CivWorld: Gameplay Video Released

[Camikaze]

A CivWorld alpha walkthrough has been released on 2K's youtube channel, voiced by Pete Murray, as the first episode in a 'CivWorld Gameplay Walkthrough series'.


Link to video.

Thanks to cuc for posting this in the CivWorld forums, where you can discuss the video.

 

[Steamwerks]

The potential is obviously there, and even in its alpha state the game looks interesting enough to check out . . my concern is that they may go a bit overboard in weighting the social aspects, to the point where individual execution becomes irrelevant. If there is no opportunity to eke out a meaningful advantage over other players through superior management, then where's the motivation? Orchestrating alliances and working at the meta-game level really only stays satisfying so long as the core mechanics do as well. In other words, a player ought to be able to completely eschew the social aspects yet still remain entertained, if no longer competitive.

Promoting a robust social meta-game doesn't hinge upon watering the core gameplay down into something trivial, and I hope Sid realizes this.

 

[darkedone02]

hmm, interesting... let just hope the social aspect like Get as many friends invited to become super powerful or super useful is not needed, otherwise it will suck.

 

[KungCheops]

It looks... decent.

 

[Horizons]

Wow, I'm really digging the retro sub-par 1995 graphics. Oh, and it sounds like a lot of 'fun' competing to be the king and having other people be your duke or princess ... umm ... is Sid getting senile in his old age? What an enormous waste of time for Firaxis.

 

[chrissifniotis]

Well, I've been keeping up on the Facebook page for CivWorld, and a couple of notes have been released for it;

City Planning
Science and Research

It's worth pointing out at this stage that there will be some elements of zynga gameplay, timed 'harvests' of resources and timed projects, but on the whole the mechanics are very interesting, which is to say that the socialbility of the game appears to be failly balanced. My interpretation of the city planning is - so feel free to amend it - players can ally with other players to form a civilization. Each player is given a city to produce the staples of civ; food for population, production of city projects, science for research, gold for the treasury, and culture for great people. Like citizens and specialists, each worker and job produces an amount of these to add to every project in production.
The science article talks about how to research, and the fact of needing scientists and science based buildings to further research. The science mini-game is so far the only thing I have a reservation to; it's just not necessary, and the Science Minister idea is actually pretty cool, it's much like a scientific rendition of Rome's unique Civilization V trait. On the whole the game seems good, but if you don't like Farmville and the other zynga games then there will be the chance you'll not like this.

 

[CivFanaticMan]

Looks interesting, better than I expected. Although it's almost like Farmville 2.0.

 

[chrissifniotis]

Looks interesting, better than I expected. Although it's almost like Farmville 2.0.

It was never a question of 'if' for me; I knew the game had to take from Farmville. But that doesn't bother me, certainly not as much as other people seem to register.

 

[Steamwerks]

Having not not played any Zynga titles myself, I'm very curious about the particulars of the timed harvest mechanic. My current wiki-based understanding is that you must periodically log in to harvest "ripened" crops, which spoil over time if not promptly harvested. Is this correct, and if so what sort of timetable do the crops follow?

 

[chrissifniotis]

Having not not played any Zynga titles myself, I'm very curious about the particulars of the timed harvest mechanic. My current wiki-based understanding is that you must periodically log in to harvest "ripened" crops, which spoil over time if not promptly harvested. Is this correct, and if so what sort of timetable do the crops follow?

You hit the nail right on the head! While I can't confirm all the zynga elements in CivWorld until I play the game, the general rule of thumb is exactly that.
All the harvesting to take place in most zynga games is determined by the item in which is growing/cooking or otherwise requiring a set time limit to complete. Each item in the games have predetermined costs, durations and outputs.
CivWorld has so far told us that the citizens must harvest resources in order to collect them and use them in game, the harvesting process is much the same as Farmville, but the actual detail about what resources and how are still unclear. My advise at this stage is to sit tight while the game either reaches or becomes released.

 

[Snoopaloop]

Terrible, absolutely terrible. If you are a fan of the main Civ series, which has captivated us for decades (besides the DLC scams of Civ5)....this is not what you are looking for. It is not Civilization, but more of a "Civ:Farmville". To gain culture, science, money, you have to play childish picture games, railroad mini games, and complete mazes!

The most despicable part of the game are the constant notifications for "CivBucks". Expensive to purchase in-game dollars, that give you slight bonuses to let you continue completing the kids mazes. This disgusted me more than Civ 5, $5 for 1 Civ DLC.

My advice on how to fix this beta, would be for Sid to take his name off of this game because it completely tarnishes everything the series has accomplished by making it simply a joke. People were upset when the game was "dumbed down" for Civ Revolutions, but in Civ Farmville, it gets much worse.

Sid Meiers, after spending hundreds of dollars on every new game of civ/expansions, and enjoying the thousands of hours I have had playing them, I am forever leaving this series, and never purchasing anything with your name anywhere on it. The DLC scam of Civ5 and Civ:Farmville shows that you no longer care about your product, but instead you focus on monetarily raping all your customers. **** YOU SID MEIERS!

Moderator Action: Swearing is not allowed, please watch your language.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[mattcrwi]

I am in the beta and 2k greg tells me there are no NDAs so if you guys have any questions you want answered shoot...

 

[mattcrwi]

Having not not played any Zynga titles myself, I'm very curious about the particulars of the timed harvest mechanic. My current wiki-based understanding is that you must periodically log in to harvest "ripened" crops, which spoil over time if not promptly harvested. Is this correct, and if so what sort of timetable do the crops follow?

Every hour is a turn basically that you can take when you log in. where your citizens are assigned determines your production. You choose between worker, farmer, scientist, artist, merchant for each citizen.

 

[paraszgyerek]

I also agree who calling it Civ:Farmville... logon to facebook, spend a few minutes with it and then forget and move on...

What I love in CivIV is that I can "play" it even when I'm not at my home desk - simple by analyzing the current standing and planning the best strategy for the next real session.

But I think I'm not in the target group for this app. My best wishes for the creators - I'm still happy and grateful that the CivIV/BTS has born, and when another addon comes out on that product line, I'll be in the first line with my wallet.

 

[fromar]

I am in the beta and 2k greg tells me there are no NDAs so if you guys have any questions you want answered shoot...

One of the big complaints about the farmvillesque games is that they bother you when you aren't around. Instead of you playing the game for the sake of fun, you become just a mechanic of the game that has to show up when told, or everything goes south. The old fight-club mantra modified - The games you play end up playing you.

In Farmville-style games, you have to show up often just to click some icons. 'Harvest this food in the next two hours of your life' is not a strategic element. A lot of your visits to CivWorld could be just to click the 'harvest' button,

Based on what you've seen, do you find yourself playing strategy every time you log in, or are you there a lot to sort of click 'next turn'?

 

[wilson1225]

Looks like crap, and likely will be pay to win. The color scheme in particular is cringe inducing. I can't wait until this whole garbage facebook game craze is over.

 

[mattcrwi]

One of the big complaints about the farmvillesque games is that they bother you when you aren't around. Instead of you playing the game for the sake of fun, you become just a mechanic of the game that has to show up when told, or everything goes south. The old fight-club mantra modified - The games you play end up playing you.

In Farmville-style games, you have to show up often just to click some icons. 'Harvest this food in the next two hours of your life' is not a strategic element. A lot of your visits to CivWorld could be just to click the 'harvest' button,

Based on what you've seen, do you find yourself playing strategy every time you log in, or are you there a lot to sort of click 'next turn'?

I spend most of my time trying to get deals on the market or playing mini games. About once a day I will need to make a modification to my city. The mini games do have a very significant production of science/culture/money.

I haven't played enough yet but it seems that if you are not at war, you can log in once a day and not fall behind at all.

War is dreadfully boring though. You put units is a line and wait for the dice to resolve it. but you need to be available to put new units on the line when the old ones die. That is unless your defense minister is around, he can control everyones units.

 

[mattcrwi]

Looks like crap, and likely will be pay to win. The color scheme in particular in cringe inducing. I can't wait until this whole garbage facebook game craze is over.

You can pay to win with limits. I don't know what the limit is and will never find out because there is no way I'm paying real money for this game.

 

[subanark]

Looks like crap, and likely will be pay to win. The color scheme in particular in cringe inducing. I can't wait until this whole garbage facebook game craze is over.

From my understanding gating is not an allowed for games. The game makers need to make the game winnable without paying, although they can making winning annoying without paying. For example, in city ville, at one point you need to staff for a police station (around 8). To do this you can either ask a friend to fill a position, or you can purchase an NPC to do so for $.

You all can complain all you want, but this game is not targeted towards fanatics such as yourselves. The game is first and foremost a time sink.

 

[Steamwerks]

You all can complain all you want, but this game is not targeted towards fanatics such as yourselves. The game is first and foremost a time sink.

I'd like to believe Sid has nobler aspirations than creating a mere time sink.