Topic: Civilization V

[Pugnate]

I played Civ5 for far too many hours last night, and did have a blast, but I am a little disappointed with a couple of aspects that feel streamlined. Things I don't like off the top of my head:

1. Can't trade science technologies. (this feels the worst)
2. Hexes isn't something I dislike... it is just something I don't get. It doesn't feel like as big an advantage as was marketed.
3. I can't adjust the tax and science rates? WTF?
4. Where are my towns and cottages? (though this isn't a huge loss).
5. The game feels quite a bit easier to me, though that just probably means I have to play at a higher difficulty.
6. The science tree feels very much out of sync with the appropriate time period.
7. I really want the espionage stuff back. I bet it will be done for an expansion, like before.

OK here are the changes I like.

1. Not being able to stack units isn't something I *like*, but it isn't so bad. It does definitely add a tactical aspect to it.
2. Towns being able to defend themselves etc, is pretty freakin' awesome.
3. The game looks good.
4. The whole adviser stuff has been handled quite well. Still doesn't hold a candle to Civ3, when all the advisers were in FMV, with their outfits changing with the period, and the entertainment adviser was Elvis!
5. The respective civilization histories have been presented in an excellent manner. I started with the A-RAB empire, and it's history was presented truthfully and respectfully.
6. Combat information etc is also quite well done.
7. World Leaders and stuff speak in their own languages and stuff, and are presented quite well.

So, I am looking at my list, and I note that almost all the positive changes have to do with presentation, and the negative changes have to do with streamlining.

That's probably not too good. Civ has always been pretty complex, and has still sold well. Still enjoying the game though.

edit:

The game has also crashed for me, a LOT. Almost always when I am saving or loading. Performance otherwise has been excellent though on my aging rig.

edit: Just pasted my entire post from PCG, and am editing some stuff out.

[Pugnate]

The game is crashing like mad. Not everyone is having this issue, but I didn't expect this from a Firaxis game.

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/707668/Civilization-5-Errors-Crashes-And-Glitches-Some-Solutions.html

It crashed 5 times in the past 30 minutes for me. Very frustrating, and have to resort to autosaves. I'll try in DX9 mode now.

[Pugnate]

Good god, I've been at it for 7 hours. Where did the time go? There are a lot of neat little changes overall, but essentially, it is civilization.

Also, the game only crashes in DX10/DX11 mode. If you run it in DX9 mode, it is fine. It doesn't look any different to me in either modes.

edit:

So, I think I've been playing this for the last 18 hours -- with a few hours off in the middle. I haven't played a game very intently since Dragon Age... though Demon's Souls on the PS3 has been pretty addictive as well.

But yea, the last game I played for this long in one go was probably the last Civ.

Anyway, the game is quite awesome. Some of the streamlining sucks, but overall, it is still a very robust strategy title.

It is just so addictive because you want to continue to see how things play out.

The reason I found it so easy was because I was playing on easy difficulty for some reason. I think I set the difficulty to hard, but then the game crashed, and I had to start again, and it probably didn't save my preferences because it had crashed.

One last thing is that the Civ4 I remember was the game with all the mods and expansions. I am pretty sure they added a bunch of the stuff like espionage etc later on.

I hope this is selling well. We need this franchise to remain strong.

edit again:

You know, this game is incredibly good value for your money. For $50 I've played at least 20 hours so far, and I don't think I've begun to scratch the surface. If you are on the fence, you need to buy this NOW. Don't hesitate. JOIN US!

[MysterD]

From Kotaku...just b/c..

[PyroMenace]

That graph doesn't help a person stop playing Civ at all... I don't get it.

[Xessive]

I've always been intrigued by the Civ games. I love the visual style and I'm always at awe by the impressive production quality. However, every time I try to play a Civ game I get about 20-30 mins in and I start getting pushed away by the learning curve and what I perceive as monotony (I get arguments on that point because I feel like I'm just doing mundane tasks over and over again but everyone else tells me it's full of variety).

Just to give you an idea of how it looks in my mind: the only difference in my mind between Civ games and a tax sheet is graphics. In a Civ game I feel like I'm filling out gorgeous tax papers and inventory orders.

Despite that (inaccurate) sentiment, I am always drawn to the quality of Civ games and the level of respect I have (inherited from Pug) for Sid Meier. Btw, I loved Sid Meier's Pirates! Basically, I wanna get into it but I am in constant fear of not being able to play it.. Kinda like a 70 year old fearing something the kids are raving about.

[MysterD]

That graph doesn't help a person stop playing Civ at all... 

That's the point.

[PyroMenace]

You're not getting it, the graph says how to quit playing Civ, but all its doing is showing an infinite loop, it doesn't end.

[Xessive]

You're not getting it, the graph says how to quit playing Civ, but all its doing is showing an infinite loop, it doesn't end.

Haha you're trapped in the maze!

[Quemaqua]

Dude, for once D gets it and you don't.  The point is that you can never quit playing Civ.

[MysterD]

The point is that you can never quit playing Civ.

Right - and I ain't even ever played a Civ game!

Though, I do own the Civ Collection Box (Civ 1 - 4).
I own a lot games I never even played.

[Pugnate]

D wins.

Fatality by face palm.

[PyroMenace]

Guess my sarcasm went to far.

[Cobra951]

No, I got it, at least.  Of course, then maybe Que and Pug were being sarcastic to the second power . . .

Edit:

. . . the only difference in my mind between Civ games and a tax sheet is graphics.

Why can't I ever boil things down to such a succinct essence?

[Xessive]

Why can't I ever boil things down to such a succinct essence?

Is that your renowned sarcasm I sense? Haha

[Pugnate]

No, I got it, at least.  Of course, then maybe Que and Pug were being sarcastic to the second power . . .

Edit:
Why can't I ever boil things down to such a succinct essence?

Haha normal sarcasm isn't enough anymore.

[Cobra951]

Is that your renowned sarcasm I sense? Haha

Ha!  No no.  I was serious.  The feelings that Civ games bring out of me are a mix, and I never quite put my finger on the negative end of those.  You did, spot on.

[Xessive]

Ha!  No no.  I was serious.  The feelings that Civ games bring out of me are a mix, and I never quite put my finger on the negative end of those.  You did, spot on.

Haha thank you, kind sir!

I don't know what it is exactly that disuades me from really taking on a Civ game. I mean, I really enjoyed ANNO 1404 (a.k.a. Dawn of Discovery) but I never did finish it. It just kinda fizzled out. I tried to give Civilization Revolution a shot, my expectation was that it was the simplified version of a Civ game since it was on X360. It still kinda deterred me from the genre, it just kinda felt too.. slow.

Damn it, I have to get into Civ games! There's a jewel in there that millions of people are enjoying (most notably Pugnate) and I need to find it!

[scottws]

Pug, you play on hard?  I must really suck at Civ.  I can only play on the first two difficulties.  Otherwise, I get owned.

[Pugnate]

Scott, I always start a new installment in the Civ franchise at one level below average difficulty, and work my way up to one level above average, and then harder. I've finished the game on "Prince" a few times, and plan to go harder. Civ5 is definitely easier than before though. I used to find the third and fourth difficulty levels more challenging in the past.

I wrote a little guide:

http://www.overwritten.net/forum/index.php?topic=7256.msg94570#msg94570

Keep that stuff in mind, and you should be kicking ass. Play your first game at the second, and I am sure you will be looking to play at a higher difficulty very soon.

Are you planning to get it on Steam? The game is totally worth it.

[scottws]

I've played every Civ except 2, so I know I'll be getting it at some point.

I tend to really lean on rapid, early expansion with the goal of blocking off a large section of a continent for myself to grow into later (hopefully before sea travel becomes widespread) and then after that dumping money into science and also things that increase culture.  And then I try to make sure I have a military that is just good enough to keep people from constantly trying to kill me.

One thing I didn't like about Civ3 and 4 was that it became very difficult later in the game to have a military victory.  It was much easier in 1 for some reason.  But in 3 and 4 you had to expend huge amounts of resources and turns just to take one enemy city.  And then for each city you take you need a strong enough garrison to repel enemy attacks and it really eats into your army's size and strength real fast.  Military victories are much easier early in the game, but still hard at that especially if there is sea travel involved.

[Pugnate]

Dude, I completely agree with you on the military thing. It was very hard to accomplish that, and part of the problem was the infinite unit stacking. It made wars tedious, endless, and often a waste of time. They've made a lot of changes to the military stuff. For example, you won't have an archer destroy a tank anymore etc. It used to be so difficult to advance in any war, and I am glad they redesigned that aspect of the game. I remember facing 25 enemy units outside my city walls at a time... each battle taking at least half a minute... which made things really tedious. It was still fun though.

Taking out an enemy city is actually a lot easier and tactical now. You'll like it. Basically if you have four to eight clean strikes at a city, with units that are at least current with the enemy Civ's tech, you can take it out. Every turn, a city will regenerate some of its defenses, so my recommendation is to attack another city with at least four other units, so that you can finish up in two turns or so. Obviously you'll have to take out the other Civ's army along the way.

The other cool thing is that ranged units like archers can fire from a tile away. This means your archer unit can take out a swordsmen unit before they even come into contact. On the flip side, ranged units are significantly more vulnerable to direct combat.

As for naval stuff, I really used to hate it. I never got involved in the naval stuff... but it is crucial now to at least explore the seas so you can meet other Civs to trade stuff with. My suggestion is creating a couple of boats and hitting (E).

I tend to really lean on rapid, early expansion with the goal of blocking off a large section of a continent for myself to grow into later (hopefully before sea travel becomes widespread) and then after that dumping money into science and also things that increase culture.  And then I try to make sure I have a military that is just good enough to keep people from constantly trying to kill me.

haha that's what I like doing myself.

Remember, if you have a lot of cities before they have populated, you will get a lot of sad faces heh. If your Civ is unhappy, it has an adverse affect on your production, gold etc.

You can definitely adopt culture types that will help your style of rapid expansion.

To combat your population getting unhappy, try to build cities as close to luxury resources like wine as possible. You'll need to research the 'calender' tech to farm wine tiles though. If you have more than one of a luxury, you can trade anything extra off for other resources, or gold.

Hope you get the game soon, so we can talk about it.

It seems that while a couple of people here did get the game, no one seems to be playing at the moment.

[Pugnate]

Well, if anyone cares, I got my science victory with Civ5. Not much fanfare at the end, though I do feel a sense of accomplishment. Thanks Sid for sucking away 65+ hours away of my life... I think that's in a week. Yikes.

[Ace_O_Spades]

I've played every civilization game put out for the PC, and this is the one I've gotten by far the least enjoyment and play time out of... I dunno, I just couldn't get into it. Way more tedious for me than other versions, when you look past the changes to combat. At the same time, I can't discount how much of my attention Minecraft has taken away from other pursuits.

[Xessive]

I just found Civ 5 for $40.. Good deal or should I hold out?

[Pugnate]

It is a very good deal... but I have a feeling this is going to be like the time I tried to get you to enjoy a book.

What other Civ games have you tried, and how long did you play?

[Xessive]

I tried Civ 4 a couple of years ago.. I liked the look but I only managed to squeeze out about 30 minutes before I lost interest. I think that was at the point when I had to get political with my neighbours, I also remember I was still getting the hang of the combat (it was turn-based, right?).

[Pugnate]

OK then go for it. I can help. If you had not liked it after four or five hours then I wouldn't have recommend you buy.

[Xessive]

OK then go for it. I can help. If you had not liked it after four or five hours then I wouldn't have recommend you buy.

Awesome This will be a good way for me to measure my level of maturity First I must conquer the pleasures of Civ.. Next: I must learn to enjoy Minesweeper.

Haha, c'mon man I read books.. I'm just not into fiction! Well, I am, just not in book format. I like my books nice and factual.. Like instruction manuals, handbooks, historic records, or comical observations on life.

[Pugnate]

X, I was playing Civ5 again and realized that they have removed all the tax and science related management stuff. I think that should help for it not to feel like a work rather than a game to you.

Also, I was reading the Giantbomb review, and they feel this is the easiest Civ game to get into. I agree. I don't think the game is as dumbed down as I initially felt, and that a lot of the more complicated stuff has been push into the background etc.

[Xessive]

Awesome. Civ 5 wasn't even on my list but reading this thread has had me thinking about it and about my gaming habits. I think now is the right time to get into a deep management game (well, deep for me anyway).

I just received my October paycheck, so I'm gonna invest a share on Call of Duty: Black Ops and Civ 5. And I'll cut down on expenditures throughout the month

[Pugnate]

No it is pretty deep. It is a true strategy game.

[MysterD]

GOTY Edition coming Sept. 27th.

Included in GOTY bundle:

    Sid Meier's Civilization 5 (standalone game)
    Civilization and Scenario Pack: The Mongols
    Civilization Pack: Babylon
    Cradle of Civilization Map Packs: Mesopotamia, Americas, Asia and Mediterranean
    Double Civilization and Scenario Pack: Spain and Inca
    Civilization and Scenario Pack: Polynesia
    Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark - The Vikings
    Explorer's Map Pack
    Sid Meier's Civilization 5 digital soundtrack

[MysterD]

Civilization V: Gods and Kings [expansion] announced for Spring 2012.

The expansion includes nine new civilizations, nine new wonders, three scenarios, 27 new units, 13 new buildings, new technologies and resources. The civilizations include Carthage, the Netherlands, the Celts and the Mayans, each with their own unique buildings and units.

The three new scenarios are the fall of Rome, the medieval period and Empires of Smoky Skies. Religion will also return to the series via this pack: you must seek out faith, create prophecies and spread them around the world.

Gods and Kings is due out this Spring.

[K-man]

So with the hubbub surrounding the 10 year old Civ 2 game and the expansion being released for V, I've renewed my interest in Civilization games.  I haven't purchased Gods and Kings yet because I'm hoping for a sale.  I'm assuming something will come along soon enough.  Does anyone else have V and want to play?  If not I'm certainly up for a game of IV. 

[Pugnate]

I haven't played in ages, but that would be awesome. Hug Civ fan.

Haven't gotten the expansion yet, either. Still into D3.

[scottws]

I would love some Civ, but the last one I have is III.  I need to get V.

[Cools!]

I only have III as well. I still play it every couple of years.

[Pugnate]

I have 5 so we can play!

[K-man]

I ended up with some Best Buy reward zone certificates to burn so I'm grabbing the expansion today.  I can still play vanilla with people, though.  The expansion supposedly fixes a bunch of stuff with the game though, so it's probably worth grabbing.