Civilization 4

[keeks]

Wooooooooo

* Development is being headed by creator Sid Meier himself.
* Civ IV has been written entirely from scratch.
* The 3D engine will allow you to zoom smoothly from a global view all the way down to a single city.
* Individual units will gain experience and acquire new upgrades such as bonuses against specific enemy types and the ability to use enemy roads.
* No more spearmen defeating tanks.
* The tech tree has been changed to allow radically different research paths to the same high-level technologies, so you won’t have to follow a strict research path to be competitive later in the game.
* The game is written using flexible XML data files and the Python scripting language so that modders will have no trouble at all creating their own personalized worlds, units, technologies, and historical events. Advanced modders will even be able to control the AI.
* Civ4 has been designed from the outset to include the multiplayer mode. You will be able to team up in co-op mode against the AI or other teams of players, and a random-map generator ensures an equal start.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Woo!

 

[Greenskin13]

Sid did it again.

* The tech tree has been changed to allow radically different research paths to the same high-level technologies, so you won’t have to follow a strict research path to be competitive later in the game.

Coolest feature ever.

 

[Sol Invictus]

It'd be cool if there was night and day transition, just for the effect, and stuff like clouds, rainstorms, hurricanes and the like in the sky.

 

[Fez]

I always liked Alpha Centauri more. Civ 3 was a disappointment after Civ 2.

 

[Seven]

* No more spearmen defeating tanks.

I'll have to see this to believe it.

One other thing that they should revamp is the trading system; it sucked ass in Civ3, monopolies were practically useless with the AI knowing that it's the only game in town, so you can either sit on your monopoly and make nothing or trade your goods at gross undercuts.

 

[Spazmo]

* No more spearmen defeating tanks.

But... the Ewoks!

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

I always liked Alpha Centauri more. Civ 3 was a disappointment after Civ 2.

Heh. You have my whole hearted agreement on that. I played the Civ 3 demo for about ten minutes, uninstalled it, fired up Civ 2, and never looked at Civ 3 again.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Speaking of dissapointments, how was Master of Orion 3? I never had a chance to try it.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Speaking of dissapointments, how was Master of Orion 3? I never had a chance to try it.

Feel blessed then. Not even mods could save that hunk of shit. MOO2 is still the reigning champion.

 

[Seven]

Speaking of dissapointments, how was Master of Orion 3? I never had a chance to try it.

It failed to live up to its own hype, and it failed to measure up to the MOO legacy. You can pick it up for about $5 these days, so it's worth a go if you have an excess of time and nothing better to play. This is to say, go play Gal Civ and be thankful that you've avoided MOO3.

EDIT: has anyone been able to get MOO2 to run on XP pro?

 

[Fez]

MOO2 sems to hate XP by all accounts, maybe the newset Dosbox will save the day, but it is too late for me - my copy was "borrowed" long ago after I mentioned it no longer worked with XP to someone.

 

[Elwro]

I was disappointed with Civ 3. But I was disappointed with Civ 2, too. The original Civilisation is the best part of the series imo. I also love Alpha Centuari (almost finished it on the Transcendent level...)
I wonder what interesting mods one could create. Of course, you could easily modify almost everything in Alpha Centauri, and I didn't hear about any interesting mods...

 

[Sol Invictus]

MOO2 runs fine on XP SP2. At least for me. No problems whatsoever and the performance is sweet.

 

[Seven]

I wonder what interesting mods one could create. Of course, you could easily modify almost everything in Alpha Centauri, and I didn't hear about any interesting mods...

Have you gone to apolyton.net? It's has a nice little repository, but they're hurting for members, so you have to join to download the mods.

 

[5amurai]

___

 

[Fez]

I was disappointed with Civ 3. But I was disappointed with Civ 2, too. The original Civilisation is the best part of the series imo

Why do you think that the original was better than Civ 2 or 3? What did it do better than the others?

 

[kris]

I was disappointed with Civ 3. But I was disappointed with Civ 2, too. The original Civilisation is the best part of the series imo

Why do you think that the original was better than Civ 2 or 3? What did it do better than the others?

something new.

 

[chaedwards]

Y'know, for some reason I just can't get excited about another Civilisation game. Whilst it may be improved, it will still have essentially the same concept behind it as the other three, and I'm really hoping for a 4x that tries something a bit different. I'm just a bit bored of researching pottery, and then bronze working, expanding, rushing nearby civiliisations etc, as well as having to face an AI that consistently cheats and suffers from severe settler diaorrhea.

I just found Emperor of the Fading Suns on the Underdogs, and I'd love to see an update of that more than Civ 4. It's got the very cool system of having a regent appointed from the competing houses every ten years, and that regent then having to dole out the other positions (church, leader of the imperial fleet etc.) to the other houses. It just adds a politicking element to the game that Civ lacks. Oh, and also non-player factions such as the Guild and various aliens, so I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

On Moo3 - I despair of it, but not for the same reasons that all the reviewers seem to hate it. Basically, I was really looking forward to a macro management game where one focussed on the bigger picture, and I think that part was decently implemented. But, in one area the game goes ridiculously micro - designing ships. Every time you get a new component, *you have to redesign the entire ship*.You have to keep redesigning the ships to stay competitive, and often have to do it for your entire fleet every ten turns.
Argh. For someone who prefers to play the diplomat in the 4x genre, that's appalling.

I agree GalCiv is better, but I'm not convinced any game should force you to research how to make Alliances, particularly when you're the leader of an interstellar empire. You think the humans may have cracked that before they reached the stars. Ho hum.

 

[PennyAnte]

I thought SMAC was so much better than CIV. I deeply want another game like SMAC. I loved making my own units with very different tactical abilities (not just the next gun +1, which is essentially how it is in MOO 3). It also had well drawn factions and an extremely imaginative far-future tech tree. There were so many short and long-term strategies. It was just a deep, deep game. The only thing I didn't like was the AI's tendency to build cities within other citys' two-square production zone radius because I'm such a perfectionist and like everything tidy and maximized (energy farms and such aside).

I played lots of MOO3 and thought it failed to live up to a lot of its great design potential. It also had a lot of bugs, and there are some relatively good fan mods to help with those. I'd say find those, and give it a spin. At $5, you can afford to have it not work out. I should note that the comment about ship design being annoying is too true.

Overall, the macromanagement was not as well done as it could have been. I do want a macromanagement game some day. At its best, it harnesses the AI to take the drudge work out of queuing up every single improvement in what becomes hundreds of civilization centers around the galaxy. So many of these individual centers/cities/planets end up being the same (barring some designed for food output, military output and so forth), that players SHOULD be able to manage these as a group, by setting a standard for their development and letting the computer handle the chores.

There were some fantastic turns I had in MOO3 when I really felt like my empire was growing itself, entirely in keeping with my grand design, and all I had to worry about was how to swing my fleet's weight around and some financial issues. The big-picture strategy. But the game falls short over time and doesn't really pull the concept off.

EDITS: Fixed some typos.

 

[Seven]

I liked how MOO3 took a way the repetition of planetary management. Basically, you only had to get involved if some thing went wrong. Otherwise, you could just assign specific DEAs on colonization and then let the AI go to work. What it did worng was everything else.

 

[Circuitbreaker]

Like more people here I favor a remake of Alpha Centauri. The factions are more interesting and really make a difference, the tech tree is original and gameplay is so much smoother then Civ2/3 or even the original Civ (no "Dark Age"). Alien Crossfire was also a worthwhile add-on.

To me it's one of those few games that does everything right unlike Civ2 and especially Civ3.

 

[chaedwards]

I'm not a graphics whore at all, but didn't anyone else find that Planet was just too pink? It put me off, as did those bloody mindworms. I played through it a few times, but never really fell in love. Should try it again.

 

[Shagnak]

I thought SMAC was so much better than CIV. I deeply want another game like SMAC..

Yeah, FUCK yeah...
Im partial to a bit of smack. Betta than that civ shiz, yeah.
Just snort that shit and fuck, nothing else matters. Except the gangrene you get up your nose but what the fuck.

(Trying to sound like that eldergoat waker but failing completely. Way too civilised )

 

[Fez]

SMAC iz da reel playa all da oterz r shit all u civ fanz r fukin iditz

Greetz