Civilization IV

[Trumpman]

I got this game after Christmas, but only really started playing it this week. I've never played the other Civs, but this game is chock full of strategy goodness! :D What do you guys think about this game?

If others have it we can have a DP online game sometime. That would be sweet!

[Johnny_Rock]

I had to uninstall it because i was playing it 12+ hours a day. Its like crack in videogame form.

[unbroken]

I loved civ II back in the day and when civ III came out I tryed it out for 5 minutes and could'nt get into it at all, It just did'nt have the same adicting feeling that civ II had. I've been thinking about getting this new civ, but I'm hoping that they went back to the same civ II style.

[Trumpman]

I never played any of the other ones, but this is very addictive. All I've been thinking about all day is playing more Civ!

[stressboy]

Your loved ones and pets will hate me for this, but, if you are playing and enjoying Civ, try Alpha Centauri ;)

[calthaer]

Some people dis the Alpha Centauri Expansion, Alien Crossfire, but I think it made a great game even more outstanding. Too bad it's so difficult to find - still goes for a pretty penny on eBay.

[Zing]

Civ 4 is ok, but they seriously watered down the Wonders. They almost seem pointless to get.

It doesn't beat Civ 2. It only beats Civ 3 because that game had the most annoying, boring and detrimental implementation of corruption.

[Nature Boy]

I've played it only briefly, and without any fog (as my current laptop isn't powerful enough to handle it with the fog), but Civ IV has me *really* excited. I love how much information is right there on the screen!

I have played III, and I *really* liked the idea of the Cultural border that it brings to the series, but I've never had the chance to get back into it. I think I might just to tide me over until I get a more powerful PC.

Honestly though, I'll probably always enjoy II the most. It's the retro gamer in me I think :)

[Daltone]

I really would like to get this, I love Civ, but I'm not sure it'll run on my laptop. At the moment I don't have a desktop at uni. It's above the minimum specs ... I think.. but eh, those things lie and the opinion of people who actually have the game is usually more accurate.

1.50ghz Pentium M thing
512mb Ram
64mb Radeon 9200 graphics card

With most games I seem to be fine. Stuff like Call of Duty 2 and Half Life 2 will run fine on medium graphics settings (although don't ask me how) but I get the feeling the Civ IV could be a little intensive for this thing.

[THATinkjar]

I really would like to get this, I love Civ, but I'm not sure it'll run on my laptop. At the moment I don't have a desktop at uni. It's above the minimum specs ... I think.. but eh, those things lie and the opinion of people who actually have the game is usually more accurate.

1.50ghz Pentium M thing
512mb Ram
64mb Radeon 9200 graphics card

With most games I seem to be fine. Stuff like Call of Duty 2 and Half Life 2 will run fine on medium graphics settings (although don't ask me how) but I get the feeling the Civ IV could be a little intensive for this thing.

Head to the CivFanatics forums (http://forums.civfanatics.com/) for advice on specs. For me, that laptop won't do CivIV justice. My previous computer (Athlon 1800XP+, 1.5 GB of RAM and Radeon 9800 with 128MB of RAM) couldn't keep up at all.

[Daltone]

Blah

Head to the CivFanatics forums (http://forums.civfanatics.com/) for advice on specs. For me, that laptop won't do CivIV justice. My previous computer (Athlon 1800XP+, 1.5 GB of RAM and Radeon 9800 with 128MB of RAM) couldn't keep up at all.

Thanks for the link :-) Starting to think I may hold off getting it until I get home, or at least try to borrow it off someone and see how playable it is on shockingly low settings. Or just go back to Civ II.

[THATinkjar]

Blah

Head to the CivFanatics forums (http://forums.civfanatics.com/) for advice on specs. For me, that laptop won't do CivIV justice. My previous computer (Athlon 1800XP+, 1.5 GB of RAM and Radeon 9800 with 128MB of RAM) couldn't keep up at all.

Thanks for the link :-) Starting to think I may hold off getting it until I get home, or at least try to borrow it off someone and see how playable it is on shockingly low settings. Or just go back to Civ II.

I don't want to put you off, my friend. Under CivIV's *awful* 3D engine lies a very streamlined and, according to others, enjoyable game. Since I got my new PC, which is about as good as they come, I have been able to run the game smoothly but it still pushes the system far too hard.

The interface is overwhelming, too. Far too much information. Worse still, the game uses too many icons where text is needed. Game wise, the worlds seem far smaller and you don't have those gigantic empires to rule over anymore. The game may or may not be better, but I will be sticking with Civ 3. Which is a shame, because I really wanted to love this.

Even if you wanted to play CivIV, those laptop specs won't do you any favours. Read through some of those forum threads, and you will see. It is sad, really, that Firaxis felt forced to cater to new players with flashy 3D graphics. They haven't done us loyal followers any favours.

[Daltone]

Blah

Head to the CivFanatics forums (http://forums.civfanatics.com/) for advice on specs. For me, that laptop won't do CivIV justice. My previous computer (Athlon 1800XP+, 1.5 GB of RAM and Radeon 9800 with 128MB of RAM) couldn't keep up at all.

Thanks for the link :-) Starting to think I may hold off getting it until I get home, or at least try to borrow it off someone and see how playable it is on shockingly low settings. Or just go back to Civ II.

I don't want to put you off, my friend. Under CivIV's *awful* 3D engine lies a very streamlined and, according to others, enjoyable game. Since I got my new PC, which is about as good as they come, I have been able to run the game smoothly but it still pushes the system far too hard.

The interface is overwhelming, too. Far too much information. Worse still, the game uses too many icons where text is needed. Game wise, the worlds seem far smaller and you don't have those gigantic empires to rule over anymore. The game may or may not be better, but I will be sticking with Civ 3. Which is a shame, because I really wanted to love this.


I found I couldn't get into Civ 3 at all. I played it quite a bit, but it never stole whole days off me in the same way that Civ 2 did. I was hoping that number 4 would rekindle my love of the series. Guess I'll have to wait and see for a while longer.

[Darth Sensei]

I've played Civ 3 for a grand total of about 300 hours I'd guess. It's totally addictive (to me) but the corruption system really blows. It makes it impossible to have a large effective empire.

Oh, and as in previous installments, the AI cheats like a Mo Fo.

[Nature Boy]

Five months later, and I have a laptop that is able to play the game *with* fog.

I'm still feeling my way through a first game on the easiest setting, but so far I'm loving it.

Things I like:
- Government types being replaced by Civics (and shorter anarchy periods)
- Religion playing a much larger part
- production overflow - there's no reason to micro-manage, which is good 'cause I've never had the patience for it
- Spock. Maybe I'll tire of it, but I get giddy everytime I hear him give the quote for a new tech. :)

Things I don't:
- I preferred it when the map didn't move with the mouse.
- The 'size' of the units: sure they look *fantastic,* but I feel like I'm not getting enough of the map on the screen. I think I just have to play with zoom level more, although my resolution of 1280x800 might have something to do with that too (too much width, not enough height).

[diskoboy]

I love to hate this game. Here's why -

As many others have stated, this game is digital crack. I always find myself sitting in front of my PC at 3am, saying to myself, "Okay. Just one more turn. Then I'm gonna save everything and go to bed."

Only it never happens...

It's now 4 am - You repeat yourself, only to find out you're still playing an hour later, and you've got to be at work at 9. Forget sleeping...

Seems I can't get my ranking any higher than Dan Quayle, though :hmm:

[Sothy]

...Still waiting for a new Alpha Centauri...