Civilization

rhombus · **Reply #20 on:** August 19, 2013, 07:37:47 PM

I have been a fan and avid player of the Civilization series ever since Civilization II was released. I currently own Civilization II, III, IV, and V, in addition to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. I recently purchased Civilization V and although I am reasonably pleased with many of the gameplay dynamics, I think that some of the strategy elements from Civilization IV have been lost. In particular, I found the ability to spread religions and their effect on diplomatic modifiers to be an interesting element to Civilization IV. I am glad to see, however, that Civilization V is still mod-friendly in the same manner as its immediate predecessor. I find that the fan-made content in the Civilization series is among the best and most ambitious I have ever seen.

With regards to Civilization IV, which is my favorite of the series thus far, I would have to recommend the Caveman 2 Cosmos mod in particular. In this mod you lead a civilization from the discovery of fire in the stone age all the way into the events of the distant future. Among the amazing things that you can do include: domesticating various animals that were not domesticated in our history (Mammoth riders and Deer archers are actually possible units); creating creation myths and animal myths based upon the subdued animals you bring into your camp; fight neanderthals and wild animals as diverse as pigeons, mammoths, sabre-tooth tigers, and quolls; create religions as diverse as druidism and Scientology; create different settler types as your technological progress advances; become more able to support larger empires as your social knowledge advances; and much, much more.

It can be found here:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/caveman2cosmos

I also really like the theme song to the mod:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL6wlTDPiPU

The Chronicler · **Reply #21 on:** August 20, 2013, 09:30:19 PM

rhombus: I'm guessing you haven't even heard of Civ V's first expansion pack, Gods & Kings. Not only does it reintroduce religion, but also improves on what we saw in Civ IV. I have yet to even purchase that expansion pack yet, but I've heard that the different religions now have actual differences, as opposed to just serving similar purposes with different labels. The second expansion pack, Brave New World, introduces some entirely new concepts, like archaeology and tourism.

Malte279: If I remember correctly, the Civ V Gold Edition includes the base game, all of the DLC (downloadable content) and Gods & Kings. (I had the misfortune of purchasing all of the DLC just days before hearing about the Gold Edition on the day it was released, meaning I spent money I could have saved just by upgrading to the Gold Edition.

Oh well, at least I'll still be saving some amount once I decide to get Gods & Kings.) Since Civ V requires a Steam account (as far as I know) I assume you're also aware of the achievements there are for this game. Are there some you're trying to go for, or are you just not even bothering with them?

As for my personal progress, I've now done all but one of the DLC scenarios, Wonders of the Ancient World. Once I'm finished with that, I should have almost every achievement outside of the two expansion packs. I'll definitely be taking a long break from this game before moving on to that.

rhombus · **Reply #22 on:** August 20, 2013, 09:40:21 PM

Quote from: The Chronicler,Aug 20 2013 on 08:30 PM

rhombus: I'm guessing you haven't even heard of Civ V's first expansion pack, Gods & Kings. Not only does it reintroduce religion, but also improves on what we saw in Civ IV. I have yet to even purchase that expansion pack yet, but I've heard that the different religions now have actual differences, as opposed to just serving similar purposes with different labels. The second expansion pack, Brave New World, introduces some entirely new concepts, like archaeology and tourism.

I have not yet purchased any expansion packs for Civilization V, but I will definitely have to check them out. Considering how my main complaint for Civilization V is the lack of religion as a gameplay element, the Gods & Kings expansion pack might address some of my concerns. Thank you for pointing it out to me.

The Chronicler · **Reply #23 on:** September 19, 2013, 08:20:47 PM

An update on my progress in Civ V.

Out of 173 achievements for the base game plus all of the DLC, it seems there is only one that is just too difficult for me: "All-Achieving Zeus" (win the Wonders of the Ancient World scenario on Deity [the hardest of all difficulty levels]). I did fine on my own until I got to Immortal (second hardest difficulty level). I searched the fan forums, Civfanatics.com, for helpful advice from other players. Although I was then able to easily pass the Immortal level thanks to what I read, I just couldn't seem to do the same on Deity. I've tried and failed three times over the past week, and that's not including all of the countless restarts I made, just for a favorable map arrangement. The problem I'm seeing now is that all of the strategies I've read online have one thing in common: "It takes a little bit of luck." If the deciding factor of whether or not a loss is guaranteed really does come down to luck, then I'm not even going to bother, since it will ultimately just be a big waste of time.

The other scenarios I've played on Deity (Mongols, Vikings, and Korea) were rather easy because they were all focused on combat, which is simply a matter of replenishing your armies and knowing where to put them. The other two scenarios (Conquest of the New World, and Polynesia) don't have achievements for higher difficulty levels, so I don't know how hard they can be. With this last scenario, Wonders of the Ancient World, I think I might have finally hit my difficulty limit. I just don't see how I can possibly get that last achievement without cheating a little bit. I do know of some ways to do just that, but I'll hold off on such attempts for now.

With that off the table, I now have only three achievements from the base game and DLC left to go (build 1000 temples, chop down 1000 forest tiles, and win 100 games). All of them should be very easy, but it will take a long time. I'll just have to play a bunch of quick and easy games to get those last three. Then I can finally take a long break from this game.

Mumbling · **Reply #24 on:** January 03, 2014, 09:42:39 AM

I've been playing Civ V some more of lately and am really enjoying the game. Finally I've come to a point where I get how the game works and how victory can be achieved. I'm far from good, but at least I'm getting somewhere

: I've now got 32 hours on record and 46 achievements, yay!

The Chronicler · **Reply #25 on:** January 04, 2014, 08:36:15 PM

Better make sure you can set aside a lot of spare time. This game can be quite addicting, believe me.

Over the past year, I've logged a total of 770 hours and got 170 achievements (I don't yet have either expansion pack, so that means I've got all but five achievements from the base game and all of the DLC). I've been spending the past month going for just one achievement (chop down 1000 forest tiles), which I still do not yet have. (My strategy is to play a Hotseat multiplayer game (pretty much me against myself) on a huge Earth map. I've cleared nearly all forest tiles on that map three times, and still no achievement. It'll be a huge relief for me once I can finally go back to playing a normal game.)

Ducky123 · **Reply #26 on:** January 25, 2014, 05:31:18 PM

This game sounds very interesting

Is there a way to play Civ V without Steam? I hate that service

I'm most interested in Civ IV anyway... is there a way to download it for free? Or a test version at least?

The Chronicler · **Reply #27 on:** January 25, 2014, 10:15:34 PM

Unfortunately, Civ V does require a Steam account. In fact, even though I originally bought that game on PC CD-ROM (like all of my previous games), it still required me to make a Steam account. However, I personally don't mind at all. In fact, I actually like having the ability to purchase games online and download them only once, rather than install them again every time I would get a new computer (and thus lose all past progress). I honestly haven't had any issues with Steam that I can think of. Why do you not like it?

Civ IV, on the other hand, does not require Steam. I actually used to play it a lot many years ago, long before I had even heard of Steam. However, I am not aware of any free downloads of any kind. As far as I know, the only options are to buy a hard copy (which I obviously did back then) or buy and download them from Steam (which I also did once I realized it was available (I did not want to ever again lose all progress I made on a game, as had happened to me with Civ IV not long before getting Civ V)).

Mumbling · **Reply #28 on:** January 26, 2014, 10:38:46 AM

I'm not sure why people hate Steam. My boyfriend was against the service as well, while I have only seen positive aspects. All my games accessible anywhere, multiplayer made easy. I've not been forced to use Steam for any of my games, but I do use steam all the time to redeem Humble Bundle promotions. Next to that, the discounts you can get on Steam usually are better than those you'll find in the game store.

Try looking for Civ IV second-hand. I got mine in a thrift shop for just 1 euro

As Chronicler said, you don't need Steam for that game.

This one looks interesting: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Sid-Meiers-Civiliza...=item3a8a8dae5e

bestariana1girl · **Reply #29 on:** January 28, 2014, 03:43:41 PM

@Mumbling My ex- boyfriend is a jerk lol I'm random

Ducky123 · **Reply #30 on:** January 28, 2014, 03:56:33 PM

^yes, you certainly ARE random... too random.

Anyway, I ordered civ IV. Will tell you how I find it as soon as I have played it long enough to judge it fairly.

Mumbling · **Reply #31 on:** January 29, 2014, 03:17:54 AM

Cool, good luck with that Ducky!

Ducky123 · **Reply #32 on:** February 02, 2014, 12:36:14 PM

Alright, I must admit that I'm getting addicted to playing Civ IV

Such a good game.

rhombus · **Reply #33 on:** February 02, 2014, 02:06:31 PM

^ Indeed it is. Even after all of these years, it is still a favorite of mine. It also has a wide selection of fan-made mods that are available online, so if you ever get tired of the basic game, there are literally hundreds of modified versions of the game that you can play. One of my favorite mods for Civ IV is Caveman2Cosmos.

Ducky123 · **Reply #34 on:** February 02, 2014, 04:37:42 PM

I can imagine why you would prefer "Caveman2Cosmos"

Sounds pretty amazing, the first one I'll try one day

Mumbling · **Reply #35 on:** February 04, 2014, 05:50:39 PM

https://www.humblebundle.com/

^ If anyone wants to get Civ V for a decent price, it's on humble bundle the next two weeks!

Here's the video for the bundle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzhRiYiHOlA

rhombus · **Reply #36 on:** February 04, 2014, 09:10:15 PM

^ It is a shame that I have already bought the games full price, but it would be a good way for a person to get started in the game series. The revenues go to a good cause as well.

Mumbling · **Reply #37 on:** February 05, 2014, 03:00:19 AM

Same here, haha! I don't have the latest expansion yet, but I'd have to buy the bundle twice, because I only ever play with my boyfriend... So we'd both have to get the expansion

I'll just wait until a new one comes out and this one drops in price massively. But it's definitely a good deal for those who are new to civ

The Chronicler · **Reply #38 on:** March 07, 2014, 08:45:45 PM

Earlier this week, I finally got that achievement for chopping down 1000 forest tiles. So (outside of both expansion packs) I now have only four left: download a mod, play a game with a mod, win 100 games, and beat the Wonders of the Ancient World scenario on the Deity difficulty level. The first two, I may not even bother with, since I don't really have an interest in mods. The third shouldn't take much longer, as my current count is 91. But that final one will be a real problem.

I'm sure I've mentioned this earlier in this topic, but I pretty much gave up on it after many failed tries, mostly because I don't like relying on luck as a strategy. If that's what it has to take, then I'd rather fix the odds in my favor with some slight cheating. Fortunately for me, that may be possible, as I found a mod that adds an in-game editor, much like what was standard in Civ IV. I could use it to alter things just enough to allow me to win. However, I've heard that achievements don't work while that mod is active, which would defeat the purpose of me downloading that mod in the first place.

I honestly don't know what to do. :unsure:

The Chronicler · **Reply #39 on:** April 15, 2014, 07:50:13 PM

Just a few days ago, the next game in the Civilization series was announced.

Civilization: Beyond Earth

The idea is similar to Alpha Centauri (future civilizations on an alien planet), but with a lot of new features that make it a unique game. I'm looking forward to hearing more about this game when it's released later this year.