Civ III: Conquests Patch Notice

JesseSmith · December 9, 2003, 22:40

Civ III Community:

Next week, we will be releasing a BETA patch (v1.10) for
C3C that adds some new features and addresses
the corruption & gpt bugs (as well as other
fixes - see below).

QA efforts demonstrated the stability of the
code base, so we decided to release even though
the patch is not final. This was the only way to
get a patch posted prior to Christmas.

If additional issues present themselves we will
make every effort to release another BETA
update. We greatly appreciate your assistance in
notifying us of problems that you experience
(forum posts are the most convenient format).

The final update will not be released until Q2,
2004.

Thank you for all of the incredible support!!

Jesse Smith

Producer, Firaxis Games

---------------------------------------------
Updates BETA v1.10:
CIV III: CONQUESTS BETA v1.10
* Fixed issues with corruption

* Fixed issues with double gold being awarded

* Shifted minimap and unit info boxes slightly
inward to prevent problems with scrolling and
button-clicking.

* Re-enabled Intel optimizations from PTW.

* Fixed issue that caused scientific leaders to
use only the first name in the list.

* Fixed issue that caused selections on the
Foreign Advisor screen to be cleared.

* Modified combat calculations to make combat
appear less "streaky." Combat results are now
calculated multiple times before determining a
result. This should reduce spearman defeating
Tanks and other extremely frustrating combat
results.

* Optimized main menu code.

* Cleaned up INI preferences code

* Fixed issue with the audio preferences (sound
volume).

* Greatly improved the ability of Seafaring civs
to start near the coast. It should happen most
of the time now.

* Fixed numerous problems with Seafaring civs
starting near the coast in hotseat games.

* Implemented Seafaring civs starting near the
coast in MP games.

* Updated the interface on the world chooser
screen so selected options were more apparent.

* Fixed upgrade all bug (for units that do not
have the upgrade ability but are part of the
upgrade chain).

* Added feminine titles for Despotism,
Feudalism, and Fascism (for English default
rules only!).

* Editor: Added Flavors to the Import dialog.

* Corrected display of silk as luxury in city
view in Rise of Rome

* Corrected Scourge of God splash screen art in
Fall of Rome

* Build road/fort animations now show for
Legionary in Fall of Rome

* Cataphract now uses Ancient Cavalry art in
Middle Ages

* Corrected Mining tech art in Age of Discovery

* Text: Several civilopedia fixes (mostly
spelling, grammar, spaces)

---------------- Features --------------------
* Implemented ability to enter a seed value on
the world setup screen. It is located in the
upper-right corner. Any character can be entered
as the seed. If the seed is 0 (the default), it
will generate the world normally. If every
character is a number, the value is interpreted
as the seed value and used to generate the
world. In all other cases, a hash table formula
is applied to the string to generate a unique
value that is used to generate the world. While
it is technically possible for two different
strings to evaluate to the same seed, it is
unlikely (i.e., SEED is not the same as DEES --
upper- and lower-case letters will yield
different results as well).

* Implemented the "Play Last World" option. This
option appears on the main menu after playing
the first SP random-map game. When chosen, the
player is taken to the world chooser with the
seed filled in and all the previous settings
selected. The player can make any changes or
keep the world exactly the same. Note that if
ANY changes are made on this screen, the map
that is generated will be different. Next the
player is taken to the player setup screen with
all the civs and settings from the previous game
selected. Again, the player can make any changes
or keep the settings the same. If ANY civs are
changed, player starting locations MAY change
(depending on the number of seafaring civs,
actually).

* Implemented support for CAPS LOCK to work as
the SHIFT key to skip unit movement animations
(so you don't have to hold shift for the AI's
turn to skip the animations).

* The MP timer values are now read from
scenarios (the default values remain unchanged).

* Editor: Added MP timer values to the Scenario
Properties. There are 3 values: Base, Per Unit,
and Per City (with defaults of 24, 1, and 3,
respectively). They represent the Base amount of
time per turn + the amount of time Per Unit +
the amount of time Per City (number of
units/cities used each turn are based on the
player with the most units and the player with
the most cities on that turn). The values can
range from 0-100. The higher the number, the
more time per turn. FOR INTENSE FAST MP GAMES
PLAY THE CONQUESTS FAST MP scenario that is
provided with the Patch.

-- Please Thank Mike Breitkreutz for his efforts!

Rhothaerill · December 9, 2003, 22:44

Great news!!!!!

Thanks Jesse.

kring · December 9, 2003, 22:46

Thank you Jesse

Master Zen · December 9, 2003, 22:57

Aw man, this is awsome news!!! And just in time for Christmas

GhengisFarb™ · December 9, 2003, 22:57

Yay!

Kloreep · December 9, 2003, 23:05

Wooohooo!

Quote:

Originally posted by JesseSmith
* Fixed issues with corruption

Has the handling of Ring City Placement corruption ranks been changed, or is this just a fix for the FP?

asleepathewheel · December 9, 2003, 23:07

wow

conmcb25 · December 9, 2003, 23:17

Thanks!

SirOsis · December 9, 2003, 23:20

Q2 for the final? Wow. Quite a lag there.

Great news on the beta patch!

Looking to next week.

vmxa1 · December 9, 2003, 23:33

Yes those will make many smile. Thanks to all.

MrWhereItsAt · December 9, 2003, 23:37

Thanks Jesse and Mike. This will be MUCH appreciated, and allows AU to go ahead. Yay!

Quote:

Originally posted by JesseSmith Civ III Community:

* Fixed issues with corruption

Interesting how they are just 'issues'. I wonder how much will be changed?

/me looks forward to finding out next week.

notyoueither · December 9, 2003, 23:54

Yaaaay!

I was just thinking of posting a thread to see how many people found Emperor and above to be wrecked, largely due to the gpt and corruption bugs.

I am glad I am not going to have to wait long to have something playable... back to Monarch in the meantime.

Catt · December 9, 2003, 23:54

Wow! Great news -- wonderful approach to release a beta patch, and get it out before the holidays, rather than hold on to it to address all of the issues Firaxis might wnat to address in a first patch.

very consumer friendly, and very bold. Much appreciated.

Now, what in the heck does this mean:

Quote:

Originally posted by JesseSmith
* Modified combat calculations to make combat
appear less "streaky." Combat results are now
calculated multiple times before determining a
result. This should reduce spearman defeating
Tanks and other extremely frustrating combat
results.

Quote:

-- Please Thank Mike Breitkreutz for his efforts!

A hearty and sincere

to MB for his efforts!

Catt

notyoueither · December 9, 2003, 23:59

Quote:

Originally posted by JesseSmith
* Modified combat calculations to make combat
appear less "streaky." Combat results are now
calculated multiple times before determining a
result. This should reduce spearman defeating
Tanks and other extremely frustrating combat
results.

To me, that sounds like... HOLY SH!T, they've just changed the whole game. Better not fall behind in warfare tech...

Chieftess · December 9, 2003, 23:59

Quote:

Originally posted by Catt
Wow! Great news -- wonderful approach to release a beta patch, and get it out before the holidays, rather than hold on to it to address all of the issues Firaxis might wnat to address in a first patch.

very consumer friendly, and very bold. Much appreciated.

Now, what in the heck does this mean:

A hearty and sincere

to MB for his efforts!

Catt

It means that you won't get 5GLs/promotions in a row (same for the AI), or you won't have any unit lose 3 battles in a row (no matter what unit you use).

ayronis · December 10, 2003, 00:01

Oh Joy!, Oh Joy!

Thank you gentlemen, you have made me a truly happy person this day.

The Slayer · December 10, 2003, 00:11

Yay!!!

This're great news for us, the civ community.

Theseus · December 10, 2003, 00:13

You guys are AWESOME!!

Sir Ralph's 3 week vacation just got trashed (or vice versa!).

Any specifics on the corruption fixes, or is alexman expected to figure it out by, oh, 10am tomorrow?

Very very cool... is there anything specific you want us all to be looking for during this beta phase?

EDIT: VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!

For anyone reading this thread after 12/11, there is MUCH discussion in the following pages re a change to the combat model... which Firaxis, as of said date, decided not to include in the patch.

MarkG · December 10, 2003, 00:26

Wise choice Firaxis!

Many thanks to Mike

/me gets ready to put a capital lettered, bolded, font size=4 BETA notice next to the download link for those that want only perfect things in their life(as if everything else is)

JesseSmith · December 10, 2003, 00:30

Combat System "Less Streaky"

The Change was having the random number generator (rng) calculate the Results 4 times instead of 1.

Possible Outcomes: AttackerLoses, AttackerWins

If there is a tie, it retries.

This forces the combat system to be more accurate and less "streaky"

On the SEED:

The SEED allows you to type 'CIVILIZATION' and it generates a map. Anytime you use the SEED: CIVILIZATION you will get the same map (only type in the SEED, ignore the other settings).

MarkG · December 10, 2003, 00:34

Quote:

The SEED allows you to type 'CIVILIZATION' and it generates a map. Anytime you use the SEED: CIVILIZATION you will get the same map (only type in the SEED, ignore the other settings).

oh my i'm looking forward for the "look what strange word i typed in and what kind of map i got" thread

better yet, spare me the agony, Jesse, please post a screen of the BUSH world

TechWins · December 10, 2003, 00:35

This is great. First I finally read the Civ4 release announcement, then I find out that the patch is coming in a week. Woohoooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Thanks Firaxis, and those who worked most on this, for your hardwork on getting this patch out ASAP.

JesseSmith · December 10, 2003, 00:35

Quote:

Originally posted by Kloreep

Has the handling of Ring City Placement corruption ranks been changed, or is this just a fix for the FP?

If it's not, please give us the 411. We modified this during the development of Conquests to correct the distribution levels. It does not work the same as it did in vanilla or PTW.

Sarxis · December 10, 2003, 00:42

I'm gonna cry!! Merry Xmas every one!!

Sarxis · December 10, 2003, 00:44

Just out of curiosity, will old save games be compatible? (so I can plan my MP gaming accordingly)

JesseSmith · December 10, 2003, 00:48

Save Games are compatible across versions.

Theseus · December 10, 2003, 00:51

Quote:

Originally posted by JesseSmith
If it's not, please give us the 411. We modified this during the development of Conquests to correct the distribution levels. It does not work the same as it did in vanilla or PTW.

Jesse, not sure I understand: You are saying that both the RCP 'fix' and the FP problem are being addressed?

/me assumes the Sid Prayer Position.

Catt · December 10, 2003, 00:53

Quote:

Originally posted by JesseSmith

If it's not, please give us the 411.

Since it was only directed at MB before, an additional hearty and sincere

to Jesse! Initial indiactions were for a patch no earlier than mid-January. A patch before the holidays, even a BETA * Catt nods at MarkG's observation and agrees about the likely outcome *, is a fantastic response to hardcore-fan desires. Kudos and a toast to you all at Firaxis

Catt

MarkG · December 10, 2003, 00:54

Jesse via mail on ROW(Rest Of the World)

Quote:

The patch is for all languages. The new text in the labels.txt just won't be translated. Since the patch will NOT include ALL of the ROW 1.02 files, ROW owners should patch 1.02 BEFORE installing Beta v1.10.

Theseus · December 10, 2003, 00:54

Uh, and I've GOTTA ask this:

Marine+Berserk Armies?

Huh? Huh?