Kordanor
Warlord
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2010
- Messages
- 210
Heya,
as further the game is moving towards the release the more I get the impression that everything is fine BUT the multiplayer part.
I have read in several threads here that some of you think that Civ is mainly a singleplayer game and multiplayer is only a small feature. Well, I have to say that multiplayer is a huge thing for me and I guess it is for lots of people. Otherwise there would not have been a Civnet and a multiplayer mode in most of the games (somehow I think there was one without which made me play Alpha Centauri instead, cant remember)
Anyways: The Multiplayer previews I saw were very basic or not covering multiplayer mechanics at all.
During the live coverage it was said "This coverage is singleplayer only, no mp questions". Well, I doubt there will be a MP coverage, its only 7 days left where it would have a meaning. Sounds to me that they don't want to face these questions while having audience.
Simultaneous rounds will be the only mode available at release as stated in the manual:
He also states at http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=379928 that
-Multiplayer games cant be saved manually, but it is possible to autosave it every turn
-There are no animations (I guess fight animations) in Multiplayer
How will simultaneous rounds work with the new combat system? Was already kinda bad in Civ4 where you could move around your enemy, and attacking a city faster than your opponent could place another military unit into it. With the new combat system I see tons of situations like: You have two units, enemy has two units facing each other. Both players wait for their opponent to attack first, so that they can finish the unit which attacked and withdraw the hurt one - sounds really stupid.
Well playing together with a friend you can still make "rules of honor" like one player always has to do all military actions before the other starts with it, but this is far from optimum.
Update: In the review at http://www.destructoid.com/civ-v-multiplayer-makes-turn-based-pick-up-the-pace-183931.phtml the reviewer shares these doubts saying:
I also see a big potential in balancing issues with the Civ abilities as I mentioned in the other thread. Some Civ abilities seem to be huge, like getting Culture for every fight. Other ones seem to kinda suck, like the German one (or at least its limited to early game PLUS being situational).
Well, in a Singleplayer experience it probably doesnt matter that much, but once you play multiplayer and the only reason you lost is because "I took Germans but only found one babarian unit" to your superior Japan player this is going to suck hard.
Together with unit imbalances in Civ4 (the naval unit strength developelemt was terrible imho) I see a big potential for problems there.
No official talk about it just makes it worse.
Update:
Fortunately at least the features "handling" savegames from Civ 4 persist, as Brian Leahy states in his Review at http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?story=65623 (comments):
- Games can be reloaded and continued. Players can be replaced by AI or different players.
- Crashed/disconnected players can be re-invited/re-join through Steam interface without having to rollback (they will be played by an AI until they return).
Of course it's not an e-Sports game like SC2 which needed lots of months of balancing, but it would be great if the core mechanics for MP would be working fine and the game being roughly balanced.
So what do you think about it? Do I miss anything here?
as further the game is moving towards the release the more I get the impression that everything is fine BUT the multiplayer part.
I have read in several threads here that some of you think that Civ is mainly a singleplayer game and multiplayer is only a small feature. Well, I have to say that multiplayer is a huge thing for me and I guess it is for lots of people. Otherwise there would not have been a Civnet and a multiplayer mode in most of the games (somehow I think there was one without which made me play Alpha Centauri instead, cant remember)
Anyways: The Multiplayer previews I saw were very basic or not covering multiplayer mechanics at all.
During the live coverage it was said "This coverage is singleplayer only, no mp questions". Well, I doubt there will be a MP coverage, its only 7 days left where it would have a meaning. Sounds to me that they don't want to face these questions while having audience.
Simultaneous rounds will be the only mode available at release as stated in the manual:
A multiplayer game is a “simultaneous turns game.” In this style of game, you and your opponents take their turns simultaneously. Everybody moves units, conducts diplomacy, maintains their cities all at the same time. When everybody’s done everything they want to do, the turn ends and another begins. You can use a Turn Timer when playing in this format as well. Simultaneous Turns games can be a whole lot of fun, but they’re not for everybody. We recommend that you get a bunch of practice in turn-based Civ V before you jump into a simultaneous game.
He also states at http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=379928 that
-Multiplayer games cant be saved manually, but it is possible to autosave it every turn
-There are no animations (I guess fight animations) in Multiplayer
How will simultaneous rounds work with the new combat system? Was already kinda bad in Civ4 where you could move around your enemy, and attacking a city faster than your opponent could place another military unit into it. With the new combat system I see tons of situations like: You have two units, enemy has two units facing each other. Both players wait for their opponent to attack first, so that they can finish the unit which attacked and withdraw the hurt one - sounds really stupid.
Well playing together with a friend you can still make "rules of honor" like one player always has to do all military actions before the other starts with it, but this is far from optimum.
Update: In the review at http://www.destructoid.com/civ-v-multiplayer-makes-turn-based-pick-up-the-pace-183931.phtml the reviewer shares these doubts saying:
Getting your scout or unit to move first in a given round can make a real difference, allowing you to gain the one-time benefits of discovering a natural wonder or claiming an ancient ruin before your opponents. The game gives priority to commands in the order it receives them from all players.
...
The implications for combat, however, are many. Acting faster and smarter than your opponents should allow you to grab advantageous terrain or choke points more often. Giving priority to moving units that are stronger on offense than defense will probably become standard strategy to maximize combat effectiveness. There may even be occasions where you will want to intentionally act slowly as a lure to draw units within striking distance of your cities or ranged units.
I also see a big potential in balancing issues with the Civ abilities as I mentioned in the other thread. Some Civ abilities seem to be huge, like getting Culture for every fight. Other ones seem to kinda suck, like the German one (or at least its limited to early game PLUS being situational).
Well, in a Singleplayer experience it probably doesnt matter that much, but once you play multiplayer and the only reason you lost is because "I took Germans but only found one babarian unit" to your superior Japan player this is going to suck hard.
Together with unit imbalances in Civ4 (the naval unit strength developelemt was terrible imho) I see a big potential for problems there.
No official talk about it just makes it worse.
Update:
Fortunately at least the features "handling" savegames from Civ 4 persist, as Brian Leahy states in his Review at http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?story=65623 (comments):
- Games can be reloaded and continued. Players can be replaced by AI or different players.
- Crashed/disconnected players can be re-invited/re-join through Steam interface without having to rollback (they will be played by an AI until they return).
Of course it's not an e-Sports game like SC2 which needed lots of months of balancing, but it would be great if the core mechanics for MP would be working fine and the game being roughly balanced.
So what do you think about it? Do I miss anything here?