[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Why are you cloning Civ II? (was Re: Migration)

["Brandon J. Van Every" <vanevery@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Alan Schmitt wrote:
> Brandon J. Van Every (vanevery@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) wrote:
> > From: Raimar Falke [mailto:i-freeciv-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> > >
> > >   [quoting Brian Moriarty, formerly of Infocom]
> > >
> > >   Originality is great. It can get you in the history
> > >   books. Sometimes
> > >   it can even make you rich. But there's nothing wrong
> > >   with a superior
> > >   execution of an old idea, either. In the long run, it's not
> > >   important to be the first. It's important to be the best.
> >
> > Do you want me to comment on whether Freeciv is the best?
>
> How does it compare to things you've done ?

That's an evasion of what I asked, and my point is, Freeciv is not the
best Civ-genre game out there.  The only standards of excellence you
might be meeting in Freeciv are those of cross-platform support,
multiplayer support, and project organization.  Game design-wise Civ II
isn't even the best, and you don't have more than Civ II.  So IMO, you
are misapplying what Brian Moriarty said.  If you're going to claim "we
don't need to be original, we're the best," then you really should be
best-of-breed.  I seriously doubt Brian ever meant to imply, "You don't
need to be the original, being a clone is quite sufficient."

To answer the new question you've asked: Ocean Mars is much better in
the 3D graphics dept. than Freeciv is.  But who cares, eh?  Game
design-wise, what I'm attempting to do is certainly much more ambitious
and revolutionary than what Freeciv has done.  But I haven't done it
yet.  I'll decline to offer details about what Ocean Mars will be like,
there are public archives of what I've said about it if anyone's
interested (and I don't believe you are).

Ocean Mars is certainly not a clone of anything.  It's not a knockoff of
anything either, i.e. Call To Power II's relationship to Civ II.
Different game, but basically a knockoff.


Cheers,                         www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every               Seattle, WA

20% of the world is real.
80% is gobbledygook we make up inside our own heads.