Beautiful Graphics in Colonization...

[Chuggi]

Copyright infringement aside, does anybody think it would be possible to use the new shaders in original Civ IV? I think the water reflections and realistic shadows in the Colonization screenshots would enhance Civ IV immensely... so this is something I think should definitely be looked into.

One way it could be done is by making a "Civilization IV" mod for Colonization. That would be an incredible amount of work though. The only other way I can think of is by somehow getting the shaders to work for Civ IV.

EDIT: It would be cool if Firaxis released a mini-expansion or patch for Civ IV which just updated the graphics.

 

[Gaius Octavius]

Somebody said we probably can't because Colonization will use a different shader version (1.1 vs. 1.0). I don't understand the minutiae of graphics design, so I have no idea.

 

[Chuggi]

That is a shame. I suppose there are still a lot of nice graphics in it which can be used though, like the terrains, trees, citysets, units etc.

 

[Ermelinho]

I hope some new leaderheads will come with colonization. especially native american ones.

 

[Chuggi]

Did the original Colonization have leader pics? I hope this one does, in any case. Of course, it's still a question of whether they can be easily adapted to work with Civ IV.

 

[shmily_dana]

Any idea what the system requirements will be? Will they be the same as CIV4 or better?

 

[Chuggi]

You will probably require a newer graphics card. The textures look like they may be a higher resolution, and it definitely uses more advanced shaders.

 

[Darvon]

This is the clincher for me. If it updates my civ4 graphics I'm down, if not I'll probably wait until I can pick it up in a bargain bin.

 

[Greybriar]

Did the original Colonization have leader pics?

The only "leader" pics I recall from the original Colonization was the one of the King (he looked the same for all nationalities) which appeared after the player chose which country s/he would play as & had selected the map type and the pics of the members of the Continental Congress who were selected from time to time as the game progressed.

As for graphics, I had to upgrade my graphics card in order to play Civ4. Since then I have purchased a new computer with an even better card, so the system requirements for this game won't be a problem.

 

[Junuxx]

The only "leader" pics I recall from the original Colonization was the one of the King (he looked the same for all nationalities)

The Dutch Republic had a steward, not a king!

Anyway, there was also a static herald picture that showed up in diplomacy. IIRC, there were four of them, one for each nation, each conveniently dressed in their country's color.

 

[Greybriar]

The Dutch Republic had a steward, not a king!

Actually he was referred to as the Stadtholder. But the pic was the same.

 

[Öjevind Lång]

The Dutch Republic had a steward, not a king!

Anyway, there was also a static herald picture that showed up in diplomacy. IIRC, there were four of them, one for each nation, each conveniently dressed in their country's color.

Once the game had started, the King, when he turned up, looked he same: an obese, bug-eyed moron; only the national colours differed. No dispensation was given for the Netherlands.

It suppose it's too late now, but as I have said before in another thread, I think it would be a good idea if the Kng/Stadtholder would look alert, intelligent and on the spot early in the game and then gradually become fat, greedy and stupid. After all, the government back home was something good, not somethng bad, for the first couple of centuries of colonial experience. For the colonists, that is - not for the colonized.

 

[Chuggi]

They may not have animated leaders for colonization. Although it's based of the civ engine, so it would be silly not to.

 

[Quintillus]

Somebody said we probably can't because Colonization will use a different shader version (1.1 vs. 1.0). I don't understand the minutiae of graphics design, so I have no idea.

Some games allow for the use of multiple shader versions, so it's possible Firaxis could implement that for Civ4 as well. Give a graphics update, but still not increase the requirements by keeping the less demanding ones as an option.

I haven't really compared the Colonization/Civ4 graphics much, but I know from other games that newer shaders can make a big difference. Not sure how much of a difference 1 to 1.1 makes, but 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 are both big jumps. In demandingness as well as performance.

As a side note, although according to Wikipedia Civ4 requires pixel shader 1 to run, I know from experience that it in facts run fine without hardware support for it. It just says that your hardware may not meet the requirements, but runs well anyways.

 

[Greybriar]

As a side note, although according to Wikipedia Civ4 requires pixel shader 1 to run, I know from experience that it in facts run fine without hardware support for it.

Civ4 wouldn't run under those conditions for me. I had to buy a new video card.

 

[Quintillus]

Civ4 wouldn't run under those conditions for me. I had to buy a new video card.

Must depend on the individual graphics card. I had a GeForce 4 MX. Never did upgrade it, as it did well enough for all the games I wanted to run until mid-2007.

 

[Greybriar]

Must depend on the individual graphics card. I had a GeForce 4 MX. Never did upgrade it, as it did well enough for all the games I wanted to run until mid-2007.

I would guess that's true. I had a GeForce 2 MX. I upgraded to a GeForce 5700, which ran Civ4 but it wasn't anything to write home about.

 

[Jerrymander]

One way it could be done is by making a "Civilization IV" mod for Colonization. That would be an incredible amount of work though. The only other way I can think of is by somehow getting the shaders to work for Civ IV.

This is very possible, but requires taking the Colonization engine and building Civilization IV around it. Certainly not as extreme as building Civilization IV from scratch, but it would certainly be a great amount of work.

 

[Lubricus]

This is very possible, but requires taking the Colonization engine and building Civilization IV around it. Certainly not as extreme as building Civilization IV from scratch, but it would certainly be a great amount of work.

Wouldn't it be an utter waste of time? It won't be THAT long until a new expansion to Civ IV comes around, sporting the new graphics...

 

[Chuggi]

You're assuming that there's going to be more expansions for Civ IV. What more can they add after BTS? (well lots, probably ) but as much as I hope you're right, I don't think there will be any more Civ IV expansions.

If anyone's interested, I've started making some new terrain and water textures for Civ IV. They're based on the BlueMarble terrain set - but they're a lot more detailed. It won't look as good as the water in Colonization, but hey I'm trying.