is worth the time and effort to start playing. Several issues, in particular are troubling, with the most critical at the top.

THE BIG 4
1. Late game system performance is horrible. 2-15 minutes per turn on good systems. (and I have a low end system PII/350, 192 RAM)
2. Extreme micromangement with workers and unit movement - no stacking.
3. Combat is broken because of the lack of firepower and a flat rate of HP for units.
4. No warning system for revolts.

THE MINOR 3
5. Corruption is unmanageable and unresolveable.
6. Very weak editor.
7. Weak tech tree.

On the plus side, the AI is supposed to be very aggressive, and the in-game atmosphere looks promising. Graphics are acceptable, with the exception of the extremely ugly road/railroad setup.

Now the patch is supposed to address many of these issues, though IMO, I do not think it will change #2 and #3, and I do not think it will be able to adequately fix #1.

My question is...
'Is civ3 a huge improvement over the modded CTP2 setup - and is the civ3 AI light years ahead of what has been accomplished in this community?'

I am posting this here, because posting this in the civ3 thread will only get a bunch of players who already have a built-in aniti-CTP bias based on playing the default game (or not playing it at all), to spout their garbage. (Not that this won't happen here)

What I am looking for are reasoned arguments from players who have played both civ3 and CTP2 Modded (and CTP2 Cradle in particular - with the recent AI SLICS from player1/Martin, which have really helped out the AI infrastructure). And please give specifics rather than the old 'CTP2 or civ3 sucks' mantra without backing up your statements.

I will admit that there are limitations in my Cradle setup that do not bother me too much, but other players may see as major game flaws. But at the same time, I am still greatly challenged by Modded CTP2 (Cradle in particular) and I still am having a blast playing my setup. (Still struggling along on 'Hard') And if there is little difference in the challenge level between Cradle/civ3, then there is no real need to get civ3.

So do my suddenly limited funds go to civ3???