Thanks, CS.
And here it is with the tags visible.
[GSI]Spiff* so please be patient
*[GSI]Spiff* with that out of the way, let's welcome the team!
*TavisJ* hello everyone! it is nice to see so many people here!!
*[GSI]Spiff* Guys, would you like to introduce yoruselves and let everyone know what you do?
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* Hey peeps, now you know me a little more
*TavisJ* I'm Jesse Smith, I was Producer on Conquests for Firaxis
*PDawson* My name is Pat Dawson, I did much of the multiplayer support for conquests, as well as other various programming duties.
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* I was under contract with BA for both QA and scenario design,
*FriedrichPsitalon* Jesse Fletcher, Production Assistant, Game Design - mostly QA related issues.
*TavisJ* BA = Breakaway Games, our partner on creating Civ3: Conquests
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* I lead the design of all Intro missions, and was responsible for design of a number of maps in the conquests **
*[GSI]Spiff* very cool -- welcome to Arcade guys
*[GSI]Spiff* you ready for some questions?
*PDawson* fire awy
*TavisJ* Merepatra was also a part of the team - shes here somewhere
*TavisJ* ready
*[Admin]WolfBlade* ok here we go
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *UAO_Lord_Phan_GS-gs* Why is there a limit of 512 cities? and is it possible to patch it so that it can be modifiable?
*TavisJ* i think=)
*Merepatra* Thanks, I was QA on Conquests
*PDawson* The 512 city limit is a pathfinding limitation, increasing that number would increase the game slowdown exponentially. Unfortunately I don't think we have any plans to alter this
*TavisJ* we'll look in to it d
*Merepatra* I do remember there were discussions about changing it while making Conquests but the decision was made that it would make the game performance worse
*FriedrichPsitalon* Realistically, you don't tend to run into the 512 limit unless you're playing near the maximum settings anyhow - and many computers grind slowly at that setting.
*TavisJ* significantly worse - its one of the disadvantages for creating games on such a broad platform
*TavisJ* its important that requests like this be posted on the incredible fan sites that support Civ
*TavisJ* we use these sites to gather a lot of information that help us make decisions on focuses for future iterations
*PDawson* definately, your feedback has a huge impact on what new things we put into patches
*[GSI]WolfBlade* next?
*TavisJ* yes
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *Gn-XcalibeR-gs* how long did it take to make this game?
*PDawson* 10 months was it Jesse?
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* I was involved since March
*TavisJ* development started in January - about 10.5 months
*Merepatra* We started seriously working on it in January
*TavisJ* (done)
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* LOL okay maybe it was earlier
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *Peps_GS-gs* When playing with victory points you have to meet the other players in order to find out their points. Is this by design or could you make it a setting in multiplayer games?
*TavisJ* it was by designed with the belief that in a typical game you would meet all of the other civs
*TavisJ* though this doesn't always occur - you should post info with your ideas on the fan sites
*PDawson* I haven't worked much with the VP code, but for multiplayer at least, it should work the same way that it does in single player
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* in MP games that are seen in here, the standard of 100 tuns can limit the chances of seeing everyone. But scores can be easily sorted on the last turn if no contact was made.
*TavisJ* (done)
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *[OCB]-Shuyin-gs* what made you guys wanna make this?
*FriedrichPsitalon* In most games, you meet everyone before the need to know their points becomes critical anyhow.
*PDawson* For me, civ3 was always sort of a 'sandbox' type game. I would simply build an Empire and try to win. While that is very fun, I love that Conquests gives me sort of a 'campaign' to play.
*PDawson* I am a big fan of 'goal' oriented scenarios.
*TavisJ* yeah, it was a new direction to go in - mini-Civ games
*TavisJ* when you are talking about something as expansive as Civilization there's plenty that can be added
*TavisJ* we hoped to deliver a new and rewarding civ experience
*TavisJ* (done)
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *Kirby70-gs* how many more civ games do u think there will be?
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* I know that there are still many many many ways of modding and changing thinks for all new experiences. The editor is a great tool and I cant wait to see all the new creations that come about
*TavisJ* yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what people create with the editor too - whats out there is already very impressive
*PDawson* As many fun games as people want
*TavisJ* not sure Kirby, if the community wants Civ games then we are going to deliver Civ games
*TavisJ* (done)
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *UAO_Lord_Phan_GS-gs* Any possibility that we can get Fanatacism back in the next game? As it was dropped after Civ2 but played a large development in our world.
*PDawson* I'm having so much fun with Conquests I havent even thought about the next game
*FriedrichPsitalon* Anything is possible, I would imagine.
*TavisJ* post it on the fan sites =)
*TavisJ* (done)
*Merepatra* I would guess that when there is a future game all aspects would be looked at again, both new ideas and reintroducing old ones
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *Warpstorm-gs* Are there plans for another Civ3 expansion or will we have to wait for Civ4?
*TavisJ* we are not planning on developing another expansion for Civ III at this time
*TavisJ* (done)
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *{CIA}FC-gs* is there any special research done into each civ to make them realistic?
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* each of the civs that were used in the Conquests had extensive reserch done.
*Merepatra* There was a lot of research done on all the new civs for Conquests, a lot of the BA are history buffs too
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* Most of the members of BA are also history buffs and painstakingly tried to recreate as much realism as possible for this platform
*FriedrichPsitalon* The debates over the realism of some civilizations got rather frantic at times - definitely a concern.
*TavisJ* its usually over the UU though
*TavisJ* thats always a hard one to pick
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* yep
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS*
*TavisJ* (done)
*TavisJ* sorry if I'm cutting you off, just trying to keep things moving =)
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *alexCurse-gs* in new releases will you make more distinction and uniqueness between other nations?
*TavisJ* we typically stay focused on larger civs in history, the ones that everyone is familiar with. we hope that through the community and the tools that the civs are expanded upon. but as always, with future versions anything is possible
*TavisJ* (done)
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *PullingThe10th-gs* What was most importiant (to you) feature that was left out because of time, balance, etc
*PDawson* thats a tough question
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* I really dont see any important features left out of the game for such reasons. Of course we all have favorite ideas, but thats all they are
*PDawson* yeah, I think everything I fought for made it in as well
*Merepatra* I'm not sure that I can think of anything I felt that was really important that was left out, though we would have loved lots and lots more time to simply keep playing around and adding stuff forever
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS*
*TavisJ* Allowing more than 32 civilizations to be in a scenario was a big one for me - expansions rely heavily on the core code that typically has limits built into it
*FriedrichPsitalon* What Merepatra said - pet ideas were in the 100s even to the last day.
*FriedrichPsitalon* Personally, I wanted to see locked alliances forged in-game, not just at scenario creation, but that was a small thing in the end.
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* **
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *THATinkjar-gs* Seeing how the Conquests have been so well received, does Firaxis plan on releasing any new Conquest scenarios at all?
*Merepatra* I think we will be leaving it to the modding community to come up with their own scenarios, we don't plan any more official ones
*PDawson* You guys make some great scenarios - some of the most brilliant stuff I have seen
*Merepatra* I think there are a lot of creative fans out there who will use the new editor to great effect **
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* I know I will be doing some personal entries
*TavisJ* there are no plans to release New conquests, though we hope to improve the editting tools some more to continue to provide more opportunity for the community to create
*FriedrichPsitalon* Agreed, I've seen a few really nice scenarios - one has all the UUs available for everyone, depending on what resources and luxuries you have.
*Merepatra* Yes, there is a MP mission that Darklord has made privately that I can't wait to see released
TavisJ* please do BobT! the Intro scenarios are great!
*FriedrichPsitalon* Yes- BobT has a brilliant one he needs to release. (Hint.)
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* LOL it will be soon i hope
*TavisJ* wait to you play the FastCiv3ConquestsMP map using the new MP turn timer settings - heh, an entire game in about 4 hours!
*TavisJ* **
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *Peps_GS-gs* Are you happy with the balance between the civilizations (for example unit cost/strength) or do you plan to tweak it some more in an upcoming patch?
*PDawson* Soren does most of the balancing - and he is always tweaking small things here and there based on community feedback and his own play experience.
*TavisJ* the patch this week does not adjust balance (combat change to 4 rolls was removed), its focus was on fixing the corruption and gold bugs
*TavisJ* balance changes can be made in the future but we look to the community to let us know what they want to see
*TavisJ* post it and we'll see what we can do
*TavisJ* **
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *{IDI}Tsunami23* What is reverse Victory Points? When do you get to play it?
*Merepatra* Do you mean Reverse Capture the Flag? There is no Reverse Victory Points
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* Reverse capture I assume is the question
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* One good way of seeing how reverse capture the flag works is to test drive it in Three Sisters scenario
*TavisJ* Reverse Capture the Flag is highlighted in the Middle Ages and Three Sister scenarios
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* That scenario is designed with that specific VP set up
*TavisJ* its where you take an item to a VP location
*TavisJ* **
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *Warpstorm-gs* Are there any plans to fix land and sea bombarbment so that they work properly like air bombing does?
*TavisJ* properly is hard to define depending on which side of the fence you are standing on, but we are always open to suggestions
*TavisJ* **
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *alexCurse-gs* I was really annoyed about how many times there were riots in my cities because more people came in will you fix that or a faster solution than the quart house?
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* check PM wolfe
*[Admin]WolfBlade* thanks
*FriedrichPsitalon* The courthouse has no effect on rioting - that's a function of happiness, which is what temples, cathedrals, etc are for. Courthouses just lower corruption.
*Merepatra* stopping rioting means keeping your people happy, thats part of learning how to play the game well
*Merepatra* **
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *lTADlGeneraljohnson-gs* What was the hardest thing to make on this game?
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* pheww that is a toughy
*FriedrichPsitalon* That's an easy one - it was hard to make time for sleeping.
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* hehe
*TavisJ* heh, well said - always more to do
*PDawson* No one ever died from lack of sleep
*Merepatra* I think the hardest thing was getting the balance right, particularly making it so MP and SP were both kept happy
*Merepatra* I think Tavis came close Pat
*TavisJ* i like to live on the edge
*PDawson* Tavis didnt sleep for 6 months
*TavisJ* the hardest part of the game to make was "the package" which to me is making sure everything fits, is working, and is ready to be delivered
*TavisJ* its a huge game
*TavisJ* testing the whole thing in 24 hours wasn't easy =)
*PDawson* For me, the hardest thing was working with some of the prior code limitations dating back to the original civ3 - our vision expanded so much since then and we wanted to do much more
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* I think we did that a few times
*FriedrichPsitalon* I sometimes got assignments from Tavis that needed to be done "yesterday" that were pretty hard.....
*TavisJ* =)
*TavisJ* **
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *{IDI}Tsunami23* does the scenario editor differ from the PTW version?
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* yes big time
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* lots of new toys
*Merepatra* Yes, there were quite a lot of changes to the editor
*FriedrichPsitalon* Very much so.
*PDawson* sure does, advanced diplomacy options are the biggest difference for me (locked alliances and such)
*Merepatra* flavors and new flags and locked alliances etc, etc, etc
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* Locked Alliances, disasters, flavors, and so on
*TavisJ* the editor is a huge focus since it allows the community to expand the game way beyond what we originally planned on
*TavisJ* **
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *PullingThe10th-gs* Any chance for an special action editor? (Like a unit that swaps the attack and defense of the unit it attacks)
*TavisJ* yes - not trying to sound like a broken record here, but post the ideas on the fan sites - we make decisions on what to enhance through community feedback that is received through them (thank you fan sites and supporters!!!!)
*TavisJ* **
*PDawson* neat idea - everything you want in an editor has to have functionality coded into the game tho, so keep the ideas coming, and we'll keep on coding
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *[CDC]Lordellmet_GS-gs* will the preffered / shunned governments feature be modified in the future?
*TavisJ* it could be
*Merepatra* I think that questions might get Tavis's broken record answer again
*TavisJ* =)
*TavisJ* **
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* hehe
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *Claudelu_GS-gs* can we be given an example of how MP and SP may become in conflict when talking about balance?
*FriedrichPsitalon* Oh boy...one debate comes to mind...
*PDawson* jags?
*TavisJ* BTW everyone, we plan on sponsoring a MP tournament at some point early next year - we hope to see everyone in it.
*FriedrichPsitalon* That's the one.
*PDawson* have to go afk like 60 seconds, Ill let friedrich field this one tho
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* Yes there are some units that have been debated while playing MP versus SP
*TavisJ* the MPTournament option is there to allow us to separate the too
*TavisJ* we will do so next year
*TavisJ* **
*FriedrichPsitalon* The problem is that a large portion of the MP community plays a different style of game than the SP community - and as such, there are units/techs that are significantly more valuable to them.
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *[IDI]Mix_GS-gs* do you guys often play mp game within your own developer comunity?
*TavisJ* yes, though we really need to allow some of the community stomp on us more often =)
*TavisJ* **
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* in order to test mp functionality well before getting out on the market, we have to play numerous games
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* more like countless games
*TavisJ* plan on taking part in the fan site tournaments in the new year
*TavisJ* I plan
*Merepatra* I've personally got a problem with currently having only a dial up connection, so I only play with a few friends who can put up with it... but I love to play with Darklord etc when I get a chance
*FriedrichPsitalon* Thumping Tavis is fun, I promise.
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* I do
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* I play ladder daily
*TavisJ* heh
*Merepatra* More fun than thumping me Fried?
*FriedrichPsitalon* I'm in danger of a girlfriend thumping if I answer that.
*TavisJ* any other questions before the chat closes?
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *[KC]theGreyFox-gs* Are you going to add a flag to make a unit a "Type" in the editor. ANd then have another unit type get bonuses against that type?
*[Admin]WolfBlade* 1 more after this one
*[Admin]WolfBlade*
*PDawson* back - and I want to start playing more with you guys too - but I do pretty well against the Firaxis crew
TavisJ* post it on the forums =)
*TavisJ* **
*[Admin]WolfBlade* *[IDI]Mix_GS-gs* WHY is this game so addictive.... anyone ever tried to make lawsuit against the fact that game is too addictive ?
*TavisJ* BTW, thank you everyone for playing Conquests - I hope you are having as much fun with it as we had making it!
*TavisJ* hehe, a couple of times - sued for wages lost not working while playing Civ
*PDawson* I have heard someone tried to sue Sid once because he played to much Civ - dont know if it was an Urban Legend or not tho
*FriedrichPsitalon* Self control is a GOOD thing.
*[GSI]Spiff* I think that's the last question ...
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* LOL, that is a good one Mix, I have been working on this game since Feb, playing it and testing it for months on end. When it is finally released, I find myself in GS playing it daily.
*TavisJ* its the "one more turn" that will keep you going =)
*[GSI]Spiff* Well guys -- thank you VERY much for dropping by to chat with everyone today
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* Thanks all for playing and enjoying this game. Look foward ot playing you all in here.
*TavisJ* Thanks for having us - we really appreciate the support
*[GSI]Spiff* any time!
*PDawson* Was awesome chatting with you all - I hope you enjoy conquests as much as we do
*[GSI]Spiff* you're always welcome in Arcade
*{LRP}DarkLord_GS* Thanks GS group
*[GSI]Spiff* thanks also to everyone who showed up to ask questions!
*FriedrichPsitalon* Quite a few good questions/ideas today.
*[GSI]Spiff* we should have a log of the chat up sometime tomorrow.
