One more age after modern?

[AzNtoccata]

I realize that this topic has been discussed before, but it's been dormant for awhile so I'm gonna bring it up. DOn't yell at me plez, I have sensitive ears . ANyway, I think that there should be one more age after modern. THis "future" age should include nano-tech and genetic engineering and advanced space travel. I never really understood why people would limit there options and cling onto an old feature. I mean if people really hate it that much, Firaxis could always just have an option. I envision the future age having almost as much technology as the other ages. I don't think stuff like fusion power or nanotechnology is unrealistic. The military units should be like the ones in Empire Earth, mechs with huge cannons slung over their back or Japanese anime style robots or little Kbot style mechs from Total Annihilation.

[BeBro]

Hm, of course only if they include the techs you mentioned. Personally, I think they shouldn´t include techs that are pure scifi. Things like Genetic Engineering are nearly possible today, so in my eyes they fit into the modern age.

[SerapisIV]

I don't want to see mechs and stuff like that in the game. CTP used them and the game didn't feel right with all the future stuff. If you want SciFi, go play SMAC or MOO. I like the historical foundation of Civ, it's more tangible then nanotechnology which for all its promise is pretty far away from having a significant impact on our lives, I know that for fact because no matter what Michael Chricton (spelling is off) novels talk about, I've talked to more then a few of the major researchers in the field and the only direct impact that they see for nanotechnology in the next 15 or so years is in optical switching, but thats heavily dependent on how much of our communications infrastructure (copper wires) is replaced with fiber optic networks.

[Yog-Sothoth]

Don't like it. As Serapis says, it don't feel right. I like the historical feeling of civ, never really got into SMAC. I find it hard to relate to all this weird scifi stuff.



I'd like to see a conservative main game, but with great tools for customization. This way everyone can add to a basic foundation whatever they like to have in the game. And if you're unable/unwilling to make you own customizations or scenarios I'm sure there are plenty of others who will.

[Lord_Davinator]

well I think Firaxis should have an option to pick whether you want to play the future age or only up to our age.

I think the future age is something worth adding thought it will end up eating up even more of our precious time

ummm.... that is if its good enough... I hope it will be cause it will be a heck of a lot of fun

[Dauphin]

Assuming there is a limit to the number of turns the game can last, I would rather have a more in depth game upto the modern era, than a more sparse game upto a future era. Instead of introducing 20 or so future techs just have 5 or so added to each historical era.

[tniem]

I have no problem with Civ III extending into the future, but I would prefer to have the game end around the modern age. I think it will be easier to get into and for the creators to make the game better.

[Cyclotron]

No way... end it at the modern age, and leave the future to scenarios.

EDIT: I found an older quote of mine on this topic... for reading by pro-future posters... IMHO, a definitive answer to "why not future techs?" for me and several others.

May I remind the pro-future tech people that even the near future (next 50/100 years) is extremely uncertain. I have seen magazines from 1950 that predict such things as flying cars, people living on other planets, time machines, and tons of other things we have not even come close to doing in 2001. Any guess into the near future, whether it be about moon colonization or neurotechnology or molecular fusion, is likely to be just as far off and just as whimsical as those predictions made earlier in the 20th century. In addition, since we have no concept of how such "future techs" will function, how could we begin to model them? Cryogenics might create more income... or then again, the process could turn out to be prohibitvely expensive and therefore have no measurable effect on the economy. Fusion tanks might exist, and have big "fusion cannons" and such stuff, but it is equally likely that a fusion reactor once invented will not fit in a tank.

Another reason future techs do not work is because most future units are modular. Putting a fusion reactor in a Sherman tank (if even possible) would not in any way upgrade the armor or weapon. So something as ambiguous as a "Fusion Tank" is completely absurd, and is impossible to visualize or understand. Riflemen (conscription) need both new weapons (gunpowder) and new organization (democracy or other tech) to be true riflemen. Nukes need Nuclear Fission and rocketry to be true nukes. So... what does a "cyber ninja" need to be a true cyber ninja? What techs create all the tiny different devices in a wormhole sensor, not to meantion all the technology needed to build the actual station? Saying that just knowing "wormholes" lets you build a huge orbital wormhole detection station is like saying that knowing how to design a tank lets you build tanks without knowing what steel is.

So what does compose a future unit, or a future improvement? Beats me, and most likely everybody on earth is as baffled as I am on this issue. So why have it? The jury's still out on that one, too.

[Dr.Oogkloot]

I disagree. There should be more than one age after modern.

[Zanzin]

Although we can't say that because it didn't work in CTP it won't work in Civ3....I think the game is best left ending at 2020.

I agree with former posters who've said leave the future for scenarios.

[Rhuarc]

I think the game should go a little farther into the future than today. Perhaps include things like nanotechnology, fusion power, and mech units. I don't think we should go as far into the future as CTP2 did. At least not unless Firaxis and Sid can implement it a whole lot better than Activision did.

[SerapisIV]

Wasn't there an official poll for a future age? I did a search for it but couldn't find anything, but that might just be due to the forum upgrade. I'm pretty sure the majority of Apolytoners were against future tech for a more traditional civ timespan, but I can't prove it

[Unspeakable Horror]

I agree with AzNtoccata there should be a future (Total Annihilation Era ) but it should be optional or something else (like a MOD perhaps?).

[Dr.Oogkloot]

Optional is always good.
I'd like to see a really ambitious game that covers a very long time span including a lot of space travel and colonization, though.

[Kevin Ar18]

I made a suggestion for a plug in era. That is you can make a new era like a future or alien era and plug it into the regular game if you want.

See this URL:
http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=19589

[Kc7mxo]

my favorite part of the game is the acient era up to the medieval era. I start to lose interest once riflemen are invented. Especially if somone invenvts industrialization, ewww. i hate those red buildings.

i don't play civ to go to the future, i play it to relieve (in a rather unserious fashion) the past. I think it should continue to end in 2020.

[Pilfur]

Add my voice to the folks wanting the future to be an optional secenario addition. Maybe even omitted altogether and created by players. I'd much rather have FIRAXIS focus on the acient age. I'd like the years in the ancient age to go slower, as they do in the more modern ages and to have more technologies. I'd like to have a chance to build a large army of roman soldiers and have ancient time battles before they all go into the history books

[Alex 14]

Originally posted by Big Crunch
Assuming there is a limit to the number of turns the game can last, I would rather have a more in depth game upto the modern era, than a more sparse game upto a future era. Instead of introducing 20 or so future techs just have 5 or so added to each historical era.

I agree, i think Firaxis should attempt to recreate things like the medieval age, for example, when someone discovers fuedalism the game could open up to new science's to build from this, it should also affect city growth ect.

Even though i think the game should go up to about 2035 Ad (technology wise), it should stop at 2000 Ad and let advanced players go on. I think this is how the turn based system should work:

4000 Bc - 1000 Ad: 10 years per turn
1000 Ad - 1500 Ad: 5 years per turn
1500 Ad - 1750 Ad: 2 years per turn
1750 Ad - 2000 Ad: 1 year per turn

[Kc7mxo]

i heartily agree here. More ancient techs! Equal turns for all eras! Stand up for the rights of the ancient world!

[imgod2u]

Well, the thing about the old Civ games, as well as many strategy games, is that when you play it long enough, it becomes boring and predictable. I don't know about you, but people shouldn't be able to plan out an entire tech tree while in the Stone Age, when people had no idea about nuclear tech or physics.
However, there is a partial solution to this. It entails much more to be done on the developer's part, but it would certainly improve the game a lot. Instead of just having countless "Future technologies" that really don't have any use. Why not have Firaxis continue developing newer and newer advances and release them as patches every once in a while? Not only will that make single-player games more fun, it would also give multiplayer games continuity. Instead of having a stand-off when every player has reached the peak of the tech tree, games can go on almost infinitely and still have new surprises introduced. Newer and newer tech, maybe things such as nano-technology and stuff, can be introduced I suppose, but with Firaxis constantly developing it, you never know. I think it's a great way to keep the game alive, since this is suppose to be the "ultimate" Civilization game and will probably be the last Sid Meiers will make.

[Pilfur]

I think you ask for too much. Such would take a LOT of work and it would detract greatly from where that work is most needed - the ancient age. Perhaps allow players to create their own units and technologies and leave the "future techs" up to mods and scenarios.

[Kevin Ar18]

It would be nice (as perhaps a scenario making ability) to plug in a new era to the regular timeline of the civ 3 gameplay.
The idea is you would use the scenario/game editing abilities in Civ to make the new era, but you could then place that era into your regular game.

In Civ 2, there were four eras, such as the Industrial Era and the Modern Era.

For example, it would be interesting to create an "alien era", or "apocolypse era", or "future era" and just plop that into the game (with a few more turns) after the modern era.

You could then play the game with 5 eras.

Most of the scenario features such as events could be applied to these special "eras" so you can, say, create the unique events for an alien era or apocolypse era.


....
Just imagine the possibilities - lenghtening and adding to the medievel era for those who want to get more out of that era or adding in a future era for those people who want someting more to happen after modern tech.
Or even make some special end game challenge such as a hard to defeat alien era (would require the use of special scenario making abilities).

[java4me]

I wouldn't mine future techs as long as it isn't fusion tanks or some unit that would most likely not be around in the next 50 to 100 years.

I think if they at things that would happen in the next 25 to 50 years, then it would be ok, but not the way CTP messed it up.

Either way FIRAXIS will find a way to make it look good, even if it goes into the future!!!

Sid always has good ideas!!!

[manofthehour]

That would be nice if it was a turn on option. Although that might be to much technology for the 6000 years. One thing about CTP2 was I was was in the modern age by 1100.

[Dr.Oogkloot]

There are millions of Ancient-Era only games...
Civ III could be interesting in that you could play an entire game from the beginning of civilization to, say, 2500...

[java4me]

Originally posted by manofthehour
That would be nice if it was a turn on option. Although that might be to much technology for the 6000 years. One thing about CTP2 was I was was in the modern age by 1100.

I always made it to the modern age in the year 1100 too!!! That was a major flaw in CTP and CTP2 was that there were very little techs, which would mean that you would go through the ages faster!!!

[Ecthy]

I think too much SciFi is bad... they should balance it well... CTP was soemtimes very.... strange... SMAC is fun though