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Post 08 Jan 2015, 6:31 pm

If I remember correctly we had a thread on Redscape of Civilization V when it came out. I have no idea where that thread is but does anyone here still play it? I got the game when it first came out like a couple of years or so ago. Then I managed to get the Gods & Kings expansion, as well as the Brave New World.

Anyone here still playing it? I still think it's a fantastic game, and the expansion packs are dynamite in my opinion. Much improvement on the old Civ IV game I think.
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Post 08 Jan 2015, 8:12 pm

I've owned every version of CIV since ver 1. But I did not go out and buy CIV V. I had read lots of press about its shortcomings, including the reliance upon the internet for delivery and play, whacky AI and more. I recall that CIV V requires Steam for distribution and for play. Is that true? Or still true?

So what do you like about it, Jim? How is the learning curve?

Oh, I presume you visit the CIV V Wiki?http://civilization.wikia.com/wiki/Civilization_V

George
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Post 09 Jan 2015, 6:12 am

I'll take responsibility for removing the forums. They were dead for over two years so I moved 'em out. Alas, I should have archived them.
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Post 09 Jan 2015, 10:15 am

I have played Civ 5 for a couple years. I have the God's and Kings as well. I like it, but do not like the one unit per tile. I like massing and attacking when needed. I prefer Civ 4, but 5 is nice. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for CIV 2. I still play that every once in a while.

You cannot have Civ 5 w/o Steam. Personally I like Steam. I have played a couple games against Archduke. (Empire - Total War)
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Post 09 Jan 2015, 12:24 pm

Steam is fine - and it's not that bad if you change machine, as you can register your account and if you want to play a game it will download it onto the new one (I have no idea if there is a limit to this, but I guess it will tell you and/or disable a game on some machines if you go over it).

I have not tried Civ V. I like IV, but don't have time to play it as much as I would like. My favourite was II, but I don't have a working PC that it runs on at the moment. A shame, as I have the variant builder expansion with a load of fun variants (one set on Mars, one with teddy bears, one set in the 1770s where I could repeatedly beat that Washington fella into submission and retain the colonies for his Majesty King George :wink:)

So, what is teh key selling point for V over IV?
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Post 09 Jan 2015, 12:37 pm

danivon wrote:So, what is teh key selling point for V over IV?


Graphics, IMO
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Post 09 Jan 2015, 1:17 pm

Personally I believe the inability to have greater than one military unit per tile keeps civilizations' military might from getting way out of control. Especially when they've made certain strategic resources NOT unlimited. For example, a certain mine (you know, a certain spot on the map of that resource) for Iron or something, will yield a "number". It takes one iron for each swordsman, for example. I think this keeps the game more realistic in that sense. Yeah, that was a good thing. Also, when you seize a city, you can not only burn baby burn or capture it, but you can also "puppet state" it. This creates less "unhappiness" levels in your civilization. You see, if you outright seize the city, happiness goes down. And I think cooperation with other civs is a little more integral, whether you have vanilla Civ V only, or one or both of the expansion packs.

They removed religion, but put it back in Gods and Kings (and a little bit more so in Brave New World). But they did it better than it was before, is the thing. I can't quite describe it but it's....well, better. Because certain "beliefs" of a religion you happen to have founded cause certain positive things to happen (like, 10% extra growth or something). You start out founding a primitive pantheon of some sort before it moves onto something more specific. But if you founded the religion, then you get to choose its "founder belief" and "follower belief" and, should the game feel so inclined given your cultural level, allow you to add beliefs...and they all have certain positive or not so positive effects on your civilization like I said above.

Vanilla Civ V is not bad, even though it doesn't have some of the neat features. But there is still the choice of social policies...only it's done much better in my opinion than in IV. I wish I knew how to describe it exactly but I can't think of examples right now. Like, you can choose "Honor", which will give your military a boost. Or, "liberty" which speeds the training of settlers and border expansion.

The city states are all right, they do add a little random element into the mix.

I can't think of Vanilla Civ V entirely, as I am now used to it with the expansion packs. Also, some people online via steam have made downloadable content, including scenarios, new leaders...one dude from Egypt had "Days of Sadat" which added Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter (for the US obviously) and Anwar Sadat and Nasser (Egypt) as well as Golda Meir (apparently it added Israel as a Civ I think). I have never used the amateur-made DLC but the expansion packs were well worth it.

Ask me something more specific though, and I will try to write it down while I'm in a game, which I am going to actually do in a few.

I think Steam, by the way, is a great way to play over the net with others. A friend and I did a game that way though we didn't finish it. It was a little awkward, but maybe the glitches were due to the fact that my friend didn't have the two expansion packs in the game and I do? Hmmm....still, a great way to access the community of players than through the regular message boards online for 2K games. Also, it has a very helpful player's manual there, if I'm not mistaken, in addition to the regular "civilopedia" within the game.

Yes, graphics way better. In fact, the minimum suggested specs involve a quad core processor. You can get away with a dual core, of a certain standard, but it will take a helluva lot longer to load and do other stuff if you've below the minimum recommended requirements. Of course, I have an Oct core and a really kickass video card (don't ask me which one...but I bought it specifically to make playing Civ V easier and prettier LOL).

Since I'm such a p******, I keep it on level three...maybe four, for difficulty. Hey, I don't like games that are impossible to win after all! But I guess I"ll eventually get higher as I get more familiar.

Oh yeah, and there is this nifty as heck "World Congress" where you, or another civ, proposes a motion and all players vote on it a couple of turns later. But that's exclusively BNW content, not the vanilla version.

Final verdict: even if you don't get the expansion packs it is still a vast improvement in some ways over Civ IV. Not that Civ IV wasn't fun! But this is great, too. Steam actually allows it to download any patches that had to be made over time, or anything new the designers came up with. Personally I like how it is integrated to work with steam!
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Post 09 Jan 2015, 1:19 pm

Er, sorry that got a little carried away but that's how much I love the game LOL.

Speaking of putting down the naughty little revolt in the colonies, BNW included an American Civil War scenario. I thought it was neat they even had Frederick, Maryland as one of the cities. (Something important happened there during the civil war, either I forget what or don't care.)

Oh yeah, and the "hexes" are actually quite a good way of measuring territory, movement, resources, etc. Big improvement, there I think.

PS, I'll share a screenshot or two if any of you who own/like the game will!
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Post 10 Jan 2015, 6:14 pm

Looks like I had better cough up some screenshots as promised...will do in short order.
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Post 10 Jan 2015, 7:00 pm

Okay, aside from game delivery to your PC, why is STEAM required for play? I have read you can sset STEAM to offline and still play, but exactly what does it provide that the game, itself, does not?
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Post 10 Jan 2015, 7:53 pm

Well for one thing, the software, due to any bugs which may have been in it, could be automatically updated/upgraded the minute you turn the thing on. Not unlike how Windows produces periodic updates for its software via internet download. Also, once people began to play the thing for a while after it originally debuted, there may have needed to be other updates made to make the game's AI work better, over time. (I am assuming testing the software in a "lab" so to speak isn't as good as watching what happens when the general population starts to use it in practice, right?) And of course I think there were some suggestions made to improve it from players.

And of course if you want to play with other people Steam actually makes it remarkably easy to do that. It's also pretty convenient to buy the game itself and expansion packs as they come out and just download them over Steam instead of having to drive to Best Buy or WalMart, or order them from Amazon or something. Some of the downloadable content is, as the name suggests, not sold in stores in a box; it's available through Steam. Though this content is not critical for playing, of course.

That is all I can really think of. My verdict is that the automatic update of the software and bug fixes is the most important part. Other than that...well you could live without it, especially if you're just playing the game alone against AI "players".
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Post 11 Jan 2015, 4:13 am

They do it to prevent piracy surely ? Can't think of any other reason why it should be exclusive to Steam.
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Post 11 Jan 2015, 8:32 pm

That's a possibility.

But I have found it a useful tool for playing with a friend of mine (though the game has acted a little funny when I play with him...I think it has to do with the fact that he has none of the expansion packs and I have both...maybe that causes a bit of a glitch in the game? Maybe not.)
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Post 11 Jan 2015, 9:25 pm

Screenshot of the Maya Empire (only one city left) after I captured Palenque, the capital.

***** it says the file is too big. Great. Too bad, nice smoking ruin!

Any idea how to reduce the thing, guys?
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Post 12 Jan 2015, 8:57 am

Maybe it's a good thing my laptop died a while ago. I used to play this a LOT! It did keep me up late at night causing many drowsy days of work the next day!
I think it was better than the earlier version with religion (civ 4?) and it got back much more in line with Civ 2 but civ2 was so much better (in my opinion)
Sure it lacked nice graphics and was not as good as a multiplayer game or so I have heard (i never played other than solo).

And about a year ago I bought a used playstation civ game. The PS game is so far inferior to any of the PC games but I do like how simple it is in many ways and I like how I can finish a game in only one (somewhat long) day of playing. Once the weather turned crappy a few months back, I started playing that a LOT. I do miss the real thing though.

And speaking of that real thing
if you are interested in the game
skip 3 (it was horrible)
4 was fair but too "different"
5 was nice and well worth trying!

The problems however
2 was awesome but would not play on any newer machines (boo)
5 was good but required "Steam" and I had many issues with steam that really bothered me. Nothing major but why oh why require such internet connection in order to play the game?