Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles Announced

[Keroro]

It´s a pitty, that we didn´t get any answer on this question. I think FIRAXIS/Take Two would be well advised, if they would still support both games, Civ IV and Civ 3. They could sell a lot more.

Civinator - I think you scared off Jason with your bold typeface . And yes, if I knew that Civ 4 would be properly patched even if Firaxis were in the process of writing Civ 5, then I would be more likely to buy Civ 4.

@ Civpartisan - I think that the people who are begging for a new patch for Civ 3 are the people who are involved in modding. If Firaxis wanted to show it's commitment to the gaming public then an updated Civ 3 editor would be a good place to start.

 

[Civinator]

Civinator - I think you scared off Jason with your bold typeface .

I needed the bold typeface because this is a bold question

 

[CivPartisan]

Hey Keroro,

Your right...we should be focused on a better editor for Civ III...this is something that needs to be done and has been a major need for some time now...I am officially begging now.

@Civinator...you keep up with the bold face...sometimes you have to shout to get what you want.

Where did you come up with the screen name, Civinator...again...that is way cool...

CivPartisan

 

[Civinator]

Where did you come up with the screen name, Civinator...again...that is way cool...

This was a thing of seconds as my real nick name Blue Lion is blocked at CFC.
But I think we should concentrate this thread on an improved version of Civ 3, erm.. these "Sid Meier's Civilization Chronicles".

 

[deanjack]

Does anyone know if this will come out in the U.K? Or will i have to wait till June to go to the U.S.A.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

It is a shame that 2k Jason didn't respond to the question about fixes for Civ III. We all have things we'd like the editor to be able to do in addition to what it does now, but here's my list:

• Have more than 31 civs available at the start-up screen - this doesn't necessarily mean that there needs to be more than 31 civs in an actual game, purely that the "pool" of civs the game selects the players for a game from is increased.
• Increase the number of culture groups - around 10-12 would be a good number.
• Maybe add a couple of new traits (for example "mobile" allowing civs to ignore terrain movement costs).
• Add some more options for building/wonder effects in the editor - for example, a couple more "replaces building with this flag checked" options.
• Have different buildings for affecting different types of units - i.e. having a stable that would create veteran horseback units, an archery range for veteran archers and so forth.
• Take a hint from Civ IV (and Civ II for that matter!!) and build in the facility to have more than one choice of leader for each civ.

Ah well, we know it's not going to happen, but what a shame!! I don't know about anyone else, but I'd definately buy a new expansion or version of Civ III if it had updates covering at least some of the above!!

 

[vingrjoe]

Hey everyone, I just saw 2k Jason's picture on my milk carton while I was eating breakfast this morning. I guess he's missing.

 

[2K_jason]

Notice how 2k Jason seemed to disappear from radar when hit with the Civ3 fix questions.

No, it was more an issue of Railroads hitting crunch time. No conspiracy.

Also I never got an e-mail about thread replies until today, so I didn't even know this was still active.

To answer your question: this is the exact same release as Civ 3 complete, so no, there are no fixes.

BTW, at the very last second we swapped out the individual expansion packs in favor of using Civ II Multiplayer Gold, so the fan patch won't be necessary to play mods!

 

[vingrjoe]

Jason, thank you for answering the question about fixes in spite of the fact that alot of us won't like the answer.

But sadly, it confirms Chronicles is just another money grab.

Hey Sid and Firaxis(or whomever is behind Chronicles), how much money is enough for you guys ?

 

[2K_jason]

Jason, thank you for answering the question about fixes in spite of the fact that alot of us won't like the answer.

But sadly, it confirms Chronicles is just another money grab.

Hey Sid and Firaxis(or whomever is behind Chronicles), how much money is enough for you guys ?

Since Firaxis is a subsidiary of 2K/Take-Two, yes, I guess you could say that the motivation behind this product is to make money. But then, what else would it be? Of course we want to make money off the project.

With that in mind, I will say that I'm very proud of this product. Whatever you think the motivations behind its genesis are, I think we've put together a hell of a collection -- the best of its kind, if I do say so myself.

If you're not interested in it, that's fine...but understand that we think this is more than just a shovelware re-release of old material we found sitting on a dusty shelf. All I can say is that if you're a fan (and if you visit this site you must be), it's worth taking a look at.

 

[vingrjoe]

I'm sure you weren't the one responsible for the decision to not include any more patches or even a better editor for Civ3. So don't take my rant too hard, but Firaxis abandonned Civ3, leaving several unresolved bugs.

Everything these days is about the money. But it should also be about passion for your work, and wanting to put out a polished product. So how about justifying it with fixes and more editor options ? No, Firaxs/Take2's answer is to throw in some gimick items (card game, book, DVD, poster) that will do no more than to serve as a dust magnet on someone's shelf, and ultimately to be thrown away or sold at a garage sale.

If I want Civ 1 or 2, I will buy it cheap off ebay.

I will give you this, you were honest in your answers, and you didn't give any misconceptions. You told us flatly there will be no patches nor an improved editor (assuming this from a lack of reference to the editor) for Civ3.

So the bottom line is this; No patches for Civ3, No improved editor, and it's all about making more money.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Yep, it's a shame. I really think that Civ III - which is still played and loved by many, many fans - still has more potential. If you were to re-think and have an expansion pack - concentrating on changes to the editor - why not let us fans do the artwork for you - I'm sure it would sell as well (if not better) than a new expansion pack for Civ IV. Great for us as fans and economically viable for yourselves as a business.

 

[2K_jason]

The chances of a new Firaxis expansion pack for Civ 3 are virtually nill. They have moved on to creating new content for Civ IV. Outside of MMOs, I can't think of any game where an official expansion pack has been created for a product after its sequel has been released.

Rather than ask for that, it might be more constructive to lobby for the release of the Civ 3 source code. I can't say that will ever happen (to my knowledge, Take-Two has never done something like that), but the chances of that are significantly greater than further patches to the game.

vingrjoe, please remove my quote from your signature. I've been posting here because I like the site and the community. Please don't throw that back in my face.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Ah well, whilst I knew that would be the answer, I had to try !! Just out of interest, if you take a look at these forums, you'll see that many more people are in the Civ III C&C forum than the Civ IV one - this is a regular thing - and must be notable as it's a year since Civ IV came out.

Hopefully, we'll get the source code or something in the future!

 

[I_batman]

The chances of a new Firaxis expansion pack for Civ 3 are virtually nill. They have moved on to creating new content for Civ IV. Outside of MMOs, I can't think of any game where an official expansion pack has been created for a product after its sequel has been released.

Rather than ask for that, it might be more constructive to lobby for the release of the Civ 3 source code. I can't say that will ever happen (to my knowledge, Take-Two has never done something like that), but the chances of that are significantly greater than further patches to the game.

vingrjoe, please remove my quote from your signature. I've been posting here because I like the site and the community. Please don't throw that back in my face.

2K_Jason, don't take this the wrong way, but I am really surprised that someone from Take-Two would be allowed to comment on products like you have.
I don't mean to sound cynical, but statements like you have made are exceedingly rare for an employee of Firaxis or Take-Two to make on this website.
If you really do work for Take-Two, I thank you for your honesty and finally putting to bed the possibility of another release of Civ III.
Can you confirm that Take-Two actually owns the source code for Civ III, and it has not been lost in some old server sitting unplugged in a damp corporate basement?

I know there have been attempts about lobbying for code before, but if Take-Two has no future plans with it, I would be very interested in discussing the future of that code with whomever controls it.

 

[2K_jason]

2K_Jason, don't take this the wrong way, but I am really surprised that someone from Take-Two would be allowed to comment on products like you have.

Yes, well I'm hardly doing this in any official capacity. Mostly I just lurk here.

Can you confirm that Take-Two actually owns the source code for Civ III, and it has not been lost in some old server sitting unplugged in a damp corporate basement?

I can't say that with 100% certainty, but I'm pretty sure the code does exist in some form, somewhere.

I know there have been attempts about lobbying for code before, but if Take-Two has no future plans with it, I would be very interested in discussing the future of that code with whomever controls it.

In the immediate future it probably isn't feasible. There are all kinds of issues involved with releasing the code...the game uses licensed SDKs which can't be included, etc, so I don't want to get anyone's hopes up. But like I said, it's more of a possibility than any expansions for Civ 3.

 

[I_batman]

In the immediate future it probably isn't feasible. There are all kinds of issues involved with releasing the code...the game uses licensed SDKs which can't be included, etc, so I don't want to get anyone's hopes up. But like I said, it's more of a possibility than any expansions for Civ 3.

Thanks for the honesty and clarity, 2K_Jason.
If you have been lurking for awhile, I am sure you and your employer have seen the level of dissatisfaction with Civ IV for a unknown, but vocal, percentage of the Civ community.

We have been clutching at that faint, albeit, irrational hope of something being done with Civ III to keep us happy.
Guess that hope is dashed, and we will have to move accept CIV III with its flaws, or somebody wins the lottery and buys the source code and all the necessary licenses that would be needed as well.

 

[Civinator]

Hello 2K_jason, thank you for answering my question.

It´s a pity, that no one at Firaxis/Take Two realizes, how bad Civ 4 is in reality. The gameplay is boring and especially the graphic engine is a big obstacle for modders. As you say you are a lurker here (which is good), you could confirm, that here are a lot of people, who think the same.

Of course you shall make money and must make money - like we all to survive (or better)- but Firaxis has left the Civ 3-community with an unfinished product and this is not good. Blizzard made it´s last patch for Starcraft this year (2006) and if I remember well, this game is from 1998. This is good support for the customers and this is one of the reasons why Blizzard is the number one.

As I have bought all Civ-softwareproducts since Civ 1, I have all software that is offered in that compilation and I don´t need a cardgame. So why should I buy this product? We can both live with the fact, that I don´t buy this product under these circumstances. But it´s worse. It seems that Firaxis/Take Two focus their future releases on little children and forget their older customers. But most of the older customers did pay for their products...

 

[Bjornlo]

2K_jason,

Thank you for taking the time and weathering the storm to be honest with us here. It means something to be honest when you know it will go over like a lead balloon.

That said, I too am disappointed in the complete abandonment of Civ3. I own Civ4. But it is hardly the same game. With out flaming, lets just say that Civ4 is not the ideal version for alot of Civ3 fans. I own both, and spent a fair bit of time playing Civ4 before going back to Civ3.

But, there are 1000's of Civ3 fans still out there. We would love to have the source code to Civ3. Many of us can program. But as you said, take Firaxis/2K/Take-Two has never released source code and naturally money talks (not just to Firaxis but to any business) why not float a limited expansion to Civ3 for purchase via download only? Perhaps just a more robust editor (maybe with source) and/or maybe a few minor updates and or bug fixes. Call it a modders's update or anything you want. Content could be scarce, and I know several hundred or more of us would guarentee purchase of it. Expand the content even slightly... perhaps enable a few more culture groups, a larger pool of civilizations to choose from (not more available in game, only more to pick between) and a few small scenarios and the sales might well climb into the 1000's. The investment in time and money would be slight so even a nominal pay off would still make the effort worth while.

Given the different markets that Civ3 and 4 appeal to, there would be little chance of stealing sales from one to give it to the other. Make it download only and your marketing and distribution costs are close to nil.

 

[Civinator]

I fully support Bjornlo´s statement (so I´m not a programmer).