A quick question about Civilisation

[METALMAN]

For the first time in a while, I've got a hankering for a little game of Civilisation. I currently own Civ IV. I've been looking at V but nothing in it has really grabbed me. Am I wrong?

I've looked at the expansions to Civ IV. I currently only own the original game. They look quite good.

What should I do? Get Civ IV expansions or get Civ V?

Thanks

[King Ellis]

V will be on sale for peanuts within the next few weeks so there's that.

[Ruki]

Hard to say...Civ V is a good game, just different. If you really like IV, I would say get the expansions.

Is there a demo for Civ V you can try?

[METALMAN]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhye%27s_and_Fall_of_Civilization

I just discovered this, which I think might have swung it. This looks amazing.

[Sousa]

Rhye's is super-fun aside from plague, which is horrible.

I played Civ V at a friend's house and, honestly, I prefer Civ IV. The expansions do add a ton of options (Great Generals, corporations, and vassal states are worth getting both). And you can get the expansions for pretty cheap now as well, so there's that.

[gunnar hendershow]

I will be getting Civ V for Christmas with the expansions. Kicking my ass should sell you on Civ V.

[METALMAN]

You know, the thing that made me want to play the game was this wonderful book, which I was given for my birthday. I'd recommend it to everyone. It's really just like a big game of Civilisation.

It focusses on the big events, naturally, most of which you're already going to know of, but it does it in a really fresh and interesting way. There's a big emphasis on exploring how they influence the world we live in today, which is really cool.

And it made me want to play Civ. >_>

[Herr Matzat]

V introduces a few cool ideas (esp. about war), but overall i say 4 and 3 are still best at what makes civ awsome.

[KevinStorm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhye%27s_and_Fall_of_Civilization

I just discovered this, which I think might have swung it. This looks amazing.

I may have to try that with Civ 4. Is it being remade for 5?

[Sweet Holy Moses]

Coincidentally, I've been playing the piss out of Civ 4: Realism Invictus recently, so it's still very fresh in my mind. To be honest, I really disliked RaFoC for some reason. But RI is seriously the shit. Play a huge map legendary game, with nearly 2300 turns, and it's just epic.

From what I've heard, Civ5 was kind of like trying to reinvent the wheel. They had a classic computer strategy game, but they chose to dick around with it to gain new players, losing more older gamers in the process. I don't know a single person that prefers it over C4. Just get the expansions, a megamod or two, and you'll be hooked all over again -- assuming you were hooked in the first place, that is -- playing until the wee hours of the morning without realizing it.

You also get to beat up on the Portuguese. Which is always a plus.

Edited December 21, 2012 by Sweet Holy Moses

[gunnar hendershow]

Coincidentally, I've been playing the piss out of Civ 4: Realism Invictus recently, so it's still very fresh in my mind. To be honest, I really disliked RaFoC for some reason. But RI is seriously the shit. Play a huge map legendary game, with nearly 2300 turns, and it's just epic.

From what I've heard, Civ5 was kind of like trying to reinvent the wheel. They had a classic computer strategy game, but they chose to dick around with it to gain new players, losing more older gamers in the process. I don't know a single person that prefers it over C4. Just get the expansions, a megamod or two, and you'll be hooked all over again -- assuming you were hooked in the first place, that is -- playing until the wee hours of the morning without realizing it.

You also get to beat up on the Portuguese. Which is always a plus.

You're obviously a Sousa double account.

[Sweet Holy Moses]

Nope. I dislike the Belgians, personally. Long story. Not any Belgians in particular, just the concept in general. I have yet to see them in a game of Civ, however, so that would hardly have been a relevant reference. The Portuguese, however, is always a relevant Civ reference.

Edited December 21, 2012 by Sweet Holy Moses

[Clawson]

I didn't like V as much as IV until Gods & Kings came out.

[Sousa]

You also get to beat up on the Portuguese. Which is always a plus.

Somebody's angling for bonus XP I see.

I never played Realism Invictus, but it looks... complicated.

[gunnar hendershow]

I didn't like V as much as IV until Gods & Kings came out.

I wasn't sure whether or not to ask for Gods & Kings along with Civ V, is it that good? What is it that makes it so good?

[SRN]

Personally, I have enjoyed Civ V from what I've played. I haven't gotten any of the expansions but with those added, I am sure I can get just as much fun out of V as I could IV. Plus, with the Steam sale going on, they will soon be available for peanuts.

[Herr Matzat]

I didn't like V as much as IV until Gods & Kings came out.

I wasn't sure whether or not to ask for Gods & Kings along with Civ V, is it that good? What is it that makes it so good?

It adds more "civ 5" to your civ 5. If your not a fan of what "new" you got with the base game you won´t like it as much as if you liked the changes the base game brought to the series. (like how culture and religion work, culture is a resource you can collect and spend in the base game - in the ad one they ad religion with faith as a resource and it works pretty much like just another resource ((it´s like gold meet culture, you can buy units or buildings with it)) )

I´ed compare Civ 5 very much to Diablo 3. I put a ton of time in it, so there should not be a reason to complain, but in the end there is a certain feeling "this issent it", mostly - i belive - because i never played Civ as a war game and war is what 5 is striking best at. I hope the enxt adone will bring more to politics and sciences than just a lackluster espionage system.

[Sweet Holy Moses]

I never played Realism Invctus, but it looks... complicated.

RI is, in my opinion, not only the best Civ4 mod out there, but one of the best mods for any game I've played. Although the new features may seem overwhelming at first, there's not all that much of the core mechanics that've changed. There's just more stuff.

Tech trading is gone. Now Civs with open borders get bonuses when researching techs the other civ already has. Much more realistic. I highly doubt Romans ever approached the Egyptians and said "you there, teach me how to build roads and I'll give you a bunch of gold." But tech 'bleed'? Much better.

Each Civ now has a whole host of unique units. The Vikings (who I most recently played) have Nordic versions of most of the pre-classical units (which they share with the Germans), then move on to the stereotypical Berserkers, then through the gunpowder reforms of Gustav I, finally moving on to Saab-designed airplanes. The Aztecs have full-on Jaguar and Eagle Warriors, then actually start to use some Mexican units and Zapata rebels as their Geurilla units (IIRC). Each Civ is now actually different in more ways than just colour, and ruler and city names. Fighting the Arabs in a desert is a bad idea. The Vikings get amphibious bonuses.

Plus, there's a full world map that has dozens of Civ5-style city-states (non-playable civs) to interact with. Even the Portuguese. And Belgians, I believe. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the World Map, as my computer is not beefy enough to handle it, and always crashes. Maybe one day... sigh.

Short version: Realism Invictus is the shit. Try it. Love it.

[gunnar hendershow]

I didn't like V as much as IV until Gods & Kings came out.

I wasn't sure whether or not to ask for Gods & Kings along with Civ V, is it that good? What is it that makes it so good?

It adds more "civ 5" to your civ 5. If your not a fan of what "new" you got with the base game you won´t like it as much as if you liked the changes the base game brought to the series. (like how culture and religion work, culture is a resource you can collect and spend in the base game - in the ad one they ad religion with faith as a resource and it works pretty much like just another resource ((it´s like gold meet culture, you can buy units or buildings with it)) )

I´ed compare Civ 5 very much to Diablo 3. I put a ton of time in it, so there should not be a reason to complain, but in the end there is a certain feeling "this issent it", mostly - i belive - because i never played Civ as a war game and war is what 5 is striking best at. I hope the enxt adone will bring more to politics and sciences than just a lackluster espionage system.

This has actually talked me out of it a bit. I read up a bit on what you said and the consensus does seem to be it is a game built on warfare. There's other series I play when I want to take part in war games (Total War). And since I can get Shogun 2 for the same price (and throw in Crusader Kings II for only $9) with the end of year sale going on right now I'm leaning towards doing that. When I want to play Civ I'll just load up my disc copy of Civ IV and have to purchase the expansions since I shared those with a friend in school who owned them all. I like focusing on war in some games, but Civ has certainly always been about something more, thoughtful, than just going to war. It's been about building and establishing a culture that dominates the world and only going to war seldom, but having the capability to defend oneself when it is necessary. It's been about building a civilization, not a war machine. Ah well.

[Herr Matzat]

I am sure someone will offer the base game dirty cheap over the holiday season. Amazon germany even had the base game + gods and kings on sale for below 9€ a cupple of days ago. Maybe one of the EWBers that preordered x-com even still has a free copy sitting on their steam account. There is no reason not to try, just be patient and keep your eyes open.