How do you keep Civ 4 interesting?

[salty mud]

Civilisation 4 is one of those rare games where they seem to get better with age, not worse. The more you play, the more you learn and the more you want to play. But even so, it's still nice to change things up a little from time to time just to keep you on your toes and stop the game from getting a bit samey. So what is it you like to do to keep the game fresh and interesting?

[Midgard Eagle]

One word: mods. Always something new to discover. I also love how modders keep incorporating features I've been dreaming of for a long time.

Other than that, I find it an ebb and flow thing. I'll play it a good deal and grow tired of it, then pick it up again after a short while and immerse myself in it once again. There's just so many things to do and so much to explore that it takes a long while to grow old.

[Sicky]

I mostly play my own versions of the Earth18 map. I keep it fresh by juggling around the starting positions, checking the "aggressive AI" option, and sometimes using the Real Always War mord.

[Cheps]

I play different leaders and maps. Also trying different victory conditions, although in the end it often ends up with conquest/domination, war is just too fun

I try to stick to the same settings (speed, size, etc) as I'm still learning/progressing, currently at emperor and hoping to move to immortal soon.

I've only been playing the game for about one year so it's probably easier for me to keep interest than for people playing for 5 years+.

[civvver]

I play mods or mapscripts. Full of resources map script is quite fun, as is giant earth map mod.

[2metraninja]

You have missed the one that keeps interesting the game the most for me - namely - playing versus humans

[Kagamine]

I switch between vanilla and different types of mods. The Earth18 maps are fun to play when you add different settings such as raging barbarians.

[Ataxerxes]

Different Civs and Maps. Maps in particular change the game and some Civs use different tech paths (Engineering for Spain, for example). The most important, however, is mods. RFC, for example, plays quite a bit differently than regular BTS. I've never wanted to go back to vanilla.

You can also try to run an Espionage Economy at some point. Quite different.

[Mec AntiKythera]

Random Civ/Leader and then play to their strength. UUs and UBs and traits provide a good bit of variety if you try to take maximum advantage of them, let them lead the way, within bounds of course.

Having never heard of Civ before, starting on Vanilla at the lowest level and trying to move up to BTS Deity keeps my attention as well.

[arkguy]

Would love to be able to easily download files off of this web site but so far haven't have much luck at getting them to work. For me they pretty much have to automatically download here they need to go without my help as my ability to modify games files it very limited.

[TheMeInTeam]

Originally Posted by 2metraninja

You have missed the one that keeps interesting the game the most for me - namely - playing versus humans

+1 to this one.

[GGracchus]

Mods(and the scenarios they entail) are really fun, as well as interesting(if slightly unorthodox) strategies.

[uat2d]

Other: Mods.

Rise of Mankind - A New Dawn, is the one I have been playing the most. When I have time to play it, that is.

[uat2d]

Originally Posted by 2metraninja

You have missed the one that keeps interesting the game the most for me - namely - playing versus humans

In a TBS game, it just doesn't cut it.

[Tortfeasor]

Lately mods. After FFH2 vanilla barbarians don't scare me anymore. But I've dabbled in a lot of the options. House rules like only ever one defender per city (makes HR useless and really changes the game). Automating all my workers from the very beginning made me want to cry at their stupidity but made for an enjoyable challenge. And one I'm going to try next and probably really, really regret. Whenever the game says I can give a city to another civ I'm going to accept.

[Radio Noer]

My mod and special rules usually do it for me.

[3 EMS]

Civ is just the game for me. Now that its older I have discovered RPG's but I always go back to Civ. I do try different settings but no other game feels like a new game every time I play it. By new I mean different because its not going to play out the same.

[lymond]

You forgot the option "Drink Heavily"

[karadoc]

I've kept the game interesting for myself by creating and then playing my own mod.

When I play, I kind of feel like I'm playing as all the teams at once. When the AI plays well, its because I taught it how. When they make a mistake, I try to correct their thinking for next time. At the end of each playing session I check the AI logs to see whether their big decisions made sense. At the end of each game I think about what I could have done differently, and what each of the other players could have done differently, and even how the game itself could have been different - to be more fair, more interesting, more fun. And then I try to make it happen!

So yeah. Mods. and in my case, making the mod as well as playing it.

(My mod doesn't dramatically alter the gameplay like, say RoM. My mod is basically just a polished version of Beyond the Sword.)

[jtb1127]

I play a ton of different mods.