"I am buying Civ 3"............ - Page 2

October 9, 2001, 18:07

Quote:

All right, who are the three bozos who aren't going to buy it?

Activision employees?
Only person I heard on the forums refuse to buy it was Locutus because it lacked a scripting language. And yes, that is a good reason.

PGM · October 9, 2001, 19:28

I'll probably pre-order it from an english site in a few days, now that both US and UK release will be simultaneous. I'm just waiting for some final info about this.

Blake · October 9, 2001, 19:44

I'll buy it the day it hits the shelves in New Zealand. (or atleast, the day it turns up in a store near me....).

In all honesty if I can play it earlier by piracy, I probably will (any warez on the internet tend to find their way onto the university network I'm on fairly quickly...). Dont bother hunting me down and breaking my legs though, because I'll buy it as soon as it is buyable. And if my legs are broken I wont be able to trundle off to the store to buy it.

yin26 · October 9, 2001, 20:29

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Yin can still be wrong, of course (right, Yin?) but if the game will take off fast and high as a rocket and very good, nothing will stop Yin from buying it after a month.

I think a month will be too soon no matter what. It took a while to really figure out some of the problems in SMAC. So if I wait for 2 patches (the first is usually a quickie), I think I'll have a clearer picture. I guess 2 patches would take about 4 months?

Akron · October 9, 2001, 22:40

Quote:

Originally posted by Jonny
I'll be buying it the day it hits the shelves, right after school.

I'll be doing the exact same thing.

Sarxis · October 9, 2001, 22:49

I will do even better than that- I will be waiting outside the doors of my local retailer, banging away and shouting, "Let me in! Its a matter of life or death!", while waving my pre-order ticket wildly in the air.

Of course, I will probaby be hauled away..

But I do intend on actually getting up before 6pm that day

ColdWizard · October 10, 2001, 00:32

i'll get it when MP is integrated, not as an expansion or other such bullcrap (unless its free).

star mouse · October 10, 2001, 01:58

Quote:

Originally posted by Skanky Burns
Ive preordered the LE from America. The chances of the LE being released in stores in Australia are pretty near 0%

I'm happy to tell you that you're wrong because Limited Edition WILL be available in Australia. EB is advertising it in their latest catalogue as an "EB Exclusive" so you might want to go there. LE costs A$109.95. I advise you to pre-order LE if you want it tho.

Th0mas · October 10, 2001, 05:10

Quote:

Originally posted by yin26

I think a month will be too soon no matter what. It took a while to really figure out some of the problems in SMAC. So if I wait for 2 patches (the first is usually a quickie), I think I'll have a clearer picture. I guess 2 patches would take about 4 months?

.... I think you have backed yourself into a corner Yin.

You have been extremely vocal about your opinions, which have been quite vitriolic towards Fraxis.

If Fraxis do deliver this will be the biggest case of sour grapes in apolyton history.

yin26 · October 10, 2001, 05:24

Well, the odds (and history) are greatly in my favor. I can't even count the times the happy voices have gotten all giddy right before the release of the game just to realize that it was rushed and will require the 'good will' of the developer to polish it after the fact.

Civ3 will be no different, I promise you. Of course, Firaxis wants to sell you MP later on, so they've got to deliver at least a few solid patches, right? So get organized. Get ready. Get some good patch/wish lists up and running ASAP while the window of opportunity is open.

LaRusso · October 10, 2001, 05:27

This alone is worth being put in a sig

Th0mas · October 10, 2001, 05:58

Quote:

Originally posted by yin26
Well, the odds (and history) are greatly in my favor. I can't even count the times the happy voices have gotten all giddy right before the release of the game just to realize that it was rushed and will require the 'good will' of the developer to polish it after the fact.

You have a point and in many cases I would agree with you.

However I don't remember that being the case with CIV 1 or CIV2.

yes there were many patches that came out for CIV 2 - but that required many hours(months) of game play by users to identify serious bugs. I played CIV 2 for over 2 years before I patched it.

..in conclusion - I 'm putting my money on it being a great game straight out of the box, which I will enjoy immensely (...with some patches later)

N.B. you may notice I didn't mentioned SMAC - this is because it doesn't help my argument!

yin26 · October 10, 2001, 06:29

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you may notice I didn't mentioned SMAC - this is because it doesn't help my argument

LOL! Classic!

Well, I'll even admit that SMAC had no show-stoppers, and it took a while for us to find all the annoyances. Civ3 will be something similar: Nothing that breaks the game, per se, but a bunch of little things that if left un-tweaked could really ruin the whole experience over time. Here again Firaxis has been very good at patching:

WHEN IT WAS PUT IN FRONT OF THEM IN A CLEAR WAY (patch list, etc.)

Th0mas · October 10, 2001, 07:18

Quote:

Originally posted by yin26

LOL! Classic!

Well, I'll even admit that SMAC had no show-stoppers, and it took a while for us to find all the annoyances. Civ3 will be something similar: Nothing that breaks the game, per se, but a bunch of little things that if left un-tweaked could really ruin the whole experience over time. Here again Firaxis has been very good at patching:

WHEN IT WAS PUT IN FRONT OF THEM IN A CLEAR WAY (patch list, etc.)

I totally agree, in fact it is this that is the strength of the apolyton forums and what makes them so valuable to the developers and players alike - just so long as it is tempered with a healthy dose of pragmatism

drake · October 10, 2001, 08:23

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I totally agree, in fact it is this that is the strength of the apolyton forums and what makes them so valuable to the developers and players alike

Do you (or anyone for that matter) really think Firaxis took anything we said seriously?

The game was probably near completion when we started our civ3 ideas forum.

They are just trying to create interest for the game. By kissing some apolyton butt they figure they can nail down a few thousand game purchases. Firaxis "staff" appearances? Free marketing.

dainbramaged13 · October 10, 2001, 08:39

dude, WTF

we sent them the LIST shortly after we received news of the development, and EC3 after that, which was a long time ago, it seems like more than a year (correct me if I'm wrong) now, obviously, some of the concepts were already made, but the game was not near completion when we started giving input. If you look at the EC3 (there was an analysis of the list and the ideas that 'made it. a while back. ALmost all of the 'fixes,' a lot of which were new ideas in disguise, made it, and the 'new ideas' that didn't make it were imo not implementable and crazy

yin26 · October 10, 2001, 08:48

LOL! Pathetic. We started the List of Ideas right after the announcement. Brian Reynolds publically asked me to lead the effort. Clear?

drake · October 10, 2001, 09:27

Give me one original apolyton idea that will definetly be implemented and I will retract my statement.

I just think we're all fooling ourselves if we think our input had any pull in the development process.

Deathwalker · October 10, 2001, 09:32

I've orderred it form amazon.co.uk, but i'll have to wait till the end of december 28/12/01

Cookie Monster · October 10, 2001, 09:55

I'll definately be buying the game the day it hits the shelves. Don't care if I get my hands on the regular or limited edition. I may even call in sick that day!

SITS · October 10, 2001, 10:21

I saw this from a Westlake programmer doing the Mac Port

Quote:

bradman
Typically, we set aside a month for first playable, a month for alpha, a month for beta and a month for "misc". We're almost to first playable now, so your guess at a GM date is as good as mine, based on that. It could go quicker if it stays as close, code-wise, to SMAC as it has. It could go longer if we run into a ton of bugs during beta, which would not be unusual for a game of this complexity.

From this thread.

If they have based Civ3 largely on the SMAC code as one of Firaxians said about them using the same programming platform (sorry if I got the name wrong for this but you know what I mean) then a lot of the compatibility bugs and their like will be pretty minimal which hopefully allowed them the time to hunt down and squish the gaming bugs.

But like yin says - the history of the gaming industry suggests otherwise.

drake · October 10, 2001, 14:08

looks like Yin couldnt come up with anything to defend his position. Anyone else want to take it on?