Official Site Update

[drake]

Wow. I'm more impressed w/ every update. Whatever the size, that earth map looks far more acccurate than the Civ II one's. The South American coast actually has snow-capped mountains, so do the Sierra Nevada's. And did you see how many cities everyone's got jammed into their continents?! That's something I've wanted in my Civ games for a long, long time. And at best, that's only a 180*180 map, imagine when someone releases a 256*256 earth map??!!? That's gonna make for like an RPG-length Civ game! I'm game for it...

Since you mention that theres such a large map being used.....

Does anyone know the city limit? Hope its not at 255 as in 2.

huge maps are rendered worthless without a more liberal number of cities allowed.

[fluxcapacitor]

Drafting: awesome!!!!!! That's one of the coolest features I've yet heard about. Dan, can you elaborate more on "wartime economies"? Like say it's 1941 AD and the Americans have a colony out on Hawaii w/ military positions there. Along come the Japn. and attack it w/out declaring war to the Americans--in that situation, assuming the Americans are Democratic, would drafting and/or going to war still cause uphappiness?

[Rege]

Thanks Dan,

Looks like nationalism is going to be a key Tech in the game, leading to many changes in the way U play the game

(like in real life - nationalism was one of the major reasons for the two world wars...)

[Jason Beaudoin]

Don't quote me on this because I'm not 100% sure, but I'm fairly sure the answer is yes. Air Supremacy is essentially the air unit's version of fortification, you're saying "hey, patrol this area and blast anything that comes into it." If another fighter is sent on a mission that takes it into the defensive range of the unit running air supremacy, there's a chance they'll tango.

If you look at the editor screenshot on the dev update, you'll see a "Chance to intercept enemy air missions", there you go.


Dan

Dan... I think I love you.

[drake]

Dan, man you got groupies! Too bad they're all guys huh

[albiedamned]

Since there are no diplomat units anymore, I'm curious how the espionage missions work. Also, I'm a little confused as to whether there are spy units or not. At first I thought both diplomat and spy units were eliminated, but now since there is an espionage mission to expose spies, that means there must be spy units.

So to perform these missions, do you actually have to move a spy unit into an enemy city like you did on Civ2, or are the missions conducted through the diplomacy screen or some other high level screen? If it's the former, then what if any missions can you conduct before you are able to build spy units? If it's the latter, then what purpose does the spy unit serve?

[Gramphos]

Originally posted by Dan Magaha FIRAXIS
Once you have nationalism, you can draft population (effectively converting population into soldiers). Depending on your technology level, you'll get anything from a Spearman to an Infantry unit when drafting.

So that s what the draft thing of a cityscreen is. (We need an aha smilie)

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

Originally posted by SerapisIV
Hey Dan, in the army screenshot, is the unit with a flag the great leader? Is he just an additional icon for the army?

There are 3 knights and the flag bearer who's on foot, does this mean the whole army only moves at an infantry pace, or one tile per turn?

Or simply, who the heck is the flagbearer dude?

The "flag dude" is there to remind you that you're moving around an army. I just ran a few tests and it looks like whatever the last unit to join the army is is what the army will look like (with, of course, a "flag dude" running alongside of them). One cool thing is the flag dude's flag tells you, based on how many stripes it has, how many units are in your army.

Armies always move at the speed of their slowest member. The "flag dude" is sort of a virtual member of the army so he doesn't count towards slowing you down.

Dan

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

Originally posted by korn469
Dan

what about monarchy? how many units (if any) can it draft per turn? 1 or 2?

so let me get this straight...if i am communist and i have a size 7 city, and there is an army of tanks heading towards me, in two turns i could convert 6 of my population into infantry? cool

and basically with forced labor i can convert each population point into 40 shields? is there any limit on that?

thanks (especially if you answer)

Oops, looks like I may have made a boo-boo in those draft numbers, I think I may have been using an old version of the game. Just checked 'em in the editor, against the current game, and here's what I have:

Anarchy: can't draft

Republic: draft 1 citizen
Democracy: draft 1 citizen

Despotism: draft 2 citizens
Monarchy: draft 2 citizens
Communism: draft 2 citizens


So, yeah, it basically provides you a way to hold a city or quickly crank out a fighting force, but at a pretty high cost of population happiness.

Forced labor is just referring to one of the ways you hurry production of improvements or units, the other being paid labor.

You don't actually say, "hey I want to turn 2 citizens into 40 shields"; you say "I want to hurry that cathedral", and your advisor will let you know that it will cost the life of x number of citizens. The only limit is how many citizens you have and how angry you'll risk making them.

Dan

[Akron]

What's up with the Iroquois screenshot on the world map?

They are researching scientific method but they can see the rubber, uranium and aluminum on the map. And they are in the industrial, not modern age. It doesn't make sense. Is it an editor screen? I doubt so, but what else could it be, unless i'm wrong in thinking that scientific method is a prerequiste to such more advanced techs as nuclear power and that there are modern age city graphics...

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

Originally posted by albiedamned
Since there are no diplomat units anymore, I'm curious how the espionage missions work. Also, I'm a little confused as to whether there are spy units or not. At first I thought both diplomat and spy units were eliminated, but now since there is an espionage mission to expose spies, that means there must be spy units.

So to perform these missions, do you actually have to move a spy unit into an enemy city like you did on Civ2, or are the missions conducted through the diplomacy screen or some other high level screen? If it's the former, then what if any missions can you conduct before you are able to build spy units? If it's the latter, then what purpose does the spy unit serve?

There are no actual spy units that you move around on the map, when we talk about exposing an enemy spy, you're saying "I want to invest time and cash in an operation to determine if the other guys are spying on me". It's all very "virtual" in that you aren't moving guys around and micromanaging it, it's taking place at a very high macro level.

Dan

[Jason Beaudoin]

Oringally posted by Dan Magaha of Firaxis
There are no actual spy units that you move around on the map, when we talk about exposing an enemy spy, you're saying "I want to invest time and cash in an operation to determine if the other guys are spying on me". It's all very "virtual" in that you aren't moving guys around and micromanaging it, it's taking place at a very high macro level.

Dan

I am very, very pleased by the deminishing of micromanagement. I think that by making the diplomatic and espionage "virtual" is excellent!

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

Originally posted by Akron
What's up with the Iroquois screenshot on the world map?

They are researching scientific method but they can see the rubber, uranium and aluminum on the map. And they are in the industrial, not modern age. It doesn't make sense. Is it an editor screen? I doubt so, but what else could it be, unless i'm wrong in thinking that scientific method is a prerequiste to such more advanced techs as nuclear power and that there are modern age city graphics...

This is price you pay for me running a debug version of the game and cheating an army onto the map. I had the game remove the fog of war (to demonstrate the world map in the minimap), but this also reveals all resources on the map. Obviously you wouldn't see those things under normal circumstances.

Dan

[Jason Beaudoin]

Akron... you're amazing! You don't miss a thing! Wow!

[korn469]

thanks for the info!

[Gramphos]

Dan, how about if you release the help file for civ3edit?

[albiedamned]

There are no actual spy units that you move around on the map, when we talk about exposing an enemy spy, you're saying "I want to invest time and cash in an operation to determine if the other guys are spying on me". It's all very "virtual" in that you aren't moving guys around and micromanaging it, it's taking place at a very high macro level.

Perfect! That sounds great actually. I'm all in favor of getting rid of the spy, diplomat, and caravan units and abstracting their functions to a high level control screen.

So are all the espionage actions available from the get-go, or do certain options only become available with the discovery of certain techs?

[Rasbelin]

-Civ3.com FAQ-
Firaxis is very interested in Civilization III
having an active mod community, but need to know where our efforts are best spent.

Dan, how should we understand this?
Should we spam Firaxis with ideas and
suggestions of co-operation, or should
we organise some volunteer scenario teams?

Jeff didn't explain that, so I thought you might want
to give us some information in depth?

*donates Dan a BTE tin full with self made cookies*

[Rasbelin]

BTW, I forgot something.

Thank you, Dan the Great of Firaxis!

[Pods]

Dan, in the Ask the Civ Team, ithe section about air units mention bases as friendly cities or aircraft carriers - does this mean that there are no airbases in the game?!?

[ajbera]

Hey Dan - are the espionage functions listed in Ask the Civ Team the only ones, or are they new functions in addition to the previous ones? I'm not complaining - just curious.

BTW, great update. And, I just gushed enough about the game to a co-worker that you may have a new customer. I'm bringing Civ2 in for him next week so he can give that a try.

[ancient]

"Depending on the map size you select, you may play with up to 16 Civs at once. "

Cool. its confirmed..

[MarkG]

Originally posted by Rasbelin
Dan, how should be understand this?
Should we spam Firaxis with ideas and
suggestions of co-operation, or should
we organise some volunteer scenario teams?

Jeff was explaining why lots of ideas they had about the editing tools were not done since they werent sure that that was the stuff mod-makers want. or something like that.

eitherway, if the mod makers had screens of all the tabs of the editor and the help pages of it avaliable, i'm certain that firaxis would have the feedback they are asking for two weeks earlier

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

Originally posted by Rasbelin


Dan, how should be understand this?
Should we spam Firaxis with ideas and
suggestions of co-operation, or should
we organise some volunteer scenario teams?

Jeff didn't explain that, so I thought you might want
to give us some information in depth?

*donates Dan a BTE tin full with self made cookies*

I would advise you to sit tight for now. I imagine Jeff will let everyone know when he needs suggestions and what the parameters are. Sending a bunch of email now will only succeed in filling my inbox


Dan

[drake]

Does anyone know my answer or am I being ignored because I don't kiss dan's butt like everyone else

[sekong]

Originally posted by Dan Magaha FIRAXIS



This is price you pay for me running a debug version of the game and cheating an army onto the map. I had the game remove the fog of war (to demonstrate the world map in the minimap), but this also reveals all resources on the map. Obviously you wouldn't see those things under normal circumstances.

Dan

But I thought the cheat option is gone for civ3. Is this debug version just another program used for developer only?
BTW, thanks for showing us the army unit.. It's cool, I mean the FLAG DUDE.

[Rasbelin]

Dan Magaha FIRAXIS

I would advise you to sit tight for now.

*fastening his computer chairs seatbelt*

I imagine Jeff will let everyone know when he needs suggestions and what the parameters are.

I'll wait with excitement for that.

[sekong]

Wait a minute. It reminds me something. Dan run the game all the way to industry age, without a Great Leader?? Boy is it that hard to get one??

Originally posted by Dan Magaha FIRAXIS



This is price you pay for me running a debug version of the game and cheating an army onto the map. I had the game remove the fog of war (to demonstrate the world map in the minimap), but this also reveals all resources on the map. Obviously you wouldn't see those things under normal circumstances.

Dan

[Rasbelin]

Originally posted by drake
Does anyone know my answer or am I being ignored because I don't kiss dan's butt like everyone else

Apparently you haven't bribed him with enough
biscuits. Try to give him some more of them.
Then he might answer your question.

[Stuie]

Originally posted by drake
Does anyone know my answer or am I being ignored because I don't kiss dan's butt like everyone else

Having lived in New Hampshire, I'm hoping you're being ignored because you live in Massachusetts. Try baking Dan some cookies.

Honestly though, it would be nice to know if there is some limit to the number of cities. I've seen the question raised before and have yet to see an answer. Of course, Dan never answered my question as to the size of the world map in the screenshot of the week. Someone guessed 100x100 - can this be verified by a Firaxian?