A manual - will there be one?

[The_J]

There are threads about DLC, DRM and steam out there...and nowhere somebody has mentioned something about a manual.

In these times, it's not natural that there is a manual, it even hasn't been natural when Civ 4 was released.
So what do you think? Will there be one? Or will Sid try to send the player in a complex game like Civ without a written assistance?


Personally, i wish to get a big, beautiful manual. I've liked to look in the manuals of every civ part i have, and besides the one from BtS all have been pretty good and informative. Civ is a so difficult game, that i think nobody should try it without a manual, it's vital.
But i think, they'll give us none . I strongly hope for one, but the trend goes away from manuals .


Edit: Ups, the 4th option should be "I don't need one, but we'll get one". I hope, the moderators are fast enough to change it.

Moderator Action: Fourth option changed. - Methos

 

[Finrin]

I want it to be at least as large as the Civ IV one, i remember reading it in bed.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

I hope so and I think they'll include one, alternately they'll make a premium package for a few extra bucks.

 

[Gamemaster77]

I hope so. I remember the civIII one was like 200 pages. That would be nice for ciV. It was funny I remember somewhere in there it said something like "we know most people don't read the manuals so congratulations on getting this far. One day I was bored and read it cover to cover, actually learned a couple stuff.

 

[Dark_Jedi06]

I hope so. I remember the civIII one was like 200 pages. That would be nice for ciV. It was funny I remember somewhere in there it said something like "we know most people don't read the manuals so congratulations on getting this far. One day I was bored and read it cover to cover, actually learned a couple stuff.

The Civ3 manual was awesome, I wish I still knew where my copy was...I remember each section had a leader at the top with a quote, I distinctly remember Bismarck's said "I know the situation, just tell me what changed."

Definitely a fine piece of literature.

 

[bonafide11]

Can't believe there's not more voters for "I don't care." Only reason I clicked on this thread was to vote for that option, assuming there would be one.

 

[Danielos]

I really miss the good old days when games came in nice big boxes and had huge, well-written manuals. This DVD-case-crap may seem convenient for movies, but is awful for games! Reading the awesome manual for Civ 1 was half of the enjoyment of the game...

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I hope it will exist.
I also hope that it will be in PDF and on the game CD.
That way I could use the Search function and not have to dig through a small book when I need to find answers.

But I doubth any of it will be true.

 

[Gamemaster77]

I really miss the good old days when games came in nice big boxes and had huge, well-written manuals. This DVD-case-crap may seem convenient for movies, but is awful for games! Reading the awesome manual for Civ 1 was half of the enjoyment of the game...

I agree, but about civ3 as i've never played civ1. The reason I started reading it is because I became so obsessed with the game a would read it whenever i had free time but could not play it.

 

[Pakhawaj]

I really dislike when instruction booklets come in .PDF files, reading large amounts of text on a screen is boring and hurts your eyes.
A physical booklet is good for the kiddies too! Who excitedly read it on the way home from the shops and before they go to sleep... I will probably end up doing this. <.<

 

[cephalo]

I love the old manuals, but they are just not the way of things anymore. Now they have deeper tutorials. I guess the tutorials are deemed necessary, yet creating both is deemed a resource drain.

 

[Shiggs713]

is this even serious? For gods sake man, I'll bet anybody anything if you buy the cd version you will have a manual. That is a fact. Hell even games you buy on steam come with pdf manuals...

 

[mjs0]

I hope it will exist.
I also hope that it will be in PDF and on the game CD.
That way I could use the Search function and not have to dig through a small book when I need to find answers.

But I doubth any of it will be true.

A PDF would be perfect...then I can load it on my Kindle DX

 

[Nkat]

I constantly consult the Civ 4 manual. I did buy the bundle of BTS Warlords Rev etc later and the manual sucked for it... I hope they make a nice big juicy one for Civ 5

 

[The_J]

good to see, that people share my opinion about a manual.
It would be an insult for every civ noob if they don't get a manual...and also an insult for every advanced player. Civ has so many rules, that there has to be a manual.

is this even serious? For gods sake man, I'll bet anybody anything if you buy the cd version you will have a manual. That is a fact. Hell even games you buy on steam come with pdf manuals...

I have games here with just a piece of paper in it, which says "click setup.exe and install". This is my horrible imagination for Civ5.

 

[LiDDiS]

The first Blizzard games had some sweet manuals.

 

[Drago Askani]

Civ always has manuals.

 

[deanej]

The question is, how good is it? Everything up to Warlords was great. But the one for BtS was quite flimsy and basically said "see the civilopedia".

 

[bob rulz]

Not including a manual would be one of the stupidest decisions they could possibly make. Firaxis is not stupid enough to exclude it.

 

[bob rulz]

is this even serious? For gods sake man, I'll bet anybody anything if you buy the cd version you will have a manual. That is a fact. Hell even games you buy on steam come with pdf manuals...

What games do you play? A lot of games nowadays don't come with anything more than a CD insert with a CD key on it. Or the manual is just a tiny booklet explaining the controls and set-up.

However, Civ V is fat too complex of a game not to come with a manual, and if they don't include one I will be very shocked.