Is BTS Worth it?

[necrosmith]

Just wondering if, overall, BTS is worth the purchase and upgrade.

I'm pretty happy with Warlords, but I could upgrade if it's worth it.

However, I've heard BTS is still very buggy.
The implementation of Corporations concerns me as well.
And the fact that the lead designer left for another company makes me nervous too.

For those of you who have purchased it, was it worth it?

Should I wait for a more stable, less buggy version?

 

[Fireseal]

I got a HUGE boost in performance! For late game on large maps with lots of civs I used to have to wait MINUTES where nothing would be drawn on the screen in between turns. Now the game defers some processing and is overall MUCH FASTER. Yay for performance improvements!

 

[marius312]

I don't think it's worth getting BtS. First, as you said, there are so many bugs. Second, some concepts are not well thought out, and it makes for uneven gameplay. Although there are some nice graphical additions, it's overall not worth it. Civilization 4 the original was the best.

 

[Seven05]

For the price it's a far better deal than Warlords, Final Frontier alone is worth that small price tag

 

[Silver Marmot]

I certainly like it for all the new civilizations and the additions to the modern era. While I find corporations to be a waste of time, everything else about it is pretty good.

 

[grommit5]

i would definately recomend it. i think it is a big improvement over warlords. the only problems i have experienced were corrected with a driver update for my graphics card.

 

[jessiecat]

Tried Civ 4 and Bts for six months, after 18 years of Civs 1 2 and 3.
Didn't like the graphics at first sight but thought I'd give it a go.
Bts has some advantages esp. if you're a warmonger on a standard map,
10-12 cities at most. But I like larger games, big empires, 30 or more cities and cultural, diplomatic, or space victories. Never got used to the graphics, too cartoon-like, not as real looking as Civ3.
I won't get into the technical feuding about which is better, which has been raging for months in these forums. All I can say is I don't like it as well as
Civ 3. Then I didn't like Civ3 as well as Civ 2 for a long time either.
It's up to you. But having just returned to Civ 3 Conquests, it feels more
like Civilization to me, and most importantly, MORE FUN!!!

 

[GarretSidzaka]

hey, i was on production for BtS. i worked on the Road to War Scenario. and when i finally got my dev gold copy, i nearly crapped my pants at how much even the Epic game had changed.

the biggest improvement graphically is the Ethnically diverse units: it makes all your units look like UU's

the biggest mechanic improvement is the Espionage system, it adds alot that was missing before

the biggest SDK improvement was a NASTY AI. this ai is alot smarter than warlords and it makes you immediately go down a difficulty or two before you strengthen your skill

all in all: buy it, its freakng cheap $30 or less

 

[jessiecat]

hey, i was on production for BtS. i worked on the Road to War Scenario. and when i finally got my dev gold copy, i nearly crapped my pants at how much even the Epic game had changed.

the biggest improvement graphically is the Ethnically diverse units: it makes all your units look like UU's

the biggest mechanic improvement is the Espionage system, it adds alot that was missing before

the biggest SDK improvement was a NASTY AI. this ai is alot smarter than warlords and it makes you immediately go down a difficulty or two before you strengthen your skill

all in all: buy it, its freakng cheap $30 or less

Good luck to you. Nice to be at the sharp end. I was a beta tester for Civ2,
many moons ago. Seems like decades (guess it was!).
I don't dispute the improvements in Civ3 and BTS, esp. the diverse units.
But as far as the Espionage goes, forget it. What good is it, while you're still
in B.C., trying to expand your little empire and all the AI does is spam spies who wreck your improvements and steal your technology.
Where's the fun in that?
Your're not kidding about the nasty A.I. either, esp. when all the civs gang
up on you from the start. Sure you can set the game on always peace and
no barbs, make a spearman in each city and spam cities.
Feels like cheating to me, and pretty boring unless you like SimCity.
On balance, to me Civ 3 Conquests is a more balanced game with better
combat (like offensive and defensive values) and more suited to the long
game with lots of cities. And more importantly, MORE FUN!
After six monthe I've returned to Civ 3 Conquests and glad of it.
Just my opinion, OK?

 

[JujuLautre]

the biggest improvement graphically is the Ethnically diverse units: it makes all your units look like UU's

the biggest mechanic improvement is the Espionage system, it adds alot that was missing before

the biggest SDK improvement was a NASTY AI. this ai is alot smarter than warlords and it makes you immediately go down a difficulty or two before you strengthen your skill

all in all: buy it, its freakng cheap $30 or less

I think I could not have summarize this better. Thanks GarretSidzaka

 

[gps]

For those of you who have purchased it, was it worth it?

All in all yes. The new civ and leaders and units and especially the scenarios some of which feel like comletely new games are definitely woth the money.

Should I wait for a more stable, less buggy version?
The implementation of Corporations concerns me as well.
And the fact that the lead designer left for another company makes me nervous too.

Not necessarily. 3.13 + Unofficial patch solve most of the (yet known) problems. There also seems to be another official patch in the making. But if it's worth waiting for another version(that might solve as many problems as it could add ), probably only a fortune teller could answer...

 

[Swedishguy]

I'd say yes. It has brought me many hours of gameplay.

 

[Grey Fox]

Yes. The fact that Shadow phase and beyond of Fall from Heaven 2 will be released for BtS is reason enough.

But other than that, BtS has been fun so far, but I've kinda overplayed it, as when my internet went down I made a list of all civs and put in a column for every victory type and planned to beat the game with every victory type with every civ.

 

[Wolfshanze]

BtS is well worth the modest price... upgrade!

 

[JJ Boston]

There's a similar discussion going on over at the BTS board, and the consensus there is an overwhelming yes:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=250973

I feel like it was definitely worth it. The gameplay additions alone add so much, and the scenarios add so much replay value to a game that practically has infinite replay value to me as it is. In fact, this was the first time I really got excited over the scenarios in an expansion pack and they lived up to the expectations.

 

[7of9Fan]

I think BTS is worth it.

I loved CIV I and was looking forward to CIV II and thouroughly enjoyed it and the scenarios, I loved it so much that I did not buy CIV III untill they came out with CIV III Complete and fell in love with CIV III and its scenarios.

I resisted buying CIV IV completely because I saw some screen shots of it and did not like its Phischer Price palette or its cartoony looking graphics and especially did not like the jumbo interface across the bottom of the screen, it took me awhile to get used to the block in the bottom right corner of CIV III.

Just before BTS came out my friend bought CIV IV and Warlords for me from the Direct2Drive and refused to play multiplayer or PBEM CIV III with me to force me to play CIV IV. Bastard!

Needless to say I started playing CIV IV and got used to it so I could play him PBEM and Multiplayer, but I still prefer CIV III!

Recently he bought me BTS also from Direct2Drive and again refused to play me PBEM and Multiplayer forcing me to play BTS. Bastard!

Anyway I have been playing it now for a month or two and love it far more than CIV IV or Warlords. Though I still prefer CIV III!

I mention all this only to point out that as a diehard CIV II and CIV III fan I highly recommend BTS as the best ot the CIV IV/Warlords/BTS bunch.

I still prefer the graphics/interface of CIV III and the paratroopers, I also miss the Diplomats/Caravans and mountaineers of CIV II.

Oh well, to dream of a perfect CIV game that includes all of the best features of all the versions.

 

[Swein Forkbeard]

I think that would be Civilization: Revolution.

 

[Swedishguy]

I think that would be Civilization: Revolution.

Religion won't be in.

 

[Dnomal]

BTS IS WORTH IT.

You get many more civs, many more leaders, many more wonders, many more buildngs, more units. Randomn events , ethnically diverse units, (so you'll no longer fight a white Zulu archer who loks identical to a roman one). You also get the espionage system, which while no perfect can make the game much more interesting, such as using Great spies then stealing your opponents techs.

Alot of people complain about BTS - "i found a bug" "do they even play test teh game?" etc. etc. etc., and yes it's not perfect, but it has so much more depth than warlords, every game is very different, since the AI is no longer generic, some will be paranoid espionage monsters, some military juggarnaughts; you haven't really seen that kind of stuff before, at least not on the same scale.

If you loved Warlords, you'll love BTS - it's not perfect, but it's ALOT better than warlords (although the nerf to the Russian and expansive did bug me at first).

Not to mention that id you want to play mods realistically you'll have to upgrade to BTs - since most mods are going to switch over to it exclusively.

PLUS you get the amazing first moment.

WOW! Is this the same game?

 

[onedreamer]

I think that of all Civ expansions throughout history, this is the most worth buying. I could go on listing a LONG list of improvements, but rest assured you'll find them out and be pleased. The arguments against are simply
1- biased
2- incorrect
3- ludicrous