FortyJ
Nov 03, 2001, 01:39 AM
Cape Maximus, Rome - Just as the rest of the world has erupted into war, a relatively small group of colonists, sleeping in stasis aboard their ship, the USS Titus, blasted off from their launchpad located on the southern shores outside of Rome. As the crew piloted the vessel out of orbit, Captain Hadrian sent his first message from space, a collection of reflections on the world and how history "played" out....
First of all, the game was played on Chieftan, Large map, 12 civilzations, continents, 70% water with no other map customizations and normal barbarians.
Second, my strategy from the beginning was to adhere to the strengths of my civ (Military & Commerce) and to develop Culture as quickly as possible. I pretty much built temples and libraries in every city as quickly as possible. Once I got Iron, I made Legionaries and overran the Greeks and Egyptians and pretty much forced them to beg for mercy - "What will you trade me for a Peace Treaty?" It worked pretty well, too.
Governments - I went from Despotism to Republic to Democracy almost as quickly as possible. I didn't even research Monarchy. I figured I'd get it from Great Library, but ended up getting it free when I built Darwin's Voyage (unlike Civ1 & Civ2, didn't get to choose the advances).
Culture - By the mid 1900's, Rome had well over 10,000 points by itself and in total, I had accumulated almost 90,000 culture points!
Trade - Midway through the game, I discovered that you can view the previous agreements with other rulers and renogiate them. In other words, say you traded silks to England for 4 gold/turn. After twenty turns, their income may have increased so they may be willing to pay more for those same luxuries. On several occassions, with various luxuries/resources, I renegotiated deals from small payments (up to 5 gold/turn) to significantly larger ones (over 35 gold/turn)! Problems - during negotiations, I often wished that I could open up the civilopedia or confer with my advisors (to check current agreements/treaties and other information).
Units - I like the new rules for air units. It seems more realistic than previous versions. Bombing enemy cities is extremely gratifying! Problems - I couldn't get Cruise Missiles off of the continent on which they were built. Unless I'm mistaken, the rules need editing to allow them to be loaded onto transports or carriers.
Wonders - Even though it makes it much harder to build the wonders, I do like the new rules for building these improvements. However, IMO, the United Nations is easily the most irritating wonder . I'm embarassed to admit this, but it illustrates the point too well to leave it out, so here goes... I built this wonder three turns before completing my space ship. It immediately asked if I wanted to elect a Secretary General. Familiar with the Planetary Council feature of SMAC, I thought I'd see how this one works. There were no negotiations, no way of forecasting who your supporters were, no way to conduct diplomacy with other leaders. You just cast your vote and the game ends! The painful (and extremely frustrating) part was that I lost :eek: despite leading the world in culture, power, tech, and virtually every demographic category. Furthermore, if you choose not to elect a SecGeneral, it continues to prompt you at the beginning of every turn! Considering the potential ramifications of accidentally selecting "Yes", this is quite irritating and somewhat stress-inducing. The SMAC version of this victory condition was much better.
All in all, I feel that there definitely needs to be some tweaks in the endgame options, but the game is immeasurably better than previous versions. I absolutely love the resource requirements and the improved diplomacy interface. Spying/Espionage is another interesting twist that intrigues me and is in need of further exploration.
I'm certainly going to be playing this game for quite some time. I just hope that Firaxis has plans to further improve some of the games features.
First of all, the game was played on Chieftan, Large map, 12 civilzations, continents, 70% water with no other map customizations and normal barbarians.
Second, my strategy from the beginning was to adhere to the strengths of my civ (Military & Commerce) and to develop Culture as quickly as possible. I pretty much built temples and libraries in every city as quickly as possible. Once I got Iron, I made Legionaries and overran the Greeks and Egyptians and pretty much forced them to beg for mercy - "What will you trade me for a Peace Treaty?" It worked pretty well, too.
Governments - I went from Despotism to Republic to Democracy almost as quickly as possible. I didn't even research Monarchy. I figured I'd get it from Great Library, but ended up getting it free when I built Darwin's Voyage (unlike Civ1 & Civ2, didn't get to choose the advances).
Culture - By the mid 1900's, Rome had well over 10,000 points by itself and in total, I had accumulated almost 90,000 culture points!
Trade - Midway through the game, I discovered that you can view the previous agreements with other rulers and renogiate them. In other words, say you traded silks to England for 4 gold/turn. After twenty turns, their income may have increased so they may be willing to pay more for those same luxuries. On several occassions, with various luxuries/resources, I renegotiated deals from small payments (up to 5 gold/turn) to significantly larger ones (over 35 gold/turn)! Problems - during negotiations, I often wished that I could open up the civilopedia or confer with my advisors (to check current agreements/treaties and other information).
Units - I like the new rules for air units. It seems more realistic than previous versions. Bombing enemy cities is extremely gratifying! Problems - I couldn't get Cruise Missiles off of the continent on which they were built. Unless I'm mistaken, the rules need editing to allow them to be loaded onto transports or carriers.
Wonders - Even though it makes it much harder to build the wonders, I do like the new rules for building these improvements. However, IMO, the United Nations is easily the most irritating wonder . I'm embarassed to admit this, but it illustrates the point too well to leave it out, so here goes... I built this wonder three turns before completing my space ship. It immediately asked if I wanted to elect a Secretary General. Familiar with the Planetary Council feature of SMAC, I thought I'd see how this one works. There were no negotiations, no way of forecasting who your supporters were, no way to conduct diplomacy with other leaders. You just cast your vote and the game ends! The painful (and extremely frustrating) part was that I lost :eek: despite leading the world in culture, power, tech, and virtually every demographic category. Furthermore, if you choose not to elect a SecGeneral, it continues to prompt you at the beginning of every turn! Considering the potential ramifications of accidentally selecting "Yes", this is quite irritating and somewhat stress-inducing. The SMAC version of this victory condition was much better.
All in all, I feel that there definitely needs to be some tweaks in the endgame options, but the game is immeasurably better than previous versions. I absolutely love the resource requirements and the improved diplomacy interface. Spying/Espionage is another interesting twist that intrigues me and is in need of further exploration.
I'm certainly going to be playing this game for quite some time. I just hope that Firaxis has plans to further improve some of the games features.