 June 19, 1999 02:45 PM EST
Chat follow-up
The chat I mentioned in my last news update (17th June) did
indeed take place as per the schedule and it seems like I missed a bit of a treat.
Still, our intrepid forumers don't let too much slip by here at Heaven. One of our
regulars, RSC, reported back with some very interesting comments:
Gods
-Some of them will now be able to empower their priest with additional bonuses if they're
worshipped properly
-Each of the main gods has a Large Temple that you can build, each Large Temple has two
upgrades dedicated to lesser gods. These upgrades have game effects
-Not every god is represented in every scenario, and some cities will have a 'patron
deity' (I think we already knew this)
-you have to balance your patron deity against minor deities, too, and some cities wiil
have more than one patron deity.
-There are many more things that the gods will do, both good and bad.
-The gods are more political then they were in C3, they are less inclined to share the
devotion of the people
Economic Model
-More raw materials/finished goods and resources than C3; More cities to trade with
-Resources are more precious, and some commodities take 2 raw materials
-More things to mine; flax, barley, and chckpeas (??) to farm; reeds for papyrus can be
gathered, and you can hunt
-Some things must go through 2 workshops before reaching the final product
-Wheat farms produce 2 resources
Micromanagment
-warehouse and grainary controls have been refined; bazaars added
-Deeper control, but notmore complicated
-Walker behavior improved; more controls for more advanced players
Misc. Quotes from the Discussion
"You will still be omnipresent, although you will have a seat of power, and a seat of
wealth, both of which are vulnerable."
"Money, which is natually very important, is kept in several buildings throught town,
and they can be robbed..."
"Also, some buildings that produce access walkers require resources to operate"
"You have the option of continuing to play any city after you have completed the
objectives. There is also a City Construction Kit included with the game"
"You are also able to create your own maps and create your own scenarios"
"You'll have multiple difficulty levels, you'll be able to turn off god
effects...etc."
"...even create a chain of events scenario..."
"The advisors have bee refined based on what we learned from Caesar III, but they
will appear much the same in Pharaoh. Most of the changes are in the code, making sure
their advice is even more specific and appropriate to your situation...And in general the
game provides more feedback then in C3 so you will be less reliant upon your
advisors"
Quotes on monument building
"For example, a large monument may require 2 different types of stone, carpenters,
woode, grave goods, jewelry, etc"
"There are different sized pyramids. The sphinx starts out as a hunk of stone that
you slowly refine over time"
You see the pyramids go up stone by stone!!
"There is some flexibiltiy as to which monuments (and how many of each) you can
build" How many? Up to three per scenario!! nice! |
Wow, if all that has whetted your appetite (and if
it hasn't, why?), then you can read further comments and post your follow-ups here
in the forum. For those of you that missed it (myself included), then there's
some good news - I am reliably informed that the chat log will be posted at some point in
the very near future.
Angel
Reckless Rodent
June 17, 1999 04:15 AM EST
Today is the day
The chat mentioned by Impressions in the newsletter is going
to be happening later on today. Should certainly be worth going if you get the
chance. For those of you with IRC, then just connect to chat.annex.com in room
#Impressions. If you haven't got IRC, then don't worry, as you can access the chat
via your web browser at http://www.annexcafe.com/chat/impressions. Let us know afterwards in the Pharaoh Heaven forum
what was brought up and whether you thought it a useful exercise. Hopefully, I'll be
putting up a log of the chat in good time.
I've posted a
thread in the forum asking if any of you have had problem viewing the movies that were
released this week on the official site. Let us know if you've been having problems,
because if there are enough of us, then we may be able to get Impressions to issue the
movies in a more suitable format (.avi or .mpg). Caesar III Heaven's tech Cherub, Et Flavius, has
just posted the following:
| To resolve conflicts with
QuickTime, a long-time favourite of Sierra, you need to make sure that Windows
mediaplayer, and G2, aren't automatically assuming the task. When I downloaded the movies
I already had QT, so I don't know if all these problems are created in the 'double' whammy
you get when you have to acquire a player at the same time you downloaded the movie. Makes
a lot of changes to your system files, so technically speaking, it's a matter of knowing
what kind of pruning and re-write was done to get everything else that does similar tasks,
in the non-conflict mode. |
As usual, we shall keep you informed.
Angel
Reckless Rodent
June 16, 1999 10:15 AM EST
Pharaoh movie
Here's something I meant to mention yesterday, but had a
senior moment and forgot about. If you read the newsletter, then you'll already know
about this, but if you didn't, then this will be news to you. Over at the official Pharaoh site, there are 3 Pharaoh movies for
you to check out. They were shown at E3, and were apparently eagerly lapped up by
the press. They are in .mov format, so you'll need to get the QuickTime plugin. Hope you have more luck than I
did - I can't get QT or any other .mov viewer to work on my current system, so haven't
seen the films yet. Here's hoping I have better luck back in London. On the
subject of movies, another of the site I'm working on at the moment, Tzar Heaven, has an exclusive movie - the very
first of its kind - showing just how great Tzar will be. Well worth a look, I'd say.
Ooh, take a look at that. It can only be a
pic from Angel Jayhawk, posted for your enjoyment in the forum. This one's a photo
of a couple of statues of Ramesses the Great which the hawk found at Luxor. Check
out the full version and a bit of background on Ramesses here.
A bit of a first for Pharaoh Heaven today - there
are (as I'm sure the observant amongst you will have noticed) two polls gracing the right
hand side of this page. Why not take a moment to cast your vote and let us all know
how you feel?
Our august hosts, Gamestats, are currently hosting a beta signup thingy
for a Microsoft game. You will be able to sign up from Friday this week. To
get all the information, then pop
over here.
Angel
Reckless Rodent
June 15, 1999 01:05 PM EST
They said it would never happen...
But it has! The Pharaoh Newsletter has finally
appeared! And it's a pretty useful resource as well. Missed it? Don't be
downbeat - you can read it right here at Pharaoh Heaven. Just click here to get to the new
Newsletter Archive. However, I'll pick out the main headlines here.
The most important thing which was announced in the
newsletter was an upcoming chat with the designers. Here are the details:
| Join us for a question and
answer session with the Pharaoh development team this Thursday, June 17, at 7pm EST. You
can participate in this online press and fan conference using either an IRC client or your
web browser. In IRC, connect to chat.annex.com in room #Impressions. Using your web
browser, connect to http://www.annexcafe.com/chat/impressions |
I probably won't be there - it's a bit late for us
poor European folk. However, I've been told that a transcript of the chat will be
posted on the official site, and I'll post a copy
here at PH, so you won't miss out on any of the details. Be warned, though...it's a
mainly press-oriented event - they will get priority when it comes to asking the
questions, but who knows, perhaps some of the fans will be able to get a question in at
the end. I've also been informed that Impressions are considering holding chats
earlier in the day for the benefit of us folks across the Atlantic, so I'll keep you
posted on that.
There was also talk of a potential release date:
| Pharaoh is slated to ship in
October of 1999. If you want to make sure your local store has plenty on hand when it
comes out, talk to the manager and let him or her know how excited you are about this
product. This will help them determine how many copies of Pharaoh they need to order. |
So, now we know. October's the target.
There's a load more stuff in the newsletter, so you can either check it out here or get there via the Newsletter Archive.
I've been playing around with a couple of the
sections here at Pharaoh Heaven in order to make them more informative and helpful.
The first bit to get the new look is the Sneak Peek section, so
check that out and let me know if there's anything I've missed.
Angel
Reckless Rodent
|
