Is there a release date? [Archive] - Tilted Mill Community

Nefermenu

05-21-2004, 05:09 PM

I don't understand why people whine about delays sometimes, wouldn't rather wait another month for the perfect game than not wait and get a game that barely works? (not talking to anyone in particular)

My thoughts exactly! I second that. What I'd like to say to whoever is releasing a game, is take your time. Release a game when it is ready. I hate it when some companies rush their games, and then begins a looooong series of patches that just may make the game playable. :mad:

But I'm sure TM won't fall into that ;) :D

vovan

05-21-2004, 05:13 PM

Release a game when it is ready. I hate it when some companies rush their games, and then begins a looooong series of patches that just may make the game playable.

But I'm sure TM won't fall into that

Well, now, I imagine it's not so much the call of the developer itself as it is of the publisher, unfortunately. :(

Speaking of which, I apologize if this info is readily available - I didn't see it anywhere yet - but do we know who is going to publish this? :)

Miut

05-21-2004, 07:30 PM

Myelin Media - a newly formed company will publish CoTN. It is mentioned on GameSpy and GameSpot sites. Here is Myelin's site, go there and pick Games
http://www.myelinmedia.com/

On games. a series of games I love is the Unreal and Unreal Tournament ones. Unreal 2 was years in development, and months and months over Time, and when it did come out, unless you had the very latest video card, plus other recent hardware, and the latest drivers for all hardware by going to the sites and downloading, you had Issues of the game freezing and fritzing in ways that enraged many people. The fix took almost 4-6 months to come out for the Brits, though the US one was a little sooner.
My beef over that was, if you are designing a game over 2-3 years, why does it come out with Cutting Edge, just released hardware needs that few folk have? Surely it makes sense that you are developing (at some point) with the last Gen video cards?
OK, Unreal has always taxed to the limit a system's video requirements, but to me it makes no sense being Cutting Edge as many folk can't afford to upgrade when they may have just done so.. and it did make them a lot of angry players in their forums, and potentially lost them a lot of customers dissatisfied with the fact they had the lower limit of Recommended specs and the game refused to work at all. :( Oh and delays were not due to publisher but the game developers.

I am just praying CoTN will also play on my lap top with its Radeon mobility 7500 vid card.. it is a Pentium 4 with extra memory.

vovan

05-21-2004, 08:19 PM

Thanks for the link, Miut. :)

As far as system requirements go, I am sure we haven't so much to worry as if this were an FPS, after all, like you mentioned yourself, Unreal, and, indeed, most other FPSs, have always been made for the cutting-edge systems only. On the other hand, strategies such as this, aren't normally quite as hard on the specs as the shooters, which require faster rendering, and apparently more realistic graphics, though I, personally, wouldn't mind better graphics in my strategy games. :)

Oh and delays were not due to publisher but the game developers.

Naturally. Delays are often due to developers, and rushing out the door is often due to publishers. Although, of course, with Emperor, we have seen a sad example where the delays were due to the publisher as well...

Miut

05-21-2004, 08:36 PM

Glad to help on the Link. :DPlease don't get me wrong on the Unreal issues - I would far rather a game company took the necessary time to make their game right. We are the ultimate Winners, after all. :)

Yes, I know FPS need more rendering, I just can't figure why they obviously start developing them with current levels of hardware yet when the games come out, they now need Cutting Edge.. that doesn't make sense to me as a Buyer. Yes, upgrading the graphics as tech advances and they are developing it, that is sensible, but I avoid Cutting Edge like the plague cos I once had a Blue Lightning m/board when it just came out and the issues I had with so many of my existing games made me get rid of it as soon as I could!
As you can tell, I have Custom built computers -I am learning how to do the hardware side myself now that I can troubleshoot most of the software and drivers I need. ;)

Well CoTN graphics seem to be answering both our desires for more realistic rendering, don't they? What attracted me to Unreal was the graphics, to be honest. The thought of an Egyptian one with a similar level of graphics just makes me drool.

Question for Tilted Mill - Can we have a God Cheat, or something similar so we can cruise round our city without anything happening to it - but not it freezing the workers etc - and just enjoy looking at the beauty of it, pretty please?

Josh

05-23-2004, 03:28 AM

Miut, its all part of a conspiracy to make us buy better hardware. A conspiracy created by Nvidia and the CIA, who as we all know created Unreal, shot Kennedy and were responsible for the coverup in roswell.

While I have never liked games that are so rediculously hardware intensive (usualy all flash no sustance) A lot of the strategy games with a lot of substance seem to really avoid graphics except in their most basic form, its really nice to start seeing companies find a healthy balance.

And while in my opinion getting a game out early is less important than getting a game done right, getting a game done on schedual is important, companies shouldnt make unrealistic predictions, its bad buisinuss, and then you need to tell people something else to get you for X-mas

Oh well even if the deadline isnt made so long as its released before april Im good, birthday gifts work as well :D

Keith

05-23-2004, 12:36 PM

The moral of the story here is that when shopping for computers or hardware make sure you don't buy from the bargain basement of the particular line of gear. I'm not saying don't buy from discount places, I'm saying get the best gear you can that you can afford. Get top end systems or hardware and 3-4 years down the road you'll probably still be able to play the latest game to come down the pike. Bottom end systems or hardware may save you some cash up front but you'll end up replacing it that much sooner. Sofar, I typically manage to get between 5-7 years out of a computer before I get a new one.
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vovan

05-23-2004, 03:26 PM

Well, I don't think you could play brand-new FPS games too well on a 3-year old computer. You certainly couldn't play Unreal on a 3 year old computer back when it came out. Then again, strategy games are not so demanding, so you would be good to go. I have a 2 year old laptop, and I can easily play most games I want to play on it. :)

Josh

05-23-2004, 07:17 PM

No, I think you could get fairly good performance out of a 3 year old computer so long as you check your oil and perform routine maitenance after 75,000 miles

Upgrade your ram and your video card for a hundred or two and you have a new computer.

But if you buy your computer from the local hardware store you probably wont be able to upgrade anything.

Nobody in their right mind should ever pay an extra $300 for a .2 or prossesor power, but right in the middle of everything is very cost effective

when buying a computer nowdays stick more into the ram than the prossessor, make sure it has a few empty slots (instead of all slots filled just a little bit, because when you upgrade you will have to trash some of you old ram) get a decent (not top of the line with hyperthreading) prossessor, and make sure it has an AGP slot, and stick in a nice midrange graphics car (not intergrated)

I just priced a dell that meets those basic guidelines and will deffinately last you 5 years for 700 dollars (yes you could get one for 500, but dont) and if you have your own monitor and speakers take a hundred off

Computers are so cheap nowdays. (well, compared to a decade ago)

Ken Parker

05-24-2004, 11:14 AM

Question for Tilted Mill - Can we have a God Cheat, or something similar so we can cruise round our city without anything happening to it - but not it freezing the workers etc - and just enjoy looking at the beauty of it, pretty please?CotN game characters tend to their own needs without your intervention. Consequently, you can watch people go about their business without worrying about systems falling apart because of some unnoticed minor flaw in distribution or service coverage. In fact, a CotN city functions better as individual citizens' lives grow easier and more fulfilling...and the best way to evaluate their lives is to watch them go about their day. In other words, you can spend considerable time in the course of normal gameplay "cruising around your city" and watching people interact. No special mode is necessary.

Keith

05-24-2004, 12:08 PM

CotN game characters tend to their own needs without your intervention. Consequently, you can watch people go about their business without worrying about systems falling apart because of some unnoticed minor flaw in distribution or service coverage. In fact, a CotN city functions better as individual citizens' lives grow easier and more fulfilling...and the best way to evaluate their lives is to watch them go about their day. In other words, you can spend considerable time in the course of normal gameplay "cruising around your city" and watching people interact. No special mode is necessary.
You know a nice video clip about some interesting aspect of daily life might go a long way to help us visualize this concept. Are we spectators only, or can we directly influence the events of the personal lives?

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vovan

05-24-2004, 01:05 PM

You know a nice video clip about some interesting aspect of daily life might go a long way to help us visualize this concept.

Hint, hint. http://207.44.245.200/forums/images/smilies/naughty.gif http://www.tiltedmill.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

Caesar Alan

05-24-2004, 01:27 PM

In fact, a CotN city functions better as individual citizens' lives grow easier and more fulfilling...and the best way to evaluate their lives is to watch them go about their day.

This seems to me to be the single biggest improvement over the CityBuilding Series. Too often in the likes Pharaoh or C3 you have to decide between creating an efficient city, and a city in which your inhabitants are well provided for. Providing services to your people took away valuable workers from other endeavours, like trade or monument building. Particularly in the early stages of a a city, it was normally disadvantageous to see to the needs of your people. Now I enjoy playing the tyrant as much as the next man, but there is a limit to how much you should be rewarded for doing so. In my opinion, C3 and Pharaoh get the balance slightly wrong.

The way Ken's describing things here, it seems that the focus in CotN is very much the other way round: the way to an efficient city is to provide for your people's needs. Treat them well, and everything will run smoothly; treat them poorly, and you're on a fast train to destruction.

I love it... :)

vovan

05-24-2004, 01:29 PM

The way Ken's describing things here, it seems that the focus in CotN is very much the other way round: the way to an efficient city is to provide for your people's needs. Treat them well, and everything will run smoothly; treat them poorly, and you're on a fast train to destruction.

Seems cool, as long as you can still pull out your whip every now and then, and make 'em work! :D

Miut

05-27-2004, 07:34 PM

Ken Parker,
Thank you very much for the reply. ;) You have Made My Day for me! :D I love the graphics of the monuments we build in Pharaoh and just wish I could zoom in for a closer look. Being able to do this in Children of the Nile will be fantastic.

I have this ambition to write an Egyptian based novel and it sounds like your game will allow me to get up close and personal and get all sorts of inspiration. ;) I'm constantly collecting anything that can expand both my interest and knowledge of Ancient Egypt.

For anyone interested, I found an amazing magazine called KMT while on a marathon walk (for me, at least, given I am trying to avoid using a wheelchair) to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to see their Egytian and Nubian collection. Well, I found it in a Barnes and Noble store.
I suggest at least looking at KMT if you are interested in what Exhibitions are on and touring museums, (there's a Tutankhamen one selected by Hamass touring around in Canada, but I think it had not got US locations yet) and how various Egyptian Digs are going etc, plus amazing articles. The one I got features the Blue Lotus - and has some great pix of them in it. It's also full of wonderful repros of exhibits from the New York museum and other places, and adverts for books plus reviews of new Egyptian books. Articles seem to be by Egyptologists.

It is not a magazine for just the literati, it is one we can all enjoy, even though there are a few obscure references here and there to scholarly papers.

KMT is the name the Egyptians used for their land and refers to the Nile soil after a flood - the black land. Egyptian writing used no vowels. There is even an excellent explanation on how to read heiroglyphics in the magazine which I intend to keep.

EmperorJay

05-29-2004, 06:27 AM

vovan

05-29-2004, 01:42 PM

Can we say attaching the camera to individual walkers, as the speculation in another thread goes? :D

Also, I imagine since the individual people now have their own needs, we will be able to "view" these needs for each individual person, a-la Tropico/Sims?

And then, what if a delivery dude moving food from the granary to the market decides to satisfy his need for something all of a sudden, he'll just walk off, and leave his cart? :eek:

Lots of fun possibilities. :D

Ammurit

05-29-2004, 03:50 PM

And then, what if a delivery dude moving food from the granary to the market decides to satisfy his need for something all of a sudden, he'll just walk off, and leave his cart?

When you gotta go, you gotta go! :)

vovan

05-29-2004, 04:41 PM

When you gotta go, you gotta go!

Huh, don't tell me we are going to have to build public restrooms to avoid nasty situation with "when you gotta go". ;)

Keith

05-29-2004, 05:17 PM

Huh, don't tell me we are going to have to build public restrooms to avoid nasty situation with "when you gotta go". ;)
Actually from the things I've seen online apparently Egyptians had indoor lavatories in their homes. I'm not sure how they would have handled a problem while away from home, I suspect a quick trip the river and some reeds was in order.
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Miut

05-29-2004, 05:31 PM

Now I know why the common people propitiated Sobek so much! :lol

vovan

05-30-2004, 05:03 PM

Now I know why the common people propitiated Sobek so much!

Hehe. :Dhttp://www.tiltedmill.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

Ken Parker

06-01-2004, 11:39 AM

Thanks for that post Ken, but that leaves me one question still. When you're talking about looking around in the city, do you mean that I'm just moving my camera around the city, or will there really be a mode where I walk around as the character I'm playing (some sort of mayor earlier and the Pharaoh later in the game)?I have to be vague about design questions, because the current state of the game is not what goes out the door in the end. Things change. However, I can say that you have complete control over the camera, and you can "attach" it to follow particular individuals around the city.

vovan

06-01-2004, 11:50 AM

I have to be vague about design questions, because the current state of the game is not what goes out the door in the end. Things change.

I don't know how appropriate this question would be, but... How much do you expect things to change? I mean I imagine that in order to make the holidays deadline, one would need to be pretty far along the development route. I mean, clearly, there is probably art missing, and quite a bit of tweaking to be done still, but it seems to me that the very core elements of the game should be pretty much firmly in place by now? Or maybe you don't expect things to change much and it is a "just in case" thing? Wouldn't that be good news. :)

However, I can say that you have complete control over the camera, and you can "attach" it to follow particular individuals around the city.

Ah, that's very nice. Thanks for the info. :Dhttp://www.tiltedmill.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

Keith

06-01-2004, 11:52 AM

Can we give a individual a name of our own choosing? Some games like SimTower and Rollercoaster Tycoon have this little feature. It lets you personalize the game a little.

It would be fun to have a "flag" function button(s) so that we can jump to our pet citizen(s) at any time no matter where they are at that time.
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EmperorJay

06-01-2004, 12:15 PM

Thanks a lot Ken! I really appreciate you guys visiting and replying now and then :D .

I hope I'm not being rude here ;) but I do hope that I will be able to walk around as myself (imagine... everyone you encounter bows, just silence remains as you walk by...) What's the saying again? Power corrupts? Doesn't matter, it feels good anyway :D .

vovan

06-01-2004, 07:11 PM

I do hope that I will be able to walk around as myself (imagine... everyone you encounter bows, just silence remains as you walk by...)

Heh, that would make a megalomaniac out of you in a hurry. :)

Miut

06-01-2004, 07:54 PM

Naw, that would pall after a while.
I liked the Terry Pratchett idea in his book about Teppik the Assasin who suddenly found out his father had died and he was now Pharaoh because ... everywhere he walked, flowers sprung up magically! That kind of effect would be nice every once in a while as an Easter Egg! :D

Jayhawk

06-02-2004, 04:50 AM

Pyramids was fun... Miut, you just brought back fond memories of Ptracy and You Bastard (the world's greatest mathmatician).

:: wonders if we'll be able to drain off temporal energy from the pyramids... ::

Ken Parker

06-02-2004, 10:42 AM

I don't know how appropriate this question would be, but... How much do you expect things to change? I'll just say that the best games incorporate changes suggested by playtesters, after initial implementation is complete. One cannot know in advance what those changes will be. Sometimes features turn out not to fit with the rest of the game, or they impose unacceptable performance hits, or they just can't work the way they were designed, and they have to be removed or overhauled. And now I really should leave design questions to the designers!