New Expansion Pack Press Release!

[Stuka]

Originally posted by K-Man
I'm as excited about this news as most everybody else seems to be, but I know I will be waiting a long while for it to be released. As a devoted mac user I expect it will be quite some time before it is ported for us, considering the people from Westlake, who did the porting of the game, didn't even know about the expansion pack as of last week when the initial announcement had been made.

I'm hoping against all hopes that those of us tried and true mac users will get it sometime soon after everyone else, but I'm not holding my breath. Another thing that goes along with being a mac user is a large capacity for patience. Until it is released, I will content myself in reading about all the new features in forums here, just as I did for the 4 months between the release of the PC version and the Mac version of the game.

Hope everyone stays somewhat sane in anticipation of the release, or at least the next news release.

This time will FLY by. Just don't spend every waking moment of your life waiting for it (like I did Empire Earth). Just enjoy it as it comes, and be one of the first to get it. That's my pearl of wisdom. Remember CIV II? The Gold Edition was selling like HOTCAKES just TWO years ago! CompUSA and Fry's was STOCKED with this title.

If and when Firaxis makes the expansion pack as big as it CAN be, Civ III will be the industry leader in strategy games AGAIN. ANY company who can make a game that causes hundreds of thousands of people to call in sick to play it all day has made one HELL of a game. I have VERY high expectations of Firaxis, and the time that they have to deliver... Well... It better be great. I EXPECT it to be great.

I expect us to be able to set starting positions. I expect more unique units. I expect game and rules enhancements.

Firaxis...

[CO=red] BE AS GREAT AS YOU CAN BE! [/LORCOLOR]

It's time to shine again fellas!

GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!

 

[Matrix]

Oh, since we're all guessing the new Civs...

Mongols, Vikings, Spanish, Dutch (pray, pray

), Portugese, Arabs, Turks, Celts.

 

[Akka]

Originally posted by Franklyn
It doesn't look like Infogrames has slapped a price tag on the XP yet. I'm betting it's going to be about 30 clams.

We're suckers -- we'll pay.

Speak for yourself.
I'm not paying a cent for something that is merely a final patch for an incomplete game.
If people are stupid enough to pay twice for a game, and if they're so stupid to be HAPPY about it on top of this, well, it's their problem.
I'm still having the privilege to have a functionnal brain, and I'm not paying AGAIN for what I should have had in the first place.

 

[EmperorDuke]

What are the new races?

 

[Shoegaze99]

Akka,

What, specifically, is it that you "should have had in the first place?"

What portion of the game, specifically, is incomplete?

Why, exactly, did you purchase an incomplete game?

Just curious,

qwerty

 

[TVA22]

When you include "WWII units" like you promise, remember there are some fans out there (like me ) who like the pacific more than the european war. Don't forget about us! Please don't promise WW2 units and then only give us the european and american ones! I only say this because of the countless scenarios I've downloaded for civ2 (well fine, not countless, but a handful at least) that were labeled "ww2" and I got germany vs. england. Not that that's bad, just mistitled. Also I remember buying Empire Earth, and was profoundly disapointed with it, it should have been called "Empire Europe."

Just my cry, hope it won't go unheard.

 

[LaRo]

Originally posted by PaleHorse76
Whoohoo!Yawn.Hopefully that means we can make new map and terrain fetures....but I am not holding my breath...they might want to milk out another Xpac. Sweet!!! I am guessing this is different then the current unit stacking. Sounds like it is in reference to units attacking when said in the same sentence as auto bomabrd.Finally!But we have to wait until Fall?

Better wait than get a non-tested game like civ3.

 

[royfurr]

Originally posted by TVA22
When you include "WWII units" like you promise, remember there are some fans out there (like me ) who like the pacific more than the european war. Don't forget about us! Please don't promise WW2 units and then only give us the european and american ones! I only say this because of the countless scenarios I've downloaded for civ2 (well fine, not countless, but a handful at least) that were labeled "ww2" and I got germany vs. england. Not that that's bad, just mistitled. Also I remember buying Empire Earth, and was profoundly disapointed with it, it should have been called "Empire Europe."

Just my cry, hope it won't go unheard.

I feel for ya, TVA22, but I fear that unless they do a MAJOR overhaul of the naval aspect of the game, forget WWII pacific. If they don't redo it and did incluce the pacific, it would be very poor indeed with the current setup.



quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Stuka

...
If and when Firaxis makes the expansion pack as big as it CAN be, Civ III will be the industry leader in strategy games AGAIN. ANY company who can make a game that causes hundreds of thousands of people to call in sick to play it all day has made one HELL of a game. I have VERY high expectations of Firaxis, and the time that they have to deliver... Well... It better be great. I EXPECT it to be great.

I expect us to be able to set starting positions. I expect more unique units. I expect game and rules enhancements.

Firaxis...

[CO=red] BE AS GREAT AS YOU CAN BE! [/LORCOLOR]

It's time to shine again fellas!

GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!
..................................................................................................



Glad for your ethuasism. (sp.- sorry).

I haven't heard the word fanboy around here in quite sometime. Are they (Firaxis) going to shine as good as last fall when there was no working air units for the human player?

I will give Firaxis the benefit of the doubt and shell out the $$, but if it plays out like last fall and this winter, I will be totally cured of purchasing Firaxis or Infogame products. Permanently. They better get this right or the market will probably punish them severely.

Heres hoping they DO get it right. I want airbases ("airports"?) and the other features as much as anyone.

 

[DubTee1480]

I think it'd be sweet to have a civil war scenario. Not as in the American Civil War, but more of a good/new order vs decadent/old guard scenario. I remember once playing Civ II, someone nuked my capital and seized it and it triggered a civil war. While that REALLY sucked at the time, the idea of being able to play that rebel civ was pretty cool. If nothing else, think of Star Wars, the Empire, and the Rebellion. Just grounded on terra firma, with other civs to interact with, and the Rebellion being a legitimate gov't.

 

[Cheuk in Seoul]

I think the Arabs, Vikings/Norse, Mongols, Spainish are pretty definate...

One civ that I'm sure will be in the expansion is the Koreans.

I know... historically insignificant... but the internet gaming market here is HUGE... probably second only to the US market... who knows it may even be bigger. Fraxis can not ignore the $$ potential. Why do you think that the MS added the Koreans to Age of Kings?

 

[erix]

Originally posted by calgacus
Originally posted by Stuka

so the Turks may not be there either (because of the similarity and proximity to the Arabs).

We do NOT have any similarity to the Arabs. If you come to Turkey or just read some good history books, you will see how different we are.

 

[Akka]

Originally posted by Shoegaze99
Akka,

What, specifically, is it that you "should have had in the first place?"

What I consider I should have had in the first place is the things that already were in previous games of the serie :
- multiplayer
- complete editor
- airfields

What portion of the game, specifically, is incomplete?

The editor. The interface. The governments. The tech tree. The lack of terraforming options.
Edit : forgot diplomacy, UN, trade.

Why, exactly, did you purchase an incomplete game?

Just curious,

qwerty

What interested me was the fact that it would be the sequel of Civ2 and AC. It meant that the same spirit and at least as much features will be present. I don't consider that a sequel should be a step back in possibilities. The name of a serie, give the assurance that it will sell well. On the other hand, if you use a brand name, you have to make sure that the game is up to this name. So I consider it for GRANTED to have the previous options and possibilities if they are to use the same name. Simple honnesty.
I especially consider that removing stuff that was in Civ2 and AC, and putting them back in a paying expansion, is particularly insulting toward customers. And I'm even more troubled to see that these customers are being ripped off with a smile and a "thank".

 

[Plumbean]

I have been playing Civ II,because Civ III could not be Edited.I cant wait for this to come out.Civ III has so many improvements over Civ II.I hope the scenario editing tool will be great.

 

[Zachriel]

Originally posted by rsirangelo
yeah, right, so they think everyone are complete idiots... they'll will release the rest of the game as an expansion pack.

waiting anxiously for a cracked version to come out, I won't give you any more money Firaxis!

:die!:

If you dance to the music, you gotta pay the piper. If you don't like the tune, don't dance.

 

[Akka]

Originally posted by Zachriel


If you dance to the music, you gotta pay the piper. If you don't like the tune, don't dance.

I won't pay once to have the right to listen to the music and once to have the right to dance on it.

 

[Hurricane]

With the different kinds of multiplayer modes, several terrain sets, new civs and UUs as well as the eagerly awaited scenario editor, I can easily agree that this is more than enough for an XP.

However, many of the smaller improvements (auto-bombard, better stack movement to name two) I would have liked to see in a patch. Do we really have to wait until christmas to have the bugs and issues with 1.21 fixed? I hope not.

 

[Sullla]

Originally posted by Akka
What I consider I should have had in the first place is the things that already were in previous games of the serie :
- multiplayer
- complete editor
- airfields

The editor. The interface. The governments. The tech tree. The lack of terraforming options.
Edit : forgot diplomacy, UN, trade.

Now hold on here a minute. While the release of Civ3 was lacking both multiplayer and scenario support, this was no secret to anyone buying it. It was quite clear when I bought the game that I was getting a SP only game. The original version was very buggy, but the various patches have almost completely fixed that by now (and the patches, containing major game changes, have been free). I will say that Firaxis could have been more clear on telling people that the editor was not fully powered.

But your other points on what is "missing" from the game are not legitimate complaints against Civ3. Airfields? Well the game does have airports, for one thing. Keep in mind that this game is not Civ2, something a lot of people who dislike Civ3 never can seem to remember. The programmers probably decided they didn't want airfields, in all likelihood, and are including them now in the expansion because people like you are complaining about them.

These other points are a joke. The interface? The governments? The tech tree? These were fully finished at time of release. Don't confuse the fact that you don't like certain features with "Firaxis left these features out of the game." There is nothing wrong with the tech tree; most players unhappy with it seem to be saying, "But I could research _____ in Civ2 and kick everyone around and now I can't do that anymore." Well, maybe that is because this is Civ3, a different game. Something would be wrong if you could play exactly the same way and win. The trading system in Civ3 is MUCH better than that in Civ2; those who disagree should spend some more time understanding how it works, and stop looking at Civ2 with rose-colored glasses.

What's wrong with the UN? If you don't like it you can turn it off before starting a game, but it's another way for the player to win. If you miss building the UN yourself (which shouldn't happen to a good player) and have a terrible reputation from warmongering against the AI, you probably deserve to lose the game. Nothing is missing here. Don't even start on terraforming; this is not a futuristic game where we can turn hills into plains and so forth. This option has never been in any civ games, only Alpha Centauri. If anything, it means that the game requires MORE strategy when choosing city locations, since you cannot simply change the "bad" tiles like desert or tundra, into something else later. Terraforming is not "missing" from the game; it's clear that it was never intended to be in the game.

Now look, I fully agree that Civ3 is not perfect and it can be better, but there's no reason attack things that you personally disagree with as things "left out". Those players unsatisfied with Civ3 can choose not to buy the expansion and return or sell their original copies for money. I would much rather see that than keep hearing these complaints all over the forum. As to the person who advocated hacking a copy of the expansion.... I'm going to hope that you change your mind and not commit a criminal act. The majority of the people seem to be happy with both the game and the announcement for the expansion. Unfortunately, we have to hear from the few unhappy people all the time because most people are playing Civ3 and not dispensing negative comments on the forum. I kindly suggest that you either try Civ3 again with an open mind or leave this forum behind and move on to other areas.

 

[zardoz_9_99]

Originally posted by Civddict


I bet
Spain
Norway
Turkey
Mongolia
are sure guesses, but what about others?

How about Incas, Poland, Sweden, Mayans, Apache, or Commanche, Korean ? I think your choices are going to be in also. Certainly Spain (conquistador) Norway or Sweden (Vikings and or Longship) hope both. Mongolia (Horse Archer) Turkey (Janissaries) Poland (Winged Hussars). Italy (POWs) Can anyone come up with anymore? I can't wait for this either.

 

[Desert Fox]

Yes this is exciting this will be the first time I have considered pirating any of Sid's games I bought every single one. This time Firaxis (I feel) has gone to far trying to bilk us out of our money. Civ2 had a functional editor, every single expansion was warranted. I guess my anger is only felt by a few. I sure hope Firaxis reads this message and understands how some of their customers feel. I love expansion packs but this is just a way for Firaxis to make money twice off the same product. I am apalled personally and in the future for any games I will do the same thing. Sid has lost my respect totally!

(Go ahead post your responses but this is directed at Firaxis) OH yeah, it has nothing to do with Multi-player why I am upset. It has to do with what was left out of the original release. All of this is done on purpose to make money off all of us civ fanatics. The editor being borke all the little tiny bugs that occur in the game still. For those who have not found many bugs like I have I don't know what to tell you. I feel justified in my statement even though I know some of you will again attack me for my opinion.

 

[D. Boon's Ghost]

Originally posted by Sullla


...I will say that Firaxis could have been more clear on telling people that the editor was not fully powered...

This is the only gripe I have, concerning this XP issue. Firaxis could very easily have saved alot of people headaches, just by telling them that the editor would not be fully realized until the expansions release.
Multiplayer, new civs, new units, terrain packs, etc...all of that stuff should be expected to be released as an expansion - but a functional editor is another thing.

Firaxis, in my opinion, misled alot of people on this editor issue. Why they did not announce this particular news long ago is beyond me.