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

[Ksyrup]

Never seen or played the console version.

[Peregrine]

I have Civ Rev on my iPad and enjoy it, but definitely can't wait for the big dog, Civ 5.

[Greyroofoo]

I like the fact that each unit comes with its own transport boat (of course though there is a required technology)

[Butter]

I tried the demo on my laptop, and it is very slow. If my home computer is similar, I may not be buying this after all. I love Civ and everything, but I am not going to go through some of the frustration I did when I tried to run Civ IV on my last computer. Waiting on those turns was ridiculous.

I guess we'll see later.

[Icy]

So is it a big improvement over IV?

If not i guess i'll pass by now, as with NHL11, FIFA11 coming out next week, and FM11 and NBA2k11 also in a month, i guess i'm going to be busy enough.

[Greyroofoo]

Originally Posted by Icy

So is it a big improvement over IV?

If not i guess i'll pass by now, as with NHL11, FIFA11 coming out next week, and FM11 and NBA2k11 also in a month, i guess i'm going to be busy enough.

My first impression is that it's a moderate improvement over Civ 4. I like how they streamlined parts of the game but as mentioned earlier I dislike some of the changes to the interface. I really like the city-states and the fact cities can defend themselves now. I'm also really enjoying the 1 unit per hex rule.

My biggest beef is that I took over the continent I was on and there's no f&^&)(* coal.

[DaddyTorgo]

Yeah - too much coming out with FIFA11, NBA2k11, FM11, and EA Sports MMA.

[Izulde]

I'm trying to resist getting this.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Greyroofoo

My first impression is that it's a moderate improvement over Civ 4. I like how they streamlined parts of the game but as mentioned earlier I dislike some of the changes to the interface. I really like the city-states and the fact cities can defend themselves now. I'm also really enjoying the 1 unit per hex rule.

My biggest beef is that I took over the continent I was on and there's no f&^&)(* coal.

Isn't coal one of those things that doesn't get revealed until you have the proper tech?

[Greyroofoo]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Isn't coal one of those things that doesn't get revealed until you have the proper tech?

Yeah, I took over the continent, then developed the tech to discover there was no coal. So I took over another continent, I got the tech that revealed aluminum. Lo and behold there's no fricken aluminum on either continent and I have unhappy people. Though this time it looks like I'll have to bribe a city-state into trading with me.

[spleen1015]

So, I get home, start Civ 5 from Steam and it tells me that my Civ 5 data is very fragmented. I should run a defrag to avoid slow load times.

WTF?!

[duckman]

I can't resist any longer...downloading the deluxe version as I type this.

[Big Fo]

It's amazing to me that anyone who has previously enjoyed the series would choose the yearly update of a console sports game over this. Don't get me wrong, I like those games too. I get the Show and one of the soccer games every year. But this is Civilization ffs. And so far it's really good, and there are tons of differences/additions/subtractions from previous games in the series with most of them being for the better as far as I can tell at this point (closing in on the Industrial Age of my first game).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

So I played through quite a bit of a game this afternoon on a low end computer. Thrilled to see it work, though it's obviously a bit slow processing turns (standard map size). But it's still a very enjoyable experience. PC is 2.2 Ghz processor, 2.5 GB RAM, and an Intel integrated card on my laptop.

Really love the improvements in this game, though it definitely takes some getting used to. Lots more diplomatic options that fill in the spaces from the Civ IV game. I also love where you can apologize to a civ if you attack one of the city states that they are friends with. Ranged attack options are fantastic. Love how the city is a defensive unit in itself along with the ability for the city to do ranged attacks on any incoming troops.

I'm still not totally sure if I'm making optimal decisions at all, but it's a fantastic amount of fun doing whatever the hell I'm doing.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

BTW......the culture part of the game has changed quite a bit, but I really like it. You can actually select some options that allow you to be cultured while still going on the warpath. My issue at this point is that I just can't fully gather what effect some of the decisions have on my game overall.

I also LOVE the city-states. Really add a lot to the game. Some really neat agreements you can make with them in addition to getting extra relationship points by doing things like defending them from other civs and/or barbarians. There's even an option where you can increase your relationship by secretly giving units to a city-state to defend against another civ without the other civ knowing you aided them. LOVE that.

[Ksyrup]

Question on strategic resources as I read through the manual - I know they are limited in what you can build with them, but is it like Civ IV in that once you have access to a resource, any city can use it, or is it limited to a nearby city only?

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

BTW......the culture part of the game has changed quite a bit, but I really like it. You can actually select some options that allow you to be cultured while still going on the warpath. My issue at this point is that I just can't fully gather what effect some of the decisions have on my game overall.

I also LOVE the city-states. Really add a lot to the game. Some really neat agreements you can make with them in addition to getting extra relationship points by doing things like defending them from other civs and/or barbarians. There's even an option where you can increase your relationship by secretly giving units to a city-state to defend against another civ without the other civ knowing you aided them. LOVE that.

Sounds awesome. One of the things I didn't like about Civ was that there weren't enough other countries, especially smaller ones -- this seems to take care of that.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Question on strategic resources as I read through the manual - I know they are limited in what you can build with them, but is it like Civ IV in that once you have access to a resource, any city can use it, or is it limited to a nearby city only?

Yes, any city that is connected to the resource can use it.

[henry296]

Can you play in windowed mode? I can't seem to find that option.

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

So I played through quite a bit of a game this afternoon on a low end computer. Thrilled to see it work, though it's obviously a bit slow processing turns (standard map size). But it's still a very enjoyable experience. PC is 2.2 Ghz processor, 2.5 GB RAM, and an Intel integrated card on my laptop.

I have a very similar setup. 1.8 instead of 2.2, but 3 GB ram.

I downloaded the demo but I cant read the text. It's blurred, fragmented kind of. Could that be a bad install of is it probably hardware related ya guys think?

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by henry296

Can you play in windowed mode? I can't seem to find that option.

Under Options... Video Options... uncheck Fullscreen

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by henry296

Can you play in windowed mode? I can't seem to find that option.

I know it was somewhere in the manual. I don't remember where, but maybe knowing that it definitely exists will help (sometimes that happens for me).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

I have a very similar setup. 1.8 instead of 2.2, but 3 GB ram.

I downloaded the demo but I cant read the text. It's blurred, fragmented kind of. Could that be a bad install of is it probably hardware related ya guys think?

Definitely hardware unfortunately.

[henry296]

Hmmm. I uncheck Full screen click Apply/Accept and the game keeps going back to full screen mode. I'm running DX9 if that matters.

[Schmidty]

FINALLY got it to work. I had to go into the game file and install Directx11 from there. I thought I already had it, but I didn't.

[ColtCrazy]

Played for 3 hours tonight, and taking tomorrow off as a belated birthday to myself to play for the day.

First thoughts.

I'm the British, playing on a huge map on marathon.

Graphically, it's a beautiful game.

Interface took a little getting used to, but now I really like it. Seems more streamlined than IV.

Combat is very good. Love the ranged attacks. I attacked a city-state that was close to my capital with 2 warriors, an archer, and a trieme. Bombarded to soften up the city before finally capturing it with the warriors. First attack had to pull back because he wisely focused on my archers. Second attack finally beat the city after maybe 8-10 turns. He sunk the trieme (which was still attacking as I resupplied the archers).

Trading is going well. I had excess silver close to me and have used to it trade. Got a good deal out of it which lasts 90 turns (Flat 200 gold plus 7 gold per turn).

Overall, it's well worth the purchase. I loved IV as well, and this seems like a solid step forward. I'll give more impressions after a day with it tomorrow.

[bulletsponge]

mine up and running well so far. still getting the hang of it

[Buccaneer]

Civ5, at this point (which is only Day 0), feels incomplete. The interface is almost intolerable at lower resolutions and without a simplified option as with Civ4. Diplomacy with civs has very little depth but City-States diplomacy is well done. It is basically a game that you don't need to micro-manage (since economy and science are very much streamlined) so you can focus on combat, gearing towards a more general strategy game audience. The combat model is good and could offer some interesting tactics, esp. if you don't expect the AI to be effective, as usual. The potential is certainly there but it is going to take a lot of work to not only complete the game but to add the needed depth or meat. The same thing happened with Civ4 - compare the first version to BtS 3.19.

[nilodor]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

I have a very similar setup. 1.8 instead of 2.2, but 3 GB ram.

I downloaded the demo but I cant read the text. It's blurred, fragmented kind of. Could that be a bad install of is it probably hardware related ya guys think?

I've got the same problem, I downloaded the updated video driver but all that allowed me to do is see the opening video. I'm wondering if I'm missing a text script or something.

[nilodor]

Dola

Here is the thread over at the 2k forums
hxxp://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87615

[Cringer]

Have 2-3 hours in so far, really starting to get into this. When I first started I wasn't sure I liked the graffics, but now I am loving them. The look of the game is a good step up though is still taking some getting used to (especially with all the Civ IV BtS I have played the last month). I am sure I will adjust to the UI, although not being able to hit enter or space bar to end turn sucks. Nation states rock. Notifications are much better IMO, with the exception of pick research/pick to construct not just popping up for you. Seems dumb to "streamline" things yet add an extra mouse click for that.

I started on a pretty easy level with America, marathon length and huge world. It is supposed to move slow yet I feel like I am maybe going too slow. It's 1450 BC and I only have two cities. I don't care though, playing it out since it's a new game and I realize I will probably have to adjust my normal Civ IV yard sticks for how I am doing in a game.

[mrkilla22]

I wonder how good the multiplayer is? It would be fun to play an FOFC game.

[PadresFan104]

Found the intro video to be especially well done... Very classy and sets the mood nicely!

[Cringer]

A couple of things as I continue playing. Just now opened the main advisor screen and I think this may actually be useful, especially with the military advisor letting me know the strength of other Civs.....as long as he is pretty accurate anyways.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

It's amazing to me that anyone who has previously enjoyed the series would choose the yearly update of a console sports game over this. Don't get me wrong, I like those games too. I get the Show and one of the soccer games every year. But this is Civilization ffs. And so far it's really good, and there are tons of differences/additions/subtractions from previous games in the series with most of them being for the better as far as I can tell at this point (closing in on the Industrial Age of my first game).

Civ V will still be playable, and probably much improved, in a year's time. The sports games? One and done.

[bhlloy]

That 5 hours went by pretty fast

Overall, I think they absolutely nailed it. I've never been a hardcore Civ player but I've always enjoyed playing it on Prince and below so this is right up my alley. Combat is ridiculously fun. It took me three tries to take out a pretty strong city-state on my coast but it was really a sense of achievement when I finally did it. Since then I've fought a pretty successful war against the Aztecs that they started and won't back down from, but the fact that cities can bombard and have pretty high strength, combined with the fact that you can only have one unit per square and the fact that ranged units are really useful means there is a lot of strategy and thought that goes into every attack.

Other areas like wonders, great people and social policy feel much more balanced and realistic. Interface (for me at least) and graphics are much better and more intuitive. Little things like being prompted when your city is idle or a barbarian is within range of your city mean I am much more engaged and don't miss something stupid. Honestly, this is a 10 out of 10 for me so far. Will be looking forward to picking my savegame back up all day at work tomorrow.

[Big Fo]

I'm now in the early 1900s (yes, I have spent a somewhat embarrassing amount of time playing this today) and am cruising towards the win on my first game.

I declared war on one too many city-states so another one declared war on me in order to try and back up their compatriot. Unfortunately for them I had better tech, more units, and they were on opposite sides of the continent so they couldn't help each other out much.

After I basically consolidated my home continent (a pretty big one with room for a dozen or so cities with about four hexes in between each other) I started looking for areas to colonize. Sadly there were no empty islands (this is the last time I choose a continents map, I didn't even look for other options but iirc there's Big and Small/Medium and Small plus eventual community map scripts for my next game) so I built a few cities on the Russian continent to get some more luxury resources and to keep them from expanding too much. I also discovered the French who also had their own decent sized continent but they had done a better job of filling in the coastal areas so I never built any cities there.

At this point I had explored a lot of the open space and was still wondering where the other five civs were. Soon enough I found a giant landmass that had all five of them, kind of a weird setup with five civs on one landmass and three civs with their own continents. I traded with them but never got too involved in anyone's business, I am usually a peaceful player against the AI and I was able to try out the new combat system against the local city-states. My big leads in population, manufacturing, money, and science had me well on my way to a peaceful Space Race or "time has run out" victory, or so I had thought.

On that big landmass to the east Japan was gobbling up her neighbors like it the early part of World War 2. The Aztecs, English, Persians, and several city-states were all wiped out relatively quickly. At one point my lead in the overall score was down to double digits and the remaining city-states on that landmass were begging for anyone to come and help them. I felt that I would be in some serious trouble if Japan was able to bring that whole landmass under their control so I sailed about a half dozen units over (at this point in the game I had riflemen and cavalry) and founded a city on an unoccupied part of the landmass near some silver to both gain a foothold on the continent and mine some silver for some much needed happiness.

Nobunaga called me out a few times for settling close to them and having units on their border but wouldn't declare war on me so once I had my troops situated I began the hostilities. The war itself was surprisingly easy to the point that I was disappointed. The first of their cities I found was the capital and it was no trouble taking it down without artillery. I think their units were all on the other side of the continent where they had been conquering the English and fighting the Iroquois. I was able to take out a second city before they finally brought down a few riflemen and a cannon, but using a combination of terrain and flanking I was able to take them all down without losing a single unit.

It was at this point that I was offered the most concessions I have ever seen the AI offer in the Civilization series: six cities, a few hundred gold pieces, and some resources. I accepted and liberated the former city-states (who were grateful and became instant allies) while keeping the former Japanese and Aztec cities. The war has taken a big chunk out of their empire and I am once again the undisputed leader. Unfortunately the French and Russians have chosen to view my actions as a bullying land-grab instead of a noble act of liberation so they are both hostile now. So now I have a bunch of infantry and artillery lined up on the border in case the Russians decide they want to start something.

Now I'm in the Modern Era, I was originally trying for a Space Race win but after reading the manual/Civilpedia I think a Domination Victory would also be possible. I don't need to fight Japan again to take the English and Persian capitals (and probably the Iroquois capital as well, both guys hate each other and won't make peace but Japan is still far stronger) since they have already been taken by Japan. I just have to be the last civ left with my original capital and I could probably take Moscow and Paris after a few dozen turns of military buildup.

I love the game so far but I am already looking forward to finishing this one off and starting my second game for a better challenge. I'll try the next difficulty level up (Prince), I would jump up to King but I think my big lead in this game had more to do with a fortunate starting position than me being particularly skilled.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Civ V will still be playable, and probably much improved, in a year's time. The sports games? One and done.

That is true.

But FIFA 12 (or whatever one's favorite sports game coming out this fall is) will be better than FIFA 11 in all likelihood and unlike someone getting Civ V for the same price or possibly cheaper next year after a year of patching and modding, FIFA 12 will cost another $60 when it comes out. So waiting awhile to get Civ V makes sense but so might skipping a year of FIFA or waiting for a Black Friday sale.

Now some people like the sports games more than strategy games and that's fine. To me, as a longtime fan of the Civilization series, the fact that a new version doesn't come out every year makes the release feel special in a way that a new FIFA, FM, NBA2k, etc. never could. And like I said I get two of those games every year and probably will this year as well (kind of on the fence about FIFA).

[TargetPractice6]

The interface is still bothering me. I keep trying to use my mouse wheel to scroll out to the bird's eye view that Civ IV had. I know it has the 2D view, but to me it's practically indecipherable (especially when I'm trying to find out where units are) and not as convenient. Also, the "route to" command for workers really needs some sort of visual indicator of where the new road is going to be.

[SackAttack]

I meant to try the strategy view to see if my computer could handle that better than the regular, but I couldn't figure out how.

[mckerney]

Ancient Infantry Attack! - Civilization Fanatics' Forums

[Galaril]

The first mods are already coming out. One guy has already released a mod that eliminates the restriction on stacking units. I am not interested in that since I support the ahnegs they have made in V. One other mod of interest someone who did the fall from Heaven mod for Civ IV has made a mod that adds a civs The Celts as well as a unique rule, units, building, and traits.I am not sure if it replaces another civ or is a addin.

Civilization Fanatics' Forums - View Single Post - Queen of the Iceni

[Peregrine]

I am really enjoying the game so far - I wasn't sure about the interface at first but now I really like the streamlined nature - everything is there with a minimal amount of clicks to look at. I'm playing the English and so far I've won a war with China and am trying to sort through a tangle of relations with the nearby city states.

[Cringer]

OK, I started over with a new game a bit ago since I clearly blew the early part of my first attempt somehow, doing much better this time. One thing I am coming to enjoy is the land masses in the game. Currently exploring a pretty big area that in Civ IV I would have avoided as pretty unihabitable. In this one though it's actually pretty damn cool and I could see how cities could work there (not being restricted to a specific city growth pattern is huge here). I think it adds a ton to the game and the worlds for me.

[Atocep]

The AI seems improved over Civ 4. I actually saw Washington wipe out another Civ relatively early in the game today.

Wonders seem more balanced though it's hard to say this early. Still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. I haven't seen any that appear ridiculously overpowered (Pyramids in Civ 4).

I'm really liking the social policies so far. I was worried about them dumbing down the game, but they add more depth and flexibility to what you're trying to do.

Combat is improved. I haven't seen any "WTF screwed by the RNG" type of battles yet.

1 unit per hex is amazing and ranged units actually attacking from rage is amazing. The thought of stacks of doom makes me sick to my stomach now.

I like how they removed tech trading, but I think Research Pact is exploitable as well though it doesn't have anywhere near the game-breaking impact trading did.

The reward for circumnavigating the globe getting removed is disappointing.

Getting rid of transports is a big plus.

I liked the impact religion had on the game and wish it was still in. I'm also missing espionage.

City States are game changing in a good way. A lot of added strategy to multiplayer.

Being able to work any tile in your cultural borders instead of only in your fat cross is a fantastic change. The fat cross system really didn't make sense and was rather annoying. This along with the change to how your borders expand give a lot more options on where you can place a city.

[Peregrine]

Originally Posted by Galaril

The first mods are already coming out. One guy has already released a mod that eliminates the restriction on stacking units. I am not interested in that since I support the ahnegs they have made in V. One other mod of interest someone who did the fall from Heaven mod for Civ IV has made a mod that adds a civs The Celts as well as a unique rule, units, building, and traits.I am not sure if it replaces another civ or is a addin.

Civilization Fanatics' Forums - View Single Post - Queen of the Iceni

Wow that Celtic civ seems way overpowered - giving most of your units double attack? Combat units which ignore terrain?

[Alan T]

My first impressions:

I like the new interface finally. It took a little getting used to, but now it seems pretty slick for me. There are some things I miss though, like I hate that I can't figure out any way to see leaders relations with other leaders for instance. But I was afraid that I would miss alot of the things they took out, but so far I really haven't.

The biggest issue that I am having is that I think I am playing on too easy of a level. I decided to just start with the default play now settings to try it out at first. So far through my first game it has been a cake walk. My score is 5 or 6 times the other civs, I pretty much can walk over any of them. I also got a lucky rifleman from a ruin pretty early on while everyone else was still with swordmen and archers. In case you wonder, that is pretty much like having a tank to take out small huts. I pretty much was able to take down single cities with him by himself.

Maybe the lucky rifleman is why this game is so easy, but it felt easy even before that as the AI didn't seem to have much interest in expansion and I took the early strategic foothold.

After I finish this game, I'll start again on a harder level to see if I still experience little challenge.

Overall, I'm enjoying it though, as I was a little tired of Civ IV, so the changes for the most part seem to be ok to me for now. My other biggest complaint is that it feels so quick to build or research things, I just feel like I'm researching/building almost everything everywhere with little downside or strategy there. I don't really have the feel of building a city around being a commerce city or manufacturing city or what not. Maybe that goes hand in hand with the lack of challenge on the default level though. So maybe all I need is to start over several levels more difficult.

[Alan T]

Ok, reading around other places, it does appear my problem is simply the default difficulty level is too easy. I had such an easy time because the happiness penalties are softer at the lower difficulty allowing my expansion to completely dominate my opponents. Looks like I'll need to try at least on Prince level next time to get a better feel for the game as the happiness penalties are stricter when you expand too much.

[CleBrownsfan]

Soooo tired... I swear - 5 hours of CIV time = 1 hour real time.

Love the interface, graphics, and pretty much everything about CIV V. I've been in a rut staying attached to a game for the past couple years. I think that feeling is finally over.

[Peregrine]

I've been enjoying my first game as England - their unique ability plus the great lighthouse gives your navy incredible movement. I started on a continent with China and Siam - ended up in a war with China and thrashed them (playing on normal) and then knocked out their civ. Siam isn't much of a threat but there are a ton of city states on my continent as well.

Longbowmen = the howitzers of the medieval era. That range bonus is killer.

Also, I love the built in mods feature - it's really cool to be able to see and download all kinds of mods from within the game.