Hidden Feature?

[Zoetstofzoetje]

Open up your advisors and go take a look at your resources:

As you will see, every single one you have is either "fine" or "fine". This specification seems unnecessary, as 1 resource is enough for an entire empire and there are no discriminations in resource on the map.

I guess:

-They were initially planning on having different qualities of resources on the map.
-This would somehowedly produce different qualities of units.
-This would mean an extra impulse to conquer additional sources of resources, as having a better quality resource would produce better kinds of things. Trade would also be more complicated. And having a larger empire would mean requiring more resources.

-This feature turned out to be either too buggy to implement in this beta gold Civ3, too complicated, or they wanted an 'ace under the sleeve' to make the upcoming max profit style Civ3MGE not seem like a multiplayer add-on patch.

Anyone else have any guesses on this?

-Zsz

[Yoleus]

I do not know 'cause I still do not have the game. Anyway, in my opinion is -as you say- marketing stuff. Too much of it. I will wait for the Final Multiplayer Gold Scenario edition (if there is one) to buy my copy, otherwise I will leave it on the shelves. (really, the game seems good -not awesome- but just too conservative and LIMITED in features to invest in it right now).

[Dan Magaha FIRAXIS]

AFAIK there were never any plans to have different levels of resources. It's probably an homage to the now infamous Ricardo Montalban commercial where he touts the "fine corinthian leather" of an Oldsmobile (or some other pricey luxury car)..


Dan

edit: brain freeze, said IMHO when I meant AFAIK. TGIF!

[Ray K]

Originally posted by Yoleus
I do not know 'cause I still do not have the game. Anyway, in my opinion is -as you say- marketing stuff. Too much of it. I will wait for the Final Multiplayer Gold Scenario edition (if there is one) to buy my copy, otherwise I will leave it on the shelves. (really, the game seems good -not awesome- but just too conservative and LIMITED in features to invest in it right now).

I disagree. I've played Civ, Civ2, and CtP extensively, and I believe that Civ3 is clearly head and shoulders above all of the them -- and I've been one of the biggest gripers about the unbalanced corruption levels on the small maps.

Still, this game is very, very polished and I am somewhat stunned to see an initial release in this condition.

Obviously, if you want MP then this game is not for you. The only other big shortcoming is with the scenario editor, but Firaxis has specifically said that will be enhanced in a patch.

[Yoleus]

Dan: thanks for the quick answer, I was wrong, and I shall say this time I am happy of having been mistaken

Ray K: I agree, the game seems good! Anyway, it is better than previous versions also because it COMES AFTER
Moreover, I am not just missing MP (I am not mad for it, even if I care), but also slightly troubled by corruption&pollution (is it a game feature? If so, it is a feature I do not like much ), some bugs - think air strikes (yes, these will fixed by a patch), I do not like much what I read about diplomacy and resources (maybe I am just too easygoing to enjoy this "challenge"), and while I think that the scenario editor will be fixed, I bet the Scenario Edition will be on the shelves more than on the net (yes, this is not so important. Just a bit annoying, IMHO).
Obviously the above lines are just to clarify my thought, we really do not disagree on the general opinion of the game. I will just wait for a more complete (and hopefully "balanced") edition, that's all.

[Yoleus]

Ray K, did you ever play SMAC? Perhaps you did not like it, anyway I think it was more daring and appealing (as well as unbalanced, maybe) than -what I know of- CivIII. I am playing it these days. Maybe I just like less conservative products (which have a bigger chance of flopping, I admit), so I am tenderly waiting for MooIII (which seems quite innovative, even scarily innovative ).

[Zoetstofzoetje]

It's probably an homage to the now infamous Ricardo Montalban commercial where he touts the "fine corinthian leather" of an Oldsmobile

lol!

ok so perhaps i was wrong

[Ray K]

Originally posted by Yoleus
Ray K, did you ever play SMAC? Perhaps you did not like it, anyway I think it was more daring and appealing (as well as unbalanced, maybe) than -what I know of- CivIII. I am playing it these days. Maybe I just like less conservative products (which have a bigger chance of flopping, I admit), so I am tenderly waiting for MooIII (which seems quite innovative, even scarily innovative ).

Yoleus,
No, I have never played SMAC. It came out at the same time as CTP, and I went with the historical game rather than the futuristic game. I enjoyed many of the innovative features in CTP despite the bugs, and I hope that Civ3 will eventually gain at least some form of unit stacking. I know that hoping for Public Works and the superior combat system of CTP (separating ranged attackers) is too much to hope for -- maybe Civ4.

I am not looking forward to MOO3 right now. MOO2 was such a disappointment compared to MOO, which IMO may be the best turn-based strategy game ever made.

Also, I do recognize there are other problems with Civ3 besides corruption, but most are minor bugs that do not affect gameplay that much. I also cannot get air superiority to work, but it could be the 50% effectiveness and not a bug.

Corruption is the real killer. I can address this in a limited fashion with the scenario editor by balancing the small maps, but Firaxis would need to do some more authoritative, like making the courthouses more effective or (hopefully) returning anti-corruption benefits to the police station. This way, police stations will be built even for governments that do not have to worry about war weariness.

Despite the corruption problem, I am about to win a conquest game on Regent. Basically, I am "running the table" on the AI and paying little attention, corruption be damned, to the conquered cities that are left in the wake of my armies. This only works because I am not planning on building anything in those cities because the game is almost over.

[Andrew_Jay]

Yeah, "Fine Corinthian Leather" That was the first thing that came in my mind when I first held my cursor over the item and saw "Fine German Wine" pop up. DOn't read so much into it, of course it's just to add to the bit of humour in the game.

Anyone else catch the Jon Lovitz homage in the diplomacy? Here's a hint, march troops into the territory of a really good friend whom you don't have a right of passage agreement.

[Andrew_Jay]

Hey, it just hit me, I wonder why Dan Magha was so quick to reply to this thread? Was it because there actaully is some hidden feature and he had to investigate if it had actualy been discovered?