Future techs

[Tholish]

Its part of what WILL be history. By history I mean the saga of mankind, with all its dynamics, not the mere record of what might have gone before. Our path of travel is the road in front of us as well as the road behind. Whichever road that may prove to be. The past is clearly an indispensible part of this, as the only verifiable portion, but the future should not be denied.

 

[rysmiel]

Future techs may not be what civ is about, but future civ could include future techs. In my opinion, if Civ is about anything beyond just fun then it is about the impact of technological progress on history, and extending it into the future is reasonable. However, near future tech should be based on realistic projections of near future technology, the stuff futurists are really talking about, while far out stuff should be reserved for the distant future. Next War is not the right answer.

I am strongly in agreement here.

Ideally, this would go along with a more unpredictable research system.

Not here, though, because that would so much mess up some of the most interesting bits of strategy; it's a realism-over-gameplay argument.

If this is done, there should be opportunities to win in every era, perhaps one new victory coming into play in each period, and some perhaps being ruled out.

I'm all for era-specific victories, particularly if start and end era are both selectable.

In my FutureMod I include the UN and Diplomatic victory, but once you enter the future era and discover Utopianism it obsoletes the UN. So there's a window during which that victory condition is achievable. Thus the game is winable yet concievably indefinite. No "OK, its 2050, time to add up points."

Cool.

The problem with going too far into the future with Civ is that it doesn't do space very well, and space is inevitably a part of the future. If its not there, you wonder why not. In order to do space, civ would have to do spherical worlds,

Why ?

Do the map exactly as it is now. Do another map layer representing orbit. Move up and down between layers and once you are in orbit, move as normal in space.

Also you would need multiple maps, representing different planets, and a main solar system map on which all objects such as planets and spaceships move in circular paths depending on distance from the sun and accelerate and where spaceships can go to and from the planets, thus moving to different maps.

OK, that's a bit more ambitious than I was thinking.

Incidently, in my FutureMod for BtS I made a time travel reciever building that allows units from the future to appear occiasionally (and randomly, beyond your control). At the very end of the game you can make a time travel transmitter.

That's also cool; I shall try this out when time permits.

 

[Camikaze]

Its part of what WILL be history. By history I mean the saga of mankind, with all its dynamics, not the mere record of what might have gone before. Our path of travel is the road in front of us as well as the road behind. Whichever road that may prove to be. The past is clearly an indispensible part of this, as the only verifiable portion, but the future should not be denied.

I think the general idea of Civ is to represent the path behind us more than the path in front of us. Sure, history will inevitably involve future techs, but it doesn't at the moment. That is reason enough not to have too many futuristic elements in civ.

 

[Tholish]

I think civ, for all its sacrifices of realism for playability, still tries to pretend its a simulation and that's why future techs probably won't be in the initial version of Civ V: we don't really know what will be in the future, but we know for sure what was in the past.

Part of its functionality is that is based on the familiar, not far out concepts you have to learn. However, if you stick to vague cliches, stuff found throughout science fiction and generally considered to be inevitable, nothing new will really have to be learned. At least I would like sci fi mods to be included in the original release rather than an expansion.

 

[PeteAtoms]

I think they ought to just leave the Future Tech scheme the way it is. The way its done for CivRev seems ok with me.

 

[Big Rob]

Isn't curing cancer and colonizing space futuristic ?

 

[Camikaze]

Yeah, although I don't know where you got curing cancer from. Civ3 perhaps?
It's also important to note that colonising space is the endpoint of the game. It finishes as soon as you enter into the future.

 

[rysmiel]

Yeah, although I don't know where you got curing cancer from. Civ3 perhaps?

Cure for Cancer is a owonder in Civ 1, 2 and 3.

It's also important to note that colonising space is the endpoint of the game. It finishes as soon as you enter into the future.

This is a decision on behalf of the game's designers, not a law of nature. See also CtP, which does not do this.

 

[CarlGustaffa]

@Hail: You're right, age got the better of me. Call to Power (I) had the space thingy.

Downloaded the CtP manual, and there is a lot of concepts there I would like see brought into Civ. The futuristic scenario thingy in Civ4 alone doesn't quite do it (tired, forgot it's name).

 

[Tholish]

That scenario that doesn't do it is NextWar. Cold fusion indeed.

Even if you are seeing past civs as laws of nature, Civ2ToT had an extensive future era and a whole sci fi mod set on a different planet with multiple planet maps and outer space maps. The space portion was just hokey "layers" but at least it was there.

The Space being colonized at the end of the game is interstellar space, another star, and there's plenty of time before that for interplanetary space. In fact a starship to alpha centauri will likely be built in space.

 

[Camikaze]

This is a decision on behalf of the game's designers, not a law of nature.

Yeah, but that's my point. The designers of the game have clearly decided that that is where the scope of civ ends.

 

[rysmiel]

Yeah, but that's my point. The designers of the game have clearly decided that that is where the scope of civ ends.

I =would say that the designers of Civ 1-4 have decided it does, the designers of SMAC and CtP have decided it doesn't, and that therefore Civ 5 could in theory go either way.

 

[Tholish]

Yep, they could start including the future at any time.

 

[Camikaze]

I =would say that the designers of Civ 1-4 have decided it does, the designers of SMAC and CtP have decided it doesn't, and that therefore Civ 5 could in theory go either way.

But I would think it far more likely that Civ5 would follow Civ 1-4, than follow SMAC or CtP, wouldn't you?

 

[rysmiel]

But I would think it far more likely that Civ5 would follow Civ 1-4, than follow SMAC or CtP, wouldn't you?

More likely, yes; but not impossible, and, well, one can always hope some of the people who will design Civ 5 are reading this thread.

 

[flyingeye76]

There is a time travel feature one already has that could be along the lines of Hari Seldon and the Foundation. Simply save and then play a few turns to see what happens next, then reload your last save. Of course it also requires random seed to be turned off.

I do believe that future techs and scenarios can be incorporated into Civilization because frankly, the game is about Civilization- past and present.