I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored...

I regularly take breaks from Civ4 but then I get that itch and I reinstall it for a couple months, then when I realize I have no life, I uninstall it and go back outside...

Good Luck to Lemon!

username804 said:

I uninstall it and go back outside...

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No No nonononono ! You should install it again ! ^^ Merry X-mas User Name !!!

belle said:

I'm not a man. I'm a lady. And I wish to be recognized as one.

Buuttttt I did found another sweet game which take all the hours of my free time, and stopping me from playing civ. X3. darn, that's a sweet game. I'll have to say that if you're going to try it, there is a slow learning curve, so this game require time investing. And if you are going to try it out, I'll recommend X3 Terran Conflict and the expansion pack X3: Albion Prelude (and download the bonus pack from egsoft website, and any other kick ass mod out there)
Yeah, great game.

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Funny. I also tested out X3 when I got enough from CIV.

Game is nice, yes... Until...

Seraiel said:

Funny. I also tested out X3 when I got enough from CIV.

Game is nice, yes... Until...

Spoiler :

... you sink the biggest enemy Battleship of the whole game in 1st try because AI cannot handle if you strafe circlewise while keeping a lot of distance if hanging in the rear of a ship, so that only the back-turrets can fire...

Yes, sounds complicated, but is simple, approach ship from behind, keep max distance, press D -> W -> A -> S -> loop until ship is down.

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There's a lot more to X than that. I've spent hundreds of hours empire building and never fired a shot in some games.

At least they warn you in the manual 'this game will consume your life'.

We're two very different persons tim.

You seem to enjoy the "building" part, and you probably also enjoyed watching your empire in X grow and maybe even enjoyed managing hundreds of ships.

When I played X, I again seeked a challenge, so I grinded my way upwards until I got the Springblossom, you know, that ship that is so freaking fast that it overtakes most Figthers but actually is a Corvette.

Then I unfortunately found out, that the fighting system in X is complete bs, and without a good fighting system, no game for me.

Seraiel said:

Spoiler :

... you sink the biggest enemy Battleship of the whole game in 1st try because AI cannot handle if you strafe circlewise while keeping a lot of distance if hanging in the rear of a ship, so that only the back-turrets can fire...

Yes, sounds complicated, but is simple, approach ship from behind, keep max distance, press D -> W -> A -> S -> loop until ship is down.

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I've played Freelancer And ther is a different tactic in that ->

Wing of bombers approach while fighters distract unwanted battleship fighter wing escort (and by distract I mean really put on a fight of course all hell breaks loose than we should "try to" -> shield busters and EMP cannons barrage- > "try to" launch antimatter topedoes-> If You succeed well : goodbye battleship ! Otherwise You're just a space garbage along with Your team It is harder to get battleship out of combat in Freelancer (and You need a good team to actually do that ) If You approach in a single fighter ship against a battleship .... well the odds are just against You My bet is : 2 shots -> dead (if You're a bad pilot) and 3 shots (if You are a good pilot - but You are dead nonetheless ) Isn't it great ^^

Of course I mean Discovery mod multiplayer Vanilla SP is easy

AdamCrock said:

I've played Freelancer And ther is a different tactic in that ->

Wing of bombers approach while fighters distract unwanted battleship fighter wing escort (and by distract I mean really put on a fight of course all hell breaks loose than we should "try to" -> shield busters and EMP cannons barrage- > "try to" launch antimatter topedoes-> If You succeed well : goodbye battleship ! Otherwise You're just a space garbage along with Your team It is harder to get battleship out of combat in Freelancer (and You need a good team to actually do that ) If You approach in a single fighter ship against a battleship .... well the odds are just against You My bet is : 2 shots -> dead (if You're a bad pilot) and 3 shots (if You are a good pilot - but You are dead nonetheless ) Isn't it great ^^

Of course I mean Discovery mod multiplayer Vanilla SP is easy

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ROFL, same here. Disco 4.87. I play on the 24/7 RP server (you know, the only one that actually seems to have more than 30 at a time on ), been having a blast. I played it when it first came out 10yrs ago and Lancers Reactor was the go to place for mods. Nice to know that the old mods still work with FLMM 1.31, and that SWAT-PORTAL and Discoverygc are still going strong.

Íf you like Freelancer (played both parts personally) then you'll probably be very pleased to hear, that there's a new part of "Wing Commander" which has something like 42 missions or so.

I'm sure that you'll be able to find it yourself, but if you shouldn't, it's name is "Wing Commander Saga" and it was written by the fans itself in a project that took from WC5 'til now, so many many years.

Try PBEM. Playing real humans as smart(?) & experienced(?) as U = a whole lotta fun & challenge.
Since they MUCH slower, requires being in 3+ games to fed the addiction.

Just go the forum & let it be known U R interested. There's always a game forming or replacement needed (which is how i got re-involved).

Drakarska said:

ROFL, same here. Disco 4.87. I play on the 24/7 RP server (you know, the only one that actually seems to have more than 30 at a time on ), been having a blast. I played it when it first came out 10yrs ago and Lancers Reactor was the go to place for mods. Nice to know that the old mods still work with FLMM 1.31, and that SWAT-PORTAL and Discoverygc are still going strong.

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Well You do not really need FLMM above 4.85 it just installs over Your vanilla copy of FL But I still value 4.85 days when capital ships came over to the Manhattan system on the pretext that They are going to use that jump hole to Connecticut ! Those were the days "Corsairs all over the place" days ! For some odd reason they really hate "The Junkers" No to mention that They were spies for Galia

Ahh well .... sentiment .... notihing like the smell of "Nova" Antimatter Torpedo in the morning ... or "Super Nova Antimatter Cannon" aka. SNAC in the morning ^^ (btw. If You got "The Recycler" Junker Bomber with mounted SNAC's let me know ! There is a ridiculous price for those ships mounted with SNAC's or Nova's )

I know , I use the FLMM for Crossfire mod, and some other fun stuff when I'm not doing Disco 4.87. Send me a PM with your tag kiddo, and maybe we can meet up In Sirius. I'll buy you a Liberty Ale... Wait, your a minor right lol, better make that a Kusari Fizzy Tea instead.

lymond said:

Crusader Kings 2 (EU-like but different. More intrigue. New CK and EUIV engine is nice. Get these games)

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I'd second this (and would have firsted it had I seen the thread earlier...) It's got the tools, mechanics and feel of a strategy game, and the character 'hooks' of a roleplaying game; although its strategic element is fairly light the dynastic politics and intrigue really give it a hook that keep you playing even when the rinse-and-repeat gameplay of CK II and most other strategy games (Civ series included) starts to feel a little tired. I consider CK II probably the best game currently on the market.

Its freeform "victory" conditions mean you don't fall into the Civ series or RTS trap of finding an optimal strategy and replaying that again and again, and because there's more to it than just securing territory (as in EU) you don't really get to a stage where rolling over one AI state starts to feel like doing the same with any other, at the cost of the game's personality. These I would guess - if your experience is like mine - are the key reasons ennui is starting to set in for you.

As a secondary game I also play quite a lot of XCOM, which is refreshingly different from typical strategy games and which, with certain randomisation options for your soldiers, results in playthroughs that can both give variable experiences and keep you interested in the characters you develop. But XCOM is certainly not a "play 300 hours at a stretch" kind of game - although destructible terrain and maps turning up at different game stages (and so with different foes) keep it fresh enough to be a game you can play and return to, it's better-suited as a short break (if you play too long in one go, it will start to feel repetitive and of course that will be a disincentive to return to it in future).

Or you can always just experiment with doing something outside your 'comfort zone' in Civ IV - I'm keeping interest in Civ V at the moment by randomising the civs I play and trying to optimise a wide strategy on Immortal (contrary to popular belief both from the little I've seen here and in the Civ V forum, wide strategies are fully viable in Civ V in the sense that they can win on any difficulty, but they are a lot more difficult to play effectively than the optimal tall strategies).

Or read some fiction or non-fiction about a particular historical period, or biography about one of the leaders or great people in the game. That usually gives me the urge to re-enact or experiment with the dynamics of the situation.

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Yes, I find this myself, although Civ's approach to history is so abstract that in cases like this I tend to favour games more specific to the period I've been reading about (for instance, if medieval Japan, Total War: Shogun 2, while if medieval Europe, Crusader Kings II, WWII - Company of Heroes etc. etc.). Strangely, reading about Babylon doesn't instill me with an urge to play Civ games to turn 300 and churn out battleships.

Of course it can prompt me to play certain historically-themed scenarios that offer a different experience from the main game (or in Civ IV's case possibly Colonization).

When I get bored of Civ I usually play Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer (same game, just different names over the years) or Minecraft.

They are so different that I forget about Civ until something reminds me and I think "hmmm... I haven't played that in a while, maybe I should try a game again, oops now I've just played 10 games of Civ!" lol


Or, as others have said, try playing Civ with a different goal other than what you normally have. For example, try to run a morally-just civilization, which means no Slavery, no Police State, etc.

Or try to have the goal of being the biggest fur trader (or whatever resource), and the goal is to create a monopoly of that resource so that everyone has to pay you for it. I did this by accident one game - I ended up with like 10 fur resources and no one else had any, and it was pretty fun to control. If a civ made me mad I'd "embargo" them and stop trading. After I set up all the fur deals, not a single civ declared war on me for the rest of the game. I wonder why lol.

Or try to found one of the later religions (like Islam or Christianity) and then make it your goal to convert everyone else to that religion before someone wins.

There are lots of things to try that would both be challenging and different.

I've been a bit tired of Civ IV myself.

In terms of Civ, given that each game seems to come out every 5 years, I would expect Civ VI to come out sometime in 2015. If it's good, I might jump back into gaming again.

I've also just discovered the world of tabletop gaming. There are so many magnificent games out there today, many of them with historical themes. In particular, I would recommend 7 Wonders (Ancient times), Axis and Allies (World War II), and the fantastic Twilight Struggle (Cold War).

fdrpi said:

I've also just discovered the world of tabletop gaming. There are so many magnificent games out there today, many of them with historical themes. In particular, I would recommend 7 Wonders (Ancient times), Axis and Allies (World War II), and the fantastic Twilight Struggle (Cold War).

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+1 to tabletop gaming. 7 Wonders is a lot of fun with enough players. Axis and Allies is fun a few times, but with the same setup every game it gets a bit repetitive. For replayability I would recommend Dominion. The basegame alone provides a ton of different setups, then there's enough expansions to make sure you don't need to ever replay the same game in your lifetime.

Wii. I wouldn't have thought it but it's actually hilarious.

Oh and another thing: there's nothing wrong with being burned out. We all change as people and gamers. Like I've said, Civ VI is presumable around the corner (and hopefully a return to form), and Civ IV has been out for over 8 years at this point. I, for example, may be tired of it now, but it gave me over 5 years of enjoyment, and if I ever want to come back, the game is still there.

when I start to get bored with it, besides doing something else, I also try playing bizarre scenarios that I have little chance of winning and/or that require an unconventional approach

I would suggest pbem - nothing like playing against humans for variety or succession games.

Olson said:

Wii. I wouldn't have thought it but it's actually hilarious.

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Wii? Oh please. I have one, but only for exercising when I can't get to the gym. Picture a skinny little Irish woman who couldn't dance to save her own life doing aerobics on a Wii balance board.

No. Give me a challenge!

I've actually been approached to play a PBEM game and I'm giving it some serious thought. If I can fit it into my highly erratic schedule, I just might do it.