More Twilight Improvements

...Than you can shake something at.

Published on October 19, 2007 By ScottTykoski In GalCiv Journals

Another fun week of Improvement creation! While I'm enjoying myself, making these race specific improvements is really starting to take it's creative toll on me. For GalCiv3 I'm going to fight for Improvements that are real-time 3D models and an 'Improvement Editor' where it's easy to crank them out (plus it'd open the door for more custom-created improvements).

But enough looking forward....let's dig through the past two weeks and see some new Twilight stuff!!!

(Starting at the upper left corner, going clockwise...)

Black Market: A fun way for Evil nations to bolster their planets economy.

Industrial Cluster: Thalans grow their factories. With a small seed, some building supplies, and a pinch of love, this mid-game improvement can adjust itself help the Thalans in multiple ways.

Flesh Incinerator: Yes, I know it looks like a BBQ grill, but what better way to combust the poor, sick, and useless than with a amped up foreman (that, may I add, it cuts fat in half)?

Diplomatic Brain Trust: I really just wanted an excuste to have an improvement that looked similar to a capitol building, but this Terran-specific wonder will boost their diplomatic ability.

Healing Pools: While under the rule of their Drengin overlords, one of the few pleasures Torian slavelings discovered was resting their whip-weary bodies in the non-lethal cooling pools of the Factories they worked in (unless they got caught....then it wasn't relaxing....cause they'd be dead). This practice became part of their culture, so Morale buildings for the Torians tend to reflect their hotspring-loving ways. The 'Healing Pools' is the first in this line of improvements.

So there's your sneak-peak at some of the improvements you'll be building on your planets once Twilight falls (ooh...going to have to send that Tagline over to marketing)!!!!!!! I hope they got you excited - but if not, here's a few more exclamaction points to seal the deal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a fun weekend with 1.8a...cya on Thursday for Twilight: Beta 1!

Comments (Page 4)

CommanderGizmo

on Oct 24, 2007

Something that's always bothered me: Why does everyone at the UP have to vote at one time?

A set order in which the vote is cast would be cool. And not highest to lowest or vice versa as that would be to easy to manipulate. Maybe the vote can go in the order of which you meet the races, just as long as the player is not first or last.

I believe that is why they all vote at once.

benn

on Oct 24, 2007

Agreed, and also, can you make it so that on the trade screen, when ever you add influence, it will automatically choose the maximum/minimum number of IP the AI will accept for the trade, like it does with BC already?

Also, I've said this before, but what about adding a little green "Earth-like" icon to all the Earth-like habitable planets? That way it remains consistent that habitable have an icon and uninhabitable planets do not...

Oh and... great looking improvements there, BoogieBac! Can't wait to see more in the beta on Thurs!

These two changes would be very useful and would keep the game consistent. Also, the green icon for non-extreme worlds would make it easier to see class 1 worlds. There have been a few times when I have failed to see low class worlds within my influence that the AI have then stolen from under my nose.

In-game time would also be good because I always play for 'just one more turn' when I don't know the time and sometimes that is not good.

Neilo

on Oct 24, 2007

I believe that is why they all vote at once.

Oh, indeed and it works fine. But it would give the votes much more purpose if your vote would count one way or another, especially early game. By having a set voting order, one could decide which idea they wish to support based on the tally already presented to them.

It's an idea that would go quite well with an older idea of having fore knowledge of the topic and how other races will vote. I believe that suggestion surmised that you would know of the intentions of the races your are allied with or at least friendly.

All this could also have a bearing toward diplomatic relations especially if you went against an ally or friend.

Food for thought...GC3 maybe???

xishtarx

on Oct 24, 2007

The clock should be do-able...we've talked about it in the past, but didn't want to seem pompus.

One of MOO3's first announced features was an 'alarm clock' to help gamers pry themselves away from the overwhelming addictiveness of the title. (I'm not one to insult another game...I'm just blasting the attitude of 'Oh yeah...our game is THAT great.')

But if you ASK for it, we can't be accused of arrogance, can we?

Pleeeease do a clock! It's so hard to get up in the morning if you accidentally played to 4 am!

FireBender

on Oct 24, 2007

Yey! My clock idea is popular!

But please don't show it in the main interface, it gives a sort of fear feeling and brings distraction. "I don't want to get up now! No way! Those Drengin are still out there! Stupid clock! Why'd you tell me the time!?". Maybe somewhere the player would look but would not be distracted from the game.

It would be nice if the clock was not visible but just an in-game kill switch in which it would automatically save the game into "Killsave" and turn it off if you don't comply with the first time your game-clock rings. If you set a limit for 12:00 AM and you still want to keep playing then the game turns off by itself telling you, "Sorry but its beddy bye time. You have been playing for 6 hours 19 minutes and 32 seconds. Now time for rest. You and me both. Good night." without warning you(or you'd turn it off). That one last minute can go on forever...

ScottTykoski

on Oct 24, 2007

Would it be fine just to stick it on the options screen?

FireBender

on Oct 24, 2007

Would it be fine just to stick it on the options screen?

Umm... sure but the "kill-switch" serves the purpose better.

crow_t_robot

on Oct 24, 2007

Would it be fine just to stick it on the options screen?

I would rather it next to the mini map or where the treasury is on the game screen.

thehandofzarquon

on Oct 24, 2007

Would it be fine just to stick it on the options screen?

If it isn't an alarm clock, a more visible location would be better, imho. However... if it is an alarm clock... then just having it on the option screen would be fine with me.

Bingjack

on Oct 24, 2007

All joking aside, wouldn't an "alarm clock" really be a complete waste of development time? No one really needs this, no matter how much they play. At best, it would be like putting a .mp3 player or something in the game...totally superfluous, an unnecessary novelty.

I mean, of course, if all other things were equal, and this list of features and fixes we'd all really like to see were done, then sure, why not. But things aren't equal, and these things aren't done. I trust I don't need to make a list of the things we'd like to see fixed in the game, or things we'd really like to see improved so much so that even an extra 5 minutes of development time should go to them.

If this part of the thread has all been some running joke, I apologize for being dense and not getting it. I can't believe anyone really wants this, and if they think they do, they haven't realized that clocks already exist on their computer and in other easily accessed locations in their life.

I definitely don't need this option, would never, ever, use it, and don't want it cluttering up my interface. And I play a lot of really long Gal civ games.

Thanks!

ScottTykoski

on Oct 24, 2007

It's something where, if it's easy to do (development time <= 4 hours), then we'll do it. That's why I asked about clock placement, since (between UI and coding) that'll be the best I can give you for a 'non-gameplay' feature.

It's on our 'if time' list, so hopefully it'll squeek in

crow_t_robot

on Oct 24, 2007

it would be like putting a .mp3 player or something in the game

Hey, I'd use it. It would be a lot faster than minimizing the game and then taking 5 minutes to play a song you want.

Bingjack

on Oct 24, 2007

it would be like putting a .mp3 player or something in the game

Hey, I'd use it. It would be a lot faster than minimizing the game and then taking 5 minutes to play a song you want.

Do you not know how to use a computer? Just curious. It's the only explanation for that statement I can think of. Unless you're just exaggerating. Either way, it's not an accurate portrayal of the situation.

ScottTykoski

on Oct 24, 2007

No, i hear ya Jub ... if your running full screen, you have to alt-tab out, bring up the player, find the music, then come back in (recreating textures on a large map can take a while) it feels kinda painful to go through the motions.

I've got in the habit of just putting on a playlist when i start a game and let it run.

Drengin

on Oct 24, 2007

I would rather it next to the mini map or where the treasury is on the game screen.

Seconded

On the main screen would be cool please.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!