Alright, POSITIVE MULTIPLAYER FEEDBACK

Inverse Icarus · October 13, 2001, 18:43

ok, we all know about the lack of MP upon shipping, and we know Firaxis' silence on the "will it cost money" issue, and no one is more pissed off than me (possibly yin).

but lets be positive and offer suggestions like we did in the past.

please only offer suggestions. do not curse firaxis or rant about the multiplayer issue. be positive and maybe, just maybe, Dan or Soren will grace us with acknowledgement.

i recommend that the host of a game has a set of administrative options to use during the game, not CHEATS, but options, like force time change, etc. I'd even say that maybe "boot/ban player" could be a viable option. in a few zone games i've played some people were notorious for cheating, and whenever they joined a game essentially died.

also, i heard a rumor you were planning for allies to move on the same turn. i love this idea and feel it should be implimented. but how would it work if the alliance was broken mid-turn?

i am also concerned with a medium for civ3 games. will there be something similiar to Battle.net? or to the zone? will TCP/IP still be supported normally?

thanking you in advance and pointing out how i didnt bitch once in this thread.

Wittlich · October 13, 2001, 18:53

The only Positive Multiplayer Feedback that I can think of is this:

After my initial disappointment in finding out (for sure) that Civ3 will not be released with Multiplayer support, I have since done some soul-searching.

It is actually a GOOD sign that Firaxis will not be releasing the Multiplayer Version of Civ3 for another 5-6 Months. I say this because it gives me a warm and fuzzy to think that Firaxis will now have these 5-6 months in order to test, test, and retest the multiplayer interface of the game and hopefully ensure the Multiplayer interface is stable and works prior to its release (unlike the "Activision fiasco").

Inverse Icarus · October 13, 2001, 18:58

trying to stay positive, no sidilization game was ever released with MP.

but i honestly think that positive suggestions will be picked up by Dan and the team, despite... ::NERVE STAPLE SELF::

Sarxis · October 13, 2001, 18:59

I too am glad that Firaxis will have all this extra time to dedicate solely on creating the MP component. This is good news for MP, as it will probably be the best CIV MP we will have ever seen.

dainbramaged13 · October 13, 2001, 19:13

actually i hope they are working on more art as well

TechWins · October 13, 2001, 19:28

Hopefully MP will be included in an expansion pack sometime next Spring. This would not be a bad deal at all...a game add-on that would include many features Firaxis wanted to include in Civ3 but didn't have the time, resources, and/or ideas to do so before the release of Civ3, 16 new civs, a patch, and of course MP to it's fullest...for $30 (US). Now to me this seems to be a pretty good deal. The Sims' game expansions cost $30, so why couldn't a Civ3 expansion cost $30? If only a few add-ons were included this wouldn't be worth $30, IMO, so some original and interesting features must be included. An example of what one add-on could be is MAD (only if MAD wasn't included with the original Civ3).

How many people would be interested in an expansion like this for $30 (US)?

Quite possibly an expansion like this might cost $40. Now how many would be willing to pay $40?

Crouchback · October 13, 2001, 19:36

Quote:

Originally posted by TechWins
How many people would be interested in an expansion like this for $30 (US)?

Too rich for my blood, but then so would $10. Frankly I'll walk away from any MP solution that costs extra, which means Civ3 will only last as long as the AI. I'd give it eighteen months to two years at best.

I'll only buy and expansion pack if it has new scenarios, maps and original game features. Eg. Alien Crossfire.

David

Wittlich · October 13, 2001, 19:37

Sure, I for one, would be willing to shell-out the $40.00 for a Civ3 Expansion.

I agree TechWins, with this 6-month or so window of time to use for improving Civ3, the expansion set would (hopefully) address all of the things that there wasn't time for and to fix any bugs that will be found in the original Civ3 release.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Civ3 will have major bugs - I'm just being realistic and if Firaxis is willing and able to address these possible problems AND include all the extra options (to include MP), then yes! I believe the 40 dollars would be well worth it.

Blake · October 13, 2001, 20:17

Just out of interest, is POSITIVE MULTIPLAYER FEEDBACK related to POSITIVE FEEDBACK, and if so does it cause all the MULTIPLAYERS to explode?

d4rkl0rd · October 13, 2001, 21:16

Thanks for the thread. Let's make the best out of a disappointing situation.

My suggestion is that there be a simple mechanism for handicapping the various teams. Too often, I find I don't want to play multiplayer with people who are willing to play me because I know I will slaughter them.

There are several types of handicaps I can think of, both positive and negative:
1. The weaker player(s) can start with bonuses, such as units, knowledges, and cities (a la the "accelerated start" in Civ II).
2. The weaker player(s) can get ongoing bonuses like 2x/2x from Civ II (alright, that's a *big* bonus

)
3. The stronger player can have more difficult hapiness issues (i.e. face deity-level city unhappiness, where the weaker faces prince-level)
4. The stronger player can get worse goody-huts/vetern probabilities, etc.

I could go on and on, you get the picture. But my opponent-list would be much greater if this were in.

Oh, and P.S. Huge thumbs up for the 2 on 2 teams idea - that sounds like a blast!

cassembler · October 13, 2001, 22:03

Yeah I told YIN that I hope he goos his pants when MP finally gets released... I'm positive the wait for MP will be worth it to those that do MP.

dainbramaged13 · October 13, 2001, 22:24

Simultaneus turns you can turn it off or on
Ability to save and play again with the same people or different people.
Ability to switch players in game.
Ability to switch from AI to Player and back so people dont have to cut out such a huge chunk of time, and can just play for a few hours or less. (this should be optional if possible)
Timed turns (time increases due to world size, time in game, AI level, and Total Bordered Land) - gives smaller empires the edge to balance the game as well as the obvious reason for doing it which is that it saves time (of course this is only optional)
MOST IMPORTANT - CENTRAL SERVER ala BATTLENET.

Inverse Icarus · October 14, 2001, 00:08

see, what i honestly see happening, is Firaxis makinf an expansion pack with more civs, full art, CSUs, and maybe even more CSAs, for all of them, and throw multiplayer in it as abundle for like $30.

... capitialist pig-dogs ...

Sarxis · October 14, 2001, 00:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Jingo
... full art...

What do you mean by 'full art'?

DanS · October 14, 2001, 02:02

When I have something positive to report to you, I'll report it.

But we have some great ideas for multiplayer!

And we put them in the frick'in list.

Rasputin · October 14, 2001, 02:09

I would like to see how many of these people proposing "AN Expansion Pack for $30" are actually MPers or are jsut SPers who want the Addons... MP sohuld be released as a DL patch for those who already own the original. Any one wanting more scenarios civs etc, should then get the "Expansion pack for $30"

Keep MP separate from any "Expansion pack"

tniem · October 14, 2001, 02:34

I am mainly a PBEM MP guy. It is the only way to make it work for the schedule that I keep. So the suggestions I have are to make PBEM more enjoyable and more effective.

1. Central site. Give us a place to put our names on a list for potential games. Sure Apolyton and others will do it, but having the central server would help the amount of games going on and lead to some other features.

2. Automated send and download. The central server should be used to store games. When you load your copy of Civ3, the game automatically checks to see if any new turns are waiting for you. The game then downloads, you play, and it automatically uploads to the server. Painless to allow games to continue fairly fast.

3. Time Limits before AI plays turn. Using a central server, a time limit can be placed, say a day or 36 hours for a turn to be played. If it is exceeded the next player get't to play his turn after the AI plays the turn for the person who lost his time.

4. LAN Start. Since the early game is the longest, with many turns dedicated to exploration and founding a city, it takes a short amount of time when playing together but a long time through email. A great solution would be to allow the game's first 20 turns to be played in a LAN or Internet game of simultaneous turns or whatever is used before switching to PBEM style game for the remainder of the game.

Well there are a few of my ideas for PBEM MP. Hopefully Firaxis does have some interesting ideas for the genre. Time will tell.

Wittlich · October 14, 2001, 05:30

Quote:

Originally posted by Rasputin
I would like to see how many of these people proposing "AN Expansion Pack for $30" are actually MPers or are jsut SPers who want the Addons... MP sohuld be released as a DL patch for those who already own the original. Any one wanting more scenarios civs etc, should then get the "Expansion pack for $30"

Keep MP separate from any "Expansion pack"

I see where you're coming from Rasputin, and Yes, I AM one of those few MPers.

But you have to keep in mind the track record of Sid's past creations:

1. Civilization (SP only)
- Later released: CIVNET (MP at an additional cost)
2. Civilization II (SP only)
- Later released: CivIIMGE (MP at an additional cost)

and now Civilization III
- Later to be released: CivIII (MP - you can bet dollars to doughnuts at an additional cost)

I concur that a free downloadable MP patch would be great, but it's not going to happen.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, I am still being positive in this post and I am positive that MP will be apart of a Civ3 Expansion Pack to be released next sping.

LoD · October 14, 2001, 07:22

As a sidenote, I'd like to mention the fact that there was a Sid game with multiplayer included from the start - Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

Alright, positive feedback:
A good idea would be to include multigeneration, a la Stars, as an option for PBEM games. That would an alternative for TCP/IP acceleration.

Inverse Icarus · October 14, 2001, 11:31

Quote:

Originally posted by Anunikoba

What do you mean by 'full art'?

animated leader pics, fully animated units etc. essentially adding 16 more civs to the game

Inverse Icarus · October 14, 2001, 11:32

Quote:

Originally posted by LoD
As a sidenote, I'd like to mention the fact that there was a Sid game with multiplayer included from the start - Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.

thats not a sidilization game, thats a sida sidturai game.