cracker
Gil Favor's Sidekick
Now that we have had several games with the FOG units in place, we need to get you to give us some feedback and input on what you think of the fog and how they effect the game.
SPOILER RULE: You can use your experience with the fog in Gotm's 17, 18, and 19 to "flavor" comments but try not to include specific game conditions and issues from Gotm19 since it is still in progress. You can freely use any information or screen shots that you may have from Gotm17 and Gotm18 since they are closed.
Feel free to try and assess how you think the FOG units initially effect you and then to try and step back and give an assessment of any big picture impacts that you feel they may have on game play.
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I want to share with you the design intent of why they have been included in the game and then ask you to tell us if you think this works and if it adds a functional dimension to the game that is not too screwy.
One of the things we wanted to do was to get a "Bigger Map" feel to the games without having to increase the file sizes. Having larger game files can be a big issue just because of the shear magnitude of the GOTM process. We are currently handling between 70MB and 110MB of game files each month and this is growing.
The FOG provides a way to increase the movement distance, sight distance, and mystery aspects of a map without having to make the map larger. It also provides a way to have different movement and access rates over terrain types that normally are almost barrierless. As an example, the movement rates for all naval units are set to one square per available movement point for all water terrain types (coast, sea, and ocean). The fog lets us initially slow down the movement in certain areas and effectively make the map feel wider and larger in certain directions without having to have the entire map be made that much larger.
FOG also provides some visual cover for the baddys even though you can probably figure out how to see through it. This just lets the baddys sneak up on you a little and perhaps be a bit more exciting and scary even if they are fairly whimpy.
FOG is also designed to provide the opportunity to be a distraction and training vehicle for navel units to gain experience. You don't know in most cases if the fog is just a wild goose chase or if there is something cool behind the fog. The hidden game traing detail here is to use the right-click and terrain info option to determine if the fog is over treacherous waters before you dive into it and use up your last movement turn and then end up going to Davey Jones' locker because you busted open the fog but then got stranded in the dead zone.
The final real design aspect of fog is to try and emphasize the need for task forces of ships. In Gotm17, single galleys would be stopped by walls of fog while small flotillas could cut through safely and then could regroup.
What is your general impression of how the fog units work and how they are being used in the games??
SPOILER RULE: You can use your experience with the fog in Gotm's 17, 18, and 19 to "flavor" comments but try not to include specific game conditions and issues from Gotm19 since it is still in progress. You can freely use any information or screen shots that you may have from Gotm17 and Gotm18 since they are closed.
Feel free to try and assess how you think the FOG units initially effect you and then to try and step back and give an assessment of any big picture impacts that you feel they may have on game play.
--------------------------------
I want to share with you the design intent of why they have been included in the game and then ask you to tell us if you think this works and if it adds a functional dimension to the game that is not too screwy.
One of the things we wanted to do was to get a "Bigger Map" feel to the games without having to increase the file sizes. Having larger game files can be a big issue just because of the shear magnitude of the GOTM process. We are currently handling between 70MB and 110MB of game files each month and this is growing.
The FOG provides a way to increase the movement distance, sight distance, and mystery aspects of a map without having to make the map larger. It also provides a way to have different movement and access rates over terrain types that normally are almost barrierless. As an example, the movement rates for all naval units are set to one square per available movement point for all water terrain types (coast, sea, and ocean). The fog lets us initially slow down the movement in certain areas and effectively make the map feel wider and larger in certain directions without having to have the entire map be made that much larger.
FOG also provides some visual cover for the baddys even though you can probably figure out how to see through it. This just lets the baddys sneak up on you a little and perhaps be a bit more exciting and scary even if they are fairly whimpy.
FOG is also designed to provide the opportunity to be a distraction and training vehicle for navel units to gain experience. You don't know in most cases if the fog is just a wild goose chase or if there is something cool behind the fog. The hidden game traing detail here is to use the right-click and terrain info option to determine if the fog is over treacherous waters before you dive into it and use up your last movement turn and then end up going to Davey Jones' locker because you busted open the fog but then got stranded in the dead zone.
The final real design aspect of fog is to try and emphasize the need for task forces of ships. In Gotm17, single galleys would be stopped by walls of fog while small flotillas could cut through safely and then could regroup.
What is your general impression of how the fog units work and how they are being used in the games??
I think it's possible to bring some elements from King's Bounty or Heros of Might and Magic into Civ3, but may be that would be too much for the average players.
