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Topic: totally new engine? |  |
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MarkG
Apolyton CS Co-Administrator
Macedonia, Greece
b.02-15-99
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posted May 01, 2001 17:50
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quote from PCGamer
quote:
Civ2 programmer Brian Reynolds' code was essentially replaced by that of six new programmers after Reynolds to found Big Huge Games.
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Lawrence of Arabia
Chieftain
San Francisco, CA, USA
Apr 2001
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posted May 01, 2001 18:50
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I thought it was the SMAC engine.------------------
Its okay to smile; you're in America now |
cyclotron7
Warlord
The Golden State
Jan 2001
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posted May 01, 2001 18:55
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Yes, every sign seems to point to the SMAC engine, I doubt this is true  ------------------
- Cyclotron7, "that supplementary resource fanatic" |
Snapcase
ACS News Editor
Where the falling angel meets the rising ape
Nov 2000
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posted May 01, 2001 18:57
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It doesn't look like the SMAC engine... the fact that it uses Voxels means practically nothing. |
Zanzin
Chieftain
Sydney, Australia
Mar 2001
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posted May 01, 2001 20:25
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Well, it would be nice to see a new engine. The SMAC logic was left over from Civ2, so if they're basing Civ3 on the SMAC engine, then it's safe to say some of the code will be very similar to that of Civ2, which isn't a good thing.Sometimes it helps to start over fresh, and I hope that's what Firaxis are doing in this case. |
aCa
Chieftain
Oslo, Norway
Mar 99
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posted May 02, 2001 04:07
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It has never been planned to run CIV3 on SMAC engine. They just put it in a SMAC engine to try and play test it from the beginning, before they had the time to build the new engine.------------------
aCa (a Civilization addict) |
Zanzin
Chieftain
Sydney, Australia
Mar 2001
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posted May 02, 2001 06:55
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Well, lets hope so  |
The Viceroy
Warlord
London, Great Britain
Nov 2000
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posted May 02, 2001 08:09
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It looks nothing like the SMAC engine .. In fact, everything I see, looks like the CIV2 engine. For a start, it doesn't have the Hight levels that SMAC does .. it draws its roads like TOT & not SMAC(which joins everything in the middle of each square) .. The coast lines look very CIV2 ...All in all, if they re-wrote the main display engine, the map display section was either just made more efficient, or used an identical algorithm to that of TOT .. ------------------
"Wherever wood floats, you will find the British" . Napoleon |
Adm.Naismith
Prince
Milano - Italy
Oct 1999
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posted May 02, 2001 08:23
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quote:
Originally posted by The Viceroy on 05-02-2001 08:09 AM
It looks nothing like the SMAC engine .. In fact, everything I see, looks like the CIV2 engine. For a start, it doesn't have the Hight levels that SMAC does .. it draws its roads like TOT & not SMAC(which joins everything in the middle of each square) .. The coast lines look very CIV2 ...All in all, if they re-wrote the main display engine, the map display section was either just made more efficient, or used an identical algorithm to that of TOT ..
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Yes, they announced a year ago that the SMAC (graphic) engine has been replaced with something different, because they where left unhappy by poor performance (and bugs ?). But it seem to me it was before the Great Team Escape  so everything can be happened. Surely it seem very Civ II map, to me: let's hope all that flat, flat looking is only a prototype while they complete the new engine development. But if money become relevant, who know, may be they'll pack what they have now and polish it just a bit the tiles before to go gold...  |
SerapisIV
Prince
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Feb 2001
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posted May 02, 2001 10:22
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Sid's Gamespot UK interview a few months ago said that the first thing they did was use Civ placeholder art in SMAC when starting game production. Being that the engine and game is an iterative process in Sid's development scheme, its easy to see the engine be similar to SMAC, just because no individual prototype/engine would stray very far from earlier designs, but over time would take on a life of its own. Even with Brian Reynolds departure, I doubt that this method was changed. |
Imran Siddiqui
ACS News Editor
Deity
b.02-15-99
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posted May 02, 2001 15:38
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Well, with the whole new resource model, it'd be hard to use the SMAC engine for Civ3. It just wouldn't work right. |
Adm.Naismith
Prince
Milano - Italy
Oct 1999
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posted May 02, 2001 17:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui on 05-02-2001 03:38 PM
Well, with the whole new resource model, it'd be hard to use the SMAC engine for Civ3.
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Ehm, why not? 
Special resources aren't so different from Unity Pod scattering (if we lowered sea level in SMAC some pod appeared: not very different from hidden resources revealed at proper event, IMHO).
The fungus explosion and forest growth, also, are examples of terrain -not player worked- modify.
Not to mention that graphic appearence and undermap resource model are two things quite separated, as far as I know programming job... Oh well, if they are really so far from the final product (half done, it seem) we can hope they have something to do about a graphic engine total revolution ------------------
Admiral Naismith AKA mcostant |
Imran Siddiqui
ACS News Editor
Deity
b.02-15-99
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posted May 02, 2001 21:18
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Actually, reading about the resource model they seem MUCH different than just Unity Pod Scattering. I'm not just talking about how they look (though technologies uncovering new resources that you couldn't see before are new), but also how they work with the game itself, making them the underpinnings of the Civ3 game. |
Adm.Naismith
Prince
Milano - Italy
Oct 1999
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posted May 03, 2001 18:45
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Ok, I better understand your point now. Thanks I was speaking about graphic engine, you about the game engine (rules engine) as a whole. ------------------
Admiral Naismith AKA mcostant |
jglidewell
Chieftain
manassas va usa
Feb 2001
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posted May 04, 2001 08:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Snapcase on 05-01-2001 06:57 PM
It doesn't look like the SMAC engine... the fact that it uses Voxels means practically nothing.
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Where did you get that the graphics engine utilizes Voxels? This would make me start salivating even more. |
Admiral PJ
Chieftain
Southeast England , UK
Dec 2000
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posted May 04, 2001 17:17
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Voxels graphics? that would be great..
I'm programming with voxel type 3d graphics and they're very powerful (if you have a good computer at least)
They'd fit better on a 3d polygon map too.. which i assume they're using in Firaxis' new game engine.I'm sure there'll be a lot of new information soon, at least from more games magazine articles. Admiral Pete Emperor of BabelFish Oceanus
(CEO of VIRE Tech games ) |
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