It's a Game!

I have been trying to keep up with all the topics in the forum as much as I can, but some of them are starting to scare me a little.
I pledged to Ancient Cities as I enjoy other city/country building games and could see that this could be a fantastic ā€œGameā€ for me to play once released. Unfortunately some of the topics that are being started are very over my head as I am just a 60 year old gamer (not a very good one) who likes to while away his time on his PC. I donā€™t really care if a game is not 100% accurate (99% is fine), but I think that wondering if they are going to have the correct foot wear and eating the right type of food is taking it a wee bit too far. Forum members seem to be discussing history rather than how they may (or may not) enjoy playing the completed ā€œGameā€ (or Beta in some caseā€™s).
Please remember that there are forum members who just want to enjoy the game and donā€™t want the developers being harassed about the historical aspect of the ā€œGameā€. I would like to think that the original idea was for people to enjoy playing the ā€œGameā€ and not look at it as a historical lecture as there are shed loads of books and TV shows that look after the correct historical aspect of the era that the ā€œGameā€ is based on.
Letā€™s not bog the developers down with too much of the correct historical aspect and let them get on with developing a ā€œGameā€ that the majority will really enjoy just playing it.

Rant over!!!

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Haha, well thatā€™s fair.
Weā€™ve got quite a few Bachelors and Masters degreeā€™s in this forum, either in the field of Neolithic archaeology or in tangent fields, so it shouldnā€™t be surprising that the conversations on Neolithic history gets quite detailed at times.
It certainly wonā€™t be a History lecture, it will be a game and you are right to raise concerns over that (unless we get our wish to have a encyclopedia ala Age of Empires/Total War attached, but then only if you choose to read that).
However: 1) One of the games objectives is to get as historically accurate as possible while still creating a game, in that sense there is zero harm in the forums members creating in depth history talks.
2) What is 99% accurate for you might not be for someone who is passionate about the period. Incorrect footwear for example, you might not even notice it, but that little attention to detail will probably make people who have been longing for a Neolithic game sinceā€¦ well possibly Empire Earth (?) extremely happy.
3) Honestly nobody is stopping you from talking about how much you will or will not enjoy playing the completed game, nor should they. There is space on this forum for both conversations :).

Also; Is it safe to assume you used to be in the Royals then? :slight_smile:

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There is some game design topics (not the majority I agree). Like these for exemple :

It is just a game I agree and I post a comment in this topic about that :

Donā€™t worry the devs know that too. The reason why there is so many comment historical accuracy is because a lot of people have connection with archeology and want to share it (which is good).

You can always post game design/playabiliy comment, people response very well to this type of comment on any subject so donā€™t feel overwhelm :wink:

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How will the aging of people work?

:wink:
edit @bootneck also if you ever feel overwhelmed or would like someone to explain something, just ask :slight_smile: The majority of people here will happily do their best to explain anything theyā€™re talking about.

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My feeling is that while the devlopers are passionate about history, they have the goal of creating a game first and foremost in their mind (Iā€™m with you on this being the priority). I think they can filter out the less relevant topics brought up in the forum (interesting as they might be for several people) and not be overburdened - most discussions are not really framed as requests as to what needs to be included. I trust the developers when it comes to game design decisions.

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I do expect there to be bronze tools in the bronze age though wink

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I totally agree with you @bootneck . I was writing a big article about the agriculture and food supplies but I stopped 2 days ago. I merge the idea of playing a game with a survival pre-historic simulation. Itā€™s quite interesting because I came to the same conclusion than you. I was especially thinking about the pareto principles you made the game at 80% close to the simulation and to make the last 20%, you spend 80% of all project time. Despite the fact that some may be interesting in the historical aspects, I really donā€™t care about that. Itā€™s just an excuses to say that people are more focused about surviving than thinking about what Iā€™m going to wear as cloth or what I can do with electricity.

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Thanks for the reply folks and I really do appreciate that there are members who are interested in the historical data of the game, but it seems that the majority of the posts are about getting the historical facts correct rather than how enjoyable (or not) the game will be on lauch day.
@Dernwine, what gave it away that I was a Royal? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Should have read Launch day (donā€™t know how to edit posts yet)

About historical accuracy I am more for ā€œmechanicsā€ accuracy than ā€œstrict clothesā€ accuracy like explained in the second video of this post : How will aging of people work? - #14 by louis.mervoyer (If you like game design, Extra Credit is a great youtube channel : interesting and accessible)

edit At the end of this topic Bronze Age Expansion @Sargon and I were talking about strategic/region map and how it could be design maybe you would like to contribut and give of thoughts on it :slight_smile:.

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iā€™d love to hear your input.

Okay, but is there some reason we shouldnā€™t talk about prehistory? If nothing else, this is a forum that has attracted a lot of people interested in prehistory, and thatā€™s what people who are interested in prehistory like to do. If weā€™re only allowed to talk about a game that doesnā€™t yet exist I think weā€™ll soon run out of topics.

I donā€™t think Iā€™ve seen anyone ā€œharassingā€ the devs or telling them they have to make the game accurately portrary XYZ. That would certainly be out of order. But as it is I think the devs can read the discussions (or not), and if there are any useful tidbits of information there, they can use them. If not, I donā€™t think anyone minds.

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well said. But, I can see where @bootneck and @Artybloc are coming from. They feel alienated in such discussions and probably would like to participate in game-related threads; but, they find our rather frequent deep dives into prehistory to be overwhelming and inaccessible.

Not that I mind, as I like learning new things and having a healthy debate. But, I know that this is not for everybody and I can respect that. Maybe the devs could make a separate category in the forum for our forays into the prehistorical analysis we so often find ourselves in?

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To be perfectly honest, I think that Iā€™m getting all these historical facts because Iā€™m fascinated by history but you do have a point.

same. I love history too. But, I realize that because this is a game there are probably more people interested in game mechanics than the actual history that theyā€™re based on. I can respect that and I donā€™t want to alienate them from the conversation.

I donā€™t know, I must have some sort of sixth sense when it comes to squaddies. :wink: Iā€™m RAMC, went through my phase 2 with a few Bootnecks. We even managed to train one to say ā€œScoffhouseā€ instead of ā€œGalleyā€ like a normal human :smiley:

btw if you look under your post youā€™ll see a number of icons, including a chain, a pencil a few dots and ā€œreply.ā€ If you press the pencil it lets you edit your post.

@Louis.mervoyer Extra Credits ironically enough is also a great channel for History as well :stuck_out_tongue:

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But did they still do their Dobie and have a Whet?

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Yes but so do we. However they still yomp which I will never do.
(this is when all the civies start wondering what the ahem weā€™re on about.)

I always thought that Pongoā€™s (sorry, the Army) called a Whet a Brew and I am very surprised that they did Dobie, as how else would they have gotten their nickname :smiling_imp:

Both whet and brew are in fairly common use now with us Pongos, though brew is still more common.
The problem is; dirty uniforms are alley, and alleyness saves lives. So youā€™ve got to be careful with that dobiedust. XD

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