After the "Babylon" release a few weeks ago, work on C7 has continued, towards the "Carthage" milestone. Carthage is currently slated to be larger than either Aztec or Babylon in terms of number of changes, so we also don't want to wait until everything is done to share the results.
What will be going into Carthage? Based on the limited feedback received in this thread, we have 10 high-level categories of improvements planned, listed in order of current completion percentage:
We've also made some usability improvements for moving units, which although not in the initial list of improvements is likely to be appreciated, especially by those who don't have a Num Pad.
Download Links
You can download C7 for your platform of choice (Windows, Mac, or Linux) from the GitHub Release page.
Right Click Menu
One main addition has been the right-click menu, added by @Flintlock . This takes two forms. One is allowing you to select units from a stack:
Of note, you can also Shift+Click on items in this list to select multiple fortified units without having to re-open the menu each time. If you're like me, you might not have ever realized you can do the same thing in Civ3! Watch out GOTM 186, with this newfound knowledge the competition level is sure to increase!
The other, activated by Shift+Click on a tile with a city, allows you to change what a city is building:
This key ability lets you customize what you are building, and for the time being would give you a significant advantage over the AI. But it's also a core element of the 4X genre that was missing in Babylon, and is not anymore.
Finally, pcen added the ability to Wake/Fortify all via the right-click unit menu.
Save/Load
It is now possible to load C7 JSON files, as well as Civ3 BIQ and SAV files, to start a game. pcen contributed this work, and both he and @Armageddon1 made improvements to the save format as well.
This means that you could open the c7-static-map-save.json file that ships with C7, make some changes, and load up the modified version, while not having to overwrite the original.
Moving Units
Another key improvement is enhancements to moving units made by @Armageddon1 and pcen . These allow moving units via the arrow keys and the fn key (for diagonal movement) on laptops, and using the Go To button with the mouse. If you don't have a NumPad, these changes will significantly enhance your ability to play C7.
Smaller Improvements
Various smaller improvements have also been made. @Quintillus has taught the AI how to keep track of tile visibility, and how to use its explorers to expand that visibility (tile visibility for the human player will be added in a future release). @Flintlock has made several improvements to unit animation, and @Quintillus has made the terrain displayed on the info box dynamic. And behind the scenes, work is in progress to improve our logging of information (and thus ability to debug), and to improve our documentation in general.
We've also made thematic changes, starting with new main menu art, which now features Dido Building Carthage, also known as The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire, by JMW Turner. You'll also be playing as the Carthaginians, and may find the Romans nearby. See if you can use the new ability to change city production to defeat the Romans at Lake Trasimene or Cannae, but make sure you don't let them defeat you at Zama!
What's Next?
Sub-tasks for the high-level goals mentioned at the beginning have been mapped out, and you can view them at https://github.com/C7-Game/Prototype/projects/3 .
The exact order of what will be done next is not predetermined, but the goal is that there is plenty to choose from that will contribute towards the greater "Carthage" release. The second "Carthage" preview could feature full-fledged Tile Visibility, or it could feature Combat Part II as a marquee feature; it all depends on what sounds most inspiring at the time someone decides to make their next contribution.
Conclusion
Despite this progress, we're only an estimated 20% of the way to the Carthage release. Thus, one of our questions to you all - would you find the above progress enough to make you want to play an interim release? Or would two and a half or five times the number of enhancements - larger but less frequent releases - be more to your liking?
What will be going into Carthage? Based on the limited feedback received in this thread, we have 10 high-level categories of improvements planned, listed in order of current completion percentage:
- Right-click menu (100%)
- Save/load support (60%)
- Improved unit pathing (50%)
- Tile Visibility (20%)
- General AI improvements
- Secondary world map features
- Architectural improvements (including incorporating the first community art)
- City Production (Part 1)
- Roads
- Combat Part II
We've also made some usability improvements for moving units, which although not in the initial list of improvements is likely to be appreciated, especially by those who don't have a Num Pad.
Download Links
You can download C7 for your platform of choice (Windows, Mac, or Linux) from the GitHub Release page.
Right Click Menu
One main addition has been the right-click menu, added by @Flintlock . This takes two forms. One is allowing you to select units from a stack:
Of note, you can also Shift+Click on items in this list to select multiple fortified units without having to re-open the menu each time. If you're like me, you might not have ever realized you can do the same thing in Civ3! Watch out GOTM 186, with this newfound knowledge the competition level is sure to increase!
The other, activated by Shift+Click on a tile with a city, allows you to change what a city is building:
This key ability lets you customize what you are building, and for the time being would give you a significant advantage over the AI. But it's also a core element of the 4X genre that was missing in Babylon, and is not anymore.
Finally, pcen added the ability to Wake/Fortify all via the right-click unit menu.
Save/Load
It is now possible to load C7 JSON files, as well as Civ3 BIQ and SAV files, to start a game. pcen contributed this work, and both he and @Armageddon1 made improvements to the save format as well.
This means that you could open the c7-static-map-save.json file that ships with C7, make some changes, and load up the modified version, while not having to overwrite the original.
Moving Units
Another key improvement is enhancements to moving units made by @Armageddon1 and pcen . These allow moving units via the arrow keys and the fn key (for diagonal movement) on laptops, and using the Go To button with the mouse. If you don't have a NumPad, these changes will significantly enhance your ability to play C7.
Smaller Improvements
Various smaller improvements have also been made. @Quintillus has taught the AI how to keep track of tile visibility, and how to use its explorers to expand that visibility (tile visibility for the human player will be added in a future release). @Flintlock has made several improvements to unit animation, and @Quintillus has made the terrain displayed on the info box dynamic. And behind the scenes, work is in progress to improve our logging of information (and thus ability to debug), and to improve our documentation in general.
We've also made thematic changes, starting with new main menu art, which now features Dido Building Carthage, also known as The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire, by JMW Turner. You'll also be playing as the Carthaginians, and may find the Romans nearby. See if you can use the new ability to change city production to defeat the Romans at Lake Trasimene or Cannae, but make sure you don't let them defeat you at Zama!
What's Next?
Sub-tasks for the high-level goals mentioned at the beginning have been mapped out, and you can view them at https://github.com/C7-Game/Prototype/projects/3 .
The exact order of what will be done next is not predetermined, but the goal is that there is plenty to choose from that will contribute towards the greater "Carthage" release. The second "Carthage" preview could feature full-fledged Tile Visibility, or it could feature Combat Part II as a marquee feature; it all depends on what sounds most inspiring at the time someone decides to make their next contribution.
Conclusion
Despite this progress, we're only an estimated 20% of the way to the Carthage release. Thus, one of our questions to you all - would you find the above progress enough to make you want to play an interim release? Or would two and a half or five times the number of enhancements - larger but less frequent releases - be more to your liking?
and probably will for a few weeks more.
