Civ IV

[Mike M]

Anyone get this game? I pre-ordered on Amazon, but they didn't ship it until yesterday for some reason.

I hear that Firaxis was having some problems with ATI graphics cards, but they seem to have a workaround (how that got by QA, I have no idea).

I haven't talked to anyone who's played it yet, so I'm curious to see what people think of it.

[Minotaur]

i got it....incredible game.

Been addicted the day i bought it.

Late night fever going on here every night now.

[Mike M]

Well, I believe that it arrived at my house yesterday, but I am out of town- so it'll have to wait until tommorrow night. Glad to hear that it's worth the wait though (not that I really had any doubts.

[Minotaur]

well...let me put it this way.

I am enjoying it. I know that there are ppl that probably don't (want just a re-hash of Civ3). What is strange....is Civ3 was received with such....hostility.....now there are ppl that simply wanted Civ3 all over again.

Some of the things I am really enjoying about Civ4:

- Barbarians actually settle and establish towns. Not only do they establish towns, but they will also "tech up"....

- I think I have found a map I really, REALLY enjoy: Terra. The map is where everyone starts on the same continent, and there is another continent "out there somewhere". By the time you get to where you can travel the ocean, the Barbarians on the New World established with some high level cites....

- cottages, towns, mines, windmills, watermills, farms, ect. They all just make the map "come alive"

- The techs. Each technology gives you something. It either allows you to do something, or gives you a new unit, or improvement, or building....something. No more "place-holder" techs....there is always something to look forward to with each technology discovered.

- Great People. Really like these in this one. They are important, but not gamebreakingly overpowered. Good stuff here

- Religion. I like it....even though I am not completely sure of the hows and whys.

- Epic Game speed. Incredible. from about the 1700s, the game goes down to about 2 years per turn....in the 1800s it goes to 1 year per turn....really makes the game draw itself out.

- The AI doesn't seem to make war just to make war. The AI in Civ3 seemed so fickle, declaring war, then peace, then war, then peace....or, at the very least, declare war, then for 10 turns you never see anything from them....peace would result, then the next turn, declare war again. In Civ4, with the default settings on AI, the AI doesn't just up and declare war over and over again. Myself, I have been in 3 wars in my current game (1 vs. the Chinese, 2 vs. England)

- Diplomacy. Now, the AI has a reason to either like you or not. And there is a breakdown as to why they do or don't

- Civics. This is how your government runs. Still trying to learn this system, but it really seems to add to the experience.

Chris

[hawk]

...So...tempted...to pirate...

I aint got 50 on me...nor would I PAY fifty dollars for a game...but still, I'd feel bad if I did it...

Moral decisions...moral decisions.

[Mike M]

You could also wait a couple of weeks and pick up a used copy.... that should knock a few bucks off and keep your conscience clean.

Besides, $40-50 ain't too bad if you look at the number of hours you get out of it. Think about it relative to the movies- it's about $10 a movie if you get a soda, more if you want popcorn or some other snack. That means that Civ costs the same as 4-5 movies, which equals about 6-10 hours of viewing. You'll probably get that type of utility out of Civ IV the first weekend (if not the first day) you get it.

That being said, $50 on a crap game is a poor investment. But I doubt very much that Civ IV will fall into that category, especially based on what Chris said.

[hawk]

It's more or less my lack of money, and the fact that I think 50 dollars for ANY game is silly. Last one I got for near that price was Mario Kart for the Cube...

I remember downloading (Theres that word again...) Civ III and enjoying it, until every nation turned against me and wiped me off the freaking map. Pricks.

[Minotaur]

my first game....i won. The game itself was well over 10 hours, though...closer to 15 hours.
And that was just one game. Although....my next one didn't go so well. I was destroyed before 1000 AD....barbarians. I upped the difficulty one level in that game....got my butt handed to me.

So, I decided to load up Star Wars Battlefront 2 on my pc, and take my stress out on those pathetic rebel scum.....

[Minotaur]

hey, Mike...just wondering what you thought of Civ4? You never posted your thoughts about it....

Chris

[Shon Maxx]

Damn! Why can't this be on the PS2? I loved Civ 2 for the PS1, and I will never again buy computer games because the only one that ever worked on a consistant basis was Doom 2. Every other game required some special memory, video, or sports card to run it on.

Civilization has always been an awesome game (my brother has 3), and I so miss playing it.

Jay

[Minotaur]

yeah....#4 is great....the best one yet in my opinion. And I have played all of them.....

[Minotaur]

sine mike is not replying.....i am going to assume that he is lost in the "one more turn" syndrome....

[Mike M]

mythicalmino said:

sine mike is not replying.....i am going to assume that he is lost in the "one more turn" syndrome....

LOL- I wish! I haven't played much yet, since I've been crazy busy. Plus, I think that I need to upgrade my processor or video card- I can only run the game on the lowest graphics settings and even then it runs like a dog. The forthcoming patch might help- I haven't really looked into it yet.