Today as I was double checking all of my game options (since the patch reset them all) I came across the opening theme option once more and thought... aww, what the heck let me try it out and see good ol' "Baba Yetu" once more, lol.

So I change it up and restart my game again so I can listen to the music and immerse myself into once again.

Well, I restarted the game and boy... it sure is a beautiful theme. I just sat there and watched the earth orbit and go thru it's day cycles for the entire song.

I felt so "tiny" and a small part of a huge, budding world... a huge universe. It made me appreciate life here on Earth more and the beauty of it all... and be amazed at how far we've come along (in most aspects of civilization).

It made me reminisce of the days when I first got Civ IV. The feeling of the game was much different back then, it was all new and fresh, these were the days of innocence. I would befriend my allied civs and cooperate with them... and I would be deeply hurt or offended when I was backstabbed or treated badly. I appreciated human (artificial?) life more and always seeked peaceful means of victory, I was also less competitive and cutthroat... I was merely playing "games" and messing around on lower difficulty levels while learning the game more and more.

That's when it hit me.

This is not right at all.... this theme doesn't represent my game anymore and what I've grown to become after playing it over time. I snapped out of it and was myself once more... the hardened, stone-cold veteran that I've become.

I'm a tyrant. I'm only nice to civs now to get what I need... as a means to my own victory... as do they, because I've grown to realize that's what they're programmed to do. I don't think of them as human anymore, or immerse myself into the game, they're just binary code hidden behind goofy charicatures and I treat them that way.

There are no allies... only opponents. I'm in it to win and I'll stomp over any opponent that I need to in order to achieve that. I revel in the struggle of trying to rise to the top - I'm like a barbarian now that lives for battle and glory. I love it.

So I went back to the BtS themed menu.

It just feels "right". It's feels more epic... more serious... it's like, let's get down to business and kick some arse. :king: (It also reminds me a little of Conan the Barbarian, which definitely adds a few more kickass points to it).

Nonetheless... the short-lived "moment" I had was nice. :) I felt like a monster that just stopped and was human for a moment... an evil villian that paused and had a heart for a second or that shed a single tear and shown a shred of remorse.

How do you guys feel when you start your games? Which themes do you use? (and no, don't worry, I'm not going to create a poll!)

I know exactly what you meant. Especially the intro to Civ 4 was suitably epic, but it seemed to disappear entirely for Warlords. Beyond the Sword's intro captures it briefly; in particular the bit with Lincoln speaking them the shot of the Lincoln Memorial but otherwise the focus seems to be more on the mechanics than the flavour.

:( I wish I could get that 'new game' feeling again.

Grimus, you remind me a bit of Enkidu in The Epic of Gilgamesh. He was also corrupted, never again able to regain his innocence. He had to join Civilization. I suspect the freshness and innocence you mentioned has been taken from you by the likes of Boudica, Montezuma, and other aggressive players. (Ironically it was a woman who corrupted Enkidu, so maybe Boudica's responsible. :p)

I changed my opening screen back to the original almost immediately after getting BtS, but I modified the music to be that from the Rise of Rome scenario. It doesn't quite fit, but I didn't like Baba Yetu. Just doesn't seem like "Civilization," though it is unbelievably powerful. I listened to it again recently and thought, "Wow... maybe I was wrong."

Haha... yes, Lady Boudica has corrupted my heart... that succubus. :devil:

Anything is better than the Lion King theme.

I have mine set to vanilla CivIV. I like it best out of the 4 options.

I've got the Warlords menu atm. The music... it's just plain awesome.

And I practically never declare war, so I can't go through your tyrannical half-second remorselessness thing.

If you get me.

:D

I like the original theme music from vanila as well. I have mine set to that option and sometimes take a few moments to enjoy the song.

yeah the song sounds great on 5.1 surround.

Warlords is a close 2nd

BTS is 3rd. just personal preference I guess, but I think the other part of the experience is the earth below changing from day to night. You really get that feeling of being higher up looking down on all the civilizations.

I click through it all so I can get into my game ASAP :p

haha, I did the same thing the other day because I missed Baba Yetu. I really didn't have an innocence period with Civ 4 though since I've been playing Civ for 13 years :) .. but it DID remind me of how excited I was to get a new civ game and also of Christmas for some reason ;)

Heh...I was the same way at first...never wanted to start a war of aggression...now I'm all about it...My cursor trembles over the name of my target as I repeatedly tell myself "you *must* wait 3 more turns; your last 3 units aren't quite in place!"

I like Baba Yetu myself. I don't know it just of gives me the feeling that something great is beginning especially the closing chords if you could sync it up so that once Baba Yetu ended it would go straight to Spock narrating the creation of the earth and the evolution of man it would be a perfect beginning. The BTS just doesn't cut it for me, which is odd since I like high adrenaline classical music

I got sick of Baba Yetu pretty quick, and replaced the file with an excellent version of "Let it Grow" by the Grateful Dead (5/16/1981). Highly appropriate lyrical content and sufficiently fast-paced.

Anything is better than the Lion King theme.

Agreed. Although the significance that it poses to other posters makes sense to me, I don't prefer it. It never reflected my play style or my personal style for that matter. The Tribal grimy and tough "love song" from Warlords is my pick.

Oh, and Grimus: Represent dirty Jersey

One day Grimus, Dom Pedro II, and dutchking must get together and speak of many great things... or should that be "groit"? ;)

Anyway, I would suggest if you're suffering from Civ burnout, to try a mod like TAM.

I'm dutchking. :p I use baba yetu, BTS menu sucks IMO. Where in Jersey are you Grimus? And I don't really feel bad about the AI, I mean, unless it's gandhi or FDR I don't really care, THEY'RE FAKE. :)

they're just binary code hidden behind goofy charicatures and I treat them that way.

i'd be better off if i thought that way. hatty's pout makes me feel so very guilty!

i love <3 adore baba yetu. my mother doesn't play Civ, but i sent her a link to baba yetu probably the first day i heard it, knowing she'd love it too. omg i'm turning into my mother!

i'd be better off if i thought that way. hatty's pout makes me feel so very guilty!

i love <3 adore baba yetu. my mother doesn't play Civ, but i sent her a link to baba yetu probably the first day i heard it, knowing she'd love it too. omg i'm turning into my mother!

I was going to have a DJ play it at my wedding, but we ended up going with a live band instead, unfortunately.... :)

I'm dutchking. :p I use baba yetu, BTS menu sucks IMO. Where in Jersey are you Grimus? And I don't really feel bad about the AI, I mean, unless it's gandhi or FDR I don't really care, THEY'RE FAKE. :)

Lyndhurst :p

I've tried to keep silent about this, but I can't. I wish I could transfer not only the menu music but the whole introductory movie from vanilla Civ IV to BtWS. I loved it.

Interesting! I was teaching my dad to play on vanilla civ4 and I realized I had forgotten about poor ol Baba Yetu... so I gave it a listen for old times sake :goodjob:

I went right back to BTS music for some reason but of course you have now inspired me to poke around and check out Baba Yetu and the Warlords theme again ;)

@Grimus & dutchking: Hackensack, brothaz

Hackensack, brothaz

Isn't that where Lex Luther's girlfriend's mom lived?

I'll have to look into that ;). I know that if you think living in Hackensack is moving up, then Billy Joel's moving out.

That is all you get for your money.

Ever hear the song Empire by Kasabian? Its the perfect civ song

Was playing a standard Pangaea, Prince, Aggressive the other night. With my cannons, grenadiers, and cavalry roaming around well into the 20th century - it reminded me of Civ4 as I played it two years ago. Exactly the same. It's still the same old beautiful game. The same old tactics work more or less the same as before. But that's good. My old faithful Civ4. In fact I used to be a predictable warmonger back in 2001 when I played Civ3 while at university. So really the Civ experience for me has been the same since 2001. :D

... aww, what the heck let me try it out and see good ol' "Baba Yetu" once more, lol.

lol cracks me up to read that :lol:

@Grimus & dutchking: Hackensack, brothaz

You're not very far. :mischief: Essex county, near Newark, suburbs. :nuke:

^

I'm from Essex too!

But the English one. :mischief:

I've tried to keep silent about this, but I can't. I wish I could transfer not only the menu music but the whole introductory movie from vanilla Civ IV to BtWS. I loved it.

It's an option inside the game, right in the options menu.

You can choose from Vanilla, Warlords, and BTS intro screens. Moment I saw that, I went back to Baba Yetu myself :)

I've tried to keep silent about this, but I can't. I wish I could transfer not only the menu music but the whole introductory movie from vanilla Civ IV to BtWS. I loved it.

Actually I would like to replace ALL the civ IV music from Civ III since I like that better, does anyone know if that is possible? I would transfer everything but the modern age. The modern age in Civ III is pretty bad IMHO

I'll have to look into that .

:lol:

I just remember Superman drowning in a pool with chains of kryptonite around his neck, and then Lex's girlfriend, having learned that Lex's nuke is heading for her mom's hometown, frees Superman on the condition that he diverts or destroys said missile. I *think* it was Hackensack, but I'm not positive.

[edit]I'm right! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_%281978_film%29):

Meanwhile, super criminal mastermind Lex Luthor is intent on committing "the greatest real-estate swindle of all time." To accomplish this, Luthor hopes to cause a major earthquake in California by using the U.S. government's test launching of two missiles. He reprograms one of them to hit the San Andreas Fault. The other missile is to be used as a diversion and targets Hackensack, New Jersey. The California quake will cause all of California to slide into the ocean, making the vast tracts of desert land that he had quietly purchased skyrocket in value when it becomes the new West Coast of the United States.

Luthor perceives Superman to be a serious threat, luring him to his lair with a threat to gas the population of Metropolis. He traps the superhero with kryptonite — the only thing to which he is vulnerable. However, Superman escapes with the help of Luthor's assistant, Eve Teschmacher. Miss Teschmacher is frightened for the fate of her mother, who happens to live in Hackensack.

I can still hear her saying, "But, Lex, my mother lives in Hackensack."

Nice reference! lol, hell yeah, I remember that! Christopher Reeves RIP.

It's an option inside the game, right in the options menu.

You can choose from Vanilla, Warlords, and BTS intro screens. Moment I saw that, I went back to Baba Yetu myself :)

Yes, but can you also get the old introductory movie from Vanilla Civ IV instead of the Swearing Dutchmen and Toothy Abe? :)

Well, they *sound* as if they are swearing, at least.