Update on the printed manual and documentation

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Ken Parker at the Tilted Mill forums:

The print manual and the PDF manual will be identical. Think of the PDF as a backup, in case you lose the printed version. The manual serves as an introduction to the game and a look-up reference. The tutorials, and especially the in-game help system, do the informational heavy lifting. Our help system is comparable in extent to the Civilopedia, but with less emphasis on objects, more on game concepts, and robust cross-linking.

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Manual and in-game help

Monday, August 16, 2004

Ken Parker on the Tilted Mill forums:

The printed manual will explain the core concepts that you need to get started, along with a quick-start guide. Most of the manual will consist of charts, diagrams, and similar look-up items that you might want next to you while you play. The game CD will include a .PDF version of this document. The manual is meant to be a reference, not an instruction book.

Detailed help appears in-game. Every selectable object in the game has its own help panel, and these link to help entries explaining all of the game's concepts and nuances. The entire help system is carefully indexed and includes a table of contents. Anybody who wants to read the entire body of help text in an organized fashion can do so, in-game, from the TOC. However, help is being written and presented contextually on the premise that most players want specific information when they need it.

The manual and the help system are intended to be complementary, with help doing the informational heavy lifting.

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Animals in the game

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Tony Leier at the Tilted Mill forums concerning animals:

We like animals in the game, so we're putting in as many as we can. We have cats, crocs, and hippos for sure. Plus some more (I'm not going to give everything away), though there really aren't that many dogs in Egypt.

Keith's history on hunting fits what we have remarkably well. Common people can hunt for food if they need to (the Nile valley has enormous numbers of waterfowl like geese), or they might fish or pick fruits, depends on what's easiest for them. Nobles will do some big game hunting too, for fun.

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Historical research done by Tilted Mill

Monday, July 12, 2004

From the HomeLAN Fed interview with Chris Beatrice:

HomeLAN:

What kinds of historical research did Tilted Mill do for the game?

Chris Beatrice:

Most of us have been making historical strategy games for a decade now, and we're all history buffs. So it's hard to tell where the hobby ends and the formal research begins. We do a lot of research - a whole lot - and it never stops. Although CotN is first and foremost a game, it remains very historically authentic, because its inspiration is historical. For example, food production and taxation are based on a simple feudal system, the economy is based on food (no money in ancient Egypt), so shopkeepers only get good food to eat by selling their wares. The annual inundation of the Nile introduces a seasonal rhythm, where the whole landscape is transformed each year; priests administer all the social services in the city (no separation of church and state!); Egypt is unchallenged as a world power (the first civilization); you, the Pharaoh are a god-king, whose subjects expected you to be interred in larger and larger monuments, and so on. Each of these (and many more) is a new and very interesting game dynamic based on a historical factor we found to be fascinating and inspirational.

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Day and Night

Friday, June 04, 2004

From the IGN E3 impressions:

Watching all of these things happen on a day to day basis should be pretty interesting, especially now that there is a day/night cycle. The city will basically go to sleep at night giving time to mull over improvements that need to be made and better planning before citizens wake up and get back in the way of your work. Three full day/night cycles will comprise a year, each of the days representing a different season. The seasons are flood, planting, and harvest, all revolving around the temperament of the Nile.

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Manual and documentation

Monday, May 10, 2004

Ken Parker at the Tilted Mill forum on May 10:

Our documentation takes modern packaging requirements into account -- and that means DVD box restrictions on manual trim size and thickness in the worldwide marketplace. The days of book-sized paper manuals chock full of flavor text and illustrations are, alas, past. However, Tilted Mill hired a fulltime writer (me) to ensure that all of the information you want and need is readily available in a pleasing and convenient format. All of the game's documentation will work together to exceed your expectations. Trust me.

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The Flooding of the Nile

Monday, March 29, 2004

From the GameStar interview:

GameStar:

One of the most interesting aspects in Pharaoh were the tides of the Nile. Will they still be there?

Chris Beatrice:

The entire basis for civilization in ancient Egypt was the annual inundation of the Nile. So yes, the Nile flood is central rhythm driving all cycles in the game. We're doing a lot of very cool stuff with the annual flood, irrigation, etc., things that I think players will really, really enjoy, but I'm not going to get into that just yet...

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No Multiplayer

Monday, March 29, 2004

From the GameStar interview:

GameStar:

Do you plan to incorporate a multiplayer mode?

Chris Beatrice:

We are instead exploring ways to support and nurture an on-line community for CotN, to find a permanent home for them, so to speak, and give them new ways to interact, because we feel this is far more appropriate for what this game is all about.

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