*Write* the Flippin' Manual!

[stoutfellow]

Civ IV is definitely fun, but the documentation - both printed and online - is inadequate. There is no mention anywhere of the fact that cities can revolt against their overlords and petition for admission to another civilization. (Civ III had that feature as well, so I sort of expected it, but it would have been nice to have confirmation before it actually happened.) Also, almost every reference to workboats - used to construct fishing fleets, whaling fleets, and offshore platforms - states that they cannot move out of coastal waters. This bugged me, since the icons for fish, whales, and oil often appear out at sea. I just noticed one - one - clarification that says "Must stay on coastline or within friendly cultural waters" - emphasis mine - which I assume means that if your territorial waters extend out into the ocean proper you can send your workboats there. (I haven't tried it yet.) Neither the Civilopedia nor the reference table at the back of the book mention this. I'm disappointed in the writers.

Comments

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

You're not SUPPOSED to get all the useful information from the included documentation. If they told you ALL the good stuff, they wouldn't be able to get you to shell out additional $$ for the Official Authorized Bradygames Guide. (I don't have Civ IV, but I *assume* there's a Bradygames guide for it....)

Personally, I don't have a problem when they leave out stuff that you're likely to find out during play--even if you're likely to discover it "the hard way". I figure that's part of the learning process in the first few games. (I tend to save frequently...or curse a lot.) I'm far more bothered when they leave out (or bury in nonobvious places) essential information that one isn't likely to discover at random during gameplay (such as "a unit must be in a city WITH A BARRACKS in order to upgrade").

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

You know, I write software help for a living--and the software is godawful boring. I wonder how I go about getting a job writing help for cool stuff like Civ IV? I bet I'd be good at it...

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I think tygerr is right: they did it on purpose.