Tweet
Source: Announcement Press
Release
Source: IGN Preview
Source: IGN
On battles:
Source: Apolyton
Source: Apolyton
Source: Apolyton
Source: Apolyton
Source: Apolyton
IMPROVED COMBAT
"Combat in Call to Power II has been
refined and rebalanced for more
realistic outcomes"
Source: IGN Preview
FIRST LOOK ON CTP2!
(13 May 2000, 17:37 EST)
IGN also published the first preview of CTP2.
Some
quotes
On the Combat model
"We've changed the entire combat model," says White. The first (and in my opinion most important) of those changes is the addition of an armor attribute to each unit. This means that the phalanx will no longer be able to stand toe to toe with a tank – it simply won't be able to do much damage even if it hits."
On the Combat model
"We've changed the entire combat model," says White. The first (and in my opinion most important) of those changes is the addition of an armor attribute to each unit. This means that the phalanx will no longer be able to stand toe to toe with a tank – it simply won't be able to do much damage even if it hits."
On stealth units
"We've done a lot to simplify the stealth aspect of units," White explains. "Spies will let you see any approaching hidden units." While you'll still need the appropriate defense team to stop the approaching stealth unit (legal team to combat legal team and so on), just knowing why your city has suddenly stopped production will go a long way towards eliminating some of the frustration associated with Call to Power's end game."
"We've done a lot to simplify the stealth aspect of units," White explains. "Spies will let you see any approaching hidden units." While you'll still need the appropriate defense team to stop the approaching stealth unit (legal team to combat legal team and so on), just knowing why your city has suddenly stopped production will go a long way towards eliminating some of the frustration associated with Call to Power's end game."
On new units, wonders and advances
"...city planner, an advanced settler option that allows users to build cities that come with basic buildings already included and that have a higher population, the game will also have loads of new sea units for player to choose from. We managed to catch a glimpse of the Moray, a super fast and agile defensive vehicle, the Kraken, a slower offensive unit and the Scout Sub, a weak unit that enables the player to see hidden units in a very wide radius."
"...city planner, an advanced settler option that allows users to build cities that come with basic buildings already included and that have a higher population, the game will also have loads of new sea units for player to choose from. We managed to catch a glimpse of the Moray, a super fast and agile defensive vehicle, the Kraken, a slower offensive unit and the Scout Sub, a weak unit that enables the player to see hidden units in a very wide radius."
Source: IGN Preview
IGN PREVIEW UPDATE
(27 June 2000, 21:16 EST)
It's been six weeks since the first
installment, but today IGN updated their
preview of Call To Power II,
and it is paying for itself in dividends. With so much information to
assimilate, we've broken it down into sub-sections which are but
bottom-line excerpts from the extensive writeup. In each instance,
IGN's Stephen Butts reports...
"There's much more of a focus on land and sea warfare -- especially submarine warfare. There are lots of new undersea units in the game -- like the Moray and the Kraken -- that are sure to have your enemies guarding their coasts. You can look at the individual units with the unit tab. All sorts of tactical hinkfo is displayed here from current orders to health to location. You can also rename your armies to make things a little more personal.
Once the battle is joined, you're treated to a tasteful isometric view of the battlefield. If you're fighting for control of a city, that city is displayed in the background. Your close in fighters take the front rank, while your ranged attackers stand behind. The combat system has been totally rewritten to eliminate the whole chariot-beats-stealth bomber phenomenon from the earlier game. We all know that this same sort of promise was offered the first time around, but it looks like we're finally going to get a much more realistic balance in the combats in CTP2. The attackers will also have the option of retreating from a battle if things start to go wrong."
"There's much more of a focus on land and sea warfare -- especially submarine warfare. There are lots of new undersea units in the game -- like the Moray and the Kraken -- that are sure to have your enemies guarding their coasts. You can look at the individual units with the unit tab. All sorts of tactical hinkfo is displayed here from current orders to health to location. You can also rename your armies to make things a little more personal.
Once the battle is joined, you're treated to a tasteful isometric view of the battlefield. If you're fighting for control of a city, that city is displayed in the background. Your close in fighters take the front rank, while your ranged attackers stand behind. The combat system has been totally rewritten to eliminate the whole chariot-beats-stealth bomber phenomenon from the earlier game. We all know that this same sort of promise was offered the first time around, but it looks like we're finally going to get a much more realistic balance in the combats in CTP2. The attackers will also have the option of retreating from a battle if things start to go wrong."
GAMESPOT PREVIEW
(28 June 2000, 12:29 EST)
Two days, two previews equals information
overload which, in this instance, may not be such a bad thing.
Yesterday, GameSpot posted
their
own
preview of Call To Power II...
While much of the information detailed in the news report are apart of the IGN preview we reported on yesterday, GameSpot's first look does contain some interesting tidbits making it well worth the visit.
"Unconventional warfare units - the ecoterrorists, slavers, and lawyers that so harassed players of Call to Power - are very much a part of the sequel, but any type of unconventional unit can now spot another. This means players won't be forced to spread their research across all branches of the tech tree just to detect and counteract these pesky threats. "
Our thanks to Yohan Pamudji for the news tip. CTPII is due out this coming holiday season.
While much of the information detailed in the news report are apart of the IGN preview we reported on yesterday, GameSpot's first look does contain some interesting tidbits making it well worth the visit.
"Unconventional warfare units - the ecoterrorists, slavers, and lawyers that so harassed players of Call to Power - are very much a part of the sequel, but any type of unconventional unit can now spot another. This means players won't be forced to spread their research across all branches of the tech tree just to detect and counteract these pesky threats. "
Our thanks to Yohan Pamudji for the news tip. CTPII is due out this coming holiday season.
Source: Apolyton
M.A.D.!!
(8 July 2000, 9:34 EST)
That's right! CTP2 is going to model Mutually
Assured Destruction! Here's what Mr. Ogre announced on our forums.
"We now have a system for targeting and then auto-launching nukes when you get nuked in the main game. I had said we weren't doing anything new for nukes, but I was wrong, we are, it's in and working.
There's still a whole lot more in that monster Nuke thread that we're not doing, but this one 'little' thing is pretty cool."
If only we had one of those alpha(?) builds to see this in action...
"We now have a system for targeting and then auto-launching nukes when you get nuked in the main game. I had said we weren't doing anything new for nukes, but I was wrong, we are, it's in and working.
There's still a whole lot more in that monster Nuke thread that we're not doing, but this one 'little' thing is pretty cool."
If only we had one of those alpha(?) builds to see this in action...
Source: IGN
IGN DESIGNER DIARY, ENTRY #1
(31 August 2000, 1:31 EST)
In a similar fashion to our own CTPII Week
feature [see below], IGN PC released the first installment of their new
Designer Diary on CTPII. The guest writers who brought the
information
to IGN are Activision's Parker Davis, Senior Producer and Doug Pearson,
Line Producer. Some of the information is a reiteration of what had
already been released to the gaming populace, but at the same time
other portions of it are first-account reports
....
Next, the feature story covers the new combat and diplomacy systems in the game.
"The combat system has been completed replaced... We still have a weighted system of unit offense and defensive abilities, however there is a class system in place as well. This system lists which units can cause damage to other units. We have also been adding additional defensive and offensive advances, which will make taking over cities more difficult.
... there are three different victory conditions for the game. You can still win by eliminating all other civilizations by conquest. This time around you can also win by either a diplomatic victory or by a science victory."
....
Next, the feature story covers the new combat and diplomacy systems in the game.
"The combat system has been completed replaced... We still have a weighted system of unit offense and defensive abilities, however there is a class system in place as well. This system lists which units can cause damage to other units. We have also been adding additional defensive and offensive advances, which will make taking over cities more difficult.
... there are three different victory conditions for the game. You can still win by eliminating all other civilizations by conquest. This time around you can also win by either a diplomatic victory or by a science victory."
CGO PREVIEW
(1 September 2000, 1:46 EST) Another recent preview for CTPII: this time, it's Computer Games Online's turn.On battles:
"Up
to twelve units can be organized
into an army, which you then
control as a single unit. These armies can even be named to make them
easier to keep track of. When a unit is given a destination that takes
more than one turn to reach, it will, of course, automatically follow
its route from turn to turn; but the twist in [CTPII] is that units
with stored movement orders won't move until the end of your turn."
Source: Apolyton
INFO FROM LT JOHN
(4 September 2000, 15:51 EST)
Just like those back in 1999(yeah, back
then! ) Lt John solved some "mysteries" from recent screenshots on SGO
"The V next to a unit stands for Veteran.
The A next to a unit indicates that it is an army.
There are a lot of new trade goods- you guys have figured out many of them: cotton, tea, lumber, glass, (medicinal) herbs.
Stacks can have up to 12 units now.
Little buildings outside of a city are tile improvements- trading posts- that increase the city's trade income."
Related forum thread
) Lt John solved some "mysteries" from recent screenshots on SGO"The V next to a unit stands for Veteran.
The A next to a unit indicates that it is an army.
There are a lot of new trade goods- you guys have figured out many of them: cotton, tea, lumber, glass, (medicinal) herbs.
Stacks can have up to 12 units now.
Little buildings outside of a city are tile improvements- trading posts- that increase the city's trade income."
Related forum thread
Source: Apolyton
MORE DIARY Q&A
(6 September 2000, 23:05 EST)
Questions continue to surface about the
screenshots featured in IGN's recent Developer Diary [see story below]
in our
forums, and John "Lt. John" Heinecke has the answers.
On the stealth fighter shot: "... the crossed swords are an attack icon. The screenshot shows a stack of 9 blue units including a stealth bomber attacking a stack of 5 orange units northeast of the bombers position. The red line is the movement line to the defender's tile; looks like the defender art is covered up by the attack icon".
And on repercussions of a retreat: "First off, only attackers are permitted to retreat. Once the retreat button is pushed the defenders will get one additional round of combat. If the attackers are too close to death they may die before being able to retreat".
On the stealth fighter shot: "... the crossed swords are an attack icon. The screenshot shows a stack of 9 blue units including a stealth bomber attacking a stack of 5 orange units northeast of the bombers position. The red line is the movement line to the defender's tile; looks like the defender art is covered up by the attack icon".
And on repercussions of a retreat: "First off, only attackers are permitted to retreat. Once the retreat button is pushed the defenders will get one additional round of combat. If the attackers are too close to death they may die before being able to retreat".
Source: Apolyton
MORE FORUM POSTS
(27 September 2000, 1:16 EST)
Yeah, it was one of those days...
Dave White on the space plane unit:
"Actually, we do have a Space Plane unit. The unit is a transport that can do a quick (3 turn) sub-orbital flight between any two cities."
Dave White on the space plane unit:
"Actually, we do have a Space Plane unit. The unit is a transport that can do a quick (3 turn) sub-orbital flight between any two cities."
Source: Apolyton
THE DAVE WHITE SHOW
(29 September 2000, 17:11 EST)
Interesting title, no? Here are some
more posts from Dave White, CTP2 Lead Designer
How many units can the Space Plane carry?
"It can carry 5 units. Enough to be useful in mobilizing large armies without being so many that you can freely move everything anywhere on the map. It's best used to move units from deep within your empire to the front lines, or from one continent to another."
How many units can the Space Plane carry?
"It can carry 5 units. Enough to be useful in mobilizing large armies without being so many that you can freely move everything anywhere on the map. It's best used to move units from deep within your empire to the front lines, or from one continent to another."
Source: Apolyton
UNIT MANAGER: CYCLING
(2 October 2000, 20:09 EST)
Talk about a devotion to the fans: Mr. Ogre
answers your questions about Call To Power II even on Sundays!
VinceP asks in our forums: "Is there going to be a way of cycling through a specific class of units?" The answer:
"The Unit Manager lists all units individually, and can be sorted by any of its fields (of which type is one, of course). So you can see all your units of one type together, and double clicking on one will select it and take you to it on the map. You can also disband units directly from the window, and the list shows the city the unit is in, if any, so you can also sort by city to make sure something else is there without having to exit the window."
VinceP asks in our forums: "Is there going to be a way of cycling through a specific class of units?" The answer:
"The Unit Manager lists all units individually, and can be sorted by any of its fields (of which type is one, of course). So you can see all your units of one type together, and double clicking on one will select it and take you to it on the map. You can also disband units directly from the window, and the list shows the city the unit is in, if any, so you can also sort by city to make sure something else is there without having to exit the window."
GAMESPOT FIVE-PAGE PREVIEW
(28 October 2000, 18:08 EST)
GameSpot posted probably the biggest of
the close-to-release previews for CTPII. 5
Full
pages
and
22
screenshots give a good look on the beta version of the game.
On Units: "Although you'll still see the same types of units from all empires early on in the game -- archers, hoplites, and so on -- later scientific developments open up all manner of possibilities. In fact, the game's developer seems particularly keen on submarines and naval units, with funky futuristic designs for sea units that pop up left and right once you reach the modern technological age."
On Units: "Although you'll still see the same types of units from all empires early on in the game -- archers, hoplites, and so on -- later scientific developments open up all manner of possibilities. In fact, the game's developer seems particularly keen on submarines and naval units, with funky futuristic designs for sea units that pop up left and right once you reach the modern technological age."