c#204 TALKING WITH SID AND SOREN

MarkG · May 16, 2002, 04:05

#204 TALKING WITH SID AND SOREN
Small civ3 details shared by the big heads of the development team. By Jonathan Speelman

Gramphos · May 16, 2002, 08:51

It's quite interesting to read

Can't wait for the full interview.

Skanky Burns · May 16, 2002, 10:06

Yes, same. Nice factual interview

Bugs ****ing Bunny · May 16, 2002, 13:41

Apolyton's first celebrity column. When Speelman describes himself as a professional chess player, he's selling himself short. He's hardcore- one of Britain's very best.

MarkG · May 16, 2002, 13:51

actually we had two more "celebrity" columns before:

#139 YOUR CITIES AND YOU
http://apolyton.net/misc/column/139_cities.shtml
by Activision's St. Swithin

#151 HOW AND WHY DO BAD GAMES GET MADE AND PUBLISHED
http://apolyton.net/misc/column/151_bad.shtml
by Ex-Activisioner David "Pyaray" Ray

TCO · May 16, 2002, 14:53

nice interview.

Does Speelman hang out on Poly? What is his username. Where does he post?

When was the interview done?

Bugs ****ing Bunny · May 16, 2002, 15:09

That's seriously stretching the definition of "celebrity", Markos. I think I'm more famous than they are.

player1 · May 16, 2002, 16:38

Hmm that #151 article sure looks interesting.

Some people here should reread it.

nato · May 16, 2002, 16:56

Some nice stuff.

Quote:

Favourite Civs

Sid went for the Romans: he likes the "military and building skills" which go all the way back to CivI

Does this mean Sid thinks Romans are still Industrious?

asleepathewheel · May 16, 2002, 17:02

Quote:

Originally posted by player1
Hmm that #151 article sure looks interesting.

Some people here should reread it.

I just read that article and I would agree. It helps put the gaming industry in perspective, as an industry, something that some people should keep in mind.

I wonder if that 1mil for 6months of patches is the same or close to the civ3 number. Wow, if it is, that certainly shows that Firaxis cares about its consumers (and name) more than a lot of people think.

Ethelred · May 16, 2002, 20:48

Quote:

wonder if that 1mil for 6months of patches is the same or close to the civ3 number.

I doubt it. They whole Firaxis team is only just over 20 people. The people that have worked on the bugs were also working on the expansion pack at the same time.

Hurricane · May 17, 2002, 03:37

I think the most important piece of information was the confirmation that there is no "killer spearman" or "invincible last defender" code in the game.

notyoueither · May 17, 2002, 05:11

I haven't seen 'the incredible stand' since 1.07. With 1.07 I saw it more than once. It wasn't always the last defender of a city.

TCO · May 17, 2002, 12:20

I also liked the 151 column. Too bad we can't comment on it any more.

MarkG · May 17, 2002, 12:59

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...=&threadid=735

TCO · May 17, 2002, 13:09

Oh...for some reason, when I went to this thread directly from the column, ot cam up in the old format and I couldn't reply. Thanks, Mark.

MarkG · May 17, 2002, 13:34

the link is to the html page of the old ubb forums

Capt Dizle · May 19, 2002, 02:08

Doesn't sound like any tough questions were asked.

nato · May 19, 2002, 07:17

Actually, I was half serious about my comment.

Does anyone think "Sid went for the Romans: he likes the "military and building skills" " implies that Sid thinks Romans are still Industrious? Or am I reading too much into it?

Not that it is a huge deal, just a funny little detail that caught my eye.

Martin Gühmann · May 19, 2002, 07:46

Quote:

Originally posted by nato
Actually, I was half serious about my comment.

Does anyone think "Sid went for the Romans: he likes the "military and building skills" " implies that Sid thinks Romans are still Industrious? Or am I reading too much into it?

Not that it is a huge deal, just a funny little detail that caught my eye.

I find this detail interesting, too. It explains why the Romans were the first civ in on the Civ2's list. The Romans had the longest list of city names, and everytime I didn't care I started with the Romans.

-Martin

Panag · May 19, 2002, 12:36

Quote:

Originally posted by jimmytrick
Doesn't sound like any tough questions were asked.

hi ,

could it be that that is because of future (PTW) innovations into the game , .............

have a nice day

DilithiumDad · May 21, 2002, 10:21

I was most interested in the answer to the Spearman-beats-tank question, or in other words the highly random combat results. They said they wanted to de-emphasize the importance of strategic resources for making certain units. Presumably, that also applies to having certain techs. So in other words, it's not a bug but a feature.

What does this mean for strategy? It means that to some extent, "Any Old Unit Will Do". This is my new motto. It means you can attack with inferior and outdated units and occasionally get lucky. That strategy is sheer foolishness in SMAC because you will lose every single time. Not so in Civ3. The AI will throw 12 warriors against your pikeman and eventually win and go on to take two more cities defended by single pikemen. This means you need multiple defenders and you need to take your opponents outdated units seriously. I always disband or upgrade outdated units. but maybe it's better to use them for suicide attacks.

I am currently testing this strategy. Having quit a number games after seeing 3 warriors overwhelm a fortified Hoplite in a city or something similar, I am coming around to changing my overall strategy.

Panag · May 21, 2002, 10:33

Quote:

Originally posted by DilithiumDad
I was most interested in the answer to the Spearman-beats-tank question, or in other words the highly random combat results. They said they wanted to de-emphasize the importance of strategic resources for making certain units. Presumably, that also applies to having certain techs. So in other words, it's not a bug but a feature.

What does this mean for strategy? It means that to some extent, "Any Old Unit Will Do". This is my new motto. It means you can attack with inferior and outdated units and occasionally get lucky. That strategy is sheer foolishness in SMAC because you will lose every single time. Not so in Civ3. The AI will throw 12 warriors against your pikeman and eventually win and go on to take two more cities defended by single pikemen. This means you need multiple defenders and you need to take your opponents outdated units seriously. I always disband or upgrade outdated units. but maybe it's better to use them for suicide attacks.

I am currently testing this strategy. Having quit a number games after seeing 3 warriors overwhelm a fortified Hoplite in a city or something similar, I am coming around to changing my overall strategy.

hi ,

spearman beats tank is gone with 1.21 , .....
so it seems to work for you ,..............

have a nice day

ShredZ · May 24, 2002, 18:18

Quote:

The AI will throw 12 warriors against your pikeman and eventually win and go on to take two more cities defended by single pikemen.

Yes but on the plus side, there is a chance that they will all die leaving you with a horde of Elite troops, I personally dont mind taking that chance, as it is usually most likely that Ill be getting Elite units & perhaps a GL? ...

Panag · May 25, 2002, 15:19

Quote:

Originally posted by ShredZ

Yes but on the plus side, there is a chance that they will all die leaving you with a horde of Elite troops, I personally dont mind taking that chance, as it is usually most likely that Ill be getting Elite units & perhaps a GL? ...

hi ,

at least someone who thinks positive , .....

have a nice day