Poll... what about MP

[Ming]

Originally posted by DrFell
No kidding. I'd like to see easy ways of speeding up and slowing down tech rates, a 2x2x/2x1x type mode and a whole host of other things I'm too lazy to go into right now.

Yeah... the list is really endless. If they don't provide tons of options, I think I will be playing CivII MP a LOT longer

[ColdWizard]

i'm going to guess that for most of the options, we'll have to use the editor and make our own multiplayer.bic's (seeing as how you can alter the tech caps in it already) . hopefully i'll be wrong as usual

Originally posted by TheDarkCavalier
Sim GOLF?!?! SIM GOLF?!?!?!?!?!?! That's the gayest game EVER published. EVEN WARCRAFT ONE RULES SIMGOLF! I'm not really a fan of Sims and stuff but that game (piece of &%$# to be precise) is just DISGUSTING!

have you even played it? sounds like you haven't...


hey, i just thought of a new advertising slogan for SimGolf:
yin likes it, so it MUST be good

[BillChin]

With the current set of rules, I estimate a MP game for four players on a standard map taking 80+ hours. Firaxis definitely needs a special MP rule set as suggested. Maybe give every human player, the Diety level bonuses so that production and research and the number of turns in a game goes way down. Personally, I can not imagine spending 80+ hours online just to play one game of Civ III. That 80+ hours is actually play time, and may stretch to 100+ hours because of coordinating schedules , and disconnects and such.

If Firaxis can get a rule set that brings the average MP game time below 10 hours, I'll consider MP, otherwise, I have better things to do with my time.

[child of Thor]

MP is a must, even if most people only play single player - it still seems a step back not to have a MP option and as Ming said, for a game as complex as civ it really needs lots of options....maybe something like in Call To Power, which has a very comprehensive set of MP options(Gold/Settlers,Begining/Ending Age,rules,Units/Buildings/Advances and tech-tree etc).

[Oerdin]

Originally posted by child of Thor
MP is a must, even if most people only play single player - it still seems a step back not to have a MP option and as Ming said, for a game as complex as civ it really needs lots of options....maybe something like in Call To Power, which has a very comprehensive set of MP options(Gold/Settlers,Begining/Ending Age,rules,Units/Buildings/Advances and tech-tree etc).

For sure! Firaxis should get out their note pads and start taking notes on the CTP series' MP layout. Now, there is an example of how MP should be done. Some how though I just don't think Firaxis will rise to the occation... I hope I'm wrong.

[E_T]

I hope to see some MP soon, although I beleave that we won't see it for a few more months. The gist that I got from the most recent chat is that the game was release way early (partly from Brian's departure from the team) and that they are still working on the game (in it's WIDE release payed for BETA form). Adding a few "Beta testers" at this point is more like closing the barn door after the horse is gone type of reaction. They should have waited another year and then done the same as Blizzard is doing for Warcraft III (see my post about this: http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=44152 ). Yes, I want MP, but I'll wait for it to be RIGHT!

E_T

[DrFell]

'i'm going to guess that for most of the options, we'll have to use the editor and make our own multiplayer.bic's (seeing as how you can alter the tech caps in it already) . hopefully i'll be wrong as usual '

I really hope not. Using a special .bic file for MP is really bad, as it makes it much harder for newbies to come on and learn a whole new rules system. This will just decrease the size of the community in general and put more people off MP.

'I estimate a MP game for four players on a standard map taking 80+ hours'

If the game was sped up then I can imagine that dropping considerably. 80+ hours is much longer than it would take anyway as the game would likely be over in the early eras (2 players take out 2 other players, these in turn attack each other). Also take into account they do 90% of micromanagement on their turns, and no caravans to move around, and it's not that bad. Although I personally think a small map would be much more suitable for 4 MP players (remember that standard maps in civ3 are quite a bit bigger than medium in civ2). But I do feel a speedy rules set is neccessary - a civ3 version of 2x2x would be ideal.

[E_T]

One of the things that I've learned from playing is that, when something happens that effects the "lay of the land"; i.e. placing/razing a city, adding a road to someplace, etc.; that the pathfinder algorythm can take a lot of time (esp. on a lower end machine), especially if the calculations have to be done on every players machines. They (Fraxis) would probibly be better off creating a client/server version for MP, that way, the really "stressful" calculations could be done at one site, and the player's machine (and interface) would only be used for what they need to have. An OLD bbs game that I used to play, Globalwar (based on RISK), would have to resend the WHOLE ascii map and junk for everymove, but they had a port program that would speed things up by only sending the part of the map. Another OLD game, TRADEWARS, even had helper (client) programs that were very good at GREATLY reducing the amount of tedium of the game and added some fantastic capabilities to the game.

E_T

[Jac de Molay]

Eagerly awaiting MP, but can wait for mechanics to be worked out.

Dave

[Zealot]

Originally posted by Ming
OPTIONS... OPTIONS... and MORE OPTIONS...

I think they MUST provide us with option menus that will allow us to pick the type of game we want without having to go in and use the editor.

Everybody has a different opinion of what will or will not make a good MP game... so it is obvious...

GIVE US TONS OF GAME OPTIONS!

Specially the fixed starting locations for scenarios...

[dunk]

I would like to see MP too. I don't think I would mind waiting for my turn as long as the onther players didn't move all their units in circles constantly like the AIs do. The improved "goto" command would speed things up a bit too. My turns still only take about as long as my Civ II turns do. Two to four human players and the rest AIs. I never played Civ II MP, were you allowed to save the game and play leter?

[dunk]

Oh... webcam connection for the negotiations would be cool too, although resource intensive. See how good your poker face is. or

[Velociryx]

If there's any chance at all of Civ3 still being talked about a year from now, then it will ONLY be with the release of MP. The game needs it if it is to achieve any sort of longevity AT ALL. That's just a fact of the industry.

-=Vel=-

[TheDarkCavalier]

Originally posted by Velociryx
If there's any chance at all of Civ3 still being talked about a year from now, then it will ONLY be with the release of MP. The game needs it if it is to achieve any sort of longevity AT ALL. That's just a fact of the industry.

-=Vel=-

Or if they release Civ IV seeing that CIV III in not THAT good ....