Civ3's biggest failure is it's lack of scenario "events.txt"

x Krelian x · March 30, 2003, 17:14

I say so. Who's with me?

Alex · March 31, 2003, 08:13

Been there, done that.

But you surely have a point.

Reinhard-Baer · March 31, 2003, 08:35

Yep sure. Some special events would beef the game up. Random-wars or historical events would be nice. I sign your petition.

TheStinger · March 31, 2003, 09:22

next expansion pack i hope

badams52 · March 31, 2003, 12:49

as if.

Jaybe · March 31, 2003, 14:47

Not only is it not going to happen, but such scripting is a legacy from previous civ games. It's like complaining there is no 'firepower' in Civ3 because it was in Civ2, like comparing apples and oranges. Civ3 is obviously not really for recreating historical scenarios.

kentonio · March 31, 2003, 16:26

Nope that argument doesnt wash, if Civ 3 wasnt for historical scenarios then giving us a scenario editor was a pretty weak move. Personally I think we WILL see these tools released at some point, I just hope it isnt too long a wait.

BigFree · March 31, 2003, 17:02

Firaxis went 'away' for the past weekend. Perhaps they were brainstorming for just such an expansion?!

Cyclotron · March 31, 2003, 18:53

That's probably true.

badams52 · March 31, 2003, 19:11

My guess is that the civ III game engine wouldn't support events.txt without tweaking, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

winwithwallace · March 31, 2003, 21:31

THIS is very true. I was just thinking to myself if there was a way to add events for a scenario... sucks that there isnt. humph

The_Aussie_Lurker · March 31, 2003, 23:09

Like Kentonio, I'm afraid that I can't support your arguments, Jaybe. I've read a lot of the Firaxis chats that have been published, both here and at CF's, to know that an event scripting language has LONG been on the agenda of the games designers, as they are ALWAYS saying that it on their "wish-list". If they had no intention of including it at all, then I'm certain their response to such requests would have been: "No Comment"

.

Yours,
The_Aussie_Lurker

Tattila the Hun · April 1, 2003, 01:51

Any programmers around?

Start tweaking!

Reinhard-Baer · April 1, 2003, 06:11

Quote:

Originally posted by BigFree
Firaxis went 'away' for the past weekend. Perhaps they were brainstorming for just such an expansion?!

Hey they did a brainstorming weekend *good* Does this mean we can expect a new patch in a few days

Firaxis

Alex · April 1, 2003, 09:22

IIRC, Firaxis said that they would be working on a new patch for PTW...

H Tower · April 1, 2003, 14:18

has firaxis done sim golf yet? they're either working on that begining some other stupid project

ColdWizard · April 1, 2003, 14:43

simgolf's been out for over a year

hexagonian · April 3, 2003, 23:31

Well, here's a quote that may clarify things...

"I don't believe in giving scripting languages because the only additional power they give users is the power to create bugs." - Mike Breitkreutz, Firaxis

...pulled from Immortal Wombat' s sig. Don't know where he got it from, but I trust that is is accurate.

Maybe Firaxis will have a change of heart - it remains to be seen.

See my sig below for what can be done in a civ-style game with a scripting language. And yes, WOTR has scripted events, not merely new units/techs.

Demerzel · April 4, 2003, 10:57

pay for another XP when it should have been in the original game?

pedrojedi · April 4, 2003, 11:07

That's a sad true precedent.

Jon Shafer · April 4, 2003, 13:23

To be honest, I'm actually quite amazed that the same company made Civ 2 as made Civ 3. Civ 2 was so incredibly rich with scenarios, mods and tweaks, it was quite amazing. Even if some of the scenarios could have used a bit more balancing (

), there was still quite a bit there. Civ 3 just seems incredibly lacking in that regard, and without a major overhaul of the creation capabilities with Civ 3, it simply won't be the same. Diplomacy will probably be added eventually (I hope), but I really don't see anything beyond that.

x Krelian x · April 4, 2003, 16:04

The only reason I didn't buy PTW is because it didn't have a proper scenario editor. Instead, I reinstalled Civ2.

WarpStorm · April 4, 2003, 17:55

But Mike also said that there are other ways to achieve scripting than to make a scripting language.

If events are to be added into Civ it would almost definitely be in an expansion rather than a free patch. Something like that would cost a large amount of money to build.

Kuciwalker · April 4, 2003, 20:03

There are an ENORMOUS number of things you can do with even a bad scripting language (like civ2's) that you cannot do without one. Even if there are workarounds, it doesn't work nearly as well. And even if civ3 WASN'T made for historical scenarios, these are very good for fictional ones as well (anyone play Kobayashi's Star Trek scenarios, especially the DS9 one, for civ2?). In fact, almost every fictional scenario, especially SF, had events.

Heck, I'd even pay for a second expansion pack just for events. I don't care about MP. I WANT MY EVENTS WAAAA!

Theseus · April 12, 2003, 20:45

Firaxis would be *extremely* foolish not to invest the money required to deliver this.

They clearly are not done with Civ3 (otherwise why the newly announced patch), and it's been more or less proven, including by Civ2, that creating an 'engine' and opening it to modders is a critical success factor in the life of a given game / series.

Perhaps in the gold edition XP.

Spiffor · April 12, 2003, 22:31

The lack of events is a big shortcoming of Civ3, and I wouldn't consider the game complete without them.

But there are other ways than a scripting language or an events.txt to allow the scenario makers to create events. For example, the rules editor is nothing more than a rules.txt with a convenient and easy to use interface. Does anybody complain the rule-modding isn't in the form of a rules.txt ?

By the same token, I sure hope there will be events in the next expansion (well, there will be events if there is a future expansion), but I would really prefer a good interface than an ugly .txt, if the interface gives as much power to the user.

x Krelian x · April 12, 2003, 23:01

I'd rather have a .txt now than a good interface later.

And besides, .txt gives you more freedom. In Civ2 there's things you can do in the .txt that you can't in the in game editor.