Civ3: Who's resolve is first to falter?

CapTVK · October 28, 2001, 06:05

With Civ3 about to be released anytime now I would like to know how strong your resolve is. Will you play Civ3 despite it having no MP? And how did you get it (discount, bargain bin, special offer, "gift?", copy from a friend etc..)?

My bet is that Rah's going to be the first to crack!

...

..

.

Well, actually it will be Ming. But he doesn't want to get his hands dirty. So he'll 'borrow' it from Rah

Ming · October 28, 2001, 11:09

I'll buy it the first day it comes out... and I will play it... when nobody is around to play CivII MP... two key reasons.

First, I want to REALLY understand the game by the time MP does come out...
And most importantly, I want to help find all the bugs and cheats and make sure they are notified so that MP doesn't have them

Keep on Civin'

Chris 62 · October 28, 2001, 12:04

Ha, I didn't buy Civ-2 untill it was gold and 20 bucks, so no way will I shell out for civ-3 UNTILL it's got MP and most of the bugs gone.

drake · October 28, 2001, 14:04

my story is the same as chris's.

those bastards arent going to get my hard earned money so easily.

rah · October 28, 2001, 14:39

As much as I would like to take the high road......

CapTVK will win the bet

And ming will probably talk me into picking his up for him.

RAH
My reasons are the same as Ming's.

CapTVK · October 28, 2001, 15:13

That was quick. Maybe I should have wagered some money!

As for my own resolve...I'll wait for a month or two and look for player feedback on the forums. I know exactly what's going to happen: At the start the response will be glowing. If it's good that response will tone down with some minor discussions abouts bugs, balance, units hiccups etc.. Just like Civ2.
But if it's bad minor criticisms will start to appear that will grow into fullblown flamewars between casual players and Civ3 fanatics. That end result will be a "it's official..........."

And by that time I'll be ready to make a decision.

Apart from missing MP the signs for Civ3 seem good. It seems to have combined alot of earlier Sid creations like Colonization and RRT.

My only true fear is that Civ3 turns out to be boring as CtP. Activision's attempts were more of a choir than a game in the end.

Ming · October 28, 2001, 15:15

Quote:

Originally posted by rah
And ming will probably talk me into picking his up for him.

Hmmm... now that you have mentioned it....

Rasputin · October 28, 2001, 22:53

because i am down under i hav elittle choice, civ not here for a long time so i wait, but i think i will wait till civ 3 MP is avaialble anyway... then buy it from US of A

Alexander's Horse · October 29, 2001, 01:59

I'm going to find it hard to resist. Though I think playing SP is not a good preparation for MP.

Smash · October 29, 2001, 02:18

Thats very true but it doesn't hurt to have a thorough understanding of how to play.What does what,which is best,do this or do that etc.

By the looks of things,MP will not be a speed fest and trying to learn basics in a mp game will probably be unpleasant to all involved.

ColdWizard · October 29, 2001, 16:15

Quote:

Originally posted by CapTVK
My bet is that Rah's going to be the first to crack!

Well, actually it will be Ming. But he doesn't want to get his hands dirty. So he'll 'borrow' it from Rah

your predictive abilities leave me unimpressed, both ming and rah said they'd get the game right away in multiple threads in different forums

i've resolved to wait til MP comes out, but i'm not sure how long i can hold out. depends a lot on how good people say it is and who those people are.

Alexander's Horse · October 29, 2001, 19:11

I posted on the civ iii forum warning people not to rush in and buy it until some realistic reviews were out and bug testing is done by players. Fat chance they'll listen

But I'll probably wait and see - it takes at least 2 weeks for realistic impressions to start to emerge.

CapTVK · October 29, 2001, 19:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
But I'll probably wait and see - it takes at least 2 weeks for realistic impressions to start to emerge.

My guess a month at least, my only true fear is that Civ3 will become boring in the long run. In the sense that the "one more turn charm" isn't there.

Let's wait and see...

Ming · October 29, 2001, 21:37

I never trust the "reviewers" anyway... I'm just going to spend the money. I have a shelf of bad games... one more won't matter

But I'm betting that it will be a great game for SP.

Bird · October 29, 2001, 22:37

I bought it, only to find out I need a new computer to play it. Bummer.

rah · October 30, 2001, 15:47

Now that really blows.

I'm going to leave early today and pick a few LE copies. (yes, ming talked me into it.)

I went out at lunch to Best Buy and Circuit City with no Luck. After checking the civ III boards, most people have had luck at EB. Didn't even know there were any around here, but there's one in the Yorktown Mall, 20 miles south of me. Gave them a call and they said they had quite a few including the LE version.

We'll see, I asked if I should have him hold them, but he said that shouldn't be a problem with the LE version.

Rich

Ming · October 30, 2001, 16:34

Thanks Bro

Hydey · October 30, 2001, 17:09

Quote:

Originally posted by Bird
I bought it, only to find out I need a new computer to play it. Bummer.

What was wrong with your old one?

I thought it was set for low end users as well.

drake · October 30, 2001, 17:14

Quote:

I thought it was set for low end users as well.

Nope.......the old crappy computers that civ2 run great on arent gonna cut it......oh, and hope you have a decent monitor too.....cant play civ3 on a monitor that doesnt have a 1024 768 capability.

rah · October 30, 2001, 18:34

Just got it home and installed. No problems except it wanted a later version of direct x (which was included) This better not screw up CIVII MP or I'm gonna be real angry.

Let me know when you want to pick up your copy Ming

Let's hop in the saddle and see how deity raging hordes is.

Rich

Smash · October 30, 2001, 22:48

well?
whadya think?

Bird · October 31, 2001, 01:22

Ming · October 31, 2001, 08:46

Thanks for picking up my copy rah...

But I wasn't the first to falter. I had a choice last night...
Play war4ever in civ II mp, or open up civ III and load it up on my machine and play it instead...

War and I had a nice duel... I never even opened up Civ III

rah · October 31, 2001, 09:47

Good news, it's the same game that we love.
Bad news. it feels like CTP.

The interface was confusing at first. The arrow keys didn't work for movement. (you have to use the number Key pad)

Rich's review of the opening.************

I tried about 30 starts to get the feel of the opening of the game.

No two settlers at the start in deity. I tried a couple different levels of difficulty and I always started with a settler and a worker.

In their zeal to prevent ICS they have sucked a lot of fun out of the opening. I must have opened a hundred huts and never once got a city or nomad.

No more building a city in range of a village to get a safe hut opening. I built a couple of cities right next to huts and poof, everytime the hut dissappeared. (and no the worker wasn't working that square when i opened the city screen.)

I tried saving a couple of times and reopening huts. AND was pleased to find the same result each time. I believe I did it enough to show that it wasn't coincidence.

I also found quite a few empty villages at Diety before placeing my first city. I never got a barb tipping prior to cap. (may not have done it enough to prove it, but pretty convincing.) Hut tipping prior to cap strat isn't really usefull at all anymore since there is no such thing as non-units anymore. If you get a few mercs you will have trouble supporting them once you build a city.

The new possible reward for tipping (gives you their map) while nice, isn't much of a reward. It just shows you the terrain for about 5 squares around the hut. It may help if that hut is one square from your start to help you pick a site, but other than that, It really isn't that valuable.

The other problem limiting a fast start is the city radius. At first untill your culture goes up you can only work one square away from your city. (granted the special patterns is no longer a swastica) but that whale two squares away can't be worked right away. Make for a harder city location decision. Do you plop next to it to work it right off or move over one to take advantage of others later. (I never saw any iron)

Another fast start limitation is the removal of the river movement bonus. Takes longer to get out on the map. And I never got a unit from a hut (percentage for getting a unit seemed lower also) that I didn't have the tech to build. (not sure if this is a fact or not)
So no free 2x movement early. (unless it's one of your starting techs.) I played the romans for alpha and warrior code, since warrior code is on the path to monarchy.

Your worker(once you've given up on using him to scout the area) will spend his life building roads. You can only irrigate near FRESH water. Rivers now run between squares and can provide defensive bonus only if the attacker is on the other side. (finally that makes sense)

The interface took some getting used to. I still haven't figured out how to rush buy a unit.

The diplomacy is much much better, and the AI was much more reasonable. Haven't really played far enough in to see if the AI attacks any better. We'll see.
I like the tech tree, you can click monarchy at the start and it will auto pick your techs till you get there.

My, too much to cover in one post.
More later.

Rich

Bird · October 31, 2001, 12:22

Any sense of whether the beaker demands for discovery advances are similar? Sounds like you always have the ability to pursue a tech as long as you have the prerequisites and haven't moved to a new era. Is that true?

Still

rah · October 31, 2001, 12:47

Quote:

Originally posted by Bird
Any sense of whether the beaker demands for discovery advances are similar? Sounds like you always have the ability to pursue a tech as long as you have the prerequisites and haven't moved to a new era. Is that true?

Still

1. seems slower, but then I'm so used to 2x recently.

and i'll have to check the impact of the free techs that each civ gets. Didn't really concentrate on that yesterday. Still figuring out the interface.

2. Yes it appears that if you have the prereqs, no restrictions in the same era.

Rich
A lot of turns were "hit enter" certainly gave it the CTP feel.

ColdWizard · October 31, 2001, 13:50

so much for my resolve, i got it today before going to work

***playing on chieftain***
so far i seem to be having trouble researching tech, each one seems to take 20-30 turns. i dunno if its supposed to be like that or if its just because i don't know what i'm doing

i like the negotiation interface with the ai civs, there's even a little advisor in the corner that says how likely they are to accept your offer. so far i've traded some maps and gotten the zulus to give me 2 gold/turn in exchange for contact with the english.

no combat yet, but that will change soon as the english had the nerve to build a city on my island (i'd just cleared jungle to build my own cities there

). i'm going to attack with 2 swordsman against an archer (i was thinking about trying a cultural take-over but am too impatient, maybe next time).

the interface is different and takes some adjustment, but seems like it will be fairly easy to use. my first impression was that it had a smac-ish flavor to it. more later, sometime when i'm not supposed to be working

drake · October 31, 2001, 13:54

Quote:

so much for my resolve, i got it today before going to work

Selllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuut

Geez, at this rate, they'll figure theres not going to be a need for mp if the mp market buys the game anyway

ColdWizard · October 31, 2001, 14:20

nah, they'll just charge more for MP

Smash · October 31, 2001, 15:24

Its still a little early but so far it doesn't look like the end all we had hoped for.

any tech problems like so many are reporting?