Another Gamespot article

[SuperBeaverInc.]

That is much better.

 

[vbraun]

Holy crap, those cities/terrain look some freakin cool!

 

[vStauffenberg]

i agree, the screenshots look surprisingly good, a huge improvement, especially the cities (larger), i also think the unit size is fine, after all, one has to be able to spot them easily...

one thing though: i don't like the farms. why do their barns have an arched roof? this looks like a nissen hut from the military or a modern 20th century american farm barn... and also, those smaller farm houses look like bushmen huts or something, it just doesn't fit, neither together nor in ancient age. no barn made of wood, straw, and clay or even stone would be shaped like this. why not just make the barns like those half-timbered townhouses? would be bettter i think... (but this is just a small, unimportant detail) otherwise: i can't waiiit!!!! damn!

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Although like Apatheist I felt that Barry Caudhill could have been a little less ambiguous in some of his answers, I feel that overall what he is telling us equals Good News . There is also a lot which can be infered from even his more ambiguous comments if you are prepared to read between the lines.
Overall, though, the most frustrating answer he gav, IMO, is the one relating to resources-largely because he didn't properly answer it. I, for one, am still dying to know if anything has been done to rectify the 'one resource supplies an entire empire' phenomenon, which was so frustrating for me in Civ3. If trade has been overhauled, as Barry stated, then it makes sense to create some kind of quantitative or semi-quantitative resource system in line with this.
On most of the other questions, though, it does sound like they have done a lot to balance out the automatic advantage which was gained by larger civs, whilst not preventing good players from having large and successful empires. Also, it does sound like AI opponents will have more personality, even if he didn't answer the question about how much the AI will know about your cities and units .
Anyway, most of what I found out in this interview has made me want this game all the more!!!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

 

[HourlyDaily]

I am for limited/ quantified resource amounts - but I get the feeling that the devs, who have been close to Civ for many years are likely to favour the Civ 3 approach or that they are just not comfortable tinkering with the game in case it causes problems or puts people off. Don't really know why, just speculating.

 

[Raggamuffin]

I must say that after viewing this screenshot (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilizationiv/screens_6131541.html?page=4) I'm not at all worried about the graphics anymore. That is probbably the zoom level I will be playing in or near it and everything looks great, scale, units, sharpness.

And one big halleluja for all the rule tweaks done to this instalment.

 

[GeneralZed]

It seems like a city can grow over to other adjecent tiles. Thats freaking awesome!! It's looking great by now, yet it can't touch AoE3's graphics.

And this answers some questions:

"Let's say you are building a Buddhist temple and decide that you really need a better defender, so you switch to an archer. If you were to then switch back to the temple, you would find all of your previous production on that temple is still there."

 

[Blazer6]

I noticed there are islands that look too small to build on. Are there any ways to make use (maybe new tiny structures) of them?

 

[Jaybe]

Those islets that the buildings were on were part of the city square, I am sure.

 

[ForbiddenPalace]

The info. on gameplay is very comforting. It is also enjoyable to watch graphical details such as the war elephants actually running "under" the forest at the beginning of the video. The city layout screenshot looks great. I am just concerned with the rough battle animations.

 

[North King]

The units only look huge up close. When you zoom out (which you will spend most of the time in) they look just right.

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilizationiv/screens.html?page=55

They still look waaaaaaaaay too big. Seriously, you have beautifully rendered cities of dozens of buildings, nice mountains, wonderful rolling plains... And units which are taller than Mount Everest. It just doesn't fit.

 

[apatheist]

Aussie, as far as ambiguity of answers go, it's a little frustrating, but I'm certain the ambiguity was by choice. Their goal is only partly to inform; it's also to tease so that we stay interested. I'm sure they don't answer questions more because they choose not to, not because they don't see them.

- On the first screen, the outer layer of building set apart at an equal distance looks a bit odd

Maybe the equal distance thing is weird, but it makes sense for them to be a little more separated from each other than buildings closer in. People like to live near a city without being in a city. Of course, that's maybe a little too focused on realism...

- Tile transitions are a bit rough, could be smoothe

I usually play with the map grid on, so I guess I don't see much of a problem. Kind of the opposite, really.

They still look waaaaaaaaay too big. Seriously, you have beautifully rendered cities of dozens of buildings, nice mountains, wonderful rolling plains... And units which are taller than Mount Everest. It just doesn't fit.

It's an interface issue. If they make them too small, you can't distinguish them. It'd be nice if they scaled them down with the zoom level, though.

 

[Lord_all_Mighty]

My only complaint about the graphics is how unnatural the borders of forests and jungles look. They seem to end in straight lines.

 

[NinjaCool]

My only complaint about the graphics is how unnatural the borders of forests and jungles look. They seem to end in straight lines.

Yes I have the same consern, looks wacky

 

[SonicX]

Don't worry, that's easily modded with some randomisation.

 

[Phoenix_56721]

It's an interface issue. If they make them too small, you can't distinguish them. It'd be nice if they scaled them down with the zoom level, though.

I dont know much about 3d engines but my guess is that scaling down the units with zoom would take a very strong engine, and a very good computer to run that engine. I've noticed on 3d RTS games when they zoom the units stay the same size, they look Gods when zoomed all the way in. Although I wish they could scale them down when zooming, as long as it didnt slow down my computer.

 

[warpstorm]

They still look waaaaaaaaay too big. Seriously, you have beautifully rendered cities of dozens of buildings, nice mountains, wonderful rolling plains... And units which are taller than Mount Everest. It just doesn't fit.

And this is different from Civ3 how?

 

[Corn Shucker]

I dont know much about 3d engines but my guess is that scaling down the units with zoom would take a very strong engine, and a very good computer to run that engine. I've noticed on 3d RTS games when they zoom the units stay the same size, they look Gods when zoomed all the way in. Although I wish they could scale them down when zooming, as long as it didnt slow down my computer.

And who knows, mabey there will be a unit scale option None of us will know what other goodies there are till we acturally get the game. I'm not one bit worried about anything. Graphics look fine- and the small parts that bother me can be fixed with some modding. As for game features-looks like the developers already changed most of the stuff I want changed and things left can probly be modded too. So things are looking very good and with those new screenshots, I'm convicned that the game will be good . Even if you cant change the unit scale.... like always, it will just take some getting used to. I'm sure that most remember the transition from CivII to CivIII. I was pretty upset myself and thought the game was pretty crapy but after a couple of weeks I was in love with the game. Just my 2 cents

 

[North King]

And this is different from Civ3 how?

It isn't. But that certainly isn't the point...

If you want the graphics to stay the same quality as the whole rest of the series, then, by all means, your opinion is valid. Otherwise, no, that isn't even relevant. CIV is supposed to have *improved* graphics, not the same ones. They're supposed to make the world seem and feel alive, by the creator's own description. And having giants around kinda takes away from that feeling.

 

[warpstorm]

And who knows, mabey there will be a unit scale option

They already said there was.