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Author Topic:   What made CtP suck so bad.......

Singularity posted 05-18-99 07:07 AM ET
Lets post the problems here. One thing that we failed to mention with all of the "do this in civ3" topics is what not to do. What mistakes can we learn from in CtP to make civ3 a better game. We also have to tell them what NOT to do. I think that Activision tried to change too much from civ2. Then they saw the sles from SMAC and rushed to put CtP out. Now I realize the cheesy videos could not have been helped, but they could have at least experimented with their changes. I mean, my 2 musketeers can lose to 3 samurai? I'll be playing (gasp!) it for a few days and finding the problems to post here. Please post yours too. We need this topic.
bene4 posted 05-18-99 01:39 PM ET
Well, the entirely mouse based interface is pretty weird. It's neat if you have a touch screen (theory only, don't own one yet!!) but if you have a keyboard in front of you, key shortcuts should should be available and functional. For example, a GO (g) button, that brings up a list of cities, and an option to put in numeric coords. The "auto-goto when built" in SMAC is really cool, but would love for it to be settable to any coord, as well.
<newbie>
The fact that the CtP crashes when it gets to like some of the movies should be fixed.
</newbie>
The tech tree is not extensive enough - neither CtP or SMAC have "only one OR the other" techs. These I would like to see, with either one being req for the following tech (in most basic sit) or allowing more divergeant tech development.
Don't rush.
Don't limit to just one type of terraforming - although the PW system in CtP is neat, it would be well complimented with something like the formers in SMAC to go away and affect terrain in remote locations.
Going back to the top point - Don't forget to take advantage of all the input devices you have. Use both the keyboard/mouse or create a customized input device (distribute with the game, this would reduce piracy, extend immersion and I believe is the future of gaming with USB now available that allows many input devices, none needing drivers).
Don't forget to extensively play test. Send me a copy of each beta. I feel both development teams really failed in the sending me free stuff aspect of things.
Don't have such a small manual. It takes longer, yes, but a tiny, uninformative manual makes the game less worth buying. I remember Maxis, with SimLife, provided a game with absolutely no copy protection, but a great big manual that was easy to read and informative. At the start they said something to the effect of "Please don't pirate our software. We spent a lot of time on this. But if you do - they don't get this great documentation!".
Ya, so I think that's good for now.
BTW - ya, 3 samuri can take out 2 musketeers, especially if you are not set to "At War" (Samuri are special forces and are always ready to fight, no matter if your civ is or not. Your Musketeers will have negative factors applied your civ is not set to max "At War" whatever). Also, the combined attack of 3 samuri (9) is just more than the combined defense of 2 musketeers (8).
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Author	Topic: What made CtP suck so bad.......
Singularity	posted 05-18-99 07:07 AM ET Lets post the problems here. One thing that we failed to mention with all of the "do this in civ3" topics is what not to do. What mistakes can we learn from in CtP to make civ3 a better game. We also have to tell them what NOT to do. I think that Activision tried to change too much from civ2. Then they saw the sles from SMAC and rushed to put CtP out. Now I realize the cheesy videos could not have been helped, but they could have at least experimented with their changes. I mean, my 2 musketeers can lose to 3 samurai? I'll be playing (gasp!) it for a few days and finding the problems to post here. Please post yours too. We need this topic.
bene4	posted 05-18-99 01:39 PM ET Well, the entirely mouse based interface is pretty weird. It's neat if you have a touch screen (theory only, don't own one yet!!) but if you have a keyboard in front of you, key shortcuts should should be available and functional. For example, a GO (g) button, that brings up a list of cities, and an option to put in numeric coords. The "auto-goto when built" in SMAC is really cool, but would love for it to be settable to any coord, as well. <newbie> The fact that the CtP crashes when it gets to like some of the movies should be fixed. </newbie> The tech tree is not extensive enough - neither CtP or SMAC have "only one OR the other" techs. These I would like to see, with either one being req for the following tech (in most basic sit) or allowing more divergeant tech development. Don't rush. Don't limit to just one type of terraforming - although the PW system in CtP is neat, it would be well complimented with something like the formers in SMAC to go away and affect terrain in remote locations. Going back to the top point - Don't forget to take advantage of all the input devices you have. Use both the keyboard/mouse or create a customized input device (distribute with the game, this would reduce piracy, extend immersion and I believe is the future of gaming with USB now available that allows many input devices, none needing drivers). Don't forget to extensively play test. Send me a copy of each beta. I feel both development teams really failed in the sending me free stuff aspect of things. Don't have such a small manual. It takes longer, yes, but a tiny, uninformative manual makes the game less worth buying. I remember Maxis, with SimLife, provided a game with absolutely no copy protection, but a great big manual that was easy to read and informative. At the start they said something to the effect of "Please don't pirate our software. We spent a lot of time on this. But if you do - they don't get this great documentation!". Ya, so I think that's good for now. BTW - ya, 3 samuri can take out 2 musketeers, especially if you are not set to "At War" (Samuri are special forces and are always ready to fight, no matter if your civ is or not. Your Musketeers will have negative factors applied your civ is not set to max "At War" whatever). Also, the combined attack of 3 samuri (9) is just more than the combined defense of 2 musketeers (8).