Patch News!

[abbamouse]

With this patch, it sounds like the game will ALMOST be where it should have been prior to release by Take2. I really doubt this will incorporate the subtle changes in play-balancing that another month of testing would have provided. It's a good game, but it was released about a month too early. And I say this as someone who was dying to see it released in time for my birthday (Nov 1). It was a somewhat disappointing present, since it felt about 95% finished -- playable and enjoyable but with a few really obvious bugs and playbalance issues that another month of tweaking would have resolved. Look forward to more of this in future Firaxis releases, now that Take2 has acquired the studio.

 

[Enigma]

Great news about the patch.

As for the whole thing about the Horses, I would take more issue with when Copper and Iron appear. They should appear with mining and be prerequisites of researching Bronze and Iron working if realism has anything to say about it.

Picture if you will:

[Scene: Chieftain's Hut, Head of the Council of Shaman Researchers enters]

Shaman: Chieftain, may I ask something of you?
Chieftain: What is it?
Shaman: We're looking to develop a new type of technology to benefit our tribe, and we need your help to provide resources.
Chieftain: Go on...
Shaman: Well, Chieftain, we're looking to develop new techniques to make stronger weapons out of an alloy called Bronze.
Chieftain: That's good.
Shaman: It's made up of Tin, which we can find in any hill we decide to dig into, and a shiny metal we call Copper.
Chieftain: Great, just let me know how much Copper you have and I'll finance your project accordingly. Our warriors need all the big deadly weapons they can get..
Shaman: Um.. actually, we haven't really found any Copper yet....
(Awkward Silence)
....
(Continued Awkward Silence)
Shaman: I take it I'm not going to get any funding for this, am I?
Chieftain: Ya think?!?
Shaman: I don't suppose I can interest you in stuff made out of a greyish metal we call Iron... which we also haven't found....
Chieftain: GET OUT!!

 

[EDaddy]

I like the fact that horses are hidden. It was that way in Civ3, and it should be that way in Civ4. It makes the game more challenging that way! If the game began with horses visible, then it would encourage me to found a city where the horses are. See what I mean?

 

[koolaje]

Just don't expect this patch to fix everything just yet

 

[Thunderfall]

Nice to finally hear some official words about the patch!

For the record, Dennis emailed me earlier this afternoon about the patch. It's just that I was not able to check my CFC.com email when away from home (password is too hard to remember ).

 

[Sorceresss]

Just don't expect this patch to fix everything just yet

And...it will probably break a few things...especially since it is being "Quality Assured" by Take 2.

 

[rd_syringe]

I'm pretty sure that the delay when your map expands is caused by the need to re-render the 3d map in the main game screen (which involves copying a lot of information either from the HDD or main memory into the graphics card memory.) It seems like they to not render the whole map at level load, for whatever reason.

This delay, at least, doesn't indicate a memory leak. If there is a memory leak, you can tell by watching the memory as you play. Start a game with one city, do not explore, and watch the memory as reported by the Windows Task Manager. If it climbs and climbs and climbs until it fills up the main memory and the page file, then you have a memory leak. If it climbs a bit then levels off, then you probably don't have a memory leak.

The memory will, of course, still climb if you have enemy AIs doing their thing in the world.

Personally, I believe it's less of a memory leak problem and more of an object caching/performance issue. The memory leak idea seems to have come from the lag in the modern age. Just because the game lags doesn't mean a memory leak (it's not even really the symptom of a leak unless you hear the hard drive grinding relentlessly).

 

[Tharak]

Start a game with one city, do not explore, and watch the memory as reported by the Windows Task Manager. If it climbs and climbs and climbs until it fills up the main memory and the page file, then you have a memory leak. If it climbs a bit then levels off, then you probably don't have a memory leak.

Did that - sat at about 80K memory for the longest time. Then I met my first civ. Went up to about 110k after the first meeting. Did nothing again other than speak with said civ. Every time I opened the diplomacy screen, my memory usage went up about 30k. Didn't go back down after I stopped talking. After doing this about 10 times, my memory useage was over 400k. Tried this as well without advancing the turn - just kept opening and closing the diplomatic screen - same thing.

Not being a computer guy at all, you tell me - is this a leak? Seems a bit out of wack to me...

 

[Sorceresss]

Personally, I believe it's less of a memory leak problem and more of an object caching/performance issue. The memory leak idea seems to have come from the lag in the modern age. Just because the game lags doesn't mean a memory leak (it's not even really the symptom of a leak unless you hear the hard drive grinding relentlessly).

Yea : all those "memory leak" acolytes are chanting "memory leak" without knowing what the **** it is.

 

[Randle]

I like the fact that horses are hidden. It was that way in Civ3, and it should be that way in Civ4. It makes the game more challenging that way! If the game began with horses visible, then it would encourage me to found a city where the horses are. See what I mean?

So should ag and fishing resources be invisible until you research those techs too? It's nice to have some limited early tech resources visible so you don't put your city down in a complete wasteland. It's not like they're showing you where the uranium is.

 

[Randle]

Did that - sat at about 80K memory for the longest time. Then I met my first civ. Went up to about 110k after the first meeting. Did nothing again other than speak with said civ. Every time I opened the diplomacy screen, my memory usage went up about 30k. Didn't go back down after I stopped talking. After doing this about 10 times, my memory useage was over 400k. Tried this as well without advancing the turn - just kept opening and closing the diplomatic screen - same thing.

Not being a computer guy at all, you tell me - is this a leak? Seems a bit out of wack to me...

Once you advanced the turn, was the memory released?

 

[Demon Rob]

Until husbandry is found then horses should show up as a slab of generic animal meat icon.
When was the bbq invented? Can't see it on the tech tree. Maybe it was just instinctive in some long ago ancestor of the australians. That should enhance the value of generic animal meat.
Only after husbandry should mankind realise these animals are better to ride than eat and then the specific icon should appear.

 

[asmodeus81]

animal husbandry reveals horses? WTH? it's not like iron which you have to mine for...it's a friggin horse...it's a little hard to miss even if you don't know how to put a saddle on it.

I think it makes sense.. Otherwise why not show other animal types on the map.

 

[BaTaTa]

nice. hope those CTDs and the slowndown issue be fixed.

 

[CustodianV131]

Great!

With a bit of luck it will be out this week then.

Hopefully more people can enjoy the Civ-goodness then. I've lucked out and have few problems although a little performance boost and memory leak fix would be very welcome. Still those two are probably related in my case so if the fix the memory problem I'll be golden.

My biggest problem with Civ at the moment is finding the time to play it, but no patch is going to help with that I guess

Anyway, its great to see all those people happy because the patch is coming. No whines, angry replies ect... Just wonderful! Didn’t expect otherwise of course, I mean whining about something that you haven't even tried yet, how dumb would that be? Really restores my faith in humanity

 

[Philips beard]

Good news that horses are hidden until Animal Husbandry. It was too easy to play Persia or Egypt, then rush for an early horse resource and the War Chariots or Imortals. These units really rock vs the opponents bowmen, now they will be slightly harder to get early on..... Makes the playing of Persia and Egypt a little bit more challanging!

 

[Lafferty]

Did that - sat at about 80K memory for the longest time. Then I met my first civ. Went up to about 110k after the first meeting. Did nothing again other than speak with said civ. Every time I opened the diplomacy screen, my memory usage went up about 30k. Didn't go back down after I stopped talking. After doing this about 10 times, my memory useage was over 400k. Tried this as well without advancing the turn - just kept opening and closing the diplomatic screen - same thing.

Not being a computer guy at all, you tell me - is this a leak? Seems a bit out of wack to me...

This is not a memory leak. A real memory leak would result in the game eating up memory by just sitting there. What you describe could be easily explained by all Civs remembering every diplomatic contact (sort of history for the AI to check against when deciding future behaviour?). It may be designed suboptimal but on the other side, 40K isn't much.

Yay for softer pillage sounds. That annoyed me massively

 

[Charles 22]

By that logic then wheat, corn, etc shouldn't be shown until you get agriculture and stone and marble until masonry, and on and on until the map is empty. We'd better not be able to see the forests until we get bronze working because we don't know we can cut them down yet. Whoever complained to Firaxis and got this changed I suggest you research "Ducking" so you can see the rock I'm about to throw at you.

It's not terribly surprising they have the patch ready just about the same time they were originally supposed to have the game out...

More pointedly, you can see the cows before you get animal husbandry, if horses being hidden is legitimate.

 

[Charles 22]

Only after husbandry should mankind realise these animals are better to ride than eat and then the specific icon should appear.

McDonald's would beg to differ with you

 

[Ribannah]

Animal Husbandry reveals horses

Very bad idea. Researching Animal Husbandry early was a strategic choice based on what you see. Now it's reduced to a gamble ("my capital shows only one resource, so maybe there are horses").