Strategic View!! Screenshots!

[Ahriman]

I figured out part of why I like these screenshots; they remind me massively of Settlers of Catan.

 

[timtofly]

From Greg:

Not right now unfortunately.


That is, in fact, not a Natural Wonder. Each Natural Wonder has unique art in strategic view.


There is a chance, and it's very high. I'd say it's somewhere between 94.6% and 100%, considering it's in the build I'm playing right now

The rest of the overlays are very cool as well; it makes it very convenient to get an overview of your empire, or a battlefield. I especially like the "Resources" overlay, which colors the tiles based on the type of resource that's in it. Trying to find a spot with a higher-than-average number of food-boosting resources? Just turn on the "Resources" overlay and look for the green spots!

Since "ruins" give only a positive now wouldn't they dissappear rather quickly instead of being left for later?

 

[timtofly]

I'm curious about how this works.

In CIV4, when you zoomed out all the way you got the 2D view with some of the 3d graphics converted into flat textures.

Is this the same way? When you zoom out all the way does it enable strategic view? Also, is the "3d globe" effect gone?

Not really. There are still two seperate views, since we have seen the "toggle" to view "strategic view". Of course they could have "put" that there to see if we would ask about it. I am not sure though that any one really asked.

 

[Calouste]

I think the strategic view looks ugly. At least if this mode is something which can be played on permanently, I think an effort should be made to make it prettier, something like Battle for Wesnoth.

You might have missed it, but there is already a pretty mode for Civ5 that can be played fully.

 

[Maniac]

That one requires more system resources.

 

[Calouste]

That one requires more system resources.

Yeah, so?

 

[Dale]

Yeah, so?

If I'm on a flight with my laptop, I don't want the battery being sucked dry in less than an hour. The less resource view will extend that play time by heaps.

 

[Calouste]

If I'm on a flight with my laptop, I don't want the battery being sucked dry in less than an hour. The less resource view will extend that play time by heaps.

Can't disagree with that.

Maniac however seems to want it all, a pretty, playable display that doesn't use many resources. That just ain't gonna happen.

 

[2K Greg]

Hopefully the nitty-gritty change to come is the "blurring" of the lines. The hex pattern does definitely "show" and is irritating.

That will almost definitely not happen. The entire point of strategic view is to make all of the information as clear as possible, and part of that is making it very clear what each and every hex is.

In regular 3d view, you'll notice that the terrain beautifully blends together, creating a much more "flowing" look.

 

[2K Greg]

I'm curious about how this works.

In CIV4, when you zoomed out all the way you got the 2D view with some of the 3d graphics converted into flat textures.

Is this the same way? When you zoom out all the way does it enable strategic view? Also, is the "3d globe" effect gone?

The button to toggle strategic view is that button to the bottom left of the minimap, or you can press the hot key. It doesn't switch to it automatically.

 

[Maniac]

That just ain't gonna happen.

That's a designer choice then, not something which is simply impossible. I once again point you to Battle for Wesnoth as an example of pretty 2D.

The entire point of strategic view is to make all of the information as clear as possible, and part of that is making it very clear what each and every hex is.

That can be done with a grid.

 

[MeteorPunch]

Looks cool, retro, and functional. Looking forward to the game more now.

 

[AriochIV]

The larger-than-normal spear unit icon above Satsuma in the Late screenshot is almost certainly a garrisoned-unit icon. You can just see the bottom of another one on Nagoya at the top of the screen. The garrison icon is in the same relative position as seen in the regular view in the gameplay video.

In the rest of the strategic views, military unit icons are at the top of a hex, and civilian unit icons at the bottom.

 

[mjs0]

That's a designer choice then, not something which is simply impossible. I once again point you to Battle for Wesnoth as an example of pretty 2D.

I guess 'pretty' is subjective.

I find the BfW look tolerable as a primary interface, but far from pretty.

As the look for a strategic overview, with the volume of information Civ can display, it would simply not work for me. The graphics are too busy and too fuzzy and personally I want crisp sharp graphics as the backdrop so the various overlays of icons, borders and other effects stand out.

I am extremely impressed with the simplicity of the look.

Sorry it doesn't work as well for you.

 

[AriochIV]

Judging by the name that city used to be Aztec.
Perhaps that symbol means it is recently captured and still in revolt?

The icon does appear to have something to do with a captured city. In the gameplay video, in which the French have just captured Tokyo, the same icon can be seen.

 

[PinkHammurabi]

The icon does appear to have something to do with a captured city. In the gameplay video, in which the French have just captured Tokyo, the same icon can be seen.

Fist = Disorder/Revolt, and the other certainly looks like a hand-puppet...

 

[2K Greg]

The answer rhymes with muppet

 

[ngraner42]

That is fantastic. One of my disapointments with Civ 2 was the switch to the 3/4 view.

 

[Jamuka]

This looks so much better than the 2D view in Civ4. Using this view do you think the game will run on a netbook?

 

[bob_page]

It looks great, very clean and simple. I'm probably going to spend a lot of time in this view.

Thanks for the info, Greg.