Strategos
Autokrator
Hello fellow Civ Fanatics,
I've perused a multitude of the threads across many different forums, paying particular attention to mod creation and customization. I have to say, what I've seen so far has impressed me--and to some extent disheartened me.
Changing the rules, making new civilizations, finding innovative ways around Firaxis' seemingly short-sighted hard-coding of simple game variables. These seem to be the mainstream discussions among most of the posting population. And although these would be immensely useful in scenarion creation, none of these new "mod packs" are "scenarios." When I think of a scenario--and believe me, I've been ruminating on an awesome idea for a scenario a lot recently--I think of a set point in time, where the player jumps in and assumes the role of a civilization whose cities, borders, technological advances, fielded armies, enemies, and diplomatic dispositions to the myriad other pre-established civilizations have already been created. The player steps into the shoes of a past (or possible future) civilization and recreates the historical feats of such notables as Alexander the Great, Caesar, Napoleon or replays the monumental and world-shaping conflicts such as the American Civil War, World War II, ad nauseum. None of these "mod packs" can offer any of the above. Furthermore, not even the packaged "Civ3Edit" can support the creation of true-to-form "scenarios."
And now it seems I've stumbled upon the heart of this post. I want to be able to create scenarios. I want to exercise my creative abilities in the hopes that once my project has reached fruition, others--especially my fellow Civ Fanatics--can enjoy what I've created. And I want to enjoy the scenarios created by others. Civ2 first brought this to the Civ community with its scripted events in the mod pack "Conflicts in Time." All of a sudden, events which required a precise, used-defined stimulus could yield a multitude of precise, user-defined results. The scenario experience suddenly became deeper, and much more engrossing. Bringing history to life and then reshaping with our own hands it became that much more realistic. Later, "Fantastic Worlds" was released, and the whole process of scenario creation became more stream-lined and more user-friendly. Newer stimuli and results were added, and the depth of play was extended. As the tools with which we could use to create new worlds continued to evolve, we found ourselves able to recreate more and more grand historical moments as well as whimsical, yet compelling fictions, all with increasing realism. With the release of Civ3 on the horizon, it seemed as though the prospects for creativity would be near limitless.
But now it appears that evolution has stopped...
My sole expectation for Civ3 was to be immersed in an environment which was more realistic than the earlier games. In terms of straight-forward, conventional gameplay, I've not been disappointed, although the game is somewhat jerky, even on top-of-the-line machines. When my idea for a scenario crystallized, I finally began to probe the program that heretofore I had put off looking at: Civ3Edit. My initial elation at the sheer magnitude of gameplay changes I could make quickly gave way to indignance once I realized that scripting events was unsupported...but perhaps that is the wrong word. Yes, IMPOSSIBLE fits this particular descriptive niche nicer. Furthermore, although I could place roads, irrigation, mines, and even the starting location for a civilization (though not a PARTICULAR civilization) I was utterly confounded at not being able to lay down cities, or adjust their populations and improvements, or place units across the world, or perform any other standard thing that the very first release version of Civ2 enabled me to do. No editing utility for scenarios yet exists, and despite all my attempts to find just a shred of a discussion on when one my START to exist, I've found nothing. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, or maybe I've looked in the wrong places. If any of you other Fanatics out there know something on this, I would be delighted if you replied to this post.
I know I can't be alone in wishing that I could bring my dreams to life and make them available for everyone else to enjoy. And although I have a christmas wish list of options and abilities I would like to see incorporated into a future Scenario editor, I will refrain from showing them in this thread...unless someone wants to know my ideas.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to read this novel. I feel that little practical use can come of this, unless somehow we can commmunicate our views to Firaxis.
I've perused a multitude of the threads across many different forums, paying particular attention to mod creation and customization. I have to say, what I've seen so far has impressed me--and to some extent disheartened me.
Changing the rules, making new civilizations, finding innovative ways around Firaxis' seemingly short-sighted hard-coding of simple game variables. These seem to be the mainstream discussions among most of the posting population. And although these would be immensely useful in scenarion creation, none of these new "mod packs" are "scenarios." When I think of a scenario--and believe me, I've been ruminating on an awesome idea for a scenario a lot recently--I think of a set point in time, where the player jumps in and assumes the role of a civilization whose cities, borders, technological advances, fielded armies, enemies, and diplomatic dispositions to the myriad other pre-established civilizations have already been created. The player steps into the shoes of a past (or possible future) civilization and recreates the historical feats of such notables as Alexander the Great, Caesar, Napoleon or replays the monumental and world-shaping conflicts such as the American Civil War, World War II, ad nauseum. None of these "mod packs" can offer any of the above. Furthermore, not even the packaged "Civ3Edit" can support the creation of true-to-form "scenarios."
And now it seems I've stumbled upon the heart of this post. I want to be able to create scenarios. I want to exercise my creative abilities in the hopes that once my project has reached fruition, others--especially my fellow Civ Fanatics--can enjoy what I've created. And I want to enjoy the scenarios created by others. Civ2 first brought this to the Civ community with its scripted events in the mod pack "Conflicts in Time." All of a sudden, events which required a precise, used-defined stimulus could yield a multitude of precise, user-defined results. The scenario experience suddenly became deeper, and much more engrossing. Bringing history to life and then reshaping with our own hands it became that much more realistic. Later, "Fantastic Worlds" was released, and the whole process of scenario creation became more stream-lined and more user-friendly. Newer stimuli and results were added, and the depth of play was extended. As the tools with which we could use to create new worlds continued to evolve, we found ourselves able to recreate more and more grand historical moments as well as whimsical, yet compelling fictions, all with increasing realism. With the release of Civ3 on the horizon, it seemed as though the prospects for creativity would be near limitless.
But now it appears that evolution has stopped...
My sole expectation for Civ3 was to be immersed in an environment which was more realistic than the earlier games. In terms of straight-forward, conventional gameplay, I've not been disappointed, although the game is somewhat jerky, even on top-of-the-line machines. When my idea for a scenario crystallized, I finally began to probe the program that heretofore I had put off looking at: Civ3Edit. My initial elation at the sheer magnitude of gameplay changes I could make quickly gave way to indignance once I realized that scripting events was unsupported...but perhaps that is the wrong word. Yes, IMPOSSIBLE fits this particular descriptive niche nicer. Furthermore, although I could place roads, irrigation, mines, and even the starting location for a civilization (though not a PARTICULAR civilization) I was utterly confounded at not being able to lay down cities, or adjust their populations and improvements, or place units across the world, or perform any other standard thing that the very first release version of Civ2 enabled me to do. No editing utility for scenarios yet exists, and despite all my attempts to find just a shred of a discussion on when one my START to exist, I've found nothing. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, or maybe I've looked in the wrong places. If any of you other Fanatics out there know something on this, I would be delighted if you replied to this post.
I know I can't be alone in wishing that I could bring my dreams to life and make them available for everyone else to enjoy. And although I have a christmas wish list of options and abilities I would like to see incorporated into a future Scenario editor, I will refrain from showing them in this thread...unless someone wants to know my ideas.
Thanks to all of you who took the time to read this novel. I feel that little practical use can come of this, unless somehow we can commmunicate our views to Firaxis.
