Is "Beyond the Sword" dead?

[Willem]

Yeah I agree. If an ETA is given and is specifically pointed out to be an estimate, no one with half a brain is going to blame Firaxis if its a few days or a week late. If we could just be told roughly when it would appear... I think this thread demonstrates thats what most people want

First of all, never underestimate the lack of consideration of the general public. If they're anticipating a patch on a particular date, even though they know it's only an estimate, there'll be hell to pay if it's not available.

Secondly, they may not even be able to give a firm ETA as there might be some issues that will take some time to resolve. Or fixing one thing might break something else which could set back their ETA for weeks. Then people would really get irate. Diplomatically, it's best to not say anything at all.

 

[hoopsnerd]

Anyone who expects there to be a reliable ETA has obviously never worked in the programming field. "Stupid Users", as they are often refered to, don't understand the software development process. Civilization is an incredibly complex game, and whenever a change is made to one aspect, it undoubtedly causes a chain reaction of secondary problems that need to be found and fixed. When fixing the secondary problems that arose from the first correction, it's common that a 3rd level of problems will arise... It's quite likely that a lot of the bugs we're experiencing were created upon fixing worse bugs found by the testers... It's not as simple as just "fixing what's wrong", because more things go wrong in the process of fixing -- you just expect that they will and feel lucky when they don't.

Your standard user doesn't understand the process, so they'll expect the "ETA" to be concrete... They'll get pissed off the same way they get pissed off when the original release date of the game is delayed.

 

[Thalatta]

Just a quick comment regarding slow speeds, big maps and old computers:

My computer is three years old. Every time after a new patch has been installed I've been told that my computer is under specifications. I can play a Huge map on Marathon on all three games, but it goes faster and smoother on BtS, by a wide margin, and I can keep combat zoom, wonders movies, sound, multi-unit graphics, etc. I've had BtS crash on me a few times, but almost always when I've been browsing the civilopedia and not so often that it's messed up my games.

 

[JosEPh_II]

I play Epic. The only real problem I've encountered is that by 1850 AD and beyond the end of turn wait and when leaders pop up gets to be longer and longer. This really slows down the game. So that some evenings when I have only 2 hours to play I can only get 10 to 15 years completed.

I didn't have Warlords but Vanilla CIV IV didn't have this problem.

Same Computer for both versions with lone exception being an Upgraded Video Card. Went from Radeon 9250 with 128 meg to 9550 with 256.

Can a Video Card slow down turn processing and leader displays after you've played awhile?

JosEPh

 

[Moon Pine]

The game always crashed when I loaded a save.
And the most annoying thing was unendable turn - when I ended that turn, the game crashed .......

 

[Willem]

I play Epic. The only real problem I've encountered is that by 1850 AD and beyond the end of turn wait and when leaders pop up gets to be longer and longer. This really slows down the game. So that some evenings when I have only 2 hours to play I can only get 10 to 15 years completed.

I didn't have Warlords but Vanilla CIV IV didn't have this problem.

Same Computer for both versions with lone exception being an Upgraded Video Card. Went from Radeon 9250 with 128 meg to 9550 with 256.

Can a Video Card slow down turn processing and leader displays after you've played awhile?

JosEPh

Most definitely. I started out playing Civ 4 on a 9550/256, and quite often my machine was struggling to play the game. And that was only on Large maps. And I had that pop-up you mention, sometimes quite severely too. But upgrading to an X800 made a huge difference in the everything. Do yourself a favour and upgrade your video card! I'm now playing on a Nvidia 7950GT and the game plays quite smoothly.

That said I've been noticing a definite lag in all of my screens, even the tech/demographic screens etc. Much more so than Vanilla or Warlords. I hope that gets fixed in the patch.

 

[toft]

Most definitely. I started out playing Civ 4 on a 9550/256, and quite often my machine was struggling to play the game. And that was only on Large maps. And I had that pop-up you mention, sometimes quite severely too. But upgrading to an X800 made a huge difference in the everything. Do yourself a favour and upgrade your video card! I'm now playing on a Nvidia 7950GT and the game plays quite smoothly.

That said I've been noticing a definite lag in all of my screens, even the tech/demographic screens etc. Much more so than Vanilla or Warlords. I hope that gets fixed in the patch.

HAHA a video card wont change waiting between turns much... thats the cpu/ram.. mostly cpu

 

[jackdog]

Also have the crash upon reload intermittently, just punishment for messing up and needing to reload I guess!!......but is there a fix

 

[Arlborn]

Yes, in like 5% of the times I reload I get a crash too...It is definitely a bug, but at least it teaches me to don't relay on reloading all the time xD Not that I did all the time, but sometimes when all the 3 of your spies get caught in the same turn..grr

 

[Peng Qi]

Actually, I turn them off because they don't add anything. What's the point of the animations other than to entertain simple minds? I read books without pictures, so I don't mind playing games without complex animations that fundamentally add nothing.

They add suspense.

 

[Underdawg]

I play Epic. The only real problem I've encountered is that by 1850 AD and beyond the end of turn wait and when leaders pop up gets to be longer and longer. This really slows down the game. So that some evenings when I have only 2 hours to play I can only get 10 to 15 years completed.

I didn't have Warlords but Vanilla CIV IV didn't have this problem.

Same Computer for both versions with lone exception being an Upgraded Video Card. Went from Radeon 9250 with 128 meg to 9550 with 256.

Can a Video Card slow down turn processing and leader displays after you've played awhile?

JosEPh

AFAIK, the 9550 is the same as a 9250 - they both use the same exact chip and have the same specifications. Someone correct me if I'm wrong....

Even if they are the same, the increase in VRAM doesn't do much at all for performance when the card can't take advantage of it (ie it is too slow).

I have used my friends computer which has the 9250 and it does lag quite a bit even in the ancient age, I can only imagine what it's like in the later eras when the game tends to bog down... I assume you have the graphics quite low?

Also, how much system RAM do you have? While amount of RAM doesn't affect computing time much if at all, it does affect how smooth the game is - preventing stutter and responsiveness of the advisor/religion/espionage screens and the game in general.

 

[Xavier Von Erck]

Yay, more whiny people. I don't know what's worse, the inherent whiny nature of gamers or people claiming that Solver's mod is a patch.

 

[Photi]

Yay, more whiny people. I don't know what's worse, the inherent whiny nature of gamers or people claiming that Solver's mod is a patch.

definately the whiners...

and what is with the 'marathon' players and the chip on the shoulders many of them seem to have? i don't get it. like are we who play on normal speed somehow less players than they? it could be just me, but many seem to have this nose up additude of 'phu(k that i will not be bothered by playing epic...' what are you ten?

and i could almost guarantee that if firaxis eta'd a patch for next monday and it didn't get released toft would be the first to whine. or among the chorus of whiners, maybe the conductor.

oh i forgot to mention the city governor in bts is really starting to piss me off. everytime a tile gets improved it automatically switches to using it and seems to reconfigure all the worked tiles, favoring comerce over production always. emphasize production doesn't work, as i don't want to do that, i just want certain tiles worked. the governor has been totally insubordinate, i am the king, right?

 

[toft]

I would not say that Im whining - rather constructive criticism that sometimes tend to piss off people in here. Sorry if I have hurt anyones feelings with this post. Obviously Firaxis nor the majority of fanatics in here want this discussion...

 

[unikey]

definately the whiners...

and what is with the 'marathon' players and the chip on the shoulders many of them seem to have? i don't get it. like are we who play on normal speed somehow less players than they? it could be just me, but many seem to have this nose up additude of 'phu(k that i will not be bothered by playing epic...' what are you ten?

and i could almost guarantee that if firaxis eta'd a patch for next monday and it didn't get released toft would be the first to whine. or among the chorus of whiners, maybe the conductor.

Personally I dont like normal or epic speed because i like a slow building game rather and like to experiment with different styles of civ (in the current game I'm not using anything that requires wheels as a unit) than playing as a warmonger and marathon is a third of the game and has more problems in vanilla,warlords and BTS than normal or epic and appears to be almost an afterthought as far as firaxis are concerned

Again from experience user's are alot happier if they are get at least some information so far i havent even had an acknowledgement from firaxis that they have even read my email's I can see no reason why they can't say

These are the bug's,errors,balance issues we are working on for the next patch which we are expecting to be available in X Days/weeks/months we will update the list of fix's and eta regularly between now and then

Simon

 

[eric_]

Game works great for me!

 

[Spearthrower]

I would not say that Im whining - rather constructive criticism that sometimes tend to piss off people in here. Sorry if I have hurt anyones feelings with this post. Obviously Firaxis nor the majority of fanatics in here want this discussion...

Sorry to be harsh Toft, but what discussion?

You made several unsupported statements that weren't really valid.

There aren't a wealth of bugs in BtS.... for the great majority it plays perfectly.... it's a very stable and comprehensive expansion.

Some people have a problem and yes, they have a right to expect answers to those problems, but making over the top claims is not actually a constructive criticism and you should expect people to reply in kind.

 

[toft]

Sorry to be harsh Toft, but what discussion?

You made several unsupported statements that weren't really valid.

There aren't a wealth of bugs in BtS.... for the great majority it plays perfectly.... it's a very stable and comprehensive expansion.

Some people have a problem and yes, they have a right to expect answers to those problems, but making over the top claims is not actually a constructive criticism and you should expect people to reply in kind.

I partly agree with you about how stable the game has gotten and how comprehensive the expansion is. But to me, it has too many bugs - you might not have any problems, but you might not be playing with the same settings that I do.

I am one of those people that expect answers soon. And my constructive criticism was directed at just this topic - answers or information. Do you honestly think the subject would have gotten this much attention if had not been for the headline? Of course I know it isnt dead, but at the moment it could certainly use a bit of revival as to the patch issue.

And one more question; Isnt this called a discussion? I cant prevent all the flamers in here...

 

[Photi]

i apologize to you toft as well, i think i was being a bit over the top. i think bts is flippin awesome and it sucks that you are unable to play it as you are accustom to playing it. my apologies again.

david

 

[Spearthrower]

Yeah I can totally agree that it is hard for those who have problems.... but I think that anyone who is a "gamer" and frequents fan sites will ALWAYS see this thread on EVERY site.... and it can be very disenheartening to be excited about a game, look on the fan site and see threads where there are some people making very strong statements..... how do you know whether to believe it or not?

From a balanced perspective, I would agree that there are some problems, I personally prefer to play on Marathon and they really haven't tailored the experience to my desires - but I can to some degree accept that.

Personally, I assume that they are working on fixing problems. They are good at what they do, I have a lot of respect for the quality that Firaxis provides, and I expect them to resolve a large number of the problems over the coming weeks.....

But really, I suggest that constructive criticism involves listing problems objectively..... even better, going and putting your problems where they belong, in the Bugs section so that they can be spotted, checked and put on a list for the next patch's fixes.