DanQ
Owner, Civilized Communication
In 2007, the first PolyCast Christmas Special featured show regular co-host "Makahlua" leading three other women to discuss all things Civilization. Five years later, she's headlining the sequel "Girls Playing Civ Too". The 2012 PolyCast Christmas Special, she leads past regular and recurring guest co-hosts Annalee "Cartimandua" Barney and Lisa "qnl" Bang on topics ranging from numerous Civilization IV and Civilization V comparisons to the state of female gamers in the online community.
The summary of topics is as follows:
- 01m01s | Difficulty Level
Preferred difficulty level of play in Civilization IV and Civilization V.
- 03m08s | Girl Gamers
Perception, experience and analysis of the presence of women in gaming.
- 09m49s | Favourite Civilization
The panelists' favourite CivIV and CivV civilization to play.
- 14m06s | Female Leaders
Comparing the choice and selection of female leaders in the Civ series to date.
- 17m52s | Empire Size
A leaning towards either a tall or wide empire in CivIV and CivV.
- 19m44s | Victory Preference
Nostalgia runs deep when choosing a preferred victory condition to strive for in Civ.
- 21m59s | Victory Theatre
A focus on a Deity-level Cultural Victory account within the CivV expansion Gods & Kings.
- 24m55s | Religion Mechanics
Comparing and contrasting the religion mechanics in CivIV and as introduced to CivV in its G&K expansion.
- 28m00s | Espionage Mechanics
Similarly, comparing and contrasting the espionage mechanics in CivIV and CivV expansions Beyond the Sword and G&K respectively.
- 31m58s | Unit Dislikes
Units to dislike, discard and disrespect.
- 36m37s | Strategic Resources
Reflecting upon strategic resources as implemented in CivV.
- 38m32s | Favourite Map
Favourite map type, and size, in both CivIV and CivV, including a comparison of two types for the latter.
- 42m20s | Favourite Speed
Similarly, favourite game speed in both most recent Civ iterations.
- 47m17s | Title Preference
Forcing a choice to play either Civilization IV or Civilization V today.
- 50m47s | Community Status
The state of the online Civilization community according to the panelists.
- 57m22s | Game Tweaks
Tweaking requests for CivV post-G&K and its subsequent patches.
- 61m10s | Artificial Intelligence
The good, the bad and the ugly of CivIV and CivV's Artificial Intelligence past and present.
- 64m07s | Flashback Topics
Recorded for the first such special, four conversations not previously released: trying advanced starts (64m47s), executing capital moves (66m27s), substituting game music (67m26s), and playing random civilizations (68m54s).
- Intro/Outro | Miscellaneous
Attractive box cover art, multitasking headaches, casual greetings and specials of Christmas past, present and future.
PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy; its final episode of this, its sixth season, is number 163 set to be released in one week's time. Sibling show RevCast focuses on Civilization: Revolution, ModCast on Civ modding, SCivCast on Civ social gaming and TurnCast on Civ multiplay.
The summary of topics is as follows:
- 01m01s | Difficulty Level
Preferred difficulty level of play in Civilization IV and Civilization V.
- 03m08s | Girl Gamers
Perception, experience and analysis of the presence of women in gaming.
- 09m49s | Favourite Civilization
The panelists' favourite CivIV and CivV civilization to play.
- 14m06s | Female Leaders
Comparing the choice and selection of female leaders in the Civ series to date.
- 17m52s | Empire Size
A leaning towards either a tall or wide empire in CivIV and CivV.
- 19m44s | Victory Preference
Nostalgia runs deep when choosing a preferred victory condition to strive for in Civ.
- 21m59s | Victory Theatre
A focus on a Deity-level Cultural Victory account within the CivV expansion Gods & Kings.
- 24m55s | Religion Mechanics
Comparing and contrasting the religion mechanics in CivIV and as introduced to CivV in its G&K expansion.
- 28m00s | Espionage Mechanics
Similarly, comparing and contrasting the espionage mechanics in CivIV and CivV expansions Beyond the Sword and G&K respectively.
- 31m58s | Unit Dislikes
Units to dislike, discard and disrespect.
- 36m37s | Strategic Resources
Reflecting upon strategic resources as implemented in CivV.
- 38m32s | Favourite Map
Favourite map type, and size, in both CivIV and CivV, including a comparison of two types for the latter.
- 42m20s | Favourite Speed
Similarly, favourite game speed in both most recent Civ iterations.
- 47m17s | Title Preference
Forcing a choice to play either Civilization IV or Civilization V today.
- 50m47s | Community Status
The state of the online Civilization community according to the panelists.
- 57m22s | Game Tweaks
Tweaking requests for CivV post-G&K and its subsequent patches.
- 61m10s | Artificial Intelligence
The good, the bad and the ugly of CivIV and CivV's Artificial Intelligence past and present.
- 64m07s | Flashback Topics
Recorded for the first such special, four conversations not previously released: trying advanced starts (64m47s), executing capital moves (66m27s), substituting game music (67m26s), and playing random civilizations (68m54s).
- Intro/Outro | Miscellaneous
Attractive box cover art, multitasking headaches, casual greetings and specials of Christmas past, present and future.
PolyCast is a bi-weekly audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy; its final episode of this, its sixth season, is number 163 set to be released in one week's time. Sibling show RevCast focuses on Civilization: Revolution, ModCast on Civ modding, SCivCast on Civ social gaming and TurnCast on Civ multiplay.