Note on the nicknames: in blue are the nicks of the members of the CTP2 team: John Heinecke([ATVI]ltjohn), Dan Hagerty(DanTheMan), Dave White(DWhite), Winnie Lee(StSwithin), Joe Rumsey(mrogre), Tony Evans(Neblig), Richard Myers(Azmel), Sion Gibson(ATVI_Lacuna)
In red are the operators, Markos Giannopoulos(MarkG) and Daniel Quick(DanQ)

*** MarkG sets mode: +m
[MarkG] Moderation ON
[DanQ] Good day, ladies and gentlemen.
[DanQ] Thank you for joining us for our "CTP Goes Gold" chat with Activision's CTPII team.
[DanQ] For those just joining us, this moderation period will last for ~1/2hr.
[DanQ] In the first half hour, the following four topics will be discussed in order.
[DanQ] While we will do our best to ensure all of your questions are fieled, because of time/staff constraints this may not be possible.
[DanQ] We thank you for your understanding.
[DanQ] If you would like to discuss with other members of the chat during the moderated period, feel free to join #apofree
[DanQ] To put in requests for suggestions for questions, please go to #aposuggestions
[DanQ] Again, only q's on the following 4 topics will be accepted at this time.
[DanQ] But just before we get to that ... :)
[DanQ] ... I would like to ask our guests to introduce themselves.
[DanQ] Let's start with ATVI_Padlorr
[StSwithin] let's not
[DanQ] Ok :)
[StSwithin] :0
[[ATVI]ltjohn] LT John = John Heinecke, marketing dood
[StSwithin] sorry, j'k!
[DanQ] I'll let the team introduce themselves in the order they would like.
[DanTheMan] DanTheMan = Dan Hagerty, Game Designer
[DWhite] Hey Guys, I'm Dave White, I'm the Lead Designer for CTP2
[DanQ] (Until the four topics are announced, please hold your questions until they are announced).
[StSwithin] Winnie Lee, game designer
[mrogre] I'm Joe Rumsey, lead programmer for CTP2, I've been working on CTP for almost three years now.
[Neblig] Tony Evans, Game Designer. I worked on the scenarios in Call to Power 2.
[DanQ] (Questions asked before the 4 topics are presented will not be queued unless re-asked)
[StSwithin] Joe was the last one lemured
[StSwithin] :)
[DanTheMan] hee
[StSwithin] hee HEE
[Neblig] Actually Jonathan was...
[mrogre] No, Jonathon was, actually.
[StSwithin] oh yeah!
[Azmel] This is Richard Myers, your friendly neighborhood AI programmer
[DanTheMan] Really!!??!? Jonathan?
[StSwithin] my Richard sense is tingling...
[DanQ] We are having some more members of Activision's CTPII team join us, so we thank you for your patience during the introductions.
[StSwithin] where's dizzy?
[DanTheMan] dizzy doesn't live here, StSwithin. He lives with us.
[DanQ] Anyone who has not yet introduced themselves?
[StSwithin] dammit, we need dizzy
[MarkG] Lacuna?
[DanQ] Last chance for the time being... after the first couple of topics we'll take a brief break to allow those who have yet to say hello do so.
[StSwithin] where's Pyaray?
[ATVI_Lacuna] Sion Gibson, QA Project Lead, the English guy
[DanTheMan] StSwithin - probably on the 405. ;)
[StSwithin] ah, right
[MarkG] i think Pyaray couldnt be here...
[MarkG] you can still-------/join #apofree-------for unmoderated chat
[DanQ] OK ladies and gentlement, here are the four topics.
[DanQ] Again, we appreciate your patience as we sort things out.
[DanQ] When I present the four, this is to give you an idea of "what's now" and "what's upcoming".
[DanQ] However, please only ask questions on the topic at hand. I will 'flag' you when we're moving along.
[DanQ] Topic #1: Interface
[DanQ] (BTW, "flag" means I will state "moving along to... Topic X) :)
[DanQ] I'll just introduce the next three as we go along.
[DanQ] So, if you have a question on Interface please sent it to #aposuggestions now
[DanQ] First question, from NemoX:
[DanQ] "Is there a city view"?
[StSwithin] sort of
[mrogre] There is a city screen, but no city view. I'm assuming city view means a graphical representation of your city.
[mrogre] ...
[DanQ] Next question...
[DanQ] from Ata:
[DanQ] "Has the interface speed improved since the latest previews?"
[MarkG] i guess he is talking about showing up of windows, etc
[DWhite] We've done some considerable optimizations and the UI speed is much improved.
[DWhite] We cache the windows so the biggest hit is the very first time you load a particular window. After that it's usually instantateous.
[ATVI_Lacuna] Definately -- the UI was part of the game that saw some major improvements at the end of the test cycle
[ATVI_Lacuna] It now runs very smoothly
[DWhite] ...
[MarkG] my question: is it my idea, or are there much more screens than ctp1?
[mrogre] I think there are only maybe 2 or 3 more screens, but every screen has been reworked to some extent.
[StSwithin] I think there are the same number of screens, but there are a lot more options
[mrogre] ...
[DanQ] Question #3
[DanQ] "[NemoXX] can we shortcut for the tabs-like in ctp I but better?"
[DWhite] Yeah, there are shortcut keys for all the Control Panel Tabs as well as each major interface.
[StSwithin] the tabs are now primarily for information, but yeah, you can short-cut everything in the game
[DWhite] ...
[MarkG] just a note that when we have many "celebrities" on the chat, it usually takes some more time to gifure out who reponds what, etc...
[DanQ] Last question in this section (sorry folks, time restraints):
[DanQ] "[Palpatine] Is there a way to see how many turns a city needs to grow a level? (hope that is interface g)"
[StSwithin] why, indeed there is!
[StSwithin] there is a growth indicator on the City manager screen that lets you know the city's rate of growth
[MarkG] i thought it should how mcuh food it gives?
[StSwithin] although now it is less important to know when a city has increased by 1
[MarkG] how come?
[StSwithin] it is more important when the city increases its radius of influence, which you can see visually
[MarkG] indeed
[StSwithin] in CTP, it was good to know when a city had grown because you could put your new worker somewhere
[DWhite] The Growth indicator shows the number of people your city gets each turn. (+578) And the population shows the total number of people. (14,567)
[StSwithin] in CTP2, the new population becomes part of the work force
[StSwithin] but you don't "place" him on a tile, he works the city's radius just the same as everyone else
[StSwithin] he increases the efficiency with which the radius is worked
[DWhite] ...
[MarkG] something last : i noticed that there can be 3-4 ways to do something
[DanQ] OK guys, Topic #2: Multiplayer
[MarkG] menus, right-click menus, control panel....
[DWhite] That's right. We tried to make the UI as intuitive and user-friendly as possible.
[StSwithin] nuh uh, you tried to make it more difficult and confusing :)
[MarkG] one thing i would like is if the right-click menus were "context sensitive"....
[StSwithin] yep, it sure is
[mrogre] Yes, they are context sensitive.
[mrogre] ...
[StSwithin] if you click a unit, you get unit menu
[DWhite] Many times that ment putting in multiple ways of doing something as different people did things differently. Hopefully the interface is flexible enough to fit everyones play-style.
[DanQ] I'm still waiting for multiplayer questions in #aposuggestions :)
[MarkG] -----USA people, try phoenix.irc.gr for faster connections-----
[StSwithin] especially for keyboard players, like me
[DanQ] ----- For those in Canada, choose toronto.irc.gr -----
[MarkG] yes, but if you're not over a trade route, you dont need the pirate command
[StSwithin] yes, that is true
[DWhite] But if you choose the Pirate command you can select a destination
[DWhite] That way you unit will move and then pirate
[StSwithin] same with pillage, expel, convert, etc.
[MarkG] Ah, didnt know that!(read the damn manual idiot)
[StSwithin] it's very handy
[StSwithin] like if you want to pillage something 10 tiles away
[DanQ] For those just joining us, please post questions to #aposuggestions
[[ATVI]Azmel] It's sort of a "fire and forget" feature.. a feature I really like.
[DanQ] Topic is multiplayer... very soon :)
[MarkG] multiplayer: [FritNik] which connections will be aviable in multiplayer games (LAN, modem)?????
[mrogre] Same as CTP1: Internet, TCP/Lan, IPX
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] pbem???? :)
[DanQ] Question #1:
[DanQ] "[XXX-13382378874728] There were not that many people on the multiplayer servers for the first CTP, what have you done to improve ability to find fellow players?"
* [ATVI]PingEnvy slaps StSwithin around a bit with a large trout
[StSwithin] Doug, what the poop are you doing?!?
[DanQ] Make "pbem???? :)" the next question :)
* Neblig slaps [ATVI]PingEnvy around a bit with a large trout
[DanQ] The Activision team has been working very hard on CTPII, so they are in a very happy mood today... happy to be hear chatting with everyone!
[DanQ] Again, first question is:
[mrogre] PBEM was removed for time constraints. The major problem was that our diplomacy system is not set up for delayed turns. I don't know if we'll be able to do anything for a patch (since I know that's the next question), but I hope so. I hated having to ship without it (again) :(
[DanQ] "[XXX-13382378874728] There were not that many people on the multiplayer servers for the first CTP, what have you done to improve ability to find fellow players?"
[DanQ] Ok, second question :))
[mrogre] ...
[[ATVI]ltjohn] the server configurations are the same as CTP1, so finding players will be similar
[mrogre] The network shell is pretty much the same as CTP1, other than art and layout changes.
[[ATVI]ltjohn] ...
[mrogre] ...
[MarkG] i think you need ads or something :)
[DanQ] :)
[MarkG] btw, when can i get any of you guys?
[DanQ] And the last multiplayer question for the team today:
[MarkG] i'd like to write something about MP in my preview :D
[StSwithin] I'm online now, Markos, come n' get me!!!
[DanQ] lol
[[ATVI]PingEnvy] Me too. :)
[MarkG] if it werent for the chat... :)
[MarkG] Dan, last question?

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