Civ3 Preview in Aussie mag - new screens and info

[Zanzin]

The preview was in the Oct 2001 issue of PC PowerPlay - Civ3 occupied the cover!!

Okay firstly the wee bit of new info - I'm pretty sure it hasn't been mentioned elsewhere -

--Victory Condition for a Cultural Wn

"Get a city with a size 6 territory radius [size of you culture influenced borders, I'm assuming] and you've done it- this is acctually much MUCH harder than it sounds."

--When an enemy unit occupies a square

"The normal goods/resources that would be harvested from a square with an enemy unit on it are nolonger available (Whilst the unit is on it). This makes every single tile in your empire important, as opposed to the emphasis just on cities in Civ2."

--Briggs on Diplomatic agreements

"Playing a straight military game in this type of environment means alliances, which means some diplomatic finesse is required. Likewise, it's entirely possible to have another nation fight all of your wars for you. You have to be careful not to fall too far behind this kind of ally (they're often taking and keeping cities for instance), but if you've got the gold or goods, you can play a fairly sophisicated "puppet master" style game."

-- What the Lighthose wonder does

"Galleys can still travel the coasts safely and are at risk on seas and Caravels can travel coasts and seas safely and are at risk on oceans. The Lighthouse bumps up the safety net, so the Galleys are only in danger on Oceans, and Caravels can travel unhindered."

--Other tidbits

- There is a limit on the number of great leaders you can have in the game, to keep the game balanced [They're pretty powerful, apparently]

- Air combat: "air units have operational ranges within which they can execute air missions. The primary bonus of this is that air units no longer function like super fast ground units".


Okay, and here's the new screenshots that I don't think have been seen before. They've been scanned in, so ignore the obvious lack of quality (some of them weren't all that big either!!)

http://users.bigpond.net.au/zinzan/world.jpg - This is a picture of the setup screen where you select what type of map you want to play on. It's got all the old options the same as civ2. I'm not sure about it though, because it looks out of place with the setup screen seen on the official website for where you select your opponents and what not.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/zinzan/foreign.jpg - picture of the foreign advisor screen, showing relationships between the civs and what not. We've seen something like it before, but not this particular one.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/zinzan/city_view.jpg -- I wasn't sure about this little one. The bottom pic is the grassland city view without city walls, but with a palace - I don't think it's been seen before. The top one is obviously just demonstrating some of the grpahics, and the buildings also have writing under them - that picture has been enlarged about 10x from its originall size, I still can't make it out.

There were a plethora of other pics as well, but they've all been seen before. (Sadly, there were no modern pics ) The map view screens were also horribly out of date. There was also a fair bit of concept art, but it all looked pretty irrelevant to the game itself, so I didn't bother scanning it.

Anyway, hope this post has been of some interest to people!!

Zanzin.

[tniem]

So OCCS is going to be modified to having one city that gets 6 territory squares...

And it is interesting to see a little bit about air combat. So little has been said about the modern times that you just end up guessing what is going to be going on. But little by little more information is being given to us.

[General Ludd]

Lot's of great information, thanks.

[Zanzin]

no probs

[Alex 14]

The screenshot of choosing the map type looks pretty unreal, is the magazine still avalible?

[Dale]

The screenshot of choosing the map type looks pretty unreal, is the magazine still avalible?

Yep! At lunchtime I went and looked at the newsagent near work. They got it. The newsagent is (if you're in Melbourne that is) on Collins St between William St and King St right next door to Maccas. PC section is the middle aisle opposite the cards. Oh, and it's sitting on the layer tray, not the rack.

I suppose that answers that question.

[Zanzin]

It's the newest issue, so it should be in your local newsagent!

[MidKnight Lament]

Yeah, you should be able to find it just about anywhere. I first saw it on Saturday, but I was too scungy to buy the thing and just read it in the newsagent. Call me what you will.

[lockstep]

Originally posted by Zanzin
"Get a city with a size 6 territory radius [size of you culture influenced borders, I'm assuming] and you've done it- this is acctually much MUCH harder than it sounds."

It would be weird if a cultural victory would be provided by your most advanced city and not by your empire as a whole. However, the new info about a size 6 radius does not really match up with what other previews told about cultural victory (100.000 culture points, which IMO matches a size 5 radius).

If this preview is correct, the cultural victory fits OCC like a glove.

"The normal goods/resources that would be harvested from a square with an enemy unit on it are nolonger available (Whilst the unit is on it). This makes every single tile in your empire important, as opposed to the emphasis just on cities in Civ2."

IIRC, in Civ2 an enemy unit on a square also prevented you from harvesting it. However, the effects of losing access to a strategic or luxury resource in Civ3 will be far more devastating.

"Galleys can still travel the coasts safely and are at risk on seas and Caravels can travel coasts and seas safely and are at risk on oceans. The Lighthouse bumps up the safety net, so the Galleys are only in danger on Oceans, and Caravels can travel unhindered."

As far as one can see by the tiny world maps released so far, two or three conglomerations of continents and big islands separated by oceans will be very common in Civ3. This makes the Lighthouse a very interesting choice for players who like to explore.

Anyone noticing the symbol to the left of Cleopatra (http://users.bigpond.net.au/zinzan/foreign.jpg)? It appeared on numerous map screens before. Perhaps it indicates that the Egyptians are in a 'golden age'?

[Father Beast]

Personally, I am fascinated that the game will be able to make the ditinction between seas and oceans, with making danger for your triremes (now galleys) and sail units.

that distinction will make for some interesting play, I hope

[The diplomat]

Great info, thanks. I am especially intrigued by the idea of playing "puppet master" and trying to pay other civs to fight your wars for you. My mind is already boggled by the possibilities, and it fits my playing style perfectly!

[Adm.Naismith]

Originally posted by lockstep
Anyone noticing the symbol to the left of Cleopatra (http://users.bigpond.net.au/zinzan/foreign.jpg)? It appeared on numerous map screens before. Perhaps it indicates that the Egyptians are in a 'golden age'?

No, it's already been supposed (not sure if confirmed) is an Anarchy or (for city) Rebellion symbol; can be an alpha graphics or final, I'm not sure, but the meaning should be that.

[sekong]

Yeah, I used to like a SUPERCITY in civ2. Now it become a winning condition.. That's VERY nice
I hope that means less time for managing cities, therefore a quicker game.

[sekong]

I think it matchs. You begin with a radius one city.
at 10 points, you get 2 radius, which is the normal size
we had in civ1 and civ2.
At 100000, you get 6.

Originally posted by lockstep


It would be weird if a cultural victory would be provided by your most advanced city and not by your empire as a whole. However, the new info about a size 6 radius does not really match up with what other previews told about cultural victory (100.000 culture points, which IMO matches a size 5 radius).

If this preview is correct, the cultural victory fits OCC like a glove.



IIRC, in Civ2 an enemy unit on a square also prevented you from harvesting it. However, the effects of losing access to a strategic or luxury resource in Civ3 will be far more devastating.



As far as one can see by the tiny world maps released so far, two or three conglomerations of continents and big islands separated by oceans will be very common in Civ3. This makes the Lighthouse a very interesting choice for players who like to explore.

Anyone noticing the symbol to the left of Cleopatra (http://users.bigpond.net.au/zinzan/foreign.jpg)? It appeared on numerous map screens before. Perhaps it indicates that the Egyptians are in a 'golden age'?

[lockstep]

As far as I know, your first city starts with no borders at all. After 10 turns, when your palace has generated 10 culture points, a border is established, enclosing the city and its 8 surrounding tiles. I wouldn´t call that a size 2 radius. It also doesn´t correspond to the 'normal size' of Civ1 and Civ2 you mention (the city radius).

OTOH, I was wrong with every guess regarding culture points so far.

[Haphazard]

Size 1 = 0 = no radius (1 square)
Size 2 = 10 = 1 radius (9 square)
Size 3 = 100 = 'usual' radius
Size 4 = 1000
Size 5 = 10000
Size 6 = 100000 = win

Any more than 100000 culture points for a win (ie 1million) would be a bit hard as an 'old' wonder was quoted as giving 50 per turn for at most about 500 turns. You'd need 4+ of those for a win at 100000 and 40+(!) for 1million!

[Falconius]

I like how you Aussies have "Newsagents." Makes them sound like exotic spies.

Here, they're just "vendors." Too bad.

[faded glory]

Why does USA get it before Oz does Thats gotta stink.. Wonder how long it takes to get to Russia

[Provost Harrison]

Well what I would like to know is are these figures for boundary expansion for an individual city or for the entire civ, for example, does your civ have to acquire 10 culture points and then all of your boundaries expand, or is it on a per-city basis. The screenshots seem to suggest the latter, but some people have said it is the former...

[Slingshot]

The world setup screen made me think of the 3D globe map idea. Maybe, just maybe Sid heard!

[lockstep]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Well what I would like to know is are these figures for boundary expansion for an individual city or for the entire civ, for example, does your civ have to acquire 10 culture points and then all of your boundaries expand, or is it on a per-city basis. The screenshots seem to suggest the latter, but some people have said it is the former...

That was me. And now it´s like a bane that haunts me.

Judging from the latest screenshots at civfanatics.com (e.g. http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3image...ulturaladv.jpg), at least some of the boundary expansion works on a per-city-basis.

[TechWins]

It appeared on numerous map screens before. Perhaps it indicates that the Egyptians are in a 'golden age'?

To me that sign looks like a "peace sign". Since a golden age is supposedly only obtainable when in peace. I think that the symbol deos mean that your civ is in a golden age.

Thanks for all the info by the way.

[Stormbringer]

Originally posted by Saddam
Why does USA get it before Oz does Thats gotta stink.. Wonder how long it takes to get to Russia

Well... I'm in Russia and I got it!

[marcuspeddle]

Originally posted by TechWins


To me that sign looks like a "peace sign". Since a golden age is supposedly only obtainable when in peace. I think that the symbol deos mean that your civ is in a golden age.

It looks like a peace sign to me, too, and if you notice there is a blue line running from Cleopatra to the top leader (which is you?) which means they have a mutual protection pact. The top leader also has a 'right of passage' aggreement with Cleopatra so perhaps the peace symbol means that civilisation is your special ally. In CTP2 a dove (it was a dove, right?) appeared on the relations screen if you had an alliance.

[monkspider]

thanks a bunch for the all the hard work zanzin, it is much appreciated!!
it's too bad no new leaders are revealed on the diplomacy screen though.

[Zanzin]

Originally posted by monkspider
thanks a bunch for the all the hard work zanzin, it is much appreciated!!
it's too bad no new leaders are revealed on the diplomacy screen though.

um....have we seen pictures of all the leaders yet? If not, there's actually little passport size photos of all 16 in the magazine...I could scan it in. But I thought we'd seen them all before. Someone let me know (post it here) and I'll scan the pic and put it up if you want.

[Zanzin]

Originally posted by Falconius
I like how you Aussies have "Newsagents." Makes them sound like exotic spies.

Here, they're just "vendors." Too bad.

I never really thought about it in that way before...but, you're right - does make them sound like spies - who knows, they probably are!!

Does sound better than vendors though, doesn't it?!?

[lockstep]

Originally posted by Zanzin


um....have we seen pictures of all the leaders yet? If not, there's actually little passport size photos of all 16 in the magazine...I could scan it in. But I thought we'd seen them all before. Someone let me know (post it here) and I'll scan the pic and put it up if you want.

Start scanning right now!

[jsw363]

We DONT know all the leaders, so any new pics could definitely help. There's a thread devoted to that around here somewhere...

[Andrew1999]

Firaxis (or Infogrames) has bought a bunch of ads on http://pc.ign.com . They've got some big leader shots as popups and some smaller pictures with names in the sidebar. From the one that just popped up I can confirm that the German leader is Bismarck, the French leader is Joan of Arc, the Iroquois leader is Hiawatha, and the Roman leader is Julius Caesar.