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Author Topic:   The GameSpot Preview

tOFfGI posted 11-14-98 07:16 PM ET
Is that preview official Firaxis info? Some of the facts seem very suspect to me.
tOFfGI posted 11-14-98 07:24 PM ET
For Example, About the Morganites: "The citizens of Morgan Industries are spoiled, meaning their cities can't grow to greater sizes until they purchase special amenities." What? I would have thought that PKs and Believers would be a lot more spoilt. Since the Conglomerate is based on private enterprise, why should the government build the amenities? Shouldn't private citizens/companies do so by themselves?
Also, They hope that the graphics will be improved. I certainly hope not. The better graphics, the harder to customise. I am especially alarmed by the introduction of Voxels (Caviar 3d, whatever)- I want to make my own units. I hope firaxis listens to my wishes, and gives the alternative of sprite-based units (as local wildlife/whatever).
Octopus posted 11-14-98 07:31 PM ET
No, I can believe that the Morganites are spoiled. The Morganites would be the people most likely to demand luxuries. Almost all of the other factions have some "noble purpose" which will allow them to forego luxuries, but the founding principle of the Morganites is that they seek material satisfaction (e.g. money and luxuries).
As for being based on private enterprise, I got the impression from the preview that Morgan Industries is a corporation-state, and therefore it is the one that is actually providing the luxuries. If I believed the Morganites were more free-market oriented I would prefer them as a faction, but I like the Human Hive better than this silly corporation-state.
Ultra SupremePaco posted 11-14-98 07:50 PM ET
From what I understand, the previewer got all of his information from a rare (and much coveted!!) beta version that he played. So everything that looks opinionated (sp)... well, is and opinion.
~Paco
Old_Guy posted 11-15-98 03:12 AM ET
I was very happy to see the preview, but I do have two major problems with it.
1. The screenshots were terrible. You can't see anything in them!
2. No mention of how multiplayer works. I think the preview spent half a page to mention the existence of multiplayer, but I don't think it even mentioned simulataneous turns. I really want to hear more about multiplayer.
I was very happy to hear the praises for the interface. It sounds like all of the recent hard work on it really paid off.
Jimmy posted 11-15-98 05:33 PM ET
It seems like the preview does not mention terraforming. Firaxis made a big deal about the fact that the game will have weather patterns and terraforming will influence weather and terrain etc... Maybe the beta version did not have terraforming. Will the game not have terraforming?
jonesEv posted 11-15-98 07:22 PM ET
The preview was based upon a beta that Firaxis sent them. What we read was what one guy found significant; it is entirely possible that his play-style leans away from terraforming, and as a result, we didn't hear much about it. The multi-player schema has been discussed elsewhere. I believe I read the following in a PCG or CGW (most of it is me editorializing, but its based on an article):
Turns are timed (time limit optional and variable) and simultaneous.
Simultaneity of turns is handled through what was described as a "classic record-locking system". For those non-db folks out there, this is a method of handling read or write requests on a multi-user database. Basically, if one guy is looking at some data, and another guy comes along and changes it, the data that guy 1 is looking at differs from the data in the db. This is a bad thing because if the first guy decides to change and save his copy of the data afterwards, guy 2's changes are lost. So, what happens is when guy 1 requests data for write, a "lock" is placed on the data that he's modifying. If guy 2 requests that chunk of data for write, the locking system will refuse. What this boils down to is: only one person can move in one area at one time. The one big question here is: How big is that area? Actually I lied, there's another big question: how long does the locking player keep the lock?
The area is probably a "circle" of squares with a radius equal to the maximum movement of the selected unit. The duration of the lock is probably from the time a player selects a unit to the time that unit moves. They probably update the locking radius each square, so that it decreases throughout the move. They might make the locking radius one, and resolve locking on a square by square basis. However this might result in moving half your move and being stopped by an enemy.
What I really hope they can avoid (FIRAXIS are you listening?) is making the beginning of a turn a rush to move units into advantageous (sp?) positions. This probably would only be a concern with a small number of important units (presumably you can only lock one area at a time), but it would be extremely annoying if this induced manic clicking contests.
Firehawk posted 11-15-98 10:36 PM ET
<<What I really hope they can avoid (FIRAXIS are you listening?) is making the beginning of a turn a rush to move units into advantageous (sp?) positions. This probably would only be a concern with a small number of important units (presumably you can only lock one area at a time), but it would be extremely annoying if this induced manic clicking contests.>>
Very strong agreement. I can imagine what you are describing, jonesEv, and it would be a Bad Thing! Firaxis, take note! Although I doubt they would be dumb enough to let that happen. But just in case.
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Author	Topic: The GameSpot Preview
tOFfGI	posted 11-14-98 07:16 PM ET Is that preview official Firaxis info? Some of the facts seem very suspect to me.
tOFfGI	posted 11-14-98 07:24 PM ET For Example, About the Morganites: "The citizens of Morgan Industries are spoiled, meaning their cities can't grow to greater sizes until they purchase special amenities." What? I would have thought that PKs and Believers would be a lot more spoilt. Since the Conglomerate is based on private enterprise, why should the government build the amenities? Shouldn't private citizens/companies do so by themselves? Also, They hope that the graphics will be improved. I certainly hope not. The better graphics, the harder to customise. I am especially alarmed by the introduction of Voxels (Caviar 3d, whatever)- I want to make my own units. I hope firaxis listens to my wishes, and gives the alternative of sprite-based units (as local wildlife/whatever).
Octopus	posted 11-14-98 07:31 PM ET No, I can believe that the Morganites are spoiled. The Morganites would be the people most likely to demand luxuries. Almost all of the other factions have some "noble purpose" which will allow them to forego luxuries, but the founding principle of the Morganites is that they seek material satisfaction (e.g. money and luxuries). As for being based on private enterprise, I got the impression from the preview that Morgan Industries is a corporation-state, and therefore it is the one that is actually providing the luxuries. If I believed the Morganites were more free-market oriented I would prefer them as a faction, but I like the Human Hive better than this silly corporation-state.
Ultra SupremePaco	posted 11-14-98 07:50 PM ET From what I understand, the previewer got all of his information from a rare (and much coveted!!) beta version that he played. So everything that looks opinionated (sp)... well, is and opinion. ~Paco
Old_Guy	posted 11-15-98 03:12 AM ET I was very happy to see the preview, but I do have two major problems with it. 1. The screenshots were terrible. You can't see anything in them! 2. No mention of how multiplayer works. I think the preview spent half a page to mention the existence of multiplayer, but I don't think it even mentioned simulataneous turns. I really want to hear more about multiplayer. I was very happy to hear the praises for the interface. It sounds like all of the recent hard work on it really paid off.
Jimmy	posted 11-15-98 05:33 PM ET It seems like the preview does not mention terraforming. Firaxis made a big deal about the fact that the game will have weather patterns and terraforming will influence weather and terrain etc... Maybe the beta version did not have terraforming. Will the game not have terraforming?
jonesEv	posted 11-15-98 07:22 PM ET The preview was based upon a beta that Firaxis sent them. What we read was what one guy found significant; it is entirely possible that his play-style leans away from terraforming, and as a result, we didn't hear much about it. The multi-player schema has been discussed elsewhere. I believe I read the following in a PCG or CGW (most of it is me editorializing, but its based on an article): Turns are timed (time limit optional and variable) and simultaneous. Simultaneity of turns is handled through what was described as a "classic record-locking system". For those non-db folks out there, this is a method of handling read or write requests on a multi-user database. Basically, if one guy is looking at some data, and another guy comes along and changes it, the data that guy 1 is looking at differs from the data in the db. This is a bad thing because if the first guy decides to change and save his copy of the data afterwards, guy 2's changes are lost. So, what happens is when guy 1 requests data for write, a "lock" is placed on the data that he's modifying. If guy 2 requests that chunk of data for write, the locking system will refuse. What this boils down to is: only one person can move in one area at one time. The one big question here is: How big is that area? Actually I lied, there's another big question: how long does the locking player keep the lock? The area is probably a "circle" of squares with a radius equal to the maximum movement of the selected unit. The duration of the lock is probably from the time a player selects a unit to the time that unit moves. They probably update the locking radius each square, so that it decreases throughout the move. They might make the locking radius one, and resolve locking on a square by square basis. However this might result in moving half your move and being stopped by an enemy. What I really hope they can avoid (FIRAXIS are you listening?) is making the beginning of a turn a rush to move units into advantageous (sp?) positions. This probably would only be a concern with a small number of important units (presumably you can only lock one area at a time), but it would be extremely annoying if this induced manic clicking contests.
Firehawk	posted 11-15-98 10:36 PM ET <<What I really hope they can avoid (FIRAXIS are you listening?) is making the beginning of a turn a rush to move units into advantageous (sp?) positions. This probably would only be a concern with a small number of important units (presumably you can only lock one area at a time), but it would be extremely annoying if this induced manic clicking contests.>> Very strong agreement. I can imagine what you are describing, jonesEv, and it would be a Bad Thing! Firaxis, take note! Although I doubt they would be dumb enough to let that happen. But just in case.