Civ4 first details!

I can't even imagine what a Civ game in 3D would look like. But then, I've never been much of a PC gamer outside Civ and a few really old non-Civ titles, so the only reason I can't imagine it is that I have no basis for comparison.

On another note, the Dutch for RPG is 'RPG'?
 
Maybe it'll look like SimCity 3000 (only larger tiles).

Hey!!! That might mean it's possible to have a globe! (pure speculation though).
 
doesn't this belong in civ4?
 
Well, seeing as this isn't an idea for improvement or something, I thought it would fit best in general discussions :)
 
1) Mod Making features:

Fan content: we are keeping all game data in xml which will ensure that almost nothing will be hard-coded. Further, we are integrating Python into the code-base so that the more algorithmic parts of the game (map generation, combat, triggers/events, AI, etc.) can be scripted by the modding community.
Click to expand...

This will allow people to tweak the AI....
 
People will be allowed to tweak the AI ? Wow...
Now that will put an end to all the "The AI sux Firaxis" rants ! :)

And we'll see if people making those rants will be able to come up with a solution...
 
Chieftess said:
Maybe it'll look like SimCity 3000 (only larger tiles).

Hey!!! That might mean it's possible to have a globe! (pure speculation though).
Click to expand...

I decided I like the idea of playing on a globe. It would be a cool change.
 
Playing on a globe raises serious strategical issues, such as units able to travel through the poles, and northern / southern cities really weak against aerial raids...

BUt yes, it would be cool.
 
Zeekater said:
The one thing I'm wondering about are the RPG parts in combat, could someone explain a bit please? :)
Click to expand...


RPG = Role-Playing Game, like Dungeons and Dragons, Everquest, Star Wars Online, even Civ3.

It basically means you assume a 'Role' and you have to learn to play in that role, like being religious and militaristic Aztecs.

I took that comment to mean that combat will be more tactical, but still turn-based (as opposed to real-time). You will have more control over the action, instead of simply attack!
 
alamo said:
RPG = Role-Playing Game, like Dungeons and Dragons, Everquest, Star Wars Online, even Civ3.

It basically means you assume a 'Role' and you have to learn to play in that role, like being religious and militaristic Aztecs.

I took that comment to mean that combat will be more tactical, but still turn-based (as opposed to real-time). You will have more control over the action, instead of simply attack!
Click to expand...

I doubt they'll throw that much in - I see it as maybe implementing special leader/unit abilities as in Panzer General II. For example, my Horseman unit could get "Expert Recon" and then be able to see a wider radius.
 
That's the way I see it, too, thestonesfan. I think it's kind of a cool idea. C3C armies writ small. Probably will take a bit (or a LOT) of effort to balance, but I can see a list of "semi-unique" abilities that units (or their leaders or whatever) might achieve....

- Extra speed
- CHARGE bonus (extra strength attack for a round or two)
- Extra hp (High cohesiveness or something)
- Retreat bonus
- Defense bonuses (possibly even just for certain circumstances, like fortified)
- Scouting (all terrain costs 1 MP or something)

etc. etc.

Neat concept, in abstract, I think, but I'm waiting to see how it plays out. Could get overpowering awfully easy. Or extra-frustrating with PRNG streaks -- why did it have to be my such-and-such unit that died? :gripe: :aargh: That makes me so :mad: I'm gonna :cry:-type frustration could be a by-product.

I'd like to see it happen semi-commonly but have pretty minor effects, so you don't get too frustrated when you lose a "special" unit and you get to see most of the specials enough that you learn to use them better.

Arathorn
 
thestonesfan said:
I doubt they'll throw that much in - I see it as maybe implementing special leader/unit abilities as in Panzer General II. For example, my Horseman unit could get "Expert Recon" and then be able to see a wider radius.
Click to expand...

My guess is they allow units to level up, maybe like C3C conquests thingies (never played those yet, maybe I'm wrong)
 
Gogf said:
It's expected to be out at the begingin of 2005!? YES!
Click to expand...

Err...
If it's really out *that* soon, it'll almost certainly be rushed and will probably be really buggy and incomplete, which definitely isn't a good thing. Unless they've been working on it for a lot longer than I thought they have been.
 
Its entirely possible they have been working on it since or well prior the release of Conquests. Also, since they are going 3D, they may have decided to use a already established and well created engine which will save them a HUGE ammount of development time already. (I greatly suspect they did this). And although in the past, games we've seen that come out soon seem to be buggy and incomplete, it is "possible" for a game to come out earlier or on time without having major bug or incompletions. It all depends on the talent and observantness of the programmers, and the coding standards and methods in place by Firaxis. In theory, a program created under the "Extreme Programming" Model could come out on schedule with very limited errors.

PS: If you dont know what Extreme Programming is, it is a model of how to design, create and debug programs to maximize the creative process while limiting the correction and maintance side of programming. According to the theorists it should work well but in practice its success is limited on the understanding of it by the programmers and how much it is enforced. The name is just what someone thought was clever to come up with.
 
hey it would be awesome if battles in Civ4 would occur like in Heroe's Might and Magic 3 :D

i loved that kind of combat especially the 3d world ;)

P.S. I hope Firaxis doesn't rush so that their is lots of bugs and that would take up valuable gamplay and time :(
 
Mmmh, still left with doubt. Though I'm really excited by all these announcements !! Yes I also think they will double-check everything before the release, so as not to reproduce Civ3's flaws. Anyway I find all of this a little too good, and I wonder if we'll really get a Civ4 by next winter (I don't think so). But that makes me think : Firaxis wasn't quite involved in C3C, right ? At least not on a full level. Apart from other titles, they may have gathered a team for Civ4 pretty soon, in fact, to work on the general stuff Civ4 will include (3-D world, scripts, and all this new stuf).
 
Seems like they're trying to flash up the graphics to attract non civ people rather than devoting their time on more useful fronts. I wouldn't like a globe view I don't think. Maybe as a map tool, but not to play on. Civ is basically a board game and it doesn't need flash graphics. Did chess get any better when it was rendered in 3d? no. Did it get better when the chess computers got cleverer? yes. I would rather they spent their time producing the most advanced AI engine ever seen in a strategy game. Civ is all about strategy, and shoddy AI will always shine through in the end, after the oooh factor of the graphics has worn off.

Btw, I do like the idea of rebellions (An idea nicked from Medieval: TW methinks), I do miss that thing from a Civ 2 patch where if you captured a capital there was a finite chance of the civ splitting in two. That was good.

(I also miss partisans arising, I would love a mod to civ3 where guerillas popped up when a city was taken.)

Religion was attempted in CTP, I wonder how they'll cover it?

There are so many gameplay additions that they could add in and spend time making sure they work correctly and the game is balanced before worrying about the bling.

Medieval: TW doesn't look technologically much better than Shogun, and yet all of those extra not graphical features and concepts (princesses better shaped castles etc.) make it a huge leap ahead. (I hope they don't screw up by spending too much time on the 3D units for Rome ) ;)
 
It sounds good so far. Maybe I am a little worried at the use of the description '3D'...but that would be because of whether I would need a better computer mainly :rolleyes:

The stuff about Rebellion pleases me lots!

Plus the words 'In warfare; RPG-elements come into play. Units can gain experience and upgrade in several abilities' sound very intresting :)
 
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