Try not to ruin your game again

from GalCiv3 Forums

I was looking forward to playing fantasy turn based game like Elemental: Fallen Enchantress but the game was completely ruined for me by having poor combat animations and effects. It was as rudimentary as it could get.

I just couldn't go from the amazing graphics and animations in Might & Magic Heroes 6 to that.

There is simply no excuse anymore for having low production values.

The combat in Galactic Civilization 3 needs to be like you are watching Battlestar Galactica.

And please never again have races that have everything like all other races, for example a race of artificial robots had to build farms in GalCiv 2.

Every race should be completely unique in every way.

 

P.S.

I envision space combat like this:

1. 2D plane(3D plane like in Homeworld ads no value at all, it just makes you look at tiny dots all the time)

 

2. turn based combat because that's the best kind of combat in terms of tactical depth, emphasis on visuals and fits perfectly in a space game, X-com and many other games have proven time and time again the benefits of a turn based system.

 

3. just like in Might & Magic Heroes 6 your skills, researched technology and types of ships determines your battlefield setup when encountering enemy.

 

4. you don't give orders one unit at a time and then each unit performs an action, but you give sequence of orders, a plan of action which is then executed in a single turn for all the units, of course researched technology/tactics and types of ships determining which options are at your disposal

 

5. then, at the end of battle, you have an option to view the whole thing uninterrupted from start to finish and post such battles online. Also you would have an option of fixed camera vs free roaming.

 

6. but for all of this to work and feel great, animations, effects and graphics need to be top notch with dynamic lighting and shadows, sharp textures, particle effects, volumetric explosions, etc.etc.

 

I really believe you would have a hit if combat would be like this instead of the underwhelming, tedious affair of Sins of a Solar Empire.

 

 

64,693 views 25 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

The intelligence of the above post is mind boggling, I'm not sure if I can grasp it all.

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

There is simply no excuse anymore for having low production values.

Yes there is one - budget.

The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Firehawk153, reply 1

The intelligence of the above post is mind boggling, I'm not sure if I can grasp it all.

 

What do you mean by that?

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

He means that your expectations to get depth, complexity and also "combat [that is] like you are watching Battlestar Galactica" are unrealistic. That'd be unrealistic even if Stardock wasn't an indie developer and had a bigger budget than they do.

I like the animations in FE just fine and perfectly functional. If I want to watch a movie, I watch a movie. :)

Reply #5 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Judging by your post Pikosil you didn't play Twilight of the Arnor expansion for GalCivII which added unique tech trees for each race, which made the Yor race my favourite. They still needed 'farms' to increase the population cap, but these were called energy crystals, or something like that, I'd have to check to get it right. Anyway I fell in love with their planet improvements from that expansion.

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Starbound_Dust, reply 5
They still needed 'farms' to increase the population cap, but these were called energy crystals, or something like that,

They were called Charging Stalks.

The Yor are my favourites too, but they were so even before TotA came out.

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top


<snip>

poor combat animations and effects.

I just couldn't go from the amazing graphics and animations in Might & Magic Heroes 6 to that.

There is simply no excuse anymore for having low production values.

<snip>
Every race should be completely unique in every way.

If the price to pay for excellent gameplay is to get poor combat animation and effects, it seems a low price to pay. Hopefully, we can get everything.

Also, please, dont' compare different companies/budgets like if it didn't matter.

I'll agree that having each race being as unique as possible would be a nice priority for the game. More than animations and effects, that's for sure.

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Wintersong, reply 7


quoting post
<snip>

poor combat animations and effects.

I just couldn't go from the amazing graphics and animations in Might & Magic Heroes 6 to that.

There is simply no excuse anymore for having low production values.

<snip>
Every race should be completely unique in every way.



If the price to pay for excellent gameplay is to get poor combat animation and effects, it seems a low price to pay. Hopefully, we can get everything.

Also, please, dont' compare different companies/budgets like if it didn't matter.

I'll agree that having each race being as unique as possible would be a nice priority for the game. More than animations and effects, that's for sure.

 

Considering Galciv2 is so old I'm expecting a huge huge improvement in Galciv3. More races, more tech and slightly better graphics would be nice. Also much larger battles with maybe the ability to setup different kinds of formations before the battle begins and with designated commanders that you could actually train (academies and combat experience) would be really cool to.  

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

GalCivII may be old, but it's one of only two strategy games that I keep coming back to time and time again. The other being Cid Meiers Alpha Centauri.

Reply #10 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I don't need better graphics. It's the gameplay that I care most about. They could animate the whole game with scraps they found in the junk box for all I care. (Actually that might even look kind of neat,)

Reply #11 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

As long as they do not "improve" the game so much that it sucks bad and ruin it like many many companys did with their games after a few parts everything should be fine even if the combat is the same as in GalCiv2 ...

 

I just wouldn't want the game to go the same way Gothic and Heroes of Might and Magic did ... G1 and 2 were awesome 3 and Arcania sucked bad same with HOMM ... part 2 and 3 were awesome, even played part 3 for 2 years + while 4 was only on my computer for a few weeks same with 5, never bought the newest one.

Reply #12 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Pikosil, reply 3


Quoting Firehawk153, reply 1

The intelligence of the above post is mind boggling, I'm not sure if I can grasp it all.


 

What do you mean by that?

Also shows your poor understanding of the whole collection of games that come from Stardock. Elemental:FE was is a poor example of all the great games that Stardock as financed or produced. Plus you would be amazed on how many good games that are out there that have similar animations. Animations does not a good game make.

Reply #13 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

This one sums it up ...

The combat in Galactic Civilization 3 needs to be like you are watching Battlestar Galactica.

This is TBS - not a lightweight RTS shoot-em-up. Want to play zap-the-ray-gun ..... go find an arcade video game slot machine

Its a S-t-r-a-t-e-g-y game ..... hello ?

The RTS crowd need to give it up - GalCiv is a Strategy Game, and at its Core will always be so. There will be various mechanics that satiate the RTS brain dead blood lust, and as far as that goes, fine, keeps them amused.

But to think Stardock is gong to move this away from TBS at its core, is to live in fantasy land. The combat box might get "zippier" with some more wiz-bangs" and "I fight to the death" to satiate lunatics - but when its over, it will still remain essentially the same. To think that Stardock are going to zap their Flagship TBS game by inventing some kind of TBS-RTS cross, is to live in a fantasy land of dreams where little goblins vaporize  the assembled denizons of evil ..... its not happening, get used to it.

Reply #14 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I think you have to consider that at the scales that units in tactical combat are animated at, it's questionable how much value is added with high quality animations - unless you have a cinematic cam for kill shots.

Even Skyrim's combat animations are at times a bit crappy in an amusing kind of way, and there you almost always have an up close perspective.  There's simply no way to have an individual animation for each possible enemy you'll be facing, the time and cost would go through the roof.

Reply #15 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Zydor, reply 13

This one sums it up ...


The combat in Galactic Civilization 3 needs to be like you are watching Battlestar Galactica.

This is TBS - not a lightweight RTS shoot-em-up. Want to play zap-the-ray-gun ..... go find an arcade video game slot machine

Its a S-t-r-a-t-e-g-y game ..... hello ?

The RTS crowd need to give it up - GalCiv is a Strategy Game, and at its Core will always be so. There will be various mechanics that satiate the RTS brain dead blood lust, and as far as that goes, fine, keeps them amused.

But to think Stardock is gong to move this away from TBS at its core, is to live in fantasy land. The combat box might get "zippier" with some more wiz-bangs" and "I fight to the death" to satiate lunatics - but when its over, it will still remain essentially the same. To think that Stardock are going to zap their Flagship TBS game by inventing some kind of TBS-RTS cross, is to live in a fantasy land of dreams where little goblins vaporize  the assembled denizons of evil ..... its not happening, get used to it.

He said look like. I think he was talking about upgrading the visuals of the battle viewer, so it looks nicer. I don't think he was talking about tactical combat.

Reply #16 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I hope that the map will be 3D, but I think I will be disappointed and it will be 2D again.

Reply #17 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Nikioko, reply 16

I hope that the map will be 3D, but I think I will be disappointed and it will be 2D again.

Check the pic of Media: https://www.galciv3.com/game

Plus they already said that they have gone from squares to hexes. No mention to cubes or anything like that. At least in the strategic map.

Reply #18 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Wintersong, reply 17


Quoting Nikioko, reply 16
I hope that the map will be 3D, but I think I will be disappointed and it will be 2D again.

Check the pic of Media: https://www.galciv3.com/game

Plus they already said that they have gone from squares to hexes. No mention to cubes or anything like that. At least in the strategic map.

Hexes. What a progress! Civilization changed from squares to hexes and sucked. But this game in not like Civilization set on a planet's surface, it is set in space. And in space, there is a third dimension. I wouldn't mind whether there are cubes, truncated octahedra or rhombic dodecahedra. The important thing would be to use this opportunity.

Reply #20 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

He also posted on the Fallen Enchantress forums in praise of HOMM6 graphics and how the animations in Legendary Heroes ruined the game for him:

forums.elementalgame.com/444788/

He really seems to be a little bit too obsessed with graphics and combat animations compared to far more important elements in strategic games...

Reply #21 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting nomotog, reply 10

I don't need better graphics. It's the gameplay that I care most about. They could animate the whole game with scraps they found in the junk box for all I care. (Actually that might even look kind of neat,)

Your opinion is marginal and irrelevant.

The single thing most people complain about in any game, but can't precisely articulate, are the animations.

Animations are even more important than graphics. You can see this in Resident Evil 4, graphics age, good animations don't.

 

Reply #22 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Nikioko, reply 18
Hexes. What a progress! Civilization changed from squares to hexes and sucked. But this game in not like Civilization set on a planet's surface, it is set in space. And in space, there is a third dimension. I wouldn't mind whether there are cubes, truncated octahedra or rhombic dodecahedra. The important thing would be to use this opportunity.

Civ V may have sucked for you but not for everybody. And are you sure it was the hexes themselves or was there something else about its use?

Galactic Civilizations I and II have been on 2d map and that hasn't detracted from making them good games for its fans. Surely Gal Civ III can be good in 2D too while jumping to 3D doesn't automatically mean that it'll be good. Stardock surely has its long list of reasons as to why they stick to 2D and maybe one day they share some insight about it.

Don't get me wrong because I do think that being in space, 3D would be more logical and interesting. Potentially at least, as it would depend on how it's actually done.

Reply #23 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting Pikosil, reply 21
Your opinion is marginal and irrelevant.

The single thing most people complain about in any game, but can't precisely articulate, are the animations.

Animations are even more important than graphics. You can see this in Resident Evil 4, graphics age, good animations don't.

GalCiv 3 is, first and foremost, a strategy game. Gameplay is, therefore, much more important that graphics or animations. 

Take a look at Eador: Genesis, for example. Graphics? Good looking, in my opinion, but most gamers today will probably call them outdated. Animations? Almost non-existing. However, it is a great game, because the gameplay is so good.

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Reply #24 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Be more specific about the sort of animations should be possible instead of citing an example like BSG.

A computer game has dynamic elements (the player fleet and teh enemy fleet) whereas an episode of BSG with shooty bits follows a set storyboard.  Therefore what is rendered has to be limited to work on the sort of hardware that the game is being targeted at, so that it can play right away.

CGI scenes for TV on the other hand are done on more powerful hardware and can take advantage of lots of post-processing without needing to turn around the result immediately.

Reply #25 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

but the game was completely ruined for me by having poor combat animations and effects

You sure keep coming back a lot for someone who doesn't like our games.

 

 

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