Civilization 4. Nectar of the gods.
Or, at least, Sid Meier.
Fans of the series should rejoice. All that was Civ is still there. The graphics are the best a Civ game has ever seen. For once, the combat animations between units is fun to watch more than just the first time. Multiplayer is highly accessible, and game modes for short games (small "duel" game worlds and faster-paced action) exist. Plus, the niftiest feature to ever hit a turn-based game.
In-game support for play-by-email. Each player in the game takes their turn, and emails the game state to the next player. You'll get as many turns a day then as everyone happens to have time for.
Genious. I really need to find some Civ buddies to try this with. I crave for non-AI Civ action that doesn't mean spending 10 hours in front of the computer on a Saturday.
Non-fans of the serious should rejoice anyway. The game is three times more accessible. If you let it, it will tell you how to play ("Build a barracks now. Build a worker. Build a settler. Research this.").
It's a bit daunting that several of the old keyboard conventions have changed, build queues are a bit weirder to manage, but not broken.
Religion is a new feature in this game which I haven't yet had time to fully weigh in on. It seems to me that it's contrived, and unnecessary. There are 7 different religions, giving factions the chance that the discovery of one religion or another would happen within their own city walls. I find its inclusion interesting, but the 'founding city' is possibly a detail beyond the need for measuring. It means you can build special buildings in that city, by expending a prophet, but I don't find the benefits of having to track all these locations compelling.
It is, however, highly amusing that Firaxis dedicated an entire page of the manual to a "PLEASE DO NOT COMPLAIN TO US, CHRISTIANS" disclaimer regarding the 7 religions, and that you might not be lucky enough to found your favorite...which is why all religions are treated precisely the same, differing in names only.
That and I got a perverse pleasure out of playing a game as the Americans and making the state religion Islam.
I really like the new rules about land sea and air movement - without an open borders agreement, units may no longer enter opponents' territory (with some unit-specific exceptions). You no longer have to create and maintain massive legions to stand on the borders between your civilizations just to keep the rifraff from walking all over your home towns. You no longer have to search your territory every turn for these riffraf and send them packing. This is good.
Mountains also pose a real threat now; they are impassable by any unit. The location of near-mountain fortified strongholds then is meaningful.
I'm very pleased with this game. I wish, again, that the tech tree went into the future, that Sid and his gang used the lense of "what might come" to make more of the game. But instead, perhaps, we will find these things in expansions.
Or, at least, Sid Meier.
Fans of the series should rejoice. All that was Civ is still there. The graphics are the best a Civ game has ever seen. For once, the combat animations between units is fun to watch more than just the first time. Multiplayer is highly accessible, and game modes for short games (small "duel" game worlds and faster-paced action) exist. Plus, the niftiest feature to ever hit a turn-based game.
In-game support for play-by-email. Each player in the game takes their turn, and emails the game state to the next player. You'll get as many turns a day then as everyone happens to have time for.
Genious. I really need to find some Civ buddies to try this with. I crave for non-AI Civ action that doesn't mean spending 10 hours in front of the computer on a Saturday.
Non-fans of the serious should rejoice anyway. The game is three times more accessible. If you let it, it will tell you how to play ("Build a barracks now. Build a worker. Build a settler. Research this.").
It's a bit daunting that several of the old keyboard conventions have changed, build queues are a bit weirder to manage, but not broken.
Religion is a new feature in this game which I haven't yet had time to fully weigh in on. It seems to me that it's contrived, and unnecessary. There are 7 different religions, giving factions the chance that the discovery of one religion or another would happen within their own city walls. I find its inclusion interesting, but the 'founding city' is possibly a detail beyond the need for measuring. It means you can build special buildings in that city, by expending a prophet, but I don't find the benefits of having to track all these locations compelling.
It is, however, highly amusing that Firaxis dedicated an entire page of the manual to a "PLEASE DO NOT COMPLAIN TO US, CHRISTIANS" disclaimer regarding the 7 religions, and that you might not be lucky enough to found your favorite...which is why all religions are treated precisely the same, differing in names only.
That and I got a perverse pleasure out of playing a game as the Americans and making the state religion Islam.
I really like the new rules about land sea and air movement - without an open borders agreement, units may no longer enter opponents' territory (with some unit-specific exceptions). You no longer have to create and maintain massive legions to stand on the borders between your civilizations just to keep the rifraff from walking all over your home towns. You no longer have to search your territory every turn for these riffraf and send them packing. This is good.
Mountains also pose a real threat now; they are impassable by any unit. The location of near-mountain fortified strongholds then is meaningful.
I'm very pleased with this game. I wish, again, that the tech tree went into the future, that Sid and his gang used the lense of "what might come" to make more of the game. But instead, perhaps, we will find these things in expansions.
echo:
okay okay... damn puppies.
sharon:
thanks for the grease gun info! 