SJSerio
Centurion
The news that has been coming out lately about civ has been both disappointing and overwhelming. As some of you may remember, I posted my worries about the direction that Civ V was heading a couple weeks ago. With the information that has come out since then, and after having time to reflect a bit, I can say that while I am still not welcoming Civ V with open arms (given what little we still know at this point), I have settled and I am now hopeful with the potential.
I am still not certain about the whole one-unit-per-tile thing. One of my greatest concerns has been the defense of cities, but that has since been answered by the representatives stating that cities now have hit points. That calms that issue, though does not resolve my total skepticism with the OUPT gameplay. I am still concerned with the micromanagement issue that is bound to arise. The answer seems to be to limit the number of units that the player has (through various penalties and such). While that may be fine in helping maintain engine stability (though it may not if the units are all spread out), I feel that it is taking away from the idea of Civ and also causes other issues. For example, if you are limited by the number of units that you can have available, then how do you fight a multi-front war? Let's face it, no matter what your strategy is, you eventually end up in that situation. If they limit that, then, to me, that would be taking away a core part of Civilization. I definitely need some answers on this!
I am also still disappointed in the fact that they took away religions and espionage instead of fixing (or improving) them. My only hope now remains in the modding capability of the game. The news of the external map editor is promising, and rumors of a game and scenario editor are promising for those of us who don't have the advanced experience of coding and scripting (or patience for it). And I also hope that advanced modders will not have any problems with the advanced tools in adding the stripped features back in.
Whatever the case, I have heard enough talk and I am tired of looking at screenshots. It is at the point that Firaxis/Take Two need to just show the game in action. I understand that any demo that they can put together could be changed (especially interface) by the final version. I just want to get a better idea of what is to come. I want to see it in action. I am tired of second hand accounts by editors from some big publication who are rarely in tune with the fan base for the game anyway. About the only exception that I know of might be Steve Butts from IGN, but his account of the gameplay is still not enough. In fact, even if somebody from the fansites or Polycast got a chance to play it and give us their account, it would still not be enough. I need to see it in action for myself. I can wait a few months for a playable demo, but I want to see some gameplay video now... to be blunt about it. I want to see how unit management works. I want to see these animated (and vocal) leaderheads that they keep touting in there press releases and interviews. Just throw a little something together to show us and notate that it is pre alpha (or alpha) build. We will understand that...
There is just too much of a fight going on in the core Civ communitiy for us to be left hanging like this. A couple minutes worth of footage is all we really need. Actual gameplay, mind you, not cut scenes). And, if you want to be really nice, please throw in some screenshots of the modding tools (editors) at least. Video is not needed for those, but it would be nice to see what they look like.
I am still not certain about the whole one-unit-per-tile thing. One of my greatest concerns has been the defense of cities, but that has since been answered by the representatives stating that cities now have hit points. That calms that issue, though does not resolve my total skepticism with the OUPT gameplay. I am still concerned with the micromanagement issue that is bound to arise. The answer seems to be to limit the number of units that the player has (through various penalties and such). While that may be fine in helping maintain engine stability (though it may not if the units are all spread out), I feel that it is taking away from the idea of Civ and also causes other issues. For example, if you are limited by the number of units that you can have available, then how do you fight a multi-front war? Let's face it, no matter what your strategy is, you eventually end up in that situation. If they limit that, then, to me, that would be taking away a core part of Civilization. I definitely need some answers on this!
I am also still disappointed in the fact that they took away religions and espionage instead of fixing (or improving) them. My only hope now remains in the modding capability of the game. The news of the external map editor is promising, and rumors of a game and scenario editor are promising for those of us who don't have the advanced experience of coding and scripting (or patience for it). And I also hope that advanced modders will not have any problems with the advanced tools in adding the stripped features back in.
Whatever the case, I have heard enough talk and I am tired of looking at screenshots. It is at the point that Firaxis/Take Two need to just show the game in action. I understand that any demo that they can put together could be changed (especially interface) by the final version. I just want to get a better idea of what is to come. I want to see it in action. I am tired of second hand accounts by editors from some big publication who are rarely in tune with the fan base for the game anyway. About the only exception that I know of might be Steve Butts from IGN, but his account of the gameplay is still not enough. In fact, even if somebody from the fansites or Polycast got a chance to play it and give us their account, it would still not be enough. I need to see it in action for myself. I can wait a few months for a playable demo, but I want to see some gameplay video now... to be blunt about it. I want to see how unit management works. I want to see these animated (and vocal) leaderheads that they keep touting in there press releases and interviews. Just throw a little something together to show us and notate that it is pre alpha (or alpha) build. We will understand that...
There is just too much of a fight going on in the core Civ communitiy for us to be left hanging like this. A couple minutes worth of footage is all we really need. Actual gameplay, mind you, not cut scenes). And, if you want to be really nice, please throw in some screenshots of the modding tools (editors) at least. Video is not needed for those, but it would be nice to see what they look like.
Does it getter better further into the game or is this what you call enjoyable?? 
