Gameranx Interview with Paul Boyer

http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/18088/article/galactic-civilizations-3-interview-with-lead-designer-paul-boyer/
from GalCiv3 Forums

The first interview with a dev is out.  No hard details, but some good general ideas being floated.  Some highlights:

 

One of the great things about Galactic Civilizations II was how alive the galaxy felt—the universe, it was full of random events and the presentation and things. How will the universe feel alive in Galactic Civilizations III? A big problem with a lot of 4X games is that they feel rather dull and procedural.  What kind of random events can we expect in Galactic Civilizations III?


Events have always been one of my favorite aspects of the game. You will be playing along thinking you have the game wrapped up and wham, “the Jagged Knife” pops up and half the galaxy is suddenly at war with you. Events of all kinds – simple to crazy and game-changing – are some of the most fun elements of Galactic Civilizations to design. As the game gets tested we will refine which will stay and which will go, but I can promise more events than ever, not to mention the classic Galactic Civilizations II events that we are be keeping around and enhancing.

 

What is the scale of the engagements like in Galactic Civilizations III?

Like in Galactic Civilizations II, engagements will go from ships dueling one-on-one to massive fleets battling it out. One of the beauties of going to 64-bit is that we can have absurdly large fleet battles. However, fleet sizes will still primarily be limited by the player’s technology level and the resources they control.
 
 
How do ground invasions work in Galactic Civilizations III, in contrast to the second game?

It's safe to say ground battles will be different.
 


Other good stuff in there, too.  B)

20,448 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Good catch .... cant expect him to release the trade secrets of the vault of course ..... but nonetheless, the tone of his replies was encouraging.

I really liked this one ...... :thumbsup:

With plans to expand Galactic Civilizations III with expansion packs, will these be standalone expansions like Elemental or will they tie into the existing game like Galactic Civilizations II's? 

We have some great stuff planned for expansion packs and DLC both. We are putting a lot of work into the expansions, and I think our Elite Founders are going to be very pleased. 

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Thanks very much for linking to the article!

I also liked this part ...

Are you planning to have any mod support for Galactic Civilizations III? 

Galactic Civilizations III will be our most moddable game yet, which is saying something.

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Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

My favourite part is this:

Many games are mechanically sound but the universe feels dead—like there's no soul to it. Galactic Civilizations II had soul, and Fallen Enchantress had soul. Can you describe what the universe is like in Galactic Civilizations III this time around?

That sense of depth and “soul” is really hard to capture in a game that is primarily a sandbox; you can't force a narrative on the player, or even control the order in which things unfold, so we have to breathe life into each race, each planet, ship, and tech. If we do this right the player writes their own story and feels like the universe they are playing in is theirs. Needless to say this is a big challenge, but it is one of our primary focuses, and we can't wait to see what players do with it.

I already love the story and lore from the previous games. If they can portray it even better this time around, then... :inlove:

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Thanks for posting this. I look forward to reading it!