BBC's Connections

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

Anybody ever watch this series? I'd watched it years ago, and I'm having a
chance to watch it again... it basically starts out with an ancient
discovery (for example, the old Roman square-sails) and follows advancement
to advancement based on that ancient discovery (Latine sails, the compass,
static electricity, so on and so on) until it gets to some modern marvel
(nuclear warheads). It's amazing how some perfectly mundane invention up
to four-thousand years ago has such an impact on modern society.

As I'm watching these episodes, I'm thinking to myself how cool it would be
to have a Civ 3 Connections mod, based on the series.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

"Don Quixote" <donquixote235@hotmail.[takethispartout].com> wrote in message
news:Xns958594E6972C3qwertyuiop@129.250.170.83...
> Anybody ever watch this series? I'd watched it years ago, and I'm having
> a
> chance to watch it again... it basically starts out with an ancient
> discovery (for example, the old Roman square-sails) and follows
> advancement
> to advancement based on that ancient discovery (Latine sails, the compass,
> static electricity, so on and so on) until it gets to some modern marvel
> (nuclear warheads). It's amazing how some perfectly mundane invention up
> to four-thousand years ago has such an impact on modern society.
>
> As I'm watching these episodes, I'm thinking to myself how cool it would
> be
> to have a Civ 3 Connections mod, based on the series.

I remember that! It was a great series on PBS many many many moons ago. A
flow chart combining the series would be interesting to look at and would
probably be needed to make a mod.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

"The Stare" <wat1@not.likely.frontiernet.net> wrote in
news:XsDcd.7329$7T4.145@news01.roc.ny:

> I remember that! It was a great series on PBS many many many moons
> ago. A flow chart combining the series would be interesting to look at
> and would probably be needed to make a mod.

I'm slowly collecting all ten of the original series (I currently am up
to the first seven, so I'm almost there). As I watch it, I'm getting
some ideas for "tech advances" that aren't in the Civ game itself, such
as (for example) the various major religions, which would place
restrictions/benefits on the societies that had them (e.g. Buddhist
Thought, Christian Thought, etc); Meteorology; Silver-Working (a middle-
ages advance that would introduce the Dutch Taler, the forerunner to the
Dollar, and also led to the earliest forms of capitalism); and more. I
haven't actually sat down and created a flow-chart though.

I had two thoughts about how somebody could go about modding Connections
into Civ 3 - the first would be a single master mod with all the various
stages of discovery, the second thought was to have ten mini-mods that
each cover only the episode they were in.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

"Don Quixote" <donquixote235@hotmail.[takethispartout].com> wrote in message
news:Xns9585C396C3523qwertyuiop@129.250.170.84...
> "The Stare" <wat1@not.likely.frontiernet.net> wrote in
> news:XsDcd.7329$7T4.145@news01.roc.ny:
>
>> I remember that! It was a great series on PBS many many many moons
>> ago. A flow chart combining the series would be interesting to look at
>> and would probably be needed to make a mod.
>
> I'm slowly collecting all ten of the original series (I currently am up
> to the first seven, so I'm almost there). As I watch it, I'm getting
> some ideas for "tech advances" that aren't in the Civ game itself, such
> as (for example) the various major religions, which would place
> restrictions/benefits on the societies that had them (e.g. Buddhist
> Thought, Christian Thought, etc); Meteorology; Silver-Working (a middle-
> ages advance that would introduce the Dutch Taler, the forerunner to the
> Dollar, and also led to the earliest forms of capitalism); and more. I
> haven't actually sat down and created a flow-chart though.
>
> I had two thoughts about how somebody could go about modding Connections
> into Civ 3 - the first would be a single master mod with all the various
> stages of discovery, the second thought was to have ten mini-mods that
> each cover only the episode they were in.

One master mod would be the way to do it but a flow chart of the techs would
have to be the very first thing to be done. That way it could be decided how
feasible it is.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

"The Stare" <wat1@not.likely.frontiernet.net> wrote in
news:cEEcd.7343$m85.1394@news01.roc.ny:

> One master mod would be the way to do it but a flow chart of the techs
> would have to be the very first thing to be done. That way it could be
> decided how feasible it is.

Agreed.

I sat down with the fourth in the series ("Faith in Numbers") and tried
to document everything of note. Unfortunately this episode only
concentrated on a relatively short period of time (around the fall of
the Roman Empire to around 1900). I'd like to tie this into the others
in the series, but here's what I got from that episode, by way of
example:

TECHS:
1. Milling
2. The Dark Ages
3. Monasticism
4. Medieval Automation
5. The Printing Press
6. The Mechanical Revolution

ADVANCES:
1. The Granary at Barbagel (from 1, above; Great Wonder: extra granary
in every city this continent; made obsolete by 2, above)
2. Water Mill (from 1; Building: +production)
3. Cistercian Monastery (from 3; identical to #2, except it's Religious)
4. Cistercian Monk (from 3; Unit: Religous worker unit, +productivity)
5. Automatic Loom (from 4; Building: probably something money-related)
6. Spinning Wheel (from 4; Building: +production)
7. Carrillion (from 4; Small Wonder: 2 unhappy made content this city)
8. The Champagne Fairs (from 4; Great Wonder: puts a market in every
city this continent)
9. Paper Mill (from 4; Building: something communications-related)
10. Bookstore (from 5; Building: +research)
11. The Renaissance (from 5; Great Wonder: +research in each city,
cumulative w/Bookstore)
12. Jacquard Loom (from 6; Building: +production)
13. The Census (from 6; Great Wonder: not sure what it could give)

Even with this limited scope, if you consider there are 10 total
episodes, that would make ~60 advances and ~130 units/buildings/wonders,
assuming all the episodes are this size (and this one seemed to have
less than the others). And of course there would be other techs not
specifically mentioned in the series. And the series also mentioned
some luxury resources, particularly Silk, Cinnamon, Pepper, and Ivory.
(As an aside, the Cistercians went on to become the Templars. It would
be interesting to make a unit that was ostensibly a non-combative worker
unit (Cistercian Monk) and have it upgradable to a formidable middle-
ages foot-unit (Templar).)

I've got an Access database I'll try to keep up-to-date, but so far it
looks very feasible to make a Connections tech tree. Now my only
concern is whether to only include the first Connections series, or to
try to hunt down and incorporate the second and third series as well.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

"Don Quixote" <donquixote235@hotmail.[takethispartout].com> wrote in message
news:Xns9586D3E22C1Dqwertyuiop@129.250.170.86...
> "The Stare" <wat1@not.likely.frontiernet.net> wrote in
> news:cEEcd.7343$m85.1394@news01.roc.ny:
>
>> One master mod would be the way to do it but a flow chart of the techs
>> would have to be the very first thing to be done. That way it could be
>> decided how feasible it is.
>
> Agreed.
>
> I sat down with the fourth in the series ("Faith in Numbers") and tried
> to document everything of note. Unfortunately this episode only
> concentrated on a relatively short period of time (around the fall of
> the Roman Empire to around 1900). I'd like to tie this into the others
> in the series, but here's what I got from that episode, by way of
> example:
>
> TECHS:
> 1. Milling
> 2. The Dark Ages
> 3. Monasticism
> 4. Medieval Automation
> 5. The Printing Press
> 6. The Mechanical Revolution
>
> ADVANCES:
> 1. The Granary at Barbagel (from 1, above; Great Wonder: extra granary
> in every city this continent; made obsolete by 2, above)
> 2. Water Mill (from 1; Building: +production)
> 3. Cistercian Monastery (from 3; identical to #2, except it's Religious)
> 4. Cistercian Monk (from 3; Unit: Religous worker unit, +productivity)
> 5. Automatic Loom (from 4; Building: probably something money-related)
> 6. Spinning Wheel (from 4; Building: +production)
> 7. Carrillion (from 4; Small Wonder: 2 unhappy made content this city)
> 8. The Champagne Fairs (from 4; Great Wonder: puts a market in every
> city this continent)
> 9. Paper Mill (from 4; Building: something communications-related)
> 10. Bookstore (from 5; Building: +research)
> 11. The Renaissance (from 5; Great Wonder: +research in each city,
> cumulative w/Bookstore)
> 12. Jacquard Loom (from 6; Building: +production)
> 13. The Census (from 6; Great Wonder: not sure what it could give)
>
> Even with this limited scope, if you consider there are 10 total
> episodes, that would make ~60 advances and ~130 units/buildings/wonders,
> assuming all the episodes are this size (and this one seemed to have
> less than the others). And of course there would be other techs not
> specifically mentioned in the series. And the series also mentioned
> some luxury resources, particularly Silk, Cinnamon, Pepper, and Ivory.
> (As an aside, the Cistercians went on to become the Templars. It would
> be interesting to make a unit that was ostensibly a non-combative worker
> unit (Cistercian Monk) and have it upgradable to a formidable middle-
> ages foot-unit (Templar).)
>
> I've got an Access database I'll try to keep up-to-date, but so far it
> looks very feasible to make a Connections tech tree. Now my only
> concern is whether to only include the first Connections series, or to
> try to hunt down and incorporate the second and third series as well.

I don't remember how many episodes were in each season. It wouldn't suprise
me to find that there is at least a list of the connections on the internet
somewhere. It seems there might be at least one that went from a lightning
strike (fire) to the moon race or some such thing.

As for wonders and improvements, that would be secondary after the tech
tree. The techs are what would differentiate this mod from others and
unusual or unexpected improvements/wonders would be the way to go.

There's no reason a non-combat unit cannot upgrade to a combat unit and
would be a unique transition i think.

I don't know what experience you have with the editor and/or modding in
general but i'm just finishing up the next (and last civ3) version of The
Ancient Mediterranean mod and have become comfy with (most) everything
except making my own animations.

Email me if you want help or just to discuss things.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

On 17 Oct 2004 19:38:15 GMT, Don Quixote <donquixote235@hotmail> wrote:
> Anybody ever watch this series? I'd watched it years ago, and I'm having a
> chance to watch it again...
(snip)
> It's amazing how some perfectly mundane invention up
> to four-thousand years ago has such an impact on modern society.

Well, I've watched some of the series, and some of their deductions
seem like a bit of a stretch to me. It's easy to work forwards and
force a fit, more interesting (and relevant) would be to work
backwards and show how (z) was possible as a result of , which came
from (x), and so on.

> As I'm watching these episodes, I'm thinking to myself how cool it would be
> to have a Civ 3 Connections mod, based on the series.

Different technology trees then? That'd be interesting.

Dave Hinz

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

"The Stare" <wat1@not.likely.frontiernet.net> wrote in message
news:dUMcd.1$qg.0@news02.roc.ny...
>
> "Don Quixote" <donquixote235@hotmail.[takethispartout].com> wrote in
message
> news:Xns9586D3E22C1Dqwertyuiop@129.250.170.86...
> > "The Stare" <wat1@not.likely.frontiernet.net> wrote in
> > news:cEEcd.7343$m85.1394@news01.roc.ny:
> >
> >> One master mod would be the way to do it but a flow chart of the techs
> >> would have to be the very first thing to be done. That way it could be
> >> decided how feasible it is.
> >
> > Agreed.
> >
> > I sat down with the fourth in the series ("Faith in Numbers") and tried
> > to document everything of note. Unfortunately this episode only
> > concentrated on a relatively short period of time (around the fall of
> > the Roman Empire to around 1900). I'd like to tie this into the others
> > in the series, but here's what I got from that episode, by way of
> > example:
> >
> > TECHS:
> > 1. Milling
> > 2. The Dark Ages
> > 3. Monasticism
> > 4. Medieval Automation
> > 5. The Printing Press
> > 6. The Mechanical Revolution
> >
> > ADVANCES:
> > 1. The Granary at Barbagel (from 1, above; Great Wonder: extra granary
> > in every city this continent; made obsolete by 2, above)
> > 2. Water Mill (from 1; Building: +production)
> > 3. Cistercian Monastery (from 3; identical to #2, except it's Religious)
> > 4. Cistercian Monk (from 3; Unit: Religous worker unit, +productivity)
> > 5. Automatic Loom (from 4; Building: probably something money-related)
> > 6. Spinning Wheel (from 4; Building: +production)
> > 7. Carrillion (from 4; Small Wonder: 2 unhappy made content this city)
> > 8. The Champagne Fairs (from 4; Great Wonder: puts a market in every
> > city this continent)
> > 9. Paper Mill (from 4; Building: something communications-related)
> > 10. Bookstore (from 5; Building: +research)
> > 11. The Renaissance (from 5; Great Wonder: +research in each city,
> > cumulative w/Bookstore)
> > 12. Jacquard Loom (from 6; Building: +production)
> > 13. The Census (from 6; Great Wonder: not sure what it could give)
> >
> > Even with this limited scope, if you consider there are 10 total
> > episodes, that would make ~60 advances and ~130 units/buildings/wonders,
> > assuming all the episodes are this size (and this one seemed to have
> > less than the others). And of course there would be other techs not
> > specifically mentioned in the series. And the series also mentioned
> > some luxury resources, particularly Silk, Cinnamon, Pepper, and Ivory.
> > (As an aside, the Cistercians went on to become the Templars. It would
> > be interesting to make a unit that was ostensibly a non-combative worker
> > unit (Cistercian Monk) and have it upgradable to a formidable middle-
> > ages foot-unit (Templar).)
> >
> > I've got an Access database I'll try to keep up-to-date, but so far it
> > looks very feasible to make a Connections tech tree. Now my only
> > concern is whether to only include the first Connections series, or to
> > try to hunt down and incorporate the second and third series as well.
>
> I don't remember how many episodes were in each season. It wouldn't
suprise
> me to find that there is at least a list of the connections on the
internet
> somewhere. It seems there might be at least one that went from a lightning
> strike (fire) to the moon race or some such thing.
>
> As for wonders and improvements, that would be secondary after the tech
> tree. The techs are what would differentiate this mod from others and
> unusual or unexpected improvements/wonders would be the way to go.
>
> There's no reason a non-combat unit cannot upgrade to a combat unit and
> would be a unique transition i think.
>
> I don't know what experience you have with the editor and/or modding in
> general but i'm just finishing up the next (and last civ3) version of The
> Ancient Mediterranean mod and have become comfy with (most) everything
> except making my own animations.
>
> Email me if you want help or just to discuss things.
>
>


The Connections series is available on DVD at Amazon.com, at least the 2nd
and 3rd season are. I didn't see any reference to the first season. Perhaps
it is already out of print. You might have to wait for the next circulation
for the first season, or perhaps get it directly from BBC.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.civ3 (More info?)

"CIV Gamer" <SPAMmagnet@ISP.Com> wrote in
newspvdd.7971$xf6.1993@fe2.columbus.rr.com:

> The Connections series is available on DVD at Amazon.com, at least the
> 2nd and 3rd season are. I didn't see any reference to the first
> season. Perhaps it is already out of print. You might have to wait for
> the next circulation for the first season, or perhaps get it directly
> from BBC.

I've got the first series collected, actually... however I don't have the
second or third series. They're around $150 each, more than I'd like to
spend, and they're currently unavailable on Netflix. I've got a request
into Netflix to get them, but I don't know what kind of feedback (if any)
I'll get for that.