I first squatted in a friend's home playing Civ1. He thought this game could please me, for some reason. I was really hooked up in my first play at whatever difficulty level it was (Settler ?), discovering how to improve the land and such, discovering I can settle new cities, discovering there is other civs in the game... I was really scared by AI, they felt so invasive, whereas I was quiet in my little garden. obviously, by a point I asked my friend : "what is the goal of the game if there is one ?" I don't remember his answer, but most probably something like "conquering the world" or such. I didn't push my game too much after I discovered India, but it still seems I played quite a lot.
Well after, a guy in my classroom gave me a CD with Civ2... I was like "Hmm ok, so there is a Civ2, but I don't know if I want to play it" Then I played it. I got absorbed by the graphics, so much better than Civ1. To me that was the main reason to play the game : graphics. The false 3D was cool too. Then I wondered how to beat the game, and I really discovered Civ by then. I had plenty of remarks to do, that I wrote on many many many papers during my plays. It was part of the fun for me I guess. Then, I synthesised those remarks into a not too long document that I sent to Firaxis.
So, in a sense, the series was not finished, eventhough the only point I saw first in Civ2 was better graphics and some tweaks (like the false 3D). Also, I was like "the game is too easy to crack, Deity is a piece of cake, AI is far too passive". I also wanted multiplayer for that reason. Now that I find my limit in Deity, I do not feel the same. I could beat Deity in Civ6 a couple times, but it was not a piece of cake. And I'm not like youtubers who win their Deity games 99% of the time. There is far too much randomness for that : map generator that puts you near toundra, deserts, water, all at the same time, or city-States all around you that prevent you to settle, not talking about other AIs that can send all their army in your direction as soon as they reached you, and then you have no chance at all, I even saw a youtuber (Marbozir) lost this way once. That's... not what I expected. Even Civ5, eventhough I beat it on Deity only once, was more fair. So I can't say I really appreciate Civ6.
Honestly, eventhough beating it on Deity is a chore, I think Civ3 was fine. I loved the second palace. AIs were less likely to forward settle you since that city would be full of corruption. I must say city borders worked quite well by then. It was not the same with the following game at all, sadly. Civ4 I was invested in multiplayer, subscribed to this league ladder site and even managed to get in the first 20 worldwide for a moment (short). I was not the best player of all times, but I had my good moment on it, performance-wise. As to single player, I don't even remember if I beat Deity. Civ4 MP was very stressful. It was a totally different game than SP. It could definitely be qualified of e-sport. It was insane. In comparison, Civ5 MP¨was totally lame. For once, I bought it for it. Huge deception. I didn't buy Civ6, got it free on EGS and for expansions, "got them from a friend".
I wish Civ7 previews will make me buy the game. (I have hopes and other ideas, see in my signature)
