Alright boyz, here we go!!! Civ 5 first impressions & tips thread!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Thought people would enjoy this, a Civ II game that's been going on for 10 years:

Reddit r/gaming link

I guess I don't remember back that far. You could keep playing forever as long as you weren't the only civ left?

[bhlloy]

Great. Now I have to go home this evening and figure out how to buy/download civ 2 AND alpha centauri. Thanks guys

Seriously, I had forgotten how many kick ass features had been lost over the years as graphics and animation got better.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Great. Now I have to go home this evening and figure out how to buy/download civ 2 AND alpha centauri. Thanks guys

Seriously, I had forgotten how many kick ass features had been lost over the years as graphics and animation got better.

GOG.com. Recently bought Alpha Centauri and forgot how much time it took from your life. Give it a go.

[Big Fo]

I wish GOG.com would put the Alpha Centauri expansion up for sale too.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

I wish GOG.com would put the Alpha Centauri expansion up for sale too.

I always liked playing with the pirates, building colonies on water.

[Big Fo]

I actually thought about starting up a new Civ II game recently but wound up reinstalling Civ IV with the expansions instead and tried a mod of a mod (or modmod) that made some tweaks to Rhys and Fall of Civilizations called Dawn of Civilization. I think I started and finished a game as America in one weekend (it took 10-12 hours on epic), it'd been awhile since I'd gotten so into a game of Civ.

Hopefully Gods and Kings will make me want to play Civ V more than the older games.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

GOG.com. Recently bought Alpha Centauri and forgot how much time it took from your life. Give it a go.

How does this run on Vista and/or Windows 7?

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Thought people would enjoy this, a Civ II game that's been going on for 10 years:

Reddit r/gaming link

Originally Posted by Radii

I just came here to post the same thing, completely fascinating.

Wow, I love it. Vikings using nuclear weapons during a nearly 2000 year war.

lol!

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by the reddit atricle

Anyway, I was forced to do away with democracy roughly a thousand years ago because it was endangering my empire.

This line had me chuckling.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

How does this run on Vista and/or Windows 7?

Works fine for me on Vista.... I

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

I wish GOG.com would put the Alpha Centauri expansion up for sale too.

Alien Crossfire? I thought they did...

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

All of DLC civs are awesome and recommend all of them. The only DLC you can skip is the map pack.

I'm confused on the DLC. So the Cradle of Civilizations include different leaders? Or is it just a map pack?

From what I see, the ones I should buy are Korea, Denmark, Polynesia, Spain/Inca, and that's it? I guess I'm confused by what the Cradle of Civilization means.

I also want to say it's sort of bullshit how you can get the GOTY for such a good deal and it punishes people for buying the game early and having to buy all the DLC individually.

[Shkspr]

It's also sort of bullshit how people who have lots of cash to spend can get the full version and DLC months earlier and it punishes people for holding out until the GOTY is released so they can save money.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I also want to say it's sort of bullshit how you can get the GOTY for such a good deal and it punishes people for buying the game early and having to buy all the DLC individually.

Err...what?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Shkspr

It's also sort of bullshit how people who have lots of cash to spend can get the full version and DLC months earlier and it punishes people for holding out until the GOTY is released so they can save money.

I see what you did there.........

[Buccaneer]

RainMaker: Ok, I scratched what I wrote. I looks like the bundled nearly everything up in the Cradle of Civilization DLC for $9.99. However, I don't see Korea on that list. I bought each one separately except the map pack but enough time has passed that it's all packaged up at a bargain price.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Shkspr

It's also sort of bullshit how people who have lots of cash to spend can get the full version and DLC months earlier and it punishes people for holding out until the GOTY is released so they can save money.

Reminds me of the nonsense I saw at CFC where they were some ranting and raving about Spain now being included in the expansion pack when they paid $3 for it....18 months ago.

[RainMaker]

The "Cradles of Civilizations" don't have the civilizations in it. You'd have to buy the CoC pack, Spain/Inca, Polynesia, Denmark, and Korea, along with th explorer map pack to get the GotY.

It's not a big deal, just find it an odd way to handle the people who bought the game at launch. It's $42 for the DLC and $20 for it in the GotY. So you're paying double if you bought the game before GotY came out. You'd think they would offer some kind of bundle for all the DLC too.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The "Cradles of Civilizations" don't have the civilizations in it. You'd have to buy the CoC pack, Spain/Inca, Polynesia, Denmark, and Korea, along with th explorer map pack to get the GotY.

It's not a big deal, just find it an odd way to handle the people who bought the game at launch. It's $42 for the DLC and $20 for it in the GotY. So you're paying double if you bought the game before GotY came out. You'd think they would offer some kind of bundle for all the DLC too.

Welcome to two weeks ago when it was all 75% off. I picked up what I didn't have yet for about $6.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

You'd think they would offer some kind of bundle for all the DLC too.

Why on earth would they do that? Neither Civ3, Civ4, nor Civ5 were playable at release, yet they know that tons of people will still pay full price to be late beta testers for a few months, and that many of those same dummies will pay full price for every bit of DLC the first day it's released.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Why on earth would they do that? Neither Civ3, Civ4, nor Civ5 were playable at release, yet they know that tons of people will still pay full price to be late beta testers for a few months, and that many of those same dummies will pay full price for every bit of DLC the first day it's released.

I resemble that remark.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The "Cradles of Civilizations" don't have the civilizations in it. You'd have to buy the CoC pack, Spain/Inca, Polynesia, Denmark, and Korea, along with th explorer map pack to get the GotY.

It's not a big deal, just find it an odd way to handle the people who bought the game at launch. It's $42 for the DLC and $20 for it in the GotY. So you're paying double if you bought the game before GotY came out. You'd think they would offer some kind of bundle for all the DLC too.

Checking to see if what I saw last night was wrong...

Yep, sorry, not the clearest layout I've seen.

Downloadable Content For This Game
-10% $29.99 $26.99
Sid Meier's Civilization V - Gods and Kings
$4.99
Sid Meier’s Civilization® V: Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar II)
$2.99
Civilization V: Cradle of Civilization - Mediterranean
$2.99
Civilization V: Cradle of Civilization - Asia
$2.99
Civilization V: Cradle of Civilization - Americas
$2.99
Civilization V: Cradle of Civilization - Mesopotamia
$7.49
Double Civilization and Scenario Pack: Spain and Inca
$4.99
Civilization and Scenario Pack: Polynesia
$4.99
Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark - The Vikings
$4.99
Civilization V: Explorer’s Map Pack
$4.99
Civilization V - Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack
$4.99
Civilization V - Civilization and Scenario Pack: Korea
$4.99

Like MBBF said, they have sales on these regularly but skip the map packs or simple get the GotY edition, plus Korea. The scenario packs that come with new civs are pretty cool. Been playing one of the Spanish/Incas scenarios for the past two weeks.

[Buccaneer]

Looking at my record, it looks like I got Spain, Incas, Polynesia and Denmark all for $9.99 and Korea for $2.99. Bablyon came with the special edition or something like that. The rest I skipped including ancient world one.

[molson]

Like with CIV IV, I'm waiting until Civ V is completely DONE before jumping in. I still dust off CIV IV for a marathon game every couple months so I'm in no hurry. It's a little discouraging though that it appears I'll have to do a ton of research just to figure out what I'm supposed to buy. Hopefully there will be an "ultimate" collection or something in a year or two.

[Buccaneer]

Civ4 got completely done?!?! With its many broken, nonsensical, poorly implemented elements????

I only partly kid since Civ4 was my favorite game until Civ5 patch 1 came out. There are too many people with absurdly high expectations for G&K but I think some of those are just waiting to bash Civ5 again. I've had a great deal of fun playing Civ5 over the past 18 months (after 1.0). As an old wargamer, the combat appeals to me better than any other version, not to mention themuch better richness of the AI UA/UU/UB.

[Ben E Lou]

I've tried to get into Civ5 several times, and have been unsuccessful. I keep going back to Civ4:BtS. I'm hoping that G&K (or a subsequent patch) can draw me in. I'm still annoyed that there's no truly "random" way to play Civ5 like there was in Civ4. (I'm talking about where you have random leaders with random personalities leading random nations on a random map, so you might have an Aggressive Gandi leading the U.S. on a map that you find out as the game progresses is an archipelago.)

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

I've tried to get into Civ5 several times, and have been unsuccessful. I keep going back to Civ4:BtS. I'm hoping that G&K (or a subsequent patch) can draw me in. I'm still annoyed that there's no truly "random" way to play Civ5 like there was in Civ4. (I'm talking about where you have random leaders with random personalities leading random nations on a random map, so you might have an Aggressive Gandi leading the U.S. on a map that you find out as the game progresses is an archipelago.)

You can set it to random leaders, random map and click on Random Personalities in the advanced set up screen. I think random nations would have to be a mod, but I haven't heard about that one.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

You can set it to random leaders, random map and click on Random Personalities in the advanced set up screen. I think random nations would have to be a mod, but I haven't heard about that one.

Right. Without random nations, the other stuff is basically pointless.


Minor patch released in advance of G&K.

[MODDING]

• Steam Workshop enabled.
• DLL swapping is now possible in-game.
• Updated mod browser to utilize Steam Workshop.
• Font Icons are now moddable.
• Unit art is now fully moddable.
• Mods are now activated the moment you click "Next" on the mods browser rather than when you click "Single Player."

[ADVISORS & TUTORIALS]

• Improved the queuing and prioritization of advisor pop-ups.
• Unique advisor portraits per era now show up for the advisor counsel screens and advisor info screens.
• Adjusted advisor levels down a bit so that experienced users won't see so many tutorials.
• Fixed several issues with the Tutorials.
• When selecting "Learn as you play," all tutorial messages are now enabled despite having your options set to "No Advisors."

[MULTIPLAYER]

• When switching players in hotseat, have the new players existing notifications rebroadcast to them. This allows the player to see non-expired notifications such as deal proposals.
• Fix Diplomacy Deals in Hotseat.
• Add a few multiplayer error messages to let the player know what went wrong (disconnects, gets booted, etc.).
• Add invite button to in-game view. (This brings up the Steam Invite list, which is different from the Shift-TAB overlay).

[UI]

• Main Menu now contains an option to activate/deactivate specific DLCs.
• Quick combat and Quick Movement options are now part of the Options menu and can be changed during gameplay.
• Options menu now contains "Skip intro video."
• New Loading screens have been implemented.
• Diplomacy: Disabled modifiers for trying to win the same way.
• Diplomacy: Layout changes to diplo modifiers for better readability and more information.
• Mods and DLC used in a game are now stored in the Hall of Fame database (Only games which match currently active DLC are displayed in the Hall of Fame).
• The "Time Spent" message now displays in the saved replays.
• Load Replay Menu now defaults to "Sort by Last Modified."
• Added a "Retire" button to the game menu.

[GENERAL]

• In some cases, previous saves may not work correctly after updating.
• Several text bugs fixed (in all languages).
• Prevent escape from being used when a leader requests a luxury resource from you.
• Social policies may not be unlocked unless the player has founded at least 1 city.

[WVUFAN]

Still no PiTBoss?

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Right. Without random nations, the other stuff is basically pointless.

I can see that. Unlike previous versions where all of the AI civs were nearly identical in play except for their color, Civ5 actually has them playing more distinctly. And there is one leader per civ thus the UA/UU/UB are all tied together. I actually love that part since some those are really hard to beat at higher levels (I play Immortal).

[RainMaker]

I think Civ 5 was a bit behind when it came out, but it has improved a lot. Have some minor gripes still but it's not that big. My problem with the game is I can't stop playing once I get going. So I'll blow through 9 hours on a Sunday without even knowing it.

Did have a question for you guys. When you take over cities, what is your strategy? Puppet, annex, or raze? I'm also having a weird problem where when I take over a city and their land, it doesn't seem to add the special resources to my pool. The city is connected to the capital and all that, but am I doing something wrong there? I need my damn aluminum!

[cartman]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Did have a question for you guys. When you take over cities, what is your strategy? Puppet, annex, or raze? I'm also having a weird problem where when I take over a city and their land, it doesn't seem to add the special resources to my pool. The city is connected to the capital and all that, but am I doing something wrong there? I need my damn aluminum!

It won't immediately. You have to calm the populace first before the city will produce anything. Usually a courthouse will do the trick.

[Buccaneer]

cartman is correct. Underneath the city name, there is a small red fist icon. Hover over that you will see the turns in revolt. Once out of revolt, then you can buy a Courthouse.

[RainMaker]

Yeah, I know that takes awhile to go away, but there were cities I swore had ended that stage and I wasn't getting the resources. Maybe I was using them for other buildings or units that I didn't know about.

Anyways, do you annex, puppet or raze cities? I'm having a tough time with that decision.

[Big Fo]

For me it really depends on how good the tiles around the city are and how far my civilization is from becoming unhappy.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Yeah, I know that takes awhile to go away, but there were cities I swore had ended that stage and I wasn't getting the resources. Maybe I was using them for other buildings or units that I didn't know about.

Anyways, do you annex, puppet or raze cities? I'm having a tough time with that decision.

Never annex a city while a revolt. If want to control the captured city (annex) because of its location (helps to have a city on the frontlines that can produce or buy units) or resources (particularly if it's a high production city), then annex after revolt. If those reasons do not matter but it is not a small city or has a unique luxury, then puppet. Otherwise, if it's small (<5) and have no resources or wonders, raze. One caveat could be if you are trying to gain a foothold on another continent, then puppeting would work better than razing.

I typically only have 4 cities but lots of gold-focused puppets. If I am moving through a continent, I would annex 1 or 2 along the way (usually a capital, which you cannot raze).

[mckerney]

Wot I Think: Civ V – Gods And Kings | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I’ve never actually been physically assaulted for enjoying Civ V but the internet has told me how stupid, ignorant and irresponsible I am on many occasions. Yes, irresponsible, because liking this iteration of the series apparently encourages dumbing down. I’m rewarding their failures, it seems, like bestowing a meaty treat on a dog that has just dumped a pile of compost on grandma’s favourite rug. That thing really tied the parlour together.

The thing is, despite a host of problems, I’ve spent a great deal of time with Civ V, the majority of which I’ve greatly enjoyed. It’s not Civ IV, which is fine because Civ IV still exists, but nor is it Civ IV + 1, which the V does suggest if that’s the way you choose to read it. Beyond the Sword, the spiffiest expansion pack of all, was Civ IV + 1 though. Rather than that, Civ V is a new take on the model of map-conquering, settler-spawning, race-to-the-finish strategy that the series has been since its inception.

I’ll move on to the expansion in a moment, but here’s a quick summary of what I do and don’t like about the base game. It’s important to know this because whether or not Gods and Kings is for you will depend largely on whether Civ V was for you or not. Despite all the missionaries in the world being added, there’s nothing here that’s going to win over non-believers.

...

Then it did a lot of things not quite so well, most notably, from my point of view at least, diplomacy, AI and a tech tree that funnels into linear progression too soon in every era. There has been hope that the re-emergence of religion and espionage will change the game significantly, bringing back some of Civ IV’s complexity, but that isn’t the case. Gods and Kings is more Civ V with additions and tweaks along the lines already drawn rather than bold new directions.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, although if you were waiting for the game to be salvaged this will do nothing to change your mind and is more likely to make you think it’s unsalvageable. Religion is similar to the culture mechanic, although this time around the policies are global, so once a belief has been selected by one player it’s gone for good. While that means civs that want to build their strength through faith have to specialise more, it’s problematic because my time with the expansion suggests the advantages of a strong religion are nowhere near as effective as focusing on science, culture or the amassing of gigantic armies.

...

Gods and Kings has required me to spend a great deal of time playing Civ V in the past few days. It’s also made me remember how much I enjoy the game, although not without also drawing my mind more to its differences from previous entries and its flaws. As an expansion it delivers lots of content but doesn’t have the killer addition that elevates the game beyond its base. It also suggests that Firaxis are well aware that their game is not and never will be equivalent to Civ IV because they’ve made it a moderately better version of what it already was rather than what so many people hoped it could become.

[Blackadar]

That's what I expected. I have over 100 hours in Civ V and think it's a very good - if not quite great - game. I'm looking forward to having a few more options available in my quest to conquer the world, a few more luxuries to keep the population happy and a few more talents to research.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Wot I Think: Civ V – Gods And Kings | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Thanks for that, mckerney. I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't hate Civ5, but I don't love it either. I definitely play/enjoy Civ4:BtS more. Sounds like maybe for me this might move it from "not as good as BtS" to "almost as good as BtS." If it's good enough to make it a worthy diversion from BtS, then it'll be worth the purchase. *shurg*

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Thanks for that, mckerney. I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't hate Civ5, but I don't love it either. I definitely play/enjoy Civ4:BtS more. Sounds like maybe for me this might move it from "not as good as BtS" to "almost as good as BtS." If it's good enough to make it a worthy diversion from BtS, then it'll be worth the purchase. *shurg*

See, I'm not going that route. I think BtS is literally the best turn-based strategy game of all time. Yeah, it's that good. I've played through it with every single leader and scored more than 30k points with every leader. I easily have over 1,000 hours into that game. So I shouldn't expect Civ V to top it - that's really not a reasonable expectation.

So what I expected out of Civ V is simply a good, fun TBS game with different mechanics. Civ V delivered (mostly) that on release and I'm looking to having a few more arrows in the quiver when I play it. I don't expect that I'll get over 1,000 hours out of Civ V. I'm not sure I'll get more than 200. Still, that's more than sufficient for me to call Civ V a success.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

I think BtS is literally the best turn-based strategy game of all time. Yeah, it's that good. I've played through it with every single leader and scored more than 30k points with every leader. I easily have over 1,000 hours into that game. So I shouldn't expect Civ V to top it - that's really not a reasonable expectation.

Heh. So maybe that's my problem. I've never stated (or thought) it in terms that strong, but the proof is in the pudding, I suppose. There's no question that I've logged more hours with BtS than any other game of all time. Maybe that's where I am, too, and why I have been disappointed in Civ V.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Heh. So maybe that's my problem. I've never stated (or thought) it in terms that strong, but the proof is in the pudding, I suppose. There's no question that I've logged more hours with BtS than any other game of all time. Maybe that's where I am, too, and why I have been disappointed in Civ V.

I entirely understand. I had to temper my own expectations. I knew that if I was expecting Civ V > Civ IV + BtS, I'd be sorely disappointed. So I learned to enjoy Civ V for what it was. If I wanted more of Civ IV, there are mods that add more techs, units, civs and so forth that are pretty interesting. I've played 'em and frankly I don't think there's much anyone can do to improve Civ IV. So if it's pretty much perfect, then the next game needs to be different in order to succeed. Civ V ain't perfect - nowhere close - but at least Firaxis was smart enough to try something else rather than give us a Civ IV+, which wouldn't have made anyone happy.

Along the same lines, I'm looking forward to Firaxis' X-Com this year. But I'm not expecting it to be better than the original X-Com, which was brilliant. That's kind of setting the bar unreasonably high. If it gets anywhere close I'll be more than happy.

[Ben E Lou]

I think this speaks to why I really hoped for the random civs option...

More than ever, with Gods and Kings I felt like I was reliant on the seed of a map, my location and the unique qualities of my people combining to set my path for the next six thousand years or so.

That statement really rings true for me for Civ5 in general. I feel less free to go down different paths in Civ5 than I do in Civ4. I'm wondering if I might need to try playing shorter games so I don't feel "stuck" on a path as long.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Just over an hour to go. Think I'm going to stay up and put a couple hours in tonight.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Download just started. Guess it was midnight EDT. Woohoo!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Found my first new wonder. Mt. Sinai. Looks like it boosts religion tremendously.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Attacks are much more specific now. Rather than losing 1-10 troops, it's now 1-100 scale.

[RainMaker]

Crap I want to play but know I will be up till 6am if I start one.

[CleBrownsfan]

Kind of a silly question.... Do you have to build roads to attach resources to your city? I always do but always wondered if I needed to.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

Kind of a silly question.... Do you have to build roads to attach resources to your city? I always do but always wondered if I needed to.

You build roads to create a trade route from your main city to your other cities. You do NOT need to build a road to get a resource to a city. In fact, the fewer roads the better - each road costs gold while each trade route generates gold. So you want to connect your cities with the least amount of road as possible.