PTW Feedback

Athitis · October 30, 2002, 17:33

Some people are already playing PTW-the few, the lucky. Some others are about to have it in a few days. Most people however will have to wait for some time.

So I need you already playing PTW tell us poor civ-addicts about the game. Is it worthing it? Are the new UUs balanced? How about MP? Give us feedback!

asleepathewheel · October 30, 2002, 20:32

Early thoughts

What I like:

playing against 30 other civs

ease of modswapping/scenarios/terrain graphics (that warpstorm terrain looks great)

new preferences menu-like the new layout, easier to see what is going on.

new espionage menu, though it took me a moment to figure it out

new foreign relations screen: added active trade/more civs button

call me crazy, but the dino barb scenario was amusing. they are fairly strong, but not overwhelming.

scenario-teterkan (or whatever) test of time-pretty complex-31 civs (unfortunately duplicating some leaderheads) (where are the americans?)

Celts-I liked them, but I didn't like how I couldn't make the swordman after med infantry. at times I would prefer the extra move to the extra attack, though it was nice that the upgrade was free to medinf's

new group movement-like it, esp. since I just figured out how to move one type of unit now as well. nice for those spear-settler combos to send out, less hassle and worries.

New buttons above the minimap-cycle cities/units haven't used much yet though.

disable cultural conversions (if just to shut certain people up)

and of course, the new civs, improvements, etc.

What I don't like:

some of the scenarios are unfinished-see: ancient mediteranean-says to go to civ3.com to get patch for graphics, playable now, but with old graphics. but civ3.com doesn't have it yet (from what I've seen) I think I would love this game, the tech andresources etc have been totally reworked.

Double your pleasure mod: looks quite intense, tons more units, techs etc. except missing icons. again, look at civ3.com.

winter terrain: difficult for me to differentiate grassland from plains

Those are my early opinions, i haven't played a game very deep yet, nor have I tried all of the new victory games.

Quite worth the purchase, IMHO, a nice evolution of the game.

ixnay · October 30, 2002, 20:35

Some thoughts:

The viking Berserks look damn cool running around with that giant axe

You only need the cd to start the game, not to play it, so I was able to get a game started in my dorm on our LAN. Pretty cool.

Haven't tried any of the new victory conditions or scenarios yet.

CiverDan · October 30, 2002, 22:03

Tried Elimination (w/Iroqious on Chieftain 4 civs tiny)

game took 25 mins..Had horse close by, just made a few mounted warriors and goodbye AI

asleepathewheel · October 30, 2002, 23:30

Quote:

Originally posted by CiverDan
Tried Elimination (w/Iroqious on Chieftain 4 civs tiny)

game took 25 mins..Had horse close by, just made a few mounted warriors and goodbye AI

I just lost in 3 min 20 seconds. 1 turn from building a warrior to defend

my first pure loss in civ3

-proletarian- · October 30, 2002, 23:34

I can't eblieve nobody is mentioning that MP is UNPLAYABLE! The lag is TERRIBLE. I tried playing me vs. 1 human and 3 AI's, on a standard map, and the lag was BAD.

asleepathewheel · October 30, 2002, 23:58

the rally point option is also pretty handy.

asleepathewheel · October 30, 2002, 23:59

Quote:

Originally posted by -proletarian-
I can't eblieve nobody is mentioning that MP is UNPLAYABLE! The lag is TERRIBLE. I tried playing me vs. 1 human and 3 AI's, on a standard map, and the lag was BAD.

have you patched it?

I haven't tried mp yet, may not for awhile, but good luck.

-proletarian- · October 31, 2002, 00:14

Quote:

Originally posted by asleepathewheel

have you patched it?

I haven't tried mp yet, may not for awhile, but good luck.

Yep, fully patched, with boradband connection....trust man, it's BAAAAAAD.

asleepathewheel · October 31, 2002, 00:20

Quote:

Originally posted by -proletarian-

Yep, fully patched, with boradband connection....trust man, it's BAAAAAAD.

hmm, so you are playing simultaneous or turnless? that sucks. looks like its PBEM or bust, at least for now.

It would be slightly amusing if they only tested turnless over lan connections

FrostyBoy · October 31, 2002, 00:43

Elimination sounds hilarious

ixnay · October 31, 2002, 00:44

I played 20 minutes of a simultaneous LAN game against someone on my floor.

It seemed to work alright. I also like how the cannons and catapults have people pushing them around now.

Chuckles · October 31, 2002, 03:37

The horses on the map look cooler. And catipult damage animation looks cooler too.

FrostyBoy · October 31, 2002, 03:45

Hey look its Chuckles, long time no see; and I had no idea the horses and unit animations were redone?

Athitis · October 31, 2002, 08:09

I'd like to ask the following, you lucky ones!

Are the new UUs balanced?

Is lag with a 56k connection so horrible?

MP players tend to be aggresive or defending?

ruby_maser · October 31, 2002, 10:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Athitis
Is lag with a 56k connection so horrible?

that is the $29.99 question... I could stand outside the door all day like a manservant but when I tried to sit down in hosted games, I got no ping whatsoever with 56k... couldn't play basicly.

I hope this is something that is addressed quickly. I'm fairly sure it wasn't a problem with my setup. Installation was fine, got the 1.04f patch up and running, there weren't any system requirements mentioned that prohibited dial-up. I will probably email firaxis support to find a solution and wait a month for a reply; they are probably flooded right now.

Luckily my house has DSL downstairs though so its time to start running the wires through the walls.

Buster13 · October 31, 2002, 10:51

I just bought the game yesterday, so I haven't had a chance to check out all the features yet either, but the UUs that I've seen are not overpowering.

I just played a game as the Ottomans with the Arabs and the Carthaginians in the game. I didn't see a Numidean Mercenary since the Carthaginians were on another continent until Cavalry (or Sipahi in my case), so they were not very effective. The Poor Arabs got thier butts kicked by the Greeks, so thier UU wasn't very prolific.

What I can say is that the Sipahi were good, but not world beaters. They beat riflemen a little more frequently than Cavalry, but otherwise they aren't outstanding.

What is outstanding is the new graphics. All of the units have a more polished look. When my medieval inf. was walking into the screen so that you could see his cloak, the medieval lion motif on the cloak was outstanding, right down to the rippled look that a full length cloak would have.

Another thing I noticed, the AI is a bit smarter about mountains and hills, not attacking you all the time when you are well defended in rough terrain, and tends to use it better for his own defence, but they still attack as groups of individuals...sad.

The Barbs seem to move a bit more randomly as well, but then again...I was on "Roaming".

DeathByTheSword · October 31, 2002, 11:07

how about modern day techs and stuff.... radars how do they work and stuff....i have to wait until the end of november before i can buy it

so please entertain me....

Buster13 · October 31, 2002, 11:12

I haven't gotten that far in the game, and frankly, I forgot all about outposts....

I'll let you know when I get there.

quinns · October 31, 2002, 14:52

Did anyone try the Play by Email PBEM feature yet? If so, how did it work?? And do you need to buy Civ III first in order to make PTW work? In other words, is PTW an upgrade or a stand alone game? Thanks!

Buster13 · October 31, 2002, 15:02

Quinn,

You must have Civ III for the PTW game to work. PTW is an expansion, after all.

I'm trying to get a PBEM game going in that forum, so I'll let you know when it happens, but if it's anything like the hotseat game I tried, it should be fine.

Hotseat is easy, password protected against those prying eyes, and relatively simple to set up. I'm sure it'll be the same for PBEM.

quinns · October 31, 2002, 15:15

Thanks Buster13! Expansion pack --- right -- I should have figured that out

I bought CivIII but I lost it! Can you believe it? Let me know how the PBEM and Hotseat testing goes. I haven't read any problems with them so far.

Buster13 · October 31, 2002, 15:33

Quinn, if you still have Civ III loaded on your machine, you can run off of the PTW disk. All you have to do is buy and install!

Of course, once you don't need it anymore, the Civ III disk will show up...

Wise Ass · October 31, 2002, 18:43

I played Hotseat as well and wasn't too impressed witht he Diplomacy. Other than that I like it. Haven't tried any mods or MP yet though.

[FX]Roman · October 31, 2002, 18:45

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=66125

Kal-el · November 20, 2002, 20:04

Quote:

Originally posted by asleepathewheel
What I don't like:
...

Double your pleasure mod: looks quite intense, tons more units, techs etc. except missing icons. again, look at civ3.com.

...

You need to get the graphics patch from Civ3.bernskov.com

asleepathewheel · November 20, 2002, 20:06

Quote:

Originally posted by Kal-el

You need to get the graphics patch from Civ3.bernskov.com

Ah yes. I downloaded the patch when it was released (whenever that was) good job

Kal-el · November 20, 2002, 20:08

ok, just saw the mod listed with what you didn't like, and thought I should say something.

asleepathewheel · November 20, 2002, 20:09

Quote:

Originally posted by Kal-el
ok, just saw the mod listed with what you didn't like, and thought I should say something.

Its not that I didn't like it, it was that I was confused as to why it was incomplete (and why civ3.com was useless)

The mod is cool, complicated, but cool.

Kal-el · November 20, 2002, 20:11

why it was incomplete is a long story that ends with Infogrames is a bunch of idiots who rushed PtW out the door before it was complete.