What sort of daily life features will we see?

[Keith]

Will there be more industry types than in Pharaoh?

I'm just curious how much of the daily life of citizens we'll actually see. What type of activities, rituals, and industry will there be?

I understand that the lotus was a particularly popular item for all sorts of medicines, stimulants, and other activities, especially among the Egyptian nobles, and is commonly pictured on wall paintings.


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[Ineti]

It would be nice to see evidence of the local and household gods somehow, somewhere. Little statues of Bes, amulets here and there, etc.

[EmperorJay]

I think another good question to be answered first is the following. What time frame will we be playing in?

Given that you are 1 person/life/incarnation each mission, the maximum lenght has to be ~40 years. But it can't be sunshine for 40 years!

I would think that some reality will be sacrificed here and there will be no nights, but I do recall from one of the screenshots that there was a sunset to be seen. And what about weather effects?

Day and night and weather of course have a big influence on the daily life and the variety of actions that can be shown to the player. I do hope that there will be much variety though, if you walk through the city, you'll encounter playing children, woman on their way to the market, workers, a funeral perhaps, a boothstand with a jugler. Maybe even two neighbours fighting over a tree which takes away sunlight from the garden of one of them :D

[Ineti]

Day and night scenes would be very neat. The cities lit by moonlight and little else would make for a lovely image. Maybe with a thief skulking in the shadows. :)

[EmperorJay]

I agree with that, I think an Egyptian city would look even better at night than during the day, but how can they implent it? If you implent it, you can't possibly have 1 mission cover multiple months, let alone multiple years.

Unless you want to get crazy because of the city getting dark, light, dark light, etc. every minute, I can't see a way to implent it :( .

[Isiondir]

I like your ideas, Emperor Jay! I'm also wondering how much of a daily life will we see. From the articles and such that I've read so far I'm assuming it won't be just the little market ladies, priests, etc wandering around in random directions, but actually moving around in life-like manners. I am curious to know more about this... and I am sure you'll be able to impress us all with what you come out with! :)

-Isi

[Keith]

I like your ideas, Emperor Jay! I'm also wondering how much of a daily life will we see. From the articles and such that I've read so far I'm assuming it won't be just the little market ladies, priests, etc wandering around in random directions, but actually moving around in life-like manners. I am curious to know more about this... and I am sure you'll be able to impress us all with what you come out with! :)

-Isi
I hope we have seen the end of "random" and "destination" walkers and see something truly more intelligent in its place.
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[Ineti]

Looking at some of the screenshots, I also hope we see more people. Screenshot 4, for example, has largely empty streets.

[EmperorJay]

Do remember that this game is still far away from being released, it's not even close to the beta version yet! Besides, every city has it's empty streets.

[Ineti]

Do remember that this game is still far away from being released, it's not even close to the beta version yet! Besides, every city has it's empty streets.

Oh, I know. :) Just some random comments from an enthusiastic fan.

[Jaguar]

Apparently the walker system is going to see some changes. It was discussed in this (http://caesar3.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/caeforumscgi/display.cgi?action=ct&f=1,6061,0,20) thread and it looks like some of the forummers are on teh right track with respect to building seekers/service seekers rather than random walkers.

I expect we'll see a combination of random walkers as well as residents seeking certain services above the basic ones.

[G-Force]

It makes perfect sense that if your food isn't delivered, you'll go and get it before you starve :)

G-Force

[Elvenwarrior2001]

Isiondir: Just wanted to say "hi" Isi. Glad to see you here too. :)

Elven

[Lannes]

I agree with that, I think an Egyptian city would look even better at night than during the day, but how can they implent it? If you implent it, you can't possibly have 1 mission cover multiple months, let alone multiple years.

Perhaps we're thinking of the game too much in a "traditional" city building way. It appears the 3D world is going to be true to scale in time and space. As you say that would make the game unplayable. I admit it's 100% specualtion, but perhaps the game has a true to scale realtime outdoors where you can basically go and walk around to see how things are going and a modified environment where time can be sped up where the decision making is done.

Lannes

[EmperorJay]

That would be a good system. But it has been confirmed that the camera is fully customizable; it's just a matter of moving your mouse (or pressing a button) to zoom in and out, I don't get the impression that there will be 2 modes. (Altough I would like it if it works like you said).

[Lannes]

But it has been confirmed that the camera is fully customizable; it's just a matter of moving your mouse (or pressing a button) to zoom in and out,

But what about time? Somehow CotN will bridge the gap between the realtime experience on the one hand and the length of campaigns on the other. It seems to me that the more you compress time, the more you have to replace actual processes with symbolic representations (which is what happens in traditional city builders like Caesar).

Lannes

PS, I see you're located in Alkmaar. I went to school there :)

[EmperorJay]

Well, guess we have to wait and see then, or maybe someone from TM would like to fill us in on the time-scale already?

And a little off-topic: Which school did you went to?

[Keith]

Until we find out how the time is scaled down in the game just about anything is possible right now.

Do they want a game that will take just a couple hours to play or a week or more. A game that would take a week to complete will have more possibilities, but the it might be too boring to complete if it moves too slowly.
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[mouse]

Keith sure hope the game(missions) takes more than couple of hours to play (hate those quicky missions) but something less than a week (shades of the last mission in Pharaoh) :p Missions that are too short seem to fail to fully develop the game, while missions that take too long leave me feeling as though I personally hauled each and every brick and stone ;) Bottom line though a new city builder is such a delight I'll take whatever is developed :cool:

[Keith]

Keith sure hope the game(missions) takes more than couple of hours to play (hate those quicky missions) but something less than a week (shades of the last mission in Pharaoh) :p Missions that are too short seem to fail to fully develop the game, while missions that take too long leave me feeling as though I personally hauled each and every brick and stone ;) Bottom line though a new city builder is such a delight I'll take whatever is developed :cool:
I'm sure there will be a mixture of both types, long and short. The problem is there are people that don't have a lot of time and want a quick game while others prefer to linger in some epic campaign.
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[EmperorJay]

For those who don't have enough time, there's always Open Play, I assume.

[Lannes]

Personally I'd like games to be as open ended as possible, and I wouldn't mind if it took weeks to complete a campaign.

Lannes

PS I went to the Murmellius Gymnasium. You know it?

[Josh]

(This thread is talking about so many different things at once, but I wanted to comment on the day/night dillema)

I think Railroad Tycoon 3 did it best, although the total game time can span 30 years in under an hour, days came and went every 15 minutes or so. so there is about 5 days in a year? Who cares, the visual variety day and night afforded was wonderfull, to see your train climbing up a mountain in the blue skys, then to see it plod through a thunderstorm with lightning in the distance, then to see the golden sunset the stars come out and the moon rise and slowly move across the sky, watching all the houses lights come on inside.. then waiting for the sun to rise again over the atlantic... I deffinately didnt care about the fact that the days didnt line up with the years.

If they could decide on maybe a day a month, or a day every 6 months, it doesnt matter, first it gives us a sence that time is passing, and seccond wouldnt it be wonderfull to see the sun set in the desert, turn everything golden, reflect off the brand new sandstone pyramid you have errected, and then wink out, so you can watch your city get lit by torches instead of daylight? I think so.

[EmperorJay]

I never played RRT3, Josh, but it does sound good.

However, I wouldn't mind if night was not added, nor would I mind if weather effects were not added, gameplay wise. But if you're trying to build a real life simulation citybuilder, I'd say they have to try to add it for reality sake.

Lannes, yes, I know it, it's close to my current school, het PCC.

[Josh]

RRT3 is really a relaxing game, I reccomend it to anyone who has problems sleeping and just needs to chill out before going to bed.

But while im not saying make the citybuilders a true simulation game, I always felt one of the main appeals of the game was the environment, the ambient sounds, the music, the colours all coming together to make you feel in some way that you were there, so any added effect at making it feel like your in egypt I support.

[Jayhawk]

Judging by the screenshots we can see some artisans working on the roofs of their houses. They also seem to sell their wares from their houses.

I think, I saw a sculptor working in one of the other shots.

One would assume there would be a constant flow of people making and buying things.

As fo rthe Day/Night cycle. I guess it will not be a real time one, but indeed aone that spans a month or more ;)

[Miut]

Diablo 2 had Day and Night cyccles and some things like using the Horadric Cube to manufacture your own special armor could only happen at certain game play times of day - never could figure out what time of day it was in it, though.. only the broad sweep of Dark=Night, Light=Day. :D That I would rahter NOT see in this game, but Day and Night and some weather and seasons like the N9ile Floods, yes, please. :)

After all we could have the farmers heading off to build monuments during the floods as they really did. Would mean a slow down in monument building in a way too, I suppose, if they only built in the flood times when the land was unuseable

And remember, we did have a kind of tidal effect, for want of a better phrase, in Pharaoh when the river flooded the fields. ;)