(POLL) Total Civilization-series playtime?

[SirFozzie]

I started reading Sid Meier's autobiography (which just released), and there was a crazy stat in the first paragraph.

A BILLION HOURS AGO, Neanderthals were making spearheads in the Stone Age. A billion hours from now, it will be the year 116,174 AD, assuming the calendar system holds up that long. With a billion hours to play with, you could make roughly 13,000 round trips to Alpha Centauri at the speed of light, or play a back-to-back marathon of every Star Trek movie ever made for every person in New York*.*.*.*twice. Or, you could spend it all playing Sid Meier’s Civilization. So I’m told. One billion hours is the sort of number that is humbling to the point of incomprehensibility—and it’s a wildly conservative estimate, at that. The game distribution service Steam only began collecting player data in earnest within the last decade, and one billion is actually the number of hours played on Civilization V, specifically, from its release in 2010 up through 2016. A six-year window into one game in a series that (as of this printing) spans twenty-nine years and twelve editions, not to mention the expansion packs.

Meier, Sid. Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games (pp. viii-1). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.

and that's just ONE version of Civilization. In six years. It's had four more years (some never upgraded, some didn't like VI's new systems, etcetera). But the thought came to me: If one game got a billion hours of play, how much would the whole Civilization series have in total?

For the purposes of this, I'm counting the following for "Civ-Series"

All mainline Civilization Games (1-6)
Colonization (both versions)
Beyond Earth
Alpha Centauri
Console Editions.

I immediately thought that the number had to be at least 10 billion. I mean we're talking about some games that people are STILL playing, years or decades later! Another FOFC member, who I will allow to speak for himself, should he choose (because I think he's wrong), says that he doesn't believe so.

So, let's find out what the FOFC hivemind thinks.

[SirFozzie]

Dola: Little known fact. The person who apparently convinced MicroProse to put Sid Meier's name on his games?

Robin Williams.

Yes, THAT Robin Williams.

[Ksyrup]

With the mods done to the second Colonization game (first RTR, now WTP), I think I've played that game about 10 billion hours myself in the past 3 or 4 years after playing the original about 5 hours in the first decade it was released.

[Brian Swartz]

I played a lot in the early days of the franchise - I think it was Civ III when I stopped. Haven't played a lick in at least a decade, others have become more interesting to me since then.

[CrimsonFox]

i haven't played any of them

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

i haven't played any of them

You owe it to yourself to try it once. It really is one of the best gaming franchises ever. Didn't you just pickup CIV 6 in the Giveaway thread? There are good tutorial/advice for players totally new to the franchise I think.

[CrimsonFox]

i know all about the games. And I may have tried them here and there but didn't get anywhere. I just don't find 4X games rather tedious. I played things like it eons ago and like the building and research thing but hate the war garbage so this kind of thing never appealed to me

but yes i know how ghandhi always attacks

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

...I just don't find 4X games rather tedious...

Yeah, if a game ain't tedious then I ain't playing it.

[Bobble]

I've got ~1200 hours into V according to Steam. I'm sure I've got at least that number into IV and III. Add in dabbling in VI and II, I'm personally up over 4000 hours myself.

[Thomkal]

Gog.com has a number of older Sid Meier games on sale this week, not just Civ, most under $10

[Ksyrup]

If you loved the original Colonization and still enjoy that kind of game, I highly recommend getting Civ IV: Colonization and the We The People mod (or the older Religion and Revolution mod).

[Izulde]

Civ 2 I played for so many hours it was stupid. Civ 1 a fair bit, too, though not nearly as much. The other Civs? I'd be shocked if the total was more than 24-48 hours for all versions. Crusader Kings consumed my grand strategy itch from CK1 on and I never looked back.

[Carman Bulldog]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

If you loved the original Colonization and still enjoy that kind of game, I highly recommend getting Civ IV: Colonization and the We The People mod (or the older Religion and Revolution mod).

I loved the original Colonization. Have had trouble getting into the Civ IV version. I did install a previous version of We the People, but there was so much new stuff to it, that it felt almost overwhelming at first. Any tips on where to start as far as learning the new features/additions?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

I immediately thought that the number had to be at least 10 billion. I mean we're talking about some games that people are STILL playing, years or decades later! Another FOFC member, who I will allow to speak for himself, should he choose (because I think he's wrong), says that he doesn't believe so.

And I'll repeat what I said: we're in a golden age of cheap computing power. In the early days of Sid Meier games, maybe GPUs weren't such of a much, but computers weren't something you could just go pick up for a couple Benjamins, either.

The PC I bought when I went back to UWGB to finish my degree was $399, and the integrated graphics card was powerful enough to allow me to play Civ V. That sort of accessibility would blow up the hours total for ANY game with a reasonably devoted following. A billion hours across the Civ franchise? I buy it. Ten billion across all Sid Meier-branded games? If you're buyin', I'm sellin', and laughing all the way to the bank.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Carman Bulldog

I loved the original Colonization. Have had trouble getting into the Civ IV version. I did install a previous version of We the People, but there was so much new stuff to it, that it felt almost overwhelming at first. Any tips on where to start as far as learning the new features/additions?

Probably a stroll through the Colopedia that was completely re-written and then a couple of play-throughs to get the hang of it. The core of the game is basically the same, but they have definitely upgraded/modified certain things. The latest update is introducing the concept of a settler so that you can't just spam a bunch of cities in a land grab. Now it costs wood, food and horses to equip a settler (this is not in the latest official release yet, but coming). They've also included stuff like native trader units, which is kind of like a missionary that periodically produces treasure, and happiness. You can now trade in Africa and there's a smugglers port as well (Port Royal).

The RAR mod is a bit closer to the original, except with all of the new materials/goods included. I think RAR also introduced the 2 plot city, which I love (an extra set of plots around each city that you can work). The expanded goods list is really cool. I can barely remember the original, but there's no way I could back to just working the land for fur,cotton, sugar and tobacco. Now you've got dyed cotton, wool, salt, red peppers, tanned hides, barley, luxury wood, luxury fur, grapes, hemp, cocoa, coffee, etc. The additional detail is off the charts.

Here's a good overview I found on Steam:

Steam Community :: Guide :: We The People Mod

[Thomkal]

So all the talk about Civ 4:Colonization has gotten my interest up to try it again since it did not grab me the first time. I had thought I already had it installed on Steam but I guess not. I have the original CD for it, but no activation/serial key for it. Anyway I can activate it on Steam these days?