[R&F] PC Games N interview with Anton Strenger

[conorbebe]

I don't quite like the idea of having such clearly defined Governors characters. Liang the Surveyor? Is each civilization potentially going to have the same Liang then? Or are you recruiting them from a shared pool? I don't know that I want to have yet another thing between Wonders, Great People, City-States, and Beliefs that you have to snatch up from rivals. Seems like having a name randomly assigned from a civ-specific bank to a generic Governor of a particular type would be a better option.

I worry about this too. The article states the Firaxis art team had a big hand in their visual design, and with these personalities seemingly unchanging between civilisations, does that mean I’m going to have Governors of European and African descent when playing as China? If so, it’s a little immersion breaking.

Wonders were always okay to me because at least you had a choice whether to build them or not. Governors on the other hand sound like something that will be essential to managing Loyalty.

 

[PYITE]

I'll complain about the fact that he refers to "our AI engineer" instead of "our AI engineers". That decision is likely above his pay grade though.

My sentiments exactly. A one person AI team is kinda sad.

 

[Candido Rondon]

I worry about this too. The article states the Firaxis art team had a big hand in their visual design, and with these personalities seemingly unchanging between civilisations, does that mean I’m going to have Governors of European and African descent when playing as China? If so, it’s a little immersion breaking.

Wonders were always okay to me because at least you had a choice whether to build them or not. Governors on the other hand sound like something that will be essential to managing Loyalty.

Civ4 had a number of great modders who worked hard to create unique Great People art and code in the ability for civ-specific Great People names. I was really happy with that. Unfortunately, the introduction of specific bonuses/works by Great People made that effectively impossible. But it seems like the Governors could absolutely have had civ-specific names and artwork. But of a letdown.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

Civ4 had a number of great modders who worked hard to create unique Great People art and code in the ability for civ-specific Great People names. I was really happy with that. Unfortunately, the introduction of specific bonuses/works by Great People made that effectively impossible. But it seems like the Governors could absolutely have had civ-specific names and artwork. But of a letdown.

Or they could literally just re-do it, seems like it's purely an aesthetic choice that could be done if we voice our concerns.

 

[Morningcalm]

Civ4 had a number of great modders who worked hard to create unique Great People art and code in the ability for civ-specific Great People names. I was really happy with that. Unfortunately, the introduction of specific bonuses/works by Great People made that effectively impossible. But it seems like the Governors could absolutely have had civ-specific names and artwork. But of a letdown.

Yeah, it will be jarring to constantly see Liang the Surveyor no matter which civ you are playing. (I.e. the Aztecs). I agree that it's quite a disappointment the governors won't have unique names. All it would have taken were some textual changes.

 

[Mr Jon of Cheam]

Do we know for certain that they won't have different names for each civ? It would be an extremely weird decision if they didn't.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

Do we know for certain that they won't have different names for each civ? It would be an extremely weird decision if they didn't.

Every article and interview has used the same names, but I don't think we have reached clarity on the issue yet. I asked on Twitter yesterday but didn't get a response.

 

[Cuneiform]

I can't agree with this quote at the end...

"hotfixes are definitely a powerful tool, but they are not always the right decision. Each time we release an update we want it to be complete and stable. Releasing smaller updates more frequently can have advantages, but also runs a higher risk of causing an unexpected bug or game balance issue."

Whilst being relatively stable, the last few updates have introduced several game breaking bugs that should easily have been picked up in play testing.

 

[stealth_nsk]

The main thing I'd like to say here is - congratulations to the journalist. The questions were really good.

 

[sonicmyst]

As I see it, the Governors are tied to a specific civ and not via global pool a-la GP. Hence I believe Liang the Surveyor is specifically tied to China and not accessible by any other civ.

 

[HF22]

The AI and bug related comments do not inspire confidence.

Perhaps internally they speak more realistically, but if the answers are honest, it is a very bad sign IMO. Unacknowledged problems do not get fixed.

 

[Kwami]

As I see it, the Governors are tied to a specific civ and not via global pool a-la GP. Hence I believe Liang the Surveyor is specifically tied to China and not accessible by any other civ.

That can't be true. There are only seven governors in the game. And, in some interview, (probably) Anton said that the team put a lot of effort into making sure that each governor was a good character with unique personality and all that. So, it looks like there aren't unique governors for each civilization at all.

 

[sonicmyst]

What I understand is that seven governors per civ. That means up to seven cities per civ can be assigned a governor, and not seven governors to be shared among the players.

 

[stealth_nsk]

As I understand it, each civilization may have 7 governors, but each civilization has same governors. I don't believe in 7 unique personalities per civ, especially with their own graphics - too much work for a relatively small feature.

 

[GoatsHeadSoup]

If it is true that there are only 7 governors that are shared between all of the civs and they all have "distinctive personalities", than my bet is that at least some of them are going to be throwbacks to the over the top personalities of the advisors of previous civ games.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

What I understand is that seven governors per civ. That means up to seven cities per civ can be assigned a governor, and not seven governors to be shared among the players.

As I understand it, each civilization may have 7 governors, but each civilization has same governors. I don't believe in 7 unique personalities per civ, especially with their own graphics - too much work for a relatively small feature.

As I understand it, these are both true.

 

[clapyourhands]

Hm, so realism is pretty low on on the Civilization importance scale, but either:

1) There are 10+ immortal beings named Liang that all decided to take up an occupation in finance, or

2) There are seven immortals that are involved in running every single major goverment in the world, probably wielding more power than the world leaders themselves given how many empires they have a hand in (say, Persia and China may be the two biggest superpowers in the game, but guess who manages both of their treasuries).

 

[Rosty K]

There are seven immortals that are involved in running every single major goverment in the world, probably wielding more power than the world leaders themselves given how many empires they have a hand in (say, Persia and China may be the two biggest superpowers in the game, but guess who manages both of their governnment finances)

Well, there was no Israel in any version of Civ, and now we know why

 

[Scaramanga]

Everyone may have their own instance of any of the seven governors. They are grown in cloning vats.

 

[sonicmyst]

Everyone may have their own instance of any of the seven governors. They are grown in cloning vats.

Given that this game also allows fighting a clone of yourself (and has a corresponding achievement called "Selfie"), seems like cloning vats are real.