OT: Civ 4

[Clan Elder 'Keen]

Just released this week, and it is a very nice updating of the classic Civ series. I skipped Civ III after reading mixed reviews, but IV is pretty darn good.

[ShadowKitsune]

Hmm ... looks like I shall be getting my X-mas gift early this year.

 

-SK

[octagon999]

Civ IV is out???

 

That's great news. (Bad for my MMORPGs)

 

I heard that it fixes some of the problems with CIV III, mainly that the only way to win in CIV III was massive expansion.

 

I actually enjoyed a lot of CIV III. It was worth playing, but it was also brutal with a large number of NPCs.

 

Please keep us posted with feedback. I have a birthday coming up so you just gave me a great idea to add to the list.

 

I still find myself going back and playing CIV II or a variant whenever I am bored and need some time wasted. I also LOVED Alpha Centauri, which apparently wasn't as successful. I liked it better in many ways than Civ II.

[EternusIV]

Civ IV is great

 

Im so happy it didn't end up like a Civ III

 

In fact Civ IV will now replace Civ II on my hard drive

 

The music enhancements are awesome. I also really like how they integrated culture and religion. The Leonard Nimoy voice-overs were another nice surprise.

 

A well designed game

[hobknob]

Can you play it without the disk?

 

I played CivIII tons until my disk broke and then no joy. With the later patches all my "backup" disks quit working.

 

[Palladium Regency]

Can you play it without the disk? 

 

No. I find this sort of copy protection particularly annoying. It can be cracked, and usually is almost immediately after a game is released. www.gamecopyworld.com is a good place to start for looking for such things. I don't advocate piracy, but I prefer schemes that don't require me to keep the disc in the drive. If it is a big problem for you, GalCiv II is in beta and slated for a spring 2006 release. Brad Wardell uses notebooks and hates schemes that require the disc be kept in the machine.

[Dr.0]

Attention: There are graphic issues with CIV4. Some people (like me) only see a black background map (with terrain enhancements visible as normal) at beginning of game. There are work arounds, but very irritating. Firaxis claims it is a video card issue, but I do not think so. The map clears up over 100 turns or so.

Also, for low end users (like me P4-1.7 GHz-512Mb) the late game crawls even with minimal graphics.

Jack

[Locklyn]

Civ 4 is wonderful but I am even moreso looking forward to Galactic Civilisations II and Alpha Centauri II. I loved AC, when you built your first Network Node and your drones started singing "I don't know what you've been told but we just got a Network Node!"

 

Cheers

/Locklyn

[hobknob]

Yeah I hate needing to have the disk in all the time. My last one got broken while I was on the road.

 

I don't think I will be getting any new software that requires the disk to be in unless there is a proven crack for it.

 

[EternusIV]

Yeah I hate needing to have the disk in all the time.  My last one got broken while I was on the road. 

 

I don't think I will be getting any new software that requires the disk to be in unless there is a proven crack for it.

 

   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I imagine someone will develop a crack for it...so far, nobody has fessed to it that I've seen hehe Thus, you'll need the disk for a while

 

Man this game is addictive

 

Back to conquering Gandhi before turns come in

[Clan Elder 'Keen]

Me too. Got in 2 small games last night before deciding it wasn't worth waiting on the turns to catch up with the data files.

[Mechanica]

My big beef is diplomacy options. I wish there was a 'mute whiney pathetic beggings from people I don't want to trade with and will never trade with' button. I also wish they would extend it to 100 years or so into the future ala Call to Power 1.

 

I'm in the beta for GalCiv 2 waiting for next build to come out.

[octagon999]

I went looking for this recently and no one had it. Any chance WalMart has it in stock, or am I stuck going to WorstBuy?

 

I'm glad to hear all the positive reviews. I HATE having to have a key disk. Not because I pirate software, but because its annoying. Especially when I want to play a game off the cuff, and I can't find the stupid CD.

 

Also, notebook issues as well.

 

As far as GalCiv II, and Alpha Centauri II, I'm glad. I wanted to try GalCiv and LOVE Alpha Centauri II.

 

Did they ever go back to the call to power model with "army" type units, where you combined units into a single entity and they fought together rather than singly?

 

That to me was one aspect of Civ III that was a major step backwards.

[Clan Elder 'Keen]

Did they ever go back to the call to power model with "army" type units, where you combined units into a single entity and they fought together rather than singly?

 

That to me was one aspect of Civ III that was a major step backwards.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No, they are individual units that have specific advantages. Spear gets +50% versus mounted, Archer gets +25% city, etc. Also there is a promotion tree of upgrades based on units gaining experience. Get Combat I (+10% damage) and then you can get Medic I (+10% healing in tile), etc. Its very logical and works quite well.

 

For a long but incredibly interesting demo game check out

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=133492

[octagon999]

Any more feedback on CIV IV?