Civ4 vs Civ4 Beyond the Sword Expansion pack

[ian_scho]

Me
First off let me briefly tell you who I am; it's my first post after all.
Been playing since version 1 (1995?) on a friends computer. I have on my own at the moment Civ 1, Master of Magic and Civ 2(?) Test of Time. I play on average once a year, every year since 1995. You just get that urge to build and expand don't you?
My fondest memory of Civ 1 was watching my friend place 40 militia men on his coastal areas to prevent the barbarians disembarking. You do these things when you're a despot....


Questions
I can see both Civ4 and the Civ4 Beyond the Sword Expansion pack for sale on a web site. The expanision pack is 1.5 times more than the original...

1. Do I need the original to play the expansion pack... I'd guess as it's not indicated in the sales burb, not but it's free to ask
2. Do you think the difference in price is work it? Both are fairly affordable I admit, but I have to justify my meagure finances to the wife

The thought of being able to customise this stuff is an excellent Civilization advance, if you see what I mean.

Thanks all, bye!

[RedRalph]

1. yes

2. definitely

[Spearthrower]

Definitely worth getting both, but make sure to patch up every annual game you play - BtS still needs some work!

[TM Moot]

i would recommend buying both the original game and BtS

don't bother buying the Warlords XP as any new game content is also included in BtS

Welcome to the Forum, Happy Civving

[obliterate]

If you warlords leaders and scenarios then by it but apart from that there is no need.

[Peng Qi]

Originally Posted by Spearthrower

Definitely worth getting both, but make sure to patch up every annual game you play - BtS still needs some work!

Except don't get the 3.03 BTS patch...broke my game.

[Stilgar08]

First of all you absolutely need the original game AND the Expansion-pack. BtS won't work without the original Civ IV

It's definitely worth the money since there have been huge improvements and additions to gameplay and options! Make sure you meet the requirements though (concerning Hardware and so on) Good Civving, Ian!

[Soneji]

OT - Has anyone actually plugged in the files for a new Civ? I remember hearing that it would be really easy to add your customised ones under BtS?

[Gaius Octavius]

Well, really, what do you expect the BtS forum to say? However, I'd say get both the original and the Beyond the Sword expansion. It's honestly like a completely new game, so many things have been added/tweaked.

[Seras]

while i'm a big fan of BTS i would actually advise to only buy the vanilla game and not the expansion....you haven't played since civ2...civ4 itself will be enough of a shock to begin with.

[ian_scho]

OK!

Thanks for the energetic responses. CIV 4 first, and next year I'll get the BtS expansion pack

[Spearthrower]

Originally Posted by Seras

while i'm a big fan of BTS i would actually advise to only buy the vanilla game and not the expansion....you haven't played since civ2...civ4 itself will be enough of a shock to begin with.

I don't really understand how starting with BtS will make it more or less of a shock! When you start something completely new, it's easy to adapt to the game as a whole rather than piecemeal adding components later and having to readapt!

[Seras]

more a matter of economy....since his finances are tight...i don't see the worth of getting bts when civ4 will be enough of a revolution to blow his mind and keep him occupied for a year or two.

[Spearthrower]

and I say that a man who can't stand up to his wife and demand the latest and greatest expansion doesn't deserve to be running a globe-spanning Empire....

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Ok, just buy Civ vanilla!

[ian_scho]

lol

It's not really my finances which is the problem (nor the wife ), but my time! The beauty of single player CIV + a young family is that noone is wondering why you're suddenly afk, as you have to stop your daughter from decapitating toys in the cd disk tray again.

[Enigma256]

well, Civ4 is a big time waster, with or without BtS

[Rusty Edge]

Originally Posted by ian_scho

lol

It's not really my finances which is the problem (nor the wife ), but my time! The beauty of single player CIV + a young family is that noone is wondering why you're suddenly afk, as you have to stop your daughter from decapitating toys in the cd disk tray again.

Civ is the greatest game ever, and I'll readily argue that the cost/hour of enjoyment is minimal. It's a very inexpensive hobby.

But I'd never recommend it to anyone with time challenges.


One... More... Turn!