Any civ'ers?

[DarkReign]

Much like the first release of civ4, civ5 needs to be tuned. All the makings for a great game are there though.

Agreed. Much like vanilla Civ4 wasnt nearly as good as expanded Warlords/BtS Civ4.

[DarkReign]

lol

maybe you need to change your strategy from civ IV style to civ V. start a fresh mindset.

...and youd be right.

I did switch my strat up. I usually turtle for the first age and come out guns blazing.

Instead of that, I decided I am going to make war and conquer everything I see.

Who knew that this strategy works flawlessly? It would seem Civ5 is far more geared toward war and that striving for cultural or scientific victory isnt really all that possible, what with the rest of the leaders eyeing you as weak and unprepared.

Anyway, Ive conquered my entire continent (4 Civs) and have just embarked onto the other continent in a full scale invasion (like 30 units). Im rolling mechanized infantry and artillery and the enemy is defending with War Elephants and Pikemen.

Yeah...

The only hope for the other Civs is that time runs out on me (its 1924-ish).

Thats on Prince, so I think I got this nut cracked. Make war, even if youre going for a non-military victory, you need to make war and win early.

Couple of notes in next post.

[DarkReign]

Civ5's games take A LOT longer than Civ4. To me, it seems there are far more turns, or is it that since you have to micromanage every unit (especially workers) that each turn just takes longer? Not sure, but my game on Prince/Continents/Large Map is taking two solid days of playing to get into the 20th century.

farms. Money is God, not growth, not culture, not science...Money. Dont build farms unless youre building one on Wheat. Every non-hill tile should be a Trading Post, period. Once I got over that and realized Growth in an expanding empire is not a good thing (each new citizen costs one Happiness).

You want one land Production city (most likely capital) and one Production city on water. Every other city should be for gold. I puppet every city I conquer so I cant control what they build, but they also dont count against any building requirements (wonders that require a Library in every city, for example, your puppets dont count for or against the total).

Make nice with Militaristic city-states, the free unit every 17 turns helps. This isnt crucial, but it helps, IMO. I have gone through the entire game without gifting any money to any city-state. Instead, I fulfill their missions, mostly clearing barbarians, defending them against invasion (i was preparing for war with the invaders anyway), connecting to their capital and hooking up resources they want. One of the city states is in love with me, like 190/60 (sixty being the max).

Anyway, amazing how much better a game gets when you start winning (lol). As it were, it feels like a very stripped down version of some better, future game. I am quite sure Firaxis will expand the game and make it far better than it is today.

...and I will be the sucker who buys that up immediately.

[TDMVPDPOY]

played this once, didnt get the hang of it...

speaking of the game, just like a sentence out of Iron Man 2...do you guys think we are at the limit of what mankind can achieve in the last 100yrs in terms of technology advancement and where mankind should be in the next 100yrs or beyond? whether its living in space or cures for deceases....seems like govt is holding alot of risky projects back dont you think?

[DarkReign]

Prince/Continents/Large Map

8 Civilizations including myself (Rome).

Domination victory in 1989. 1st in every Demo except Approval (36%). 6735 points - Ranked Augustus Ceasar (highest).

I eliminated every Civ on my continent, then invaded the other continent's weakest Civ out of 3. As I was wrapping up that bloodbath, the 2nd place Civ (greece) wardec'd me. Quick transition into defensive posture with my MechInfantry,Artillery and a General in 3 separate fronts (30-ish units) and waited while dumbass flew his masses into my line of death over and over and over and over....

I think I lost one unit, he lost upwards of 40. Cleared himself out and I went on offense, steamrolling through his cities, puppeting every single one. Didnt realize how huge his empire was, must have conquered 3 cities every two turns and took like 20 cities from him and he still had 20 more. Took all his core cities and capital, then pinched him off from the continent via a peninsular chokepoint and asked for peace (of course he agreed). Stationed two infantry and twoartillery in a key position in case Greece decided they had balls in the future.

Moved all my troops to the northern border, healed and built Forts in key positions for the oncoming war with the final Civ (Ottomans). He had already moved every unit he owned onto my border, he knew I was coming in the near future. I should have thanked him for that move, made my 12 artillery all the happier to crush all of them without having to move and send in the Mech's for cleanup of a bunch of weakened units.

Total rape-job. Took 5 of his core cities and pondered taking his whole damn empire, but its been a looooong game thats taken days to complete and I just wanted to win, baby. Took his capital for a Domination victory.

Next step, King difficulty.

[symple19]

DarkReign, you're awesome. Just got the game and will take your strategies into consideration.

Let's get it on!

[DarkReign]

My strat is simple.

Make war, lots of it, even if your plan is to win via non-Domination. Gold is God, make lots of it (ie no ing farms). Chopping isnt nearly as effective in Civ5, so dont bother.

The absence of tech trading, after considering it and reading someone's take on the Civfanatics forum, is probably a good thing.

In Civ4, the AI leaders would always out-tech you and it wasnt because of their native bonus due to difficulty. It was because they would trade techs amongst themselves, without your knowledge and each Civ was different in their victory aspirations. For example, a game with India, Japan and Montezuma, if they were united under one religion, you had no ing chance. India concentrated on culture techs, Japan and Montezuma on military techs (different paths though, Monty ruched to Catapults, Japan to Samurai). They would then trade amongst themselves their varying techs and all basically be equal in ability, which was far ahead of where you were.

The absence of the AI's ability to do this in Civ5 probably helps even the playing field immensely.

I still sort of struggle with city placement. I like to max my cultural borders, but since I am always a warmonger, I should consider placing my cities much closer.

[Cry Havoc]

My strat is simple.

Make war, lots of it, even if your plan is to win via non-Domination. Gold is God, make lots of it (ie no ing farms). Chopping isnt nearly as effective in Civ5, so dont bother.

The absence of tech trading, after considering it and reading someone's take on the Civfanatics forum, is probably a good thing.

In Civ4, the AI leaders would always out-tech you and it wasnt because of their native bonus due to difficulty. It was because they would trade techs amongst themselves, without your knowledge and each Civ was different in their victory aspirations. For example, a game with India, Japan and Montezuma, if they were united under one religion, you had no ing chance. India concentrated on culture techs, Japan and Montezuma on military techs (different paths though, Monty ruched to Catapults, Japan to Samurai). They would then trade amongst themselves their varying techs and all basically be equal in ability, which was far ahead of where you were.

The absence of the AI's ability to do this in Civ5 probably helps even the playing field immensely.

I still sort of struggle with city placement. I like to max my cultural borders, but since I am always a warmonger, I should consider placing my cities much closer.

This is an aspect that actually bothers me a little bit about the Civ series. It just seems to me that it's so geared toward war. I really enjoyed the overlay that they gave in Civ 4 that allowed you to take a city by cultural domination. I feel like anytime I am not actively engaging in war, I am handicapping my civilization, and that kind of bugs me. I realize that land/resources are essential to global domination, but some games I'd like to just sit back and make peace with a few other nations and then get tanks as they are just discovering gunpowder. But that's tough to do unless I'm at war.

[symple19]

I'm ing pissed. Having the 60+ city crash that so many others seem to be having. Had put close to 30 hours into the game and taken over almost the entire continent.

Scanning over the various forums, there are far, far too many bugs/glitches associated with this (otherwise awesome) game.

Not gonna touch it again until 2k/Firaxis fixes this ing !

Glad to know I'm basically a paying beta tester...

fffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccc ccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

nothing more frustrating than putting all that time in and not being able to complete my game

[symple19]

My strat is simple.

Make war, lots of it, even if your plan is to win via non-Domination. Gold is God, make lots of it (ie no ing farms). Chopping isnt nearly as effective in Civ5, so dont bother.

The absence of tech trading, after considering it and reading someone's take on the Civfanatics forum, is probably a good thing.

In Civ4, the AI leaders would always out-tech you and it wasnt because of their native bonus due to difficulty. It was because they would trade techs amongst themselves, without your knowledge and each Civ was different in their victory aspirations. For example, a game with India, Japan and Montezuma, if they were united under one religion, you had no ing chance. India concentrated on culture techs, Japan and Montezuma on military techs (different paths though, Monty ruched to Catapults, Japan to Samurai). They would then trade amongst themselves their varying techs and all basically be equal in ability, which was far ahead of where you were.

The absence of the AI's ability to do this in Civ5 probably helps even the playing field immensely.

I still sort of struggle with city placement. I like to max my cultural borders, but since I am always a warmonger, I should consider placing my cities much closer.

any crashes DR?

[DarkReign]

I'm ing pissed. Having the 60+ city crash that so many others seem to be having. Had put close to 30 hours into the game and taken over almost the entire continent.

Scanning over the various forums, there are far, far too many bugs/glitches associated with this (otherwise awesome) game.

Not gonna touch it again until 2k/Firaxis fixes this ing !

Glad to know I'm basically a paying beta tester...

fffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccc ccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

nothing more frustrating than putting all that time in and not being able to complete my game

any crashes DR?

No, but then again, Ive never reached 60 cities, either. That ing sucks dude. I actually havent played the game since my last write-up, been doing other .

[Wild Cobra]

No, but it has positraction.

And 4-wheel drive!

[Wild Cobra]

No, but then again, Ive never reached 60 cities, either. That ing sucks dude. I actually havent played the game since my last write-up, been doing other .

I have the original Civilization for my Amiga system. I think I bought Civilization II for my PC years ago, but never played it. From the start, it was enough different, I didn't want to take the time to learn it all over.

I actually thought about buying Civilization IV or V. I saw a complete packfor Civ IV for I think $35, and the Civ V was $40 if i recall right.

Anyway, now that I have a 1920 x 1200 monitor, it might be a cool game to take time and play.

[symple19]

Thing is, I only play huge/marathon games, so I almost always end up with that many cities. It really sucks.

On the plus side, once they get this fixed, it is easily the most epic, time-consuming Civ they've yet to make. I was having a blast up until I reached the point where it's nuked

[xellos88330]

I am liking civ 5 something fierce. I haven't run into any bugs yet.

A quick fix for the city cize thing is to play it on the harder difficulties. LOL!

[symple19]

It was on Prince, face

[DarkReign]

I have the original Civilization for my Amiga system. I think I bought Civilization II for my PC years ago, but never played it. From the start, it was enough different, I didn't want to take the time to learn it all over.

I actually thought about buying Civilization IV or V. I saw a complete packfor Civ IV for I think $35, and the Civ V was $40 if i recall right.

Anyway, now that I have a 1920 x 1200 monitor, it might be a cool game to take time and play.

You should check it out, just know that there is a steep learning curve unless youve played other turn-based games before.

[Wild Cobra]

You should check it out, just know that there is a steep learning curve unless youve played other turn-based games before.

I've played the original Cid Meier Civilization, Railroad Tycoon, Pirates, Gunship, and Kennedy Approach. There was another that I liked where you built space stations in Low Earth Orbit for the C-64. I didn't see that one under his name looking for it, and forget the le. I just never took the time to learn Civ II, it looked like a radical change, and Civilization was a lot to keep up with.

[symple19]

good ing news, looks like 2K is getting ready to release it's first big patch, fixing many of the game-breaking bugs/crashes that have come close to making me go insane

10/14 UPDATE: More changes have been added to the list! Check them out below!

Also, many people have been asking for an ETA on when this patch will be released. I said I'd do what I can to get some sort of ETA and now I have it for you. However! I am about to do something I don't normally like to do: Give an ETA. Big emphasis on the E. So what I am about to tell you is the current estimation of when it will be available. This patch is not done with testing at the current time, and most everyone in software development has experienced the dreaded last minute showstopper bug that forces a delay. This could happen! So, with all of that in mind:
The patch will be available as early as next week.


UI
Fix for production prompt that sometimes appears with newly created puppet states that could stop the player from being able to end the turn.
Aircraft banner corrections – now when you rebase an aircraft, the number will move with it.
Resource icons now come up with Ctrl-R again, instead of sharing the same button with Build Roads.
Selecting a great general will no longer cause yield icons to appear.
Added option to disable auto-unit cycling.
Fix for full-screen game when running dual monitors. Previously, the curser could scroll off the “open” side, and not be able to scroll the map in that direction.
Misc additional fixes to mouse controls, and other interface issues.
Rounded out financial information in the Economic Overview screen. Details now provided on the amount of gold provided by each city, the cost of buildings in each city, etc.
Auto-populate save menu with save file name
Allow selection of other cities by hex from within the city screen
Added detailed trade route info to Economic Overview screen
Added new tab to the Economic Overview Screen: "Resources & Happiness." (new 10/14)
Added option to activate the mp score list in single player (for “always up” score similar to Civ IV.) (new 10/14)
The Annex/Puppet/Raze popup now indicates how much extra Unhappiness will be assumed with each action. (new 10/14)

MODDING
Category list now displays correctly
“Installed” panel now displays ALL versions of a mod but prevents the user from enabling multiple versions. (new 10/14)

GAMEPLAY
Workers - Added option to force workers to ignore manually made improvements (so they don’t change what you decide was best for a plot).
Workers - Fixed bug where number of turns to complete were incorrect in build action button tool-tip.
Economy - Fixed bug where players could disband a single unit, and not see the economic return until disbanding 1 more.
Economy – Increased city wealth setting to 25%
Economy – Multiple fixes to the way trade-routes are tabulated and recognized.
Economy - Can now sell Buildings in a city (to help lower maintenance for obsolete buildings later in the game).
Trade – Found and corrected a Trade problem that could cause your Resource inventory to multiply.
City States - Fixed a bug where you could not gift aircraft to city states.
Military - Medic promotion now only provides healing bonus for adjacent units.
Military – Fix for Minuteman movement.
Military – Correct promotions for “archer-like” units (horse archers, chariots).
Military - Embarked units will no longer slow enemy land units
Military - Improved unit cycling logic. Camera will jump around much less.
Balance - Engineers +1 hammer

AI
Military – Better handling of unit need (navy vs land, etc.) .
Military - AI will tend to build ships to deal with blockaded cities more often
Military – Corrected an issue hampering movement of AI armies, especially when in close proximity to enemy forces
Diplomacy – AI will be more reluctant to offer or accept open border agreements with more powerful opponents.
Diplomacy – Fix for never ending deals (peace, research agreements, etc).
City – City specialization and city focus improvements.
City - Cities that are Avoiding Growth will not grow while that option is selected
Workers – Priority of trading posts reduced, and rebalanced priorities on other improvements
Workers – Improved the path-finding mechanic when building route-to roads improved, including a large performance increase when evaluating road-pathing.
City - Make sure Puppets don't construct buildings that require Resources. (new 10/14)
City - Add a Puppet city strategy that turns off training buildings and emphasizes gold. (new 10/14)

MULTIPLAYER
Exploit – Fix for gifting unit exploit
Chat – Color-coding, sound alerts, etc., added for in-game chat system, including a larger window.
Deals – Additional deal validation put in place to verify deals before they are committed

MISC
Research treaties that end because you declare war will no longer grant the free tech
Save/Load – Fix for corrupted saves being experienced by some players in late-game.
Map - Huge map crash-during-load fix that were reported on some specific systems.
Map – Terrain caching fix that could cause problems for certain video cards (the “glowing red orbs” seen on the map are an indicator of this).
Map – Fix for the low res terrain that appears the first time the game is run (terrain tiles would not load in anything but low-res the first time you play on some computer configurations)
Strategic View – Crash fix for units rendering in background.
Strategic View – Fix for selecting units either standing on a city plot, or garrisoned in the city plot.
Eyefinity – Better handling of leader scenes when using Eyefinity displays.
Tutorials – Many tutorial tweaks and adjustments.
Multiple crash fixes.
Taller than wide map crash fix. (new 10/14)

Nice to see them addressing balance issues as well. Hopefully more fixes will follow soon

[symple19]

None of this makes me any less angry that this game came out as deplorably unpolished as it did.

[Cry Havoc]

None of this makes me any less angry that this game came out as deplorably unpolished as it did.

Eh, it's rare for a game to be released now that isn't in it's Beta stage still. Pretty sad, but true.

You also have to consider that games are much more complex now than they've ever been. Can you imagine the ridiculous coding necessary to even begin to balance a game like Civ? It's got to be a gargantuan undertaking, and they're going to slip up along the way.

[symple19]

Eh, it's rare for a game to be released now that isn't in it's Beta stage still. Pretty sad, but true.

You also have to consider that games are much more complex now than they've ever been. Can you imagine the ridiculous coding necessary to even begin to balance a game like Civ? It's got to be a gargantuan undertaking, and they're going to slip up along the way.

Absolutely true, although some do it much better than others... Blizzard and Bethesda, for instance

Man, I can't wait for Diablo 3 and Elder Scrolls V

[Cry Havoc]

Absolutely true, although some do it much better than others... Blizzard and Bethesda, for instance

Man, I can't wait for Diablo 3 and Elder Scrolls V

Starcraft 2 was considered almost broken until yesterday because of how underpowered Zerg were.

When Oblivion was released it was plagued by HORRIBLE mouse lag. And Fallout 3 sadly won't play on many 64 bit Windows 7 computers.

[symple19]

Starcraft 2 was considered almost broken until yesterday because of how underpowered Zerg were.

When Oblivion was released it was plagued by HORRIBLE mouse lag. And Fallout 3 sadly won't play on many 64 bit Windows 7 computers.

Haven't played starcraft 2, but an "underpowered" race is hardly game-breaking. That is a balance issue. The crashes and bugs are what is breaking CIV 5 presently.

Horrible mouse lag? really? seriously? New one on me. Remember asshole, I said, "Some do it better than others". Not, "some do it perfectly"

Windows 7 was not released (at least in anything other than a beta testing version, which I still don't think was out yet if memory serves) when Fallout3 came out, so that argument is re ed. Yes, there were some bugs, but nothing even approaching the scale of what is going on with CIV5.

You don't even ing play CIV5 do you? why am I arguing with an EMO stick? perhaps you should go listen to some instrumental versions of popular songs instead, and get the out of here until you actually play the game for which this thread was created.

[DarkReign]

I took a badass screenshot in Fallout3 in the TreeMan (or whatever) area that everyone worships with a flamethrower and I was extremely tempted to post that screenshot here, even I was impressed how ing badass it looked.

Dont know why I thought of this.