Will 3D mean smaller world size

[Licentia]

I've also seen games really get a new life after going to 3D which made you never want to go back to the old version.

So let's just wait and see. I have some confidence in Sid Meier.

Damn straight. Sid's Civilization games are always full of bugs, but they are never short on being addictive/enjoyable. 3D won't change that.

 

[croxis]

Civ 2 practically had a patch a week. It went form version 1.0 to 2.48 (iirc) from releace to the time i bought it

 

[CurtSibling]

CIV2 still rules supreme in the hearts of veteran civvers.

But if CIV4 has 3D units, it could impact the mod community, in terms of difficulty of adding units, etc.

That is assuming the developers still give a damn about the mod community.
CIV3 showed that they did not care about making a lasting scenario mod scene.

I am holding out for CIV4, though!
As long as they give plenty of spare 3D units, ease of scenario-building,
decent event support and add-on mod packs - I will be in CIV valhalla!

If not, I will stick with CIV2 forever!

 

[Civrules]

Something similar I posted some time ago.
Here.

 

[MSTK]

I honestly do not see why a TBS should be 3D. What gain do you get by being able to move around and see a city from different angles?

 

[warpstorm]

3D does not imply being able to see cities from different angles. It is how the graphics are fundamentally rendered. The question is, should the GPU in most modern systems be used to offload work from the CPU freeing it up for more important things than the graphics?

The other thing you gain is much less time spent for Firaxis' modellers (and later on moddders) to animate the units.

 

[ejday]

Okay, they're rendering the world in 3D. Could be neat, visually, but I wonder if the game engine is thinking in 3D or if it's just the interface. If it's the interface... then you have simple eyecandy. If the engine thinks in 3D, then you're playing in a volumetric space - which could be incredibly cool.

Somebody mentioned the levels in CTP with space and ocean environments. That could be done in a volumetric map... and then some. It would be cooler than ice cubes if the world had a moon... that we could reach and colonize. The option to zoom all the way out to see planet curvature? How about the option to zoom into your lunar base? How about more than one moon? How about (for machines with a gig of ram) having the central planet a gas giant and you evolve on a moon? And your competition evolves on another moon?

Of course, in Civ5 you can zoom out to see the whole solar system... then zoom in to see your colony progress on Alpha Centauri.

Thoughts?

 

[Dida]

The pirate graphics do look very nice. But it look too much like RTS and doesn't have that TBS feel. I would like future civ to stay with 'flat map' (2d maps).

 

[croxis]

LIke it has been said, the map will still be 2d. How the sprites are rendered however will use real time rendering (known as 3d) instead of prerendered (ala civ 3). It has nothing to do with volumetric space or moving cameras, although such things can be dome more easy using a 3d rendering system.

 

[jfuesting]

Being 3d doesn't automatically mean it's going to be like a FPS. It picks up that rep becaus 3d is largely being driven by that type of game. The arguement about the looks would have been applicable a few years ago. For instance, Baldur's Gate's background artistry was breathtaking, while Neverwinter Night's 3d backgrounds were horrible, and totally destroyed the atmosphere of the game, IMO.

Having said that, I bought Half-Life 2, even though I become bored with FPS after about 20 minutes. HL2's background are nothing short of stunning. Combined with the excellent sound, I was totally immersed. So, if you combine the current quality of the technology, with some good attention to quality skins for the objects, the graphics for a 3d civ would be VASTLY superior to the repetitive conventional 2d tiles. The system requirements will be lower than the typical FPS, since the objects will be rendered to a 2d look, and there won't be 3 dozen objects moving constantly, in addition to yourself moving through the environment. The consternation about 3d is just stubborn hysteria.

I hope MM and the game engine will be improved enough you can play on even bigger maps than allowed in civ3. I loved playing on El Mency's 362X362 map. Of course, 30+ minute turn waits become somewhat annoying!

 

[Gunner]

Has anyone else looked at Rome Total War's graphics? I think something that looked like that for Civ4 would be great.

 

[warpstorm]

Good point, Gunner. That is a very relavent example of a TBS that 3D graphics did not ruin. Their 3D map is nice. Another example is the map of Battle for Middle Earth. That map is flat out gorgeous.