Hi Team!

Very excited about the upcoming Civ3. This is why I decided to pose a question for consideration.

In our planet's civilizations' history, one aspect which is somewhat repetitive but not yet reflected successfully in any Civ (or Civ-like) game is a people's loyalty to their culture. For instance: despite being conquered, controlled, ruled, later freed and otherwise, there are many, many cultures which develop a people who are incredibly dedicated to their history. The French, or Italians, or Persians, especially demonstrated in East/West Germany and their rejoining, etc. Despite many wars, conquerings, shifting of power, etc, these cultures, and their peoples, have survived intact, even at the expense of wars to free themselves from external oppressing cultures. I'm wondering if there's some method of reflecting this in the game: perhaps a tendency for a city to rebel (violently or through political shifts) after a time in order to rejoin its mother civilization (if still around) or revolting to re-create it's past civilization (if the original civ is not around any longer? Would add a very interesting touch and risk to conquering foreign cultures, eh?

Just wondering. Seems like our world has some very distinct regions (read: cities) which will always be dedicated to their mother culture, come hell or high water.

Thanks for the voice. Rock on!
Cass

Cass,

Thought you'd never ask! Yes we are addressing these ideas fairly vigorously. Culture and nationality will play dramatic roles in your Civilization's history. We have systems for reflecting cultural value of cities and civilizations that depend upon the players use of his resources. These values and how they relate to each other cause all sorts of effects including many you refer to in your question. Just hang on a little longer and we'll be able to say a lot more.

hi civ3-Team,

I´d like to hear more about the diplomatic model of the game, the governmental choices and how the AI is coming along in the "game update" - section, as for me these are the parts I enjoy most in SMAC and Civ2. also, will there be the same diplomatic options in solo and multiplayer or will it resemble SMAC in these aspects? I´d be very grateful if these topics would be covered in one of the next updates.

Best wishes,

Simon S.

Simon,

First off, we think the AI is progressing very nicely.

The diplomacy model is being completely overhauled to allow trading of many, many types of resources, commodities, Agreements, Technologies, units, gold, and cities in practically any combination that you can trick your opponent into accepting :-)

This is one of our primary areas of focus.

Thanks for asking!

Hi!

I was wondering if you still will be able to make your own units since I had a lot of fun with it in Civ II.

One of the units I made was a para-settler. It was great for scouting out small islands since it could make an airfield there and jump on.

/Stefan

Stefan,

Yes, you will absolutely be able to create your own units! With regards to unit customization, we're committed to the scenario/mod community, and we realize that the ability to create diverse, interesting scenarios is one of the major reasons for Civilization II's enduring popularity. To that end, we'll be developing extensive tools for scenario and mod creators to use which will allow them to create whatever they can think of. Flexibility is the order of the day.

There has also been some concern that because we are showing animated units on the website, scenario creators will be forced to learn 3D animation programs in order to create units; we can safely say that's not the case. Scenario authors who want to create and use animated units will certainly be able to, but those who wish to use Civ II style single-frame units will be able to do so.

Thanks for your email!

I can`t wait!!!!!!!!!!Hurry up!!!!!!!Please!!!!!!!!

Sorry, but you didn't phrase that in the form of a question! Seriously, though, we're going as fast as we can!