Civ 5 or BE for a new player?

[Qbix]

Civ BE isn't a downgrade just because it doesn't have everything Civ V had. It has things that Civ V didn't. The main problem with BE is all the bugs and a general lack of polish.

And the lack of different victory conditions. We have 4 science ones plus Domination, which profits from the science-affinity-level-relationship. Diplomacy is a joke. No cultural and diplomatic victory to aim for anymore. No religion and tourism to spice up mid to late game. No Great People for the little extra reward here and there. Less meaningful Wonders. Less unit types. Academies and Manufactories are now always available, come partially with disadvantages and are not as powerful anymore.

Sure, we have nice visuals, even three types of textures for every terrain. I like the miasma, I like the aliens and I like the quest system. Yet, in Civ V we dealt with barbarians instead. City-states were built in mini-games with perma quests like "establish a trade route" or "declare war on xyz". So that's that. Everything else is missing.

Yes I like the options to chose from at the beginning of the game EXTREMELY much. Actually the thing that keeps me playing, because I can try out new starts. Yet, the game itself is the same grind everytime.

 

[Pietato]

Civ 5 Brave New World is a million times better than BE. Wait for an expansion for BE, then re-evaluate.

 

[Gort]

Yes I like the options to chose from at the beginning of the game EXTREMELY much. Actually the thing that keeps me playing, because I can try out new starts. Yet, the game itself is the same grind everytime.

I think the seeding options at the start of the game were actually a bad idea by Firaxis. Sure, you have more control over your start, but if you're playing on a difficulty level that actually involves you having a chance of losing, you have to pick the best options each time, which leads to the problem of every game feeling the same.

I think it would have been better if they'd dumped the seeding options and built their bonuses into the factions - so Daoming always brings Engineers, an extra Worker, and the Tectonic Scanner, while Elodie would bring Artists and Rejinaldo would bring an extra Soldier.

The factions would feel a lot more distinct that way - I think this is an instance where giving players more freedom of choice actually lessens the game.

 

[Qbix]

I think the seeding options at the start of the game were actually a bad idea by Firaxis. Sure, you have more control over your start, but if you're playing on a difficulty level that actually involves you having a chance of losing, you have to pick the best options each time, which leads to the problem of every game feeling the same.

I think it would have been better if they'd dumped the seeding options and built their bonuses into the factions - so Daoming always brings Engineers, an extra Worker, and the Tectonic Scanner, while Elodie would bring Artists and Rejinaldo would bring an extra Soldier.

The factions would feel a lot more distinct that way - I think this is an instance where giving players more freedom of choice actually lessens the game.

True dat, but unfortunately they removed that with Civ:BE. Sponsors definitely don't feel distinct enough compared to leaders in Civ V in exchange for more options. Maybe someone could simply make a mod that forced specific Sponsors to take specific extras in SP.

 

[Xenotitan]

Urgh, you can decide to always take Engineers with Daoming if you like, but please don't ask Firaxis to remove those options for the rest of us.

 

[Qbix]

Noone wants to remove them for the players, I just suggested to make certain AIs take specific ones all the time.

 

[KingCraig]

I played Civ G&K for a while, then went straight to BE. I stayed away from BNW because I heard it was heavy on diplomacy. For me, negotiating with the AI is like living with an alcoholic - you never know what will make them angry. So I stuck with G&K style diplomacy - if you don't like what I did, then try to attack me, AI, so I can eliminate you. It's a little like kicking the alcoholic out of the house.

But for $10, I should try BNW sometime and see how it works. However, I'd like to install it without losing Civ G&K.

I enjoyed playing Civ BE for a while (despite the bugs) but yes, Civ V is more complete and balanced right now. BE is short for "BEta".

 

[Browd]

You can always shift back and forth between G&K and BNW. When BNW is installed, the game defaults to BNW, but you can use the DLC option on the main menu to disable BNW to start a new G&K game. If you save a partially completed G&K game, you can load it directly from the main menu without having to manually disable BNW.

 

[Xenotitan]

For me, negotiating with the AI is like living with an alcoholic - you never know what will make them angry.

Quote for truth.

 

[Raider]

Civ5 and it's not even close.

 

[NukeAJS]

BE has fewer "systems" at the moment. The only things that can be intimidating is the tech web and the completely alien/fictitious lore. Everybody knows who/what the Ottoman Empire was; no one knows what the American Reclamation Corporation is.

 

[Halbbruder]

In terms of new players to civ franchise, civ 5 will be easier to handle. It might also be best to designate civs, rather than randomize then, if you don't warlike civs to spawn right next to you, like the Huns or Zulus. It's just to avoid bad first experiences with the game. The tech web in civbe might be a bit confusing to get used to until later for new players.

In terms of general comparison which game is better, I personally prefer civbe due to the new forms of content it provides and combined with civ 5, I'm sure they will both inspire civ 6 to the point where it adds more detail to future warfare. To add a civ 4 inspiration, they could do 2UPT (1 melee, 1 ranged unit + 1 non-combatant per tile).

 

[Gort]

Urgh, you can decide to always take Engineers with Daoming if you like, but please don't ask Firaxis to remove those options for the rest of us.

Genie's out of the bottle now - it's too late to fix it. Perhaps in the next game they make.

 

[Mivo]

I'd actually have suggested the complete edition of Civ 4 instead of either of those.

 

[Gort]

To add a civ 4 inspiration, they could do 2UPT (1 melee, 1 ranged unit + 1 non-combatant per tile).

I'd like to see unlimited stacking, but whenever a unit in the tile takes damage, all of the units in that tile take damage. No more traffic jams while at peace, but attacking with a large army across a small border will result in increased casualties.

 

[calad]

Neither, buy ck2.