CGO Reviews CtP2 - 4/5 Stars!

[John-SJ]

Computer Games Online gave a very positive review of CtP2. Check it out!

John-SJ

[JasonL]

Just in case you read the review earlier, there was a typo in the overall rating at the end of the review which has been fixed. I did, indeed, rate it 4 of 5 overall.

Jason, a correction: ctp1's stacks had a max of 9 units, not 12

[JasonL]

quote: Originally posted by MarkG on 12-06-2000 10:57 AM Jason, a correction: ctp1's stacks had a max of 9 units, not 12

Picky, picky, picky.

[Carrion]

I think CGO is the best reviewers. I've never gone wrong with one of their reviews helping me to decide which game to buy.

[Kautilya]

Cool! This is the same as cdmag.com right? I have been waiting for their review for ages and I am glad they liked it. The review was pretty spot on both the strenghths and weaknesses.

One quibble though : a lot of the reviews including this one seem to say that the concept of mayors was pioneered by SMAC and now brought into CTP2. Actually IIRC it was there in Civ 2 as well except that you had only two choices for what kind of mayor you could have.

I like the content of CGO, but the interface is seriously the most cluttered and unweildy I have ever seen on a webpage. The actualy review takes up less than a fifth of the screen!

[JasonL]

quote: Originally posted by Snapcase on Snapcase on 12-06-2000 03:09 PM I like the content of CGO, but the interface is seriously the most cluttered and unweildy I have ever seen on a webpage. The actualy review takes up less than a fifth of the screen!

As a freelance reviewer and non-employee of CGO, I can feel free to agree with that. I know they've gotten plenty of negative feedback on the site design over the last couple of years, but have shown no inclination to change it. My feeling is that everything is designed to point the reader to Chips 'n Bits and that takes precedence over everything else.

yeap, civ2 had advisors...

btw, Jason, i think you missed to mention that mayors also handle your tile improvements, unlike smac...

[JasonL]

quote: Originally posted by MarkG on 12-06-2000 03:33 PM yeap, civ2 had advisors... btw, Jason, i think you missed to mention that mayors also handle your tile improvements, unlike smac...

Actually, I did say, the "mayors allow you to automate the building queues and tile improvements in each city." I didn't specifically compare that function to SMAC, but, hey, because CGO reviews also appear in Computer Games magazine they're subject to a word limit and I went a bit over as it was.

And, fwiw, you can automate each former in SMAC, which pretty much has the same effect as leaving it to a mayor.

quote: Originally posted by JasonL on 12-06-2000 04:06 PM And, fwiw, you can automate each former in SMAC, which pretty much has the same effect as leaving it to a mayor.

not really, because
1) the smac settlers behaved idiotically after a while
2) the mayor will make decisions about tile improving acccording to it's setting: a mayor set to "gold" will be build improvements for trade, the "production" one will be build mines, etc....

[JasonL]

quote: Originally posted by MarkG on 12-06-2000 04:14 PM 2) the mayor will make decisions about tile improving acccording to it's setting: a mayor set to "gold" will be build improvements for trade, the "production" one will be build mines, etc....

This is true. The whole automation function in CTP2 is more sophisticated than in SMAC. You can set the mayors to one of 8 goals in CTP2, while in SMAC you're limited to bascially one of the 4X goals. And the mayors do, indeed, do a good job of following those goals in their tile improvement choices. You have to watch them when the goal is offense or defense though, because they all seem to want to build the same units.
[This message has been edited by JasonL (edited December 06, 2000).]

i believe that's a feature, not a bug...
[This message has been edited by MarkG (edited December 06, 2000).]