Multiplayer?

[NoviceCEO]

Originally posted by Glak. on 01-18-2000 10:49 PM

Jon:


"I would personally like civ3 to have more interaction with your subjects and the world(plagues, more barbarrians, ect.)"

ok that might make it more fun as a single player game but it would not make the game a better multiplayer game. Random stuff like that just gets in the way. I was playing a game of Myth II and my archers were trying to shoot down a dwarf. A bird flew by and took an arrow, saving the dwarf. Yeah it was funny and I laughed but in a multiplayer game stuff like that doesn't belong, at least not too much.

That might not be the case. A game like the Civ series can take great advantage of the world interaction. A proof of that is SMAC. SMAC was a big evolution on this side. Remember those mindworms? Well, if you didn't watched your eco status close those mindworms could be a serious pain in your ass, and I mean it! And it didn't work in a random way,like your bird in Myth, there was only one factor responsible for it:you!
It is so true that Blizzard announce that in Warcraft 3 you'll need to interact with the game to be successful. Controling towns, killing monsters to aquire gold and exploring the territory and in a crusade to meet heroes and units that will join your army will be common aspects in the game.
But how would that be in a Dino? The answer is: it'll be more important than in any of the previous example. Finding the most approprietate weather conditions, looking for the best kind of vegetables that your dino can eat or finding those plains where your raptors can kill dozens of those delicious veggies.
Yes, a Dino game sounds really fun to me.
novice

[Glak.]

Rusty Nail:

"I think a good solution for the RTS/TBS debate would be a real time game with time-outs. The total time available for time-outs would be a game parameter,as in chess."

As far as I know all RTS games allow you to pause the game. I think the ideal way for pauses to work is for each player to have a certain number and each pause of a certain length, perhaps three minutes.

"So for unlimited time you have pure TBS."

Well no, because you can't issue orders while the game is paused. If you could then, yeah you do have a TBS but most games are designed to run at a certain speed.

"You would have to have a rule that any unit continues what it is doing until told otherwise or is unable to continue."

I am not sure what you mean by this. Could you give an example to clarify?

NoviceCEO

"And it didn't work in a random way,like your bird in Myth, there was only one factor responsible for it:you!"

yep the mindworm thing was pretty well done I think since you were the main influence on it.

"It is so true that Blizzard announce that in Warcraft 3 you'll need to interact with the game to be successful. Controling towns, killing monsters to aquire gold and exploring the territory and in a crusade to meet heroes and units that will join your army will be common aspects in the game."

Blizzard makes my favorite game and I am eagerly awaiting warcraft 3 but I don't think it will be exactly as they say. I think they will really play up the roleplaying aspect in single player (a good thing) but I think it will be very minimal in multiplayer. Yeah it will have a very good atmosphere that draws people in but I don't buy the "RPS" thing, I think that is for review sites to hear. Those types of sites like innovation so blizzard tells them what they want to hear but I don't think war3 will be all that revolutionary. Not that I think that is a bad thing though. Blizzard isn't a big innovater, it is best at taking other people's ideas and making them a whole lot better. I see war3 as basically a SC/MythII hybrid, with some good ideas stolen from other games too. Since I consider SC the best RTS and Myth II second best I approve of this course of action. Ahh if only I could go into stasis for about a year....

[NoviceCEO]

About War3, I believe it may be possible. Games like Ultima Online have made it possible, although it's a differente genre and I've never played it. UO has a huge environment to interact with it, but most f the environment is not computer controlled, as it should be. The fact is, UO can support so much players that it makes it unecessary to have computer controlled towns, because the real players can take place there.

novice
P.S: Did you get the trailer? Awesome!

[NoviceCEO]

If Blizzard ain't a big innovator, what about Microsoft?
You hurt then pretty bad in the post.
(mistyped...)
[This message has been edited by NoviceCEO (edited January 21, 2000).]

[Rusty Nail]

Glak:

I was assuming that you could issue orders while paused. You can do this to some extent in AoK (change destinations, work tasks, queues), but it wasn't designed for this, and could be improved a lot if that was the goal. The idea of continuing an activity as long as possible or until orders are changed is a necessary RTS feature. I assume that when paused (TB mode), you would cycle only units without orders for maximum efficiency (for example a unit that is proceeding along a particular path, or attacking a particular target), but could change ongoing orders as well if you want. Your idea of a specific number of time-outs or a specific time for each could work within this framework.

[Rusty Nail]

Glak:
Correction to previous post. Sorry.

I was assuming that you could issue orders while paused. You can do this to some extent in AoK (change destinations, work tasks, queues), but it wasn't designed for this, and could be improved a lot if that was the goal. The idea of continuing an activity as long as possible or until orders are changed is a necessary RTS feature. I assume that when paused (TB mode), you would cycle only units without orders for maximum efficiency (for example a unit that is NOT proceeding along a particular path, or attacking a particular target), but could change ongoing orders as well if you want. Your idea of a specific number of time-outs or a specific time for each could work within this framework.

[Glak]

NoviceCEO:

I wasn't saying anything bad about blizzard, I think it is wise to let others innovate and then perfect their ideas. For example heros are replacing supply depots. Making farms is boring, recruiting heros is fun. Basically though they are both the same.

"About War3, I believe it may be possible. Games like Ultima Online have made it possible, although it's a differente genre and I've never played it. UO has a huge environment to interact with it, but most f the environment is not computer controlled, as it should be. The fact is, UO can support so much players that it makes it unecessary to have computer controlled towns, because the real players can take place there."

I'm not against roleplaying games at all, I like some of them. I just don't think that war3 will be an RPG. Actually I'm guessing that their unannounced project will be a FPS/online RPG crossbreed where groups of players try to dominate territory, but that is speculation.

"P.S: Did you get the trailer? Awesome!"

Yes I did, I got in on the war2bne CD so it is even higher quality than the download version. If you have time you can download game footage at www.warcraftiii.net, it's pretty cool. I think it takes about 20 minutes with a modem, not sure though.

Rusty Nail:

"I was assuming that you could issue orders while paused"

Well, then you start to get into making the game a TBS. At that point I think it would be better to just make the game a TBS.

[Pythagoras]

Although I feel that firaxis may not have the resources for it, I think that a huge everquest style environment would be cool. Scripted changes in ecology could be innitiated by a server adming, aliens could land and try to start harvesting DNA or something!

[NoviceCEO]

Glak:
"I wasn't saying anything bad about blizzard", I never meant to say you have done that.

"it is even higher quality than the download version. If you have time you can download game footage at www.warcraftiii.net, "
Wow, can that get better?
wariii.net is nice, I'll check when I have sometime (even though I have nothing to do).

But let's stop talking about Blizzard (at least while we're getting off-topic).

BTW, did you receive my email? I sent it to the user "Glak.". If you haven't, please email me (novice@zaz.com.br) or icq-me (6268059), if you wish so.

Cheers to all of you
novice