CIVILIZATION: BEYOND EARTH

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

The consensus of the reviews I've read, and forum posts elsewhere seem to indicate that it's very much a Civ 5 game, with a bit of a right turn regarding the affinities & aliens that you may or may not like.

But, in general the consensus seems to be that if you're a long-time Civ fan, you'll like this, and you'll probably like it a whole lot more when the first expansion comes through. If you're a bit new to this kind of game (i.e. no one here) the learning curve is a bit high. And if you were expecting something in the lineage of SMAC, you're going to be disappointed.

Much of the negative reaction seems to surround that last point. I feel for the devs, though, as they went to pains to say that while SMAC was an influence, this wasn't an updated SMAC.

The last review cartman posted was a bit of a downer for me. I get that there are a lot of people that wanted SMAC 2, but that review seems to suggest that what makes CIV a "one...more...turn" addiction isn't there in Beyond Earth -- not that the game isn't meeting SMAC assumptions. Sounds like they've streamlined out a fair number of interesting decisions.

I guess I'll find out for myself over this weekend (assuming the painting of the bathroom goes quickly -- HA!).

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Zero issues for me, other than the aliens being crazy strong crazy early.

I like that though.. (haven't played yet) as I always turned that up when I played Pandora. The idea that the world you just landed on has aliens that are already powerful and used to their surroundings is something that makes sense to me.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Bobble

The last review cartman posted was a bit of a downer for me. I get that there are a lot of people that wanted SMAC 2, but that review seems to suggest that what makes CIV a "one...more...turn" addiction isn't there in Beyond Earth -- not that the game isn't meeting SMAC assumptions. Sounds like they've streamlined out a fair number of interesting decisions.

I guess I'll find out for myself over this weekend (assuming the painting of the bathroom goes quickly -- HA!).

The IGN review was a 79%, but the reviewer did say he had that one more turn feeling.

[MizzouRah]

Work is slow today.. working from home so I bought it last night and just started playing today. I get that is has that Civ vibe, but there is plenty here that's different from the Civ series.

I like the options before starting a new game, some choices to make for sure. I'm playing on a dwarf map, going to need a few games before I really get a large map game going. Love the music and sounds and with the game on ultra settings, it's quite beautiful and gives that Sci Fi feeling I was hoping for.

The polygon reviewer stating he preferred the Civilization history elements like writing, printing press, etc.. I'm the complete opposite and prefer a futuristic setting.

So far, it's Civ 5 Space with some neat stuff like quests and choices to make along the way. I haven't dug into diplomacy yet.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I like that though.. (haven't played yet) as I always turned that up when I played Pandora. The idea that the world you just landed on has aliens that are already powerful and used to their surroundings is something that makes sense to me.

I don't mind the aliens being strong. I mind having my scouts skullfucked by an alien with 60/70 strength in the first ten turns of the game.

I mean, we're talking about melee units 50% stronger than cannon, to use a Civ V comparison. Should aliens be challenging? Yes. Should they be THAT challenging THAT soon? YMMV, but that's one way to break the 'one more turn' effect - introduce an enemy that's so powerful that, between the enemy's strength and miasma, it's difficult to do any exploration.

Turns the game into a slog of hitting "next turn" over and over while you wait either for new units to replace the ones that got killed, or to build enough units that maybe you can - as I had to last night - take 100 turns to clear out a single inconvenient alien nest.

[mckerney]

For anyone wondering how their system will be able to run the game there is now a demo for Beyond Earth on Steam.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I've steered clear of the aliens and been just fine. They generally leave you alone if you leave them alone. If you've got lots of aliens attacking you early on, you're doing something wrong.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by mckerney

For anyone wondering how their system will be able to run the game there is now a demo for Beyond Earth on Steam.

Downloading now.

The demo is over 2.5GB in size.
How big is the full game?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I've steered clear of the aliens and been just fine. They generally leave you alone if you leave them alone. If you've got lots of aliens attacking you early on, you're doing something wrong.

I do too.. I did go too close to a hive and they attacked me, once I left the area though, they kept to themselves.

[chinaski]

Just finished a 7 hour stretch, and like all Civs, it felt like a couple hours. Pretty fun. Not a big fan of the interface, or the tech tree, but ill get used to it. On the way to winning our first game, with the initial default settings. Gonna have to bump up the size and difficulty a scooch the next time around.

Will there ever be a Civ where diplomacy is actually good? Seems just as dumb and pointless as all the other versions tbh.

[tarcone]

So, $30 for Civ 5:Gods and Kings or $50 for Civ:BE?

[mrtourette]

Played through the whole demo (100 turns) and there didn't seem to be any difference in performance between BE and Civ 5. Aliens are definitely more hostile than barbarians but unlike barbarians you can develop technologies that protect you from aliens, although it definitely hampers exploration and expansion at first (as does the maisma, but you can deal with that later on as well).

[MizzouRah]

I think this game is fantastic. I don't want to stop playing it. It's learn as you go, but quite a bit of decision making, which is great imho.

I really didn't think I'd be as much into it as I am so far. I knew it would be a good game and all that, but damn it's really engrossing and I'm glad everyone is asleep.

[SackAttack]

This is now 2 of 3 games where the aliens have gone buttrape on my scouts without provocation. THAT is going to be the thing that drives me back to Civ V, if I have to just hunker down for 50 turns before I can even start exploring because my units are too weak to defend themselves.

[Lonnie]

I have two big problems.

1. Crashes - not just to the desktop, but my entire screen goes black and even my reset button doesn't work. I have to hold power down for 4 seconds to turn the computer off and then restart. I assume it is a graphics card issue with the black screen, but I didn't figure my 560Ti would have an issue with this. Windows also told me I was out of resources while at the race selection screen and wanted to turn off Aero desktop. First time I've had that happen.

2. The game I made it the longest before the black screen went 63 turns. I was on a peninsula that was fine land wise, but the little strip of land that connected me to everyone else had three aliens with >100 HP including a siege worm which I had a quest from turn 10 to destroy... Really? I finally researched water travel, but then next turn I got the black screen lockup and decide not to try again.

-one other thing is the factions/races were so bland, nothing really stood out. No history of course, and maybe that will come with play, but I didn't care who I was or who my adversaries were.

After the last frustrating lockup I loaded up Endless legend and enjoyed some good Vaulters play for 3 hours. Not too impressed with Civ:BE yet.

[NobodyHere]

I've only played the demo so far and it does run better for me than civ 5. But like I said earlier in the thread I'll wait for a sale ( and perhaps an add-on).

[EagleFan]

After nothing but lockups I tried anything and everything. Driver updates, followed instructions from the Steam forum and still lockups.

About to give up and I tried one last thing, changed the game from full screen to windowed mode and I just got through about 50 turns before saving and exiting (because it's freaking late). Hopefully that wasn't a one off time that worked and instead will be what will get me through until hopefully a patch addresses whatever the issue is.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

After nothing but lockups I tried anything and everything. Driver updates, followed instructions from the Steam forum and still lockups.

About to give up and I tried one last thing, changed the game from full screen to windowed mode and I just got through about 50 turns before saving and exiting (because it's freaking late). Hopefully that wasn't a one off time that worked and instead will be what will get me through until hopefully a patch addresses whatever the issue is.

That's a work around I believe, so you might be good. For anyone else with issues, there is a thread on Steam you might want to check out.

I have a 650Ti and the first time I fired it up, I got that same message about turning off Aero desktop, so I cancelled out of it and had GeForce Experience set it up and it seems to be working fine now.

[twothree]

Originally Posted by Lonnie

I have two big problems.

1. Crashes - not just to the desktop, but my entire screen goes black and even my reset button doesn't work. I have to hold power down for 4 seconds to turn the computer off and then restart. I assume it is a graphics card issue with the black screen, but I didn't figure my 560Ti would have an issue with this. Windows also told me I was out of resources while at the race selection screen and wanted to turn off Aero desktop. First time I've had that happen.

I have been running the game for 9 hours with a 550Ti card, 2.5 GHz Duel-Core with 3 GB of memory on the low graphics setting in a window without any crashes.

The game has gone to a black screen, and the window title says (Not Responding), a few times while processing AI game turns. But, after a little wait the game has resumed.

I really like this new version of Civ 5. The customization of buildings from quest choices is a great feature. The game feels like a modified version of Civ 5 that offers more choices in how your civilization develops.

This is not a remake of Alpha Centauri. In fact I think the "game" would have worked in almost any setting. Science fiction, cyber punk, steam punk, weird west, cthulhu, post apocalypse, even historical.

[mrtourette]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

This is now 2 of 3 games where the aliens have gone buttrape on my scouts without provocation. THAT is going to be the thing that drives me back to Civ V, if I have to just hunker down for 50 turns before I can even start exploring because my units are too weak to defend themselves.

I think it will be a regular theme. I found it initially frustrating as I've always played Civ as someone who likes to rapidly expand, I guess it just requires a shift in focus and certainly a lot more caution and concentration. There have been times where I haven't had any active units for long periods of time due to it.

It will be interesting to see how or of the aliens develop, obviously in Civ barbarians developed alongside military technology developments, maybe in BE the aliens are so strong as they don't develop so much but instead it's on the player to develop technology or weapons to be able to deal with them. I'm on turn 300 and I've only come across five types of alien (manticore, wolf beetle, giant squid thing, giant earth worm thing and giant wasp thing) and they've been there from the start, nothing's changed on that front as I've developed my military units.

[mrtourette]

Originally Posted by twothree

I really like this new version of Civ 5. The customization of buildings from quest choices is a great feature. The game feels like a modified version of Civ 5 that offers more choices in how your civilization develops.

Definitely agree. Seems like a good trade-off, more ability to develop and customise the settlements you have instead of being able to rapidly expand and explore due to the aliens.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by mrtourette

I think it will be a regular theme. I found it initially frustrating as I've always played Civ as someone who likes to rapidly expand, I guess it just requires a shift in focus and certainly a lot more caution and concentration. There have been times where I haven't had any active units for long periods of time due to it.

It will be interesting to see how or of the aliens develop, obviously in Civ barbarians developed alongside military technology developments, maybe in BE the aliens are so strong as they don't develop so much but instead it's on the player to develop technology or weapons to be able to deal with them. I'm on turn 300 and I've only come across five types of alien (manticore, wolf beetle, giant squid thing, giant earth worm thing and giant wasp thing) and they've been there from the start, nothing's changed on that front as I've developed my military units.

Maybe. Part of why previous Civ games have been so fun for me is that there's always something to do, whether it's setting city production, managing workers, coordinating a death march, what-have-you.

I micromanage in Civ more than maybe others do. I enjoy it.

What BE is turning into so far is "okay, set your production, tell your workers what to do, now hit 'end turn' to skip five or six turns, choose a virtue, okay maybe now that you have a particular virtue your units may be strong enough to defend themselves in the wild. It's been 50 turns, but now you can consider building an explorer."

That doesn't sound like fun to me, to sit there for three hours before I can really DO anything. Especially when alien nests spawn so close to your borders. I feel like aliens should be capable of distinguishing between a threat posture (dudes carrying things that clearly look like weapons) and a unit so weak as to not be a threat. If you have a tank, would you worry about someone banging on it with a stick? It'd be annoying, but you wouldn't perceive them as a threat in need of eradication. You might eliminate them if they were obstructing other goals, but you wouldn't say KILL THEM ALL.

And that's how aliens respond if an explorer gets within a tile or two, even by accident, of a nest.

KILL THEM ALL.

And they're strong enough that you either need multiple units, or to spend 40 or 50 turns attacking/healing/attacking/healing to clear out whatever infestation is menacing you.

I've played more XCOM than BE since BE's release because the aliens are killing the enjoyment factor for me in BE.

[mrtourette]

It's understandable. There's definitely a case of what you describe, I guess I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that once a civ develops the player can have more control over their surroundings, and that initially trying to find your feet while placating the hostile aliens is a realistic likely situation (although admittedly not always one that makes for the best gameplaying experience).

I've had explorers be picked off by aliens, but I've also had the left alone, that moment when an alien approaches a unit and you think 'oh shit' but then they back off. I'd like to think that it's due to a complicated calculation involving the history of your civ towards aliens, proximity to a hive, how often that unit has provoked alien interest, etc. rather than pot luck, so that you can plan your interactions with them, but at the moment it just seems random.

One thing about the micromanagement, the city resource screen is frustrating. It's definitely not as user-friendly as previous Civs, it isn't easy to see what resources each tile gives and then be able to change the tiles your city 'works'. It's easier to assess the tiles on the main screen and then go into the city screen and change them, which is daft.

[Grover]

Siege Worms can suck Tim otherwise I'm very pleased with this game.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by mrtourette

It's understandable. There's definitely a case of what you describe, I guess I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that once a civ develops the player can have more control over their surroundings, and that initially trying to find your feet while placating the hostile aliens is a realistic likely situation (although admittedly not always one that makes for the best gameplaying experience).

See, that's legitimate. But the way the game is set up, aliens are essentially super-strong, inscrutable barbarians. They have units, from the get-go, that are as strong as mid-game (or later) Civ V units.

But here's the problem, right? One of the difficulties with writing "aliens-come-to-Earth" stories, especially if it's an "alien invasion" story rather than "Vulcans come in peace," is that once a civilization is sufficiently advanced as to be capable of interstellar travel - and capable of interstellar colonization - they're going to be capable of all sorts of other things. That means, if they visit a planet that has existing civilization, and that civilization isn't ALSO capable of interstellar flight...they're pretty well fucked.

"Who holds the orbitals, holds the planet."

I get that that wouldn't make for a particularly compelling game, if you just landed, wiped out all the locals and then played "Space Civ V." So I understand the desire to make the aliens a faction to reckon with.

But there is nothing in C:BE to suggest that the aliens are capable of spaceflight. There's no "oh look they have orbital defenses and your landing spot is derived from attempts to avoid their defenses" or anything of that nature to suggest that the aliens should be significantly stronger, let alone approaching parity, with your own forces. There's no kind of narrative that, at least early in the game, paints them as anything but space barbarians. There's a quest or two that implies there's more to the story, and maybe there is, but the way things work right now, I have no interest in playing long enough to find out what that story is.

I can accept parity and having to deal with the aliens as more or less equals at the start, with perhaps my faction gaining ascendancy as I research new techs.

I can accept stronger aliens, if there's RNG being applied at the start of each new game to reflect that some alien civilizations might be more advanced than others. I could accept stronger if there were any way to have primitive diplomacy with the aliens and feel like I'm having an effect on whether or not we can have peace beyond "if I shoot them or just catch them on the wrong day they'll fight back."

As it stands, aliens determine their aggression level based on whether or not you've attacked them in the past, how close you are to their nests, and just whether or not they feel like it. There's no analysis of the threat level of different units. A siege worm with 60 strength probably shouldn't be bothering to attack an explorer with 4 strength. And yet, they do. So, okay. The way the game is played is not the same as Civ V. That's cool. But the way the game is balanced currently isn't a game I have the patience to sit through 50-100 turns before I feel like there's anything for me to do.

[VPI97]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

As it stands, aliens determine their aggression level based on whether or not you've attacked them in the past, how close you are to their nests, and just whether or not they feel like it. There's no analysis of the threat level of different units. A siege worm with 60 strength probably shouldn't be bothering to attack an explorer with 4 strength. And yet, they do. So, okay. The way the game is played is not the same as Civ V. That's cool. But the way the game is balanced currently isn't a game I have the patience to sit through 50-100 turns before I feel like there's anything for me to do.

I've been playing this game pretty much non-stop since the minute it unlocked and I really haven't seen much of this behavior you are describing. Well, except for siege worms, but those are very rare in the grand sceme of things and you learn after the first encounter to not get close to them until you're in your 3rd or 4th evolution of combat units. Even then, I'll only hit them with ranged units. I've had my explorers around 4-5 other alien units without them attacking. It's all how you play the game, I guess.

As for the game in general, I think it's light years better than Civ 5. The ability to customize your civ's evolution though tech web choices, unit perks and quest choices is such a fantastic step for the franchise, I don't think I could ever go back to the cookie cutter way to play the older Civ games.

[MizzouRah]

Get a ranged unit and take out those siege worms!

[chinaski]

Ive never had a problem with any of the aliens (cept worms) at all. They seem to completely ignore my explorers. Do not put explorers on auto tho, they are completely retarded and will get themselves killed quick.

Haven't seen any of the behavior Sack is experiencing (~20 hours play so far). Just manually guide your explorers and avoid nests. But ive been tile adjacent to bugs many times and theyve never initiated attack to my explorers (of course without the quest perk). The bugs will not hunt you down. Once you get your first troops, they handle bugs pretty well. But ive read, you shouldnt kill the aliens right away, as it will make them more aggressive to you. Might be bs, but from what ive seen, it seems to be true.

Anyone have an easy way to cycle/locate troops & workers? The military overview screen is fucking horrible and its a huge pain in the ass to locate fortified troops and intercepting planes. You have to click the troop, close the overview screen, double click its portrait and do what you want. Every single time.

[EagleFan]

Bug must be crushed... getting into a bad relationship with one of my neighbors because I will attack and destroy any aliens that I encounter. I have roving armies that will make sure I am alien free and those armies include missile launchers, gunners and marines to mop up. I've parked the same units on my border with my neighbors just in case they get any crazy ideas.

Still have some lockups but since going windowed display they will clear up (window goes to not responding for a couple and eventually returns control).

Is a fun game, just wish it was completely free of the lockups.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by VPI97

I've been playing this game pretty much non-stop since the minute it unlocked and I really haven't seen much of this behavior you are describing. Well, except for siege worms, but those are very rare in the grand sceme of things and you learn after the first encounter to not get close to them until you're in your 3rd or 4th evolution of combat units. Even then, I'll only hit them with ranged units. I've had my explorers around 4-5 other alien units without them attacking. It's all how you play the game, I guess.

As for the game in general, I think it's light years better than Civ 5. The ability to customize your civ's evolution though tech web choices, unit perks and quest choices is such a fantastic step for the franchise, I don't think I could ever go back to the cookie cutter way to play the older Civ games.

That's the thing. There's so much here I like, or want to like. I don't mind it playing differently. I mind getting forced to sit there for 50 turns before I can do anything because if I explore at all my scouts get nuked.

[Coffee Warlord]

They really fuck you on health in this one. God forbid you build cities anywhere near a decent clip.

[tarcone]

Tell me, is there a civ building aspect to this or is it more combat? In Civ 5 I like playing islands and building up my civilization. Could I do this in this game?

[chinaski]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Tell me, is there a civ building aspect to this or is it more combat? In Civ 5 I like playing islands and building up my civilization. Could I do this in this game?

Absolutely. Its no more combat orientated than any of the Civ games.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Tell me, is there a civ building aspect to this or is it more combat? In Civ 5 I like playing islands and building up my civilization. Could I do this in this game?

I've found there's far less combat thus far......assuming you leave the aliens alone.

[DaddyTorgo]

There's a demo out now apparently for those interested in giving it a try at some point.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

They really fuck you on health in this one. God forbid you build cities anywhere near a decent clip.

Agreed. Health is much more difficult to keep up than Happiness was.

[mrtourette]

OK so according to the wiki:

-there are seven types of aliens

-they start out 'relatively docile' (!) and become more aggressive during the game (thus keeping them relevant, unlike barbarians)

-the more aggressive you are to them then the more hostile they will be in return, not just to you but to all other civs/factions (thus potentially causing diplomatic incidents if you rile them)

-an alien nest inside your territory will eventually become 'friendly', meaning you can go within two squares without provoking them (but not any other civ/faction, so the alien nest can act as a defense force if you're under atatck)

[nilodor]

I had a pretty good game going and was working towards a transcendence victory when all of a sudden the game was over. One of the other leaders had won some other victory. I had no idea they were even close since the wonders don't really mean anything to me yet.

[tarcone]

Downloaded the demo. Got through the opening video and the game froze on the title screen. Guess I wont be playing the demo.

[Lonnie]

Figured out my problem. One of the fans was going out on my video card. I ordered some new fans off Amazon that should be here tomorrow then I can jump back into this.

[Icy]

Was going to buy it but like half of the steam critics are negative saying it's just a mod of Civ5 with stripped down features...

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Icy

Was going to buy it but like half of the steam critics are negative saying it's just a mod of Civ5 with stripped down features...

Yeah, even more than half. Glad I didn't pre-purchase now.

[Peregrine]

Yeah I am definitely happy I didn't pick this up - was really hoping this was going to be the re-do of Alpha Centauri I've been waiting for for so long but seems like it's just a more space oriented Civ 5. Maybe fun but not what I was looking for.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Bug must be crushed...

Manifest Destiny!!!

[jeff061]

Think I'll side with even the small sample of comments in this thread over whatever is happening at Steam. I'm just waiting for some of the bugs to be worked out. My GF bought it, and she has had to run it in windowed mode as well.

[Grover]

I'm really enjoying the game, about 230 turns into my first major one as it is. I like that the tech web offers something different to the linear progress of the tech tree from previous installments. It can be daunting at first look and I'm guessing in successive games I will have a better idea of which paths to take.

There is definitely a slow moving process with building new colonies. Health is hard to upkeep. The aliens are strong as hell, but where I am now, three units can take out a siege worm in two turns. I'm not doing a whole lot militarily at the moment, trying to get a feel for the other pieces of the game.

My only cons so far are:
Diplomacy is as weak in this game as it is in previous Civs.
Gets a bit laggy for me on high graphics once the world starts to become more developed.
Explorers are way too weak. At least in Civ V an explorer could hold his own against the barbs, even if just long enough to get away. However, the aliens pull them apart like they're nothing.

Other than that, I do really enjoy the game. I think it's much more than a stripped down Civ V mod.

[Grover]

To add to above, RE: Steam reviews.

It's like any major game release. It's never good enough, as good as expected, etc.

Although, I do miss the days when a released game was complete. Welcome to the DLC Age.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Icy

Was going to buy it but like half of the steam critics are negative saying it's just a mod of Civ5 with stripped down features...

Couldn't disagree more. The only similarity I've seen thus far is the diplomacy. Outside of that, it's a much different game. I was just thinking yesterday that I was pleased with how different it was from Civ 5 because I still want to go back to that game and enjoy it without feeling like I'm going back to 'last-gen'. They're both good games and very different. I'm very pleased with that.

[MizzouRah]

I love the pace of the game.. you need to stay away from miasma and aliens at first while trying to find the lay of the land/resource pods. It takes awhile to really build up your first city and there are enough decisions to really keep the game interesting, at least through my first play through.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I love the pace of the game.. you need to stay away from miasma and aliens at first while trying to find the lay of the land/resource pods. It takes awhile to really build up your first city and there are enough decisions to really keep the game interesting, at least through my first play through.

This.

I've gone with a Harmony build in my first play through. We're at the point where Miasma actually heals the units +5 per turn. We can also create units to disperse Miasma over tiles. I love this, especially in terms of creating a defense to sap away any potential enemies.