GalCiv "MOOves" it's release date

JonahFalcon · January 28, 2003, 16:09

They pushed it back a month to avoid competition with Master of Orion III

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The race for the galaxy is coming…soon.

Montreal, Quebec. January 28, 2003 – Publisher Strategy First and Developer
Stardock announced today that the release date for their upcoming 4X
space-based strategy game, Galactic Civilizations, has been updated to March
25, 2003.

The decision to hold back the release of Galactic Civilizations came after
the recent delay of Quicksilver/Infogrames’s Master of Orion 3.

“Gamers have been waiting a long time for the next generation of space based
strategy games to arrive. By ensuring that these two games come out at
different times, players will have the opportunity to get to know each of
them,” said Brad Wardell, Project Lead on Galactic Civilizations at
Stardock.

“As a result of our close relationship with Infogrames we’ve been given this
unique opportunity that will benefit both of these games and their fans,”
says Steve Milburn, Director of Marketing for Strategy First. “They are so
different in so many ways that we feel the best thing for fans of this genre
is to give them time to enjoy each game on its own.”

MDA · January 28, 2003, 16:20

That's a very well phrased press release, but then its supposed to be, isn't it?

JonahFalcon · January 28, 2003, 16:23

Quote:

Originally posted by MDA
That's a very well phrased press release, but then its supposed to be, isn't it?

The press release goes on to describe GalCiv, but we all know about it.

(I've played the late beta, myself.)

MDA · January 28, 2003, 16:29

Only know a little about GalCiv, but enough to know these titles could be competing for the same dollars. The chummy, "everybody wins" tone just made me laugh.

JonahFalcon · January 28, 2003, 16:30

Galactic Civilizations is more like Stars! than MOO3, though they both have a 4X element to them.

darcy · January 28, 2003, 16:52

Humans would call such a move honourable, but Mrrshans would read it as an admission of weakness and attack immediately.

Asmodean · January 28, 2003, 17:07

But it really comes as no surprise. Brad Wardell (Stardock CEO) has openly said that this has been considered for some time now.

I think it is a good call. Galciv would just be hurt too much by releasing too close to MoO3.

Asmodean

jscott991 · January 28, 2003, 17:17

I am disappointed to hear about this delay. I think that having Galactic Civilizations and MOO3 go head to head for a limited dollar base would have served IG and QS right.

Oh well, I don't plan to buy GalCiv anyway.

vmxa1 · January 28, 2003, 17:26

I think that is a reasonable thing to do. The fact is that some will not be buying both if they came out the same time. That would not be good for anyone. I hope both do well, after all I want to see more of these types of games, not less.
Now where is Stars SuperNova???
BTW SEIV gold patch added the ability to return to the point you left in the log, hot dog.

moomin · January 28, 2003, 17:41

Wise thing, although I'd perfer if it was Moo that got postphoned. Oh well.

Kc7mxo · January 28, 2003, 19:57

Quote:

Wise thing, although I'd perfer if it was Moo that got postphoned. Oh well.

Don't you go be saying that at IGMoo, they'll be getting the lynch mob after you.

JonahFalcon · January 28, 2003, 23:41

Quote:

Originally posted by vmxa1
I think that is a reasonable thing to do. The fact is that some will not be buying both if they came out the same time. That would not be good for anyone. I hope both do well, after all I want to see more of these types of games, not less.
Now where is Stars SuperNova???
BTW SEIV gold patch added the ability to return to the point you left in the log, hot dog.

Where is SSN? Looking for a publisher.

Saber Cherry · January 29, 2003, 01:44

Quote:

Originally posted by JonahFalcon

Where is SSN? Looking for a publisher.

Try a condenser...

Jamski · January 29, 2003, 03:35

Quote:

Originally posted by moomin
Wise thing, although I'd perfer if it was Moo that got postphoned. Oh well.

Me too

MoO fans have PROVED that they can wait as long as they have too. Sales of MoO will be very good, whenever the game is released. Less well known/publicised games like GalCiv need a hand to compete with the IG marketing juggernaut. I imagine someone at IG phoned up Brad and said "We're releasing in February. MOOve over little GalCiv, we are taking ALL your sales please!"

But seriously, I'd like to find both in my post box tommorrow morning. That would give me a real dilemma.

-Jam

moomin · January 29, 2003, 06:19

Yeah, and strategy gaming is all about dilemmas!

Jamski · January 29, 2003, 06:29

And this dilemma is all about strategy games !

-Jam

vmxa1 · January 29, 2003, 14:03

I would guess that Moo3, could help GalCiv sales. If Moo3 is good, many people with be in the stores when they have played it a bit looking for another space game fix and will see GalCiv and give it a shot.
At least that has happened to me many times. I played a game, had fun and went looking for another one like it.
Unfortunetly, I often failed to get a good one.
BTW Computer Gaming World's March issue shows Supernova as first quarter (ha ha, not likely).

vee4473 · January 29, 2003, 21:16

wow,

the producers of galactic civilizations are planning their own games release around MOO3's release...

if galactic civ is ready to go, then release it. MOO3 isn't going to appear any time soon.

They could beat MOO3 to the punch and be the first out.

They should take the lead and release. MOO3 would be playing catch up then.

General Ludd · January 29, 2003, 22:09

Quote:

Originally posted by vmxa1

Unfortunetly, I often failed to get a good one.

Maybe that's why they're using such a strategy.

Harry Seldon · January 29, 2003, 22:16

Quote:

Originally posted by vee4473
wow,

the producers of galactic civilizations are planning their own games release around MOO3's release...

if galactic civ is ready to go, then release it. MOO3 isn't going to appear any time soon.

They could beat MOO3 to the punch and be the first out.

They should take the lead and release. MOO3 would be playing catch up then.

I went to the GalCiv site and several of the beta testers were clamoring for more development time. It looks like Stardock is going to go the extra mile for polish on this one. It looks like they left it more open to modifications than MOO3 so they're going to take advantage of that and toss in some new features.

Araanor · January 30, 2003, 01:57

New features? Two months before release?

Jamski · January 30, 2003, 03:58

Why not? A game can always have more features IMHO. The only thing that takes time is coding the AI to use them properly. If Civ3 had an extra 2 months they could have added some statistics screens, for example, with very little effort. That kind of feature they probably mean. Or renaming units or something. Ask Brad.

-Jam

Grumbold · January 30, 2003, 07:01

Since I'm going to buy both anyway I'm sorry to see it delayed. If they make substantial improvements to the gameplay in the time they now have then its worth it, just as the extra wait for MoO3 will have been if it squashed bugs that prevented game completion. I don't want to go through another Daggerfall cycle where every patch promised to make the game completable but only the fourth or fifth actually achieved it.

Harry Seldon · January 30, 2003, 09:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Araanor
New features? Two months before release?

That's the advantage of their modular design. I don't understand why MOO3 didn't go this route, or if they did, why it appears so hard to tweak game features. For example, from what I've read, the default color scheme in MOO3 is nigh on impossible to change. I know it seems like a small and insignificant detail but you'd think they'd have left the possibility open. Why paint yourself into a corner if you don't have to?

jscott991 · January 30, 2003, 13:02

The design of MOO3 raises a lot of questions that I don't think they will ever answer. Who designs a game without letting you pick your own color or rename ships and planets? Who designs a sequel that removes options that were present in the original version of the game? Who knows?

I don't get the impression MOO3 is going to be a game like Neverwinter Nights or Europea Universalis 1 & 2, whose patches not only brought the game up to code but also expanded the features available and made substantial adjustments to game balance and AI. I get the impression that what is released is what we will get. That's the Infogrames way!

Let's hope its enough.

Grumbold · January 30, 2003, 13:16

IG are just as happy as anyone else to release patches to games where the sales figures justify it. These days new features tend to be bundled into an X-pack but you can't blame IG for an industry trend.

Craig P. · January 30, 2003, 14:56

Quote:

Originally posted by jscott991
The design of MOO3 raises a lot of questions that I don't think they will ever answer. Who designs a game without letting you pick your own color or rename ships and planets? Who designs a sequel that removes options that were present in the original version of the game? Who knows?

j/c, which options that were present in the original version of the game? (aside from picking your color and renaming planets) (in defense of the original version, it didn't have to worry about the multiplayer issues inherent with either of these, either)

jscott991 · January 30, 2003, 14:59

There are a lot of MOO2 options that aren't making it into MOO3. These are being hotly debated all over these forums so I won't pretend to know them better than anyone else. But refitting ships is out. Boarding ships is out. Customizing ship appearance is out. Tactical control in space battles is out. There are a host of others, but these are the ones that come to mind most easily.

Harry Seldon · January 30, 2003, 15:23

Check the MOO3's Death by a Thousand Cuts thread. It's laid pretty bare there.

viciouscycle · January 30, 2003, 19:58

People are still complaining about features when they haven't even played the game. Amazing.