Well, they ill need a good map generator

[Bblue]

RTS or TBS, either way with time scales in the millions of years, and one of the largest non-catastrophic evolutionary pressures being climate, this will not be a setpiece map. Climate is largely dependent on the position of the oceans and land masses and over millions of years tectonic plates have a way of moving. The game's map will need to be constantly changing. Hope they can come up with a map generator that can do a good job of this.

Hoping that they have a random one as well as a 'replay' of the Earth's geologic history with the flooding and draining of the North American inland seas, the opening of the Atlantic, the dispersion on Gonwana, the opening and closings of the Tethyes Seaway, etc..

Can't get to that Continent... kick back and wait a few million years, it's on it's way

As a side note.. I hope they don't get too carried away with the stereotype of the dino in the lush primordial jungle, Dinos were in a large range of climates.. some of them pretty darn cold.



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"Power does not corrupt; it merely attracts the corruptable"

[St Leo]

Could not have put it better myself.:-)

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St. Leo
http://ziggurat.sidgames.com/
http://www.sidgames.com/forums/

[Biddles]

Not only tecttonic shifts, but climatic changes. Rivers and jungles drying up and becoming deserts, mountain ranges being created, rivers widening and splitting to become seas, ocean currents changing and warming new lands.....


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- Biddles

"Now that our life-support systems are utilising the new Windows 2027 OS, we don't have to worry about anythi......."
Mars Colonizer Mission

[Hugo Rune]

I agree, although I think everything should be customisable...

Anyway, they did mention volcanoes and meteor showers in the first diary, and seing how climate has been an important factor in world evolutionary history, they will pretty much have to include climate. I do have a hard time seing how to implement plate tectonics in a Civ-like environment, though.

[Eggman]

And don't forget those ominous glaciers encroaching and receding from the north and south. And volcanic islands being created and destroyed. And erosion (over millions of years, it can make a big difference).

If they can pull this off, it will be incredibly cool.

[Bblue]

Ice Ages would be a cool touch But this is one case where knowing too much can spoil the fun. Having a background in the natural Sciences and seeing some of these things implemented in ways that aren't 'realistic' makes me grind my teeth (SimEarth wan't too bad, except for the plate tectonic models). Yeah, Yeah, I know suspinion of belief :P (It was funny to watch basaltic lava comeing out of a composite volcano in 'Dante's Peak', although there are always exceptions )

Although the scientic community isn't sure exactly what triggers an ice age, the advance and retreat of continetial ice sheets (well, as sure as you can be in these types of situations) The geologic record seem to indicate MOST happened in the Cenezoic Era (post-Dino) and that there is a corrolation between ice ages and the shapes of the oceans. Ice ages seem more prononced and common when the oceans are north-south oriented running pole to pole (like the current situation). During large portions of the Mesozoic era, the oceans were East-West (Teythes Seaway) or in a configuration with one conitient, Pangea, and one ocean (Panthelassis(sp?). I know I am in a HUGE minority here, but.. if they are going to simulate planet-wide effects I hope they do it with a good amount of research. (Ice Ages when the random oceans are north-south oriented) It would save just one of thier consumors a wee bit of teeth grinding


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"Power does not corrupt; it merely attracts the corruptable"

[St Leo]

rivers widening and splitting to become seas

To be precise, valleys that commonly contain rivers widening and splitting to become seas.:-)

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St. Leo
http://ziggurat.sidgames.com/
http://www.sidgames.com/forums/