Sid Meier's Civilization IV Info Center

[Civrules]

Sid Meier's Civilization IV Info Center
Article Main Page.

• You can discuss the Article and its information in this thread as well as giving me feedback/comments/suggestions etc.

• This thread also serves as an update thread when posting new updates (to let people know when something has been updated).

• If you need any help either with the thread itself, or help regarding some information about the game that is not clear to you, this is the place to ask as well..

[Civrules]

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[Civrules]

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[Civrules]

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[Civrules]

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[classical_hero]

There Civrules. I am drooling in excitement already. I just hope i do not ruin the keyboard. Just like the improvements made from each of the previous games in the series, it looks like that will be the case.

[Alpha Infantry]

late 2005 early 2006?!?!?!?!?!?!
thats BS.
If this entire site worked together, Im sure they can build a civ4 faster than they can.
and probably better.
We have so many people that do graphics on here.
This has upsetted me, very very much.
blah @ Sid Meier, he's BS`ing.

[Civrules]

Originally Posted by Alpha Infantry

late 2005 early 2006?!?!?!?!?!?!
thats BS.
If this entire site worked together, Im sure they can build a civ4 faster than they can.
and probably better.
We have so many people that do graphics on here.
This has upsetted me, very very much.
blah @ Sid Meier, he's BS`ing.

Well, you also have to take into account that a lot of people believed originally that it would be released much later.
And also remember, that they aren't just working on one project... The team is doing a lot of things, from Civ IV to the Pirates! on the Xbox, to planning future big titles (not announced yet).
They are pretty busy people, under pressure from all sides.

[thatinkjar]

Excellent thread, Civrules. Neat, tidy and exhaustive. I've not seen a better collection of pre-release information in my nineteen years of living. Congratulations!

[Blackbird_SR-71]

This is great. And you did a great job at organizing the information I can't wait until Civ4 come out

[dh_epic]

Come on, how long do you think it takes to make a game? Most game development takes 2-3 years, sometimes longer. Frankly, I'm surprised that the announcement came out in the spring and people are still expecting it by Christmas next year (about 1.5 years). I couldn't see it sooner than spring of 2006 (2 years), but I hope they prove me wrong.

[Zeekater]

Didn't they say that they were already working on it for some time?

[Blackbird_SR-71]

yeah in the spring they said they were playing 4+ hours of multiplayer Civ4.

[Civrules]

Hmm, I just noticed something.

There seems to be an issue with IE and viewing this thread.
However, if you use Firefox, you don't notice the problem.
With IE, the font seems to be messed up a little (it doesn't look like it is intended). But if you switch over to Firefox, the problem seems to be fixed. If anyone notices this, it's probably because of your browser or something.

[Alpha Infantry]

Originally Posted by dh_epic

Come on, how long do you think it takes to make a game? Most game development takes 2-3 years, sometimes longer. Frankly, I'm surprised that the announcement came out in the spring and people are still expecting it by Christmas next year (about 1.5 years). I couldn't see it sooner than spring of 2006 (2 years), but I hope they prove me wrong.

how long DO you think it takes to make a game like Civ??
its not like it has the best graphics and details.
the only reason my civ game look as good as it does is because I've downloaded about all of Pounder's mods.

[dh_epic]

I hate to break it to you, but there's more to a game than graphics. Creating the artwork is actually quite easy to do, compared with the work of importing that artwork properly, let alone implementing all those mechanisms that make it ... you know... a game.

It kind of reminds me of that episode of the Simpsons, where Marge comes across a real working Robot and says to Homer "See? That's why your robot didn't work!" ... Implying that Homer built nothing more than the exterior of a robot and expected it to just come to life.

Game development is real hard work, requiring dozens of people, overtime without pay, and literally years of development. More work and time involved than most movie productions, these days -- and less money.

[skyline5k]

they COULD pay them overtime... if they wanted.

Remember that old saying, "good things are worth the wait" or something like that. Me, Can't wait!!!

[warpstorm]

Originally Posted by dh_epic

Frankly, I'm surprised that the announcement came out in the spring...

But Firaxis had said in the spring that they had been playing MP games for months...

[warpstorm]

Originally Posted by skyline5k

they COULD pay them overtime... if they wanted.

Not if the money isn't there, you can't. Typically game projects aren't funded with overtime rates in mind.

[dh_epic]

Yeah, I guess I haven't counted on how far they are into development already. Call me a pessimist, but I consider the announcement that they're developing the game the start of development. Not because they weren't doing anything before that, but because it's not uncommon for game developers to have more like a prototype phase (even if they consider it the real thing). There are a significant number of companies who hit a certain point, and then have to shift the foundation slightly to accomplish other goals. But now I really am just being a pessimist. Call me a bit jaded

And not to get too off topic, but no overtime is pretty much standard for the game industry. You should expect to work 10-12 hour days and come in on weekends. In fact, it's so standard and accepted, that it's easy for it to be eroded into 16 hour days. (That link right there is a good one, if only for the level of contraversy and reflection that it prompted.) The software-games industry is really a labor of love, working for less than you're worth, with fewer benefits and more crises than something of equal skill/intelligence.