Ive been playing Civ for a long time, and recently picked up BTS. Played it a few times, been reading around this site, and had a couple general questions.

First of all, the version Im playing is straight out of the box, 3.0 or whatever. Seems to work ok, but I havent really tried to stress it. I noticed in other posts people talking about what a disaster the latest patch was, and how there was a unofficial patch that solved most of the problems. My question is, if you never patched in the first place, do you really need to get any patch? Were there big problems with BTS from its original build? Are the problems in the latest patch game breaking so its pretty much required to get the unofficial?

Also, the 2 new big things seem to be Corporation and Spys. The use of Corporations seems pretty obvious, more money and resources in the late game. Are spies though something that people really focus on as a strategy, or is it rarely used? Are there any other major strategic level changes.

Finally, I know alot of this is personal preference, but are there a few different map types/game starts that are more popular then others? Ones that are especially fun, or that is a standard for comparison between players. I usually play Monarch/Emperor for difficulty, and like games on the long side.

Not looking for a ton of detail, just general comments off the top of your head. Im sure alot of this information is buried in the forum somewhere, but I looked around for a couple hours and all I managed to find lost me pretty quickly.

Thanks for any thoughts anyone might have.

Were there big problems with BTS from its original build? Are the problems in the latest patch game breaking so its pretty much required to get the unofficial?

Yes and yes. You should really get the official and unofficial patches for the game.

The use of Corporations seems pretty obvious, more money and resources in the late game.

That's not as obvious as it seems. Corporations will generate money for the head office but it creates increased maintenance for the cities you spread the corporation to. So unless you do it right you could end up bankrupting your economy. Try to put your head office in your Wall Street city and make sure the city you spread it to has at least a Courthouse. And only spread the corporation to cities that can benefit the most from it. You don't want to spam it the way you do with religion, you need to be more selective.

Are spies though something that people really focus on as a strategy, or is it rarely used?

Spies can come in very handy sometimes and can be part of a very viable strategy. It all depends on the player. I've read that some players focus almost entirely on espionage, using their spies to steal techs rather than research them. I wouldn't recommend it myself but apparently it is doable.

Finally, I know alot of this is personal preference, but are there a few different map types/game starts that are more popular then others? Ones that are especially fun, or that is a standard for comparison between players.

If you like playing Continents, then Hemispheres is a good alternative. You can set it up so that you get two continents just like the regular one but the maps are more interesting and sometimes one or more of the continents will split into two, adding a bit more variety.

I usually play Monarch/Emperor for difficulty, and like games on the long side.

You might need to lower your level for BtS, the AI is much smarter than you're used to.

As for patches, I found BTS quite playable without a patch at first, so I ignored the first unofficial patch and waited for the official one. After I used the official patch, it messed up the game so bad that I had to get Bhuric's unofficial patch to patch the patch! Since then, it has worked fine.

As to what is new with BTS, the most interesting (or perhaps irritating) new wonder is the Apostolic Palace. With it, you can get a religious/diplomatic victory. Also, you can end up with a religion-driven economy, or even (somewhat) religion-driven science.

New "must play" leader is Darius of Persia...

Have fun!

As to what is new with BTS, the most interesting (or perhaps irritating) new wonder is the Apostolic Palace. With it, you can get a religious/diplomatic victory.

I find it irritating. I've played continents where they other half of the world all has the same religion and you get the "so and so has won a diplomatic victory" before you've even met everybody!