SattleBhip
Chieftain
I Love Pirates!
"Pirates! Gold" and Bts is pretty much the only computer games i play... And GTA. 
Any other games even close to Civ4 for you?
- Thread starter geokhan
- Start date
I Love Pirates!
"Pirates! Gold" and Bts is pretty much the only computer games i play... And GTA. 
Rusty Edge
Deity
I Love Pirates!
Just concluded my warm-up game. I had a Ship of the Line which I captured from the English.
Drakarska
Epic Dadness
Hmnn. I didn't know GTA had an English SOTL. Is that modified BMW after completing an insanity difficulty race?
I have recently come back to Crusader Kings 2, this time with all the DLC and a few great mods, and am once again totally hooked. Very rarely have I experienced a game of such high quality. It is extremely well polished, very addictive, intellectually satisfying to play, highly educational, and often times the course of events is truly hilarious. Despite its astonishing complexity, everything seems to be thought out very sensibly. And mods solve the few minor problems which the vanilla game has in difficulty and balance.
Playing characters of different origins (Muslims, Byzantinians, Italian Doges, Norse and other Pagans etc), as possible with the respective DLC, offers very unique and historically adequate game experiences. And Paradox's DLC model is especially noteworthy in these days. While other video game companies rip their customers off with DLC, Paradox includes all the changes in free patches - you only need the DLC to actually be able to play different characters, everything else is for free.
Hmm, I guess this sounds like an aggressive game promotion on my side, but seriously, a game like CK2 deserves it.
Playing characters of different origins (Muslims, Byzantinians, Italian Doges, Norse and other Pagans etc), as possible with the respective DLC, offers very unique and historically adequate game experiences. And Paradox's DLC model is especially noteworthy in these days. While other video game companies rip their customers off with DLC, Paradox includes all the changes in free patches - you only need the DLC to actually be able to play different characters, everything else is for free.
Hmm, I guess this sounds like an aggressive game promotion on my side, but seriously, a game like CK2 deserves it.
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^^^CK2 is indeed an excellent game. I play it often. Haven't picked up "Old Gods" yet, but enjoyed some LPs demoing it. The new pagan features look awesome. It's about the only game I play right now other than Civ IV. I play some Mount & Blade as well. Looking forward to Paradoxes Europa Universalis IV later this year, which I expect will be of the same high quality as CK2. CK and EU are very rich games that can suck you in for long hours just like Civ with tons of replayability.
My Pantheon of Games I've played other than Civ IV:
Silent Storm Gold (one of the best TBS's ever)
Crusader Kings 2
Europa Universalis III
Company of Heroes (their last expansion was terrible so I'm leery of the COH2 coming out next week)
Dawn of War I (Dawn of War II was a huge letdown)
Tomb Raiders (all of them)
Various RPGs (Neverwinter, Dragon Age, Witcher) ....never got into Elder Scrolls even though I had Oblivion (did not finish) I'm kinda meh on RPGs right now...just hard to get into anymore
Medieval 2 Total War
Mount & Blade
I did enjoy "Pirates" as well. I've played many other games but those are the ones that stand out the most, although I'm probably missing something.
My Pantheon of Games I've played other than Civ IV:
Silent Storm Gold (one of the best TBS's ever)
Crusader Kings 2
Europa Universalis III
Company of Heroes (their last expansion was terrible so I'm leery of the COH2 coming out next week)
Dawn of War I (Dawn of War II was a huge letdown)
Tomb Raiders (all of them)
Various RPGs (Neverwinter, Dragon Age, Witcher) ....never got into Elder Scrolls even though I had Oblivion (did not finish) I'm kinda meh on RPGs right now...just hard to get into anymore
Medieval 2 Total War
Mount & Blade
I did enjoy "Pirates" as well. I've played many other games but those are the ones that stand out the most, although I'm probably missing something.
I have the Old Gods DLC but haven't played as a pagan ruler yet. I'll probably try that next.
If you want to enhance your game, I'd recommend the two mods "Project Balance", which adds and balances tons of features and events and makes the game more challenging, and "Somewhat More Historical Map", which overhauls the map, adding many new provinces in the process, essentially making the map bigger and a lot more interesting. To get them both running you need a compability patch which is included on the Project Balance page. Having played with these mods, I can't imagine going back to vanilla, despite the vanilla game already being great.
TheMeInTeam
If A implies B...
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Unmodded oblivion was the worst one IMO due to the convoluted leveling system in the default game. I was given it on console too so no patches/mods there for me
.
Robert FIN
Emperor
Really? Are you playing TR games, lymond
? Awesome! I played finished my only TR game 'bout year ago! It was super-old Tomb Raider: the Last Revelation (TR4). The game is only year younger than me 
! It was really great game!! I remember many scary moments of the game, including the first gigant scorpion! I almost got heart attack in the part where you climb up to the Giza-yard and the scorpion attacks straight on you!! Great stuff indeed! Tell me lymond, is it worth it to get some other game of the old, Core's ones? How about Chrystal Studios? Job well done, or..? Please someone, if you've played TR games, I'd like to hear what do you think.
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Robert - All the old TR games are great. However, the original TR game was redone has "TR Anniversary" back in 2007 with all new graphics and stuff, so you might as well play that one instead of the original, which is really dated now.
Interestingly, the most controversial and least successful TR ("Angel of Darkness") was my personal favorite. AoD was the 6 installment and last of the Core TR's. Core tried to go in a somewhat new direction with TR which turned off many fans. The main issue has to do with controls and has some getting used to, as well as settings (more city/less tombs). However, there was intention behind the controls and somewhat RPG style of the game. I think the game is brilliant, epic and quite challenging, and was one of the most satisfying experiences I've had in gaming.
All the newer TR's starting with Legend (Crystal) and much improved graphics, are quite good as well.
Interestingly, the most controversial and least successful TR ("Angel of Darkness") was my personal favorite. AoD was the 6 installment and last of the Core TR's. Core tried to go in a somewhat new direction with TR which turned off many fans. The main issue has to do with controls and has some getting used to, as well as settings (more city/less tombs). However, there was intention behind the controls and somewhat RPG style of the game. I think the game is brilliant, epic and quite challenging, and was one of the most satisfying experiences I've had in gaming.
All the newer TR's starting with Legend (Crystal) and much improved graphics, are quite good as well.
plastiqe
Grinch
I started a Morrowind character to play inbetween sessions of the K-Mod game I'm writing up. Morrowind is the first Elder Scrolls I've played and I only got it recently but game balance in the unmodded game is fubar. The first character I made was a Son of Krypton by level 20 so now I've got super hardcore BtB mods.
So far I'm having fun leveling really slowly in the rain and creeping around tombs. The story and lore is really immersive; I was particularly impressed when I read a book that was a biography of a character then later I found another set of books that was the real, uncensored-by-the-temple biography of that character.
The Elder Scrolls MMO that is in development looks good too, so I figured I'd do some background research playing the earlier games. At some point I'll have to upgrade to a new computer to play it. Also looking forward to Yatzee's Zero Punctuation review of the MMO, it's only too bad he doesn't have the patience to review a game like CIV.
So far I'm having fun leveling really slowly in the rain and creeping around tombs. The story and lore is really immersive; I was particularly impressed when I read a book that was a biography of a character then later I found another set of books that was the real, uncensored-by-the-temple biography of that character.
The Elder Scrolls MMO that is in development looks good too, so I figured I'd do some background research playing the earlier games. At some point I'll have to upgrade to a new computer to play it. Also looking forward to Yatzee's Zero Punctuation review of the MMO, it's only too bad he doesn't have the patience to review a game like CIV.
Rusty Edge
Deity
Hmnn. I didn't know GTA had an English SOTL. Is that modified BMW after completing an insanity difficulty race?
A Rolls Royce with solar panels. It's slow in a head wind, but can take a lot of damage
I almost had to Google GTA. I had a console once. It played pong, etc.
reddishrecue
Deity
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There are many other games that I played before civ 4 like the original civilization when it used to appear in the SNES along with other great SNES titles such as megaman, rise of the phoenix or chrono trigger.
Age of Empires Rise of Rome, Age of Empires II the conquerors as well,,
Sim City 3k
Civilization 2
SHogun total war or zelda majora's mask.
but now I just use Civilization 5, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 or Angry Birds on the smartphone. Sometimes I watch streams from other games like Starcraft Heart of the Swarm or Age of Empires Online.
Age of Empires Rise of Rome, Age of Empires II the conquerors as well,,
Sim City 3k
Civilization 2
SHogun total war or zelda majora's mask.
but now I just use Civilization 5, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 or Angry Birds on the smartphone. Sometimes I watch streams from other games like Starcraft Heart of the Swarm or Age of Empires Online.
i_imperator
Imperator
<<Completely agree with this. I love mass effect so much, so much fun and the universe is fantastic! Not to mention the characters and the cast for them (Seth Green, Martin Sheen and Freddy Prince Jr plus many more)
I do love the third game but the second one is the best, I love the dirty dozen suicide mission squad theme! 
But ya on topic, game's I keep coming back to
Civ (thats why I'm here)
Mass Effect series
Starcraft II
Sim City 4 (there are so many mods for this game!)
I've started Rome total war too, going to finish my first campaign's on that before Rome 2 comes out, and whenever I finish ME3, (with DLC and Extended cut)
And I am currently learning Endless Space, maddjinn streams it quite often, good place to watch it , its alot like master of orion or SMAC.
Timsup2nothin
Deity
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Unmodded oblivion was the worst one IMO due to the convoluted leveling system in the default game. I was given it on console too so no patches/mods there for me
Bethesda Softworks, we make good skeletons for modders to make into games.
TheMeInTeam
If A implies B...
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I realize they were always known for that...but this particular design choice in oblivion was...a little strange. One of the few trends in gaming that I like is a deliberate movement AWAY from tedium, so stuff like leveling in oblivion really sticks out (you have to be painfully meticulous in building up skills so as not to "waste" stuff, which forces you to either level grind early and avoid playing the quest, do a lvl 1 run, or just accept a very poorly optimized character).
Added tedium was a big turnoff in civ V for me for the same reason.
Yes. Being encouraged to put unreasonable thought/effort into a powerful character build is ok... being encouraged to put unreasonable thought/effort into a character build to avoid having the "automatic balance feature" stomp on you isn't.
Unforgivable design blunder.
Unforgivable design blunder.
TheMeInTeam
If A implies B...
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"Effort" is only fine insofar as it's entertaining. The purpose of a game is to have fun playing it. While people have fun different ways, some of the grinding required to level in oblivion consisted mostly of things like
- "stand there while something beats on your shield"
- "jump lots...preferably into the nearby dock so you bang your head and can jump more frequently"
In Oblivion and in other games, any task that requires little-to-no actual skill from the player and is otherwise mundane is a poor candidate for inclusion. I don't see how anybody could enjoy letting a trio of rats beat on their shield for an hour or eight while healing for example, but that's how you were to grind that skill...and if you didn't want to permanently have a bad level-up because you didn't get max points, you had to do it long enough before progressing to the next level and before leveling up more than 1 other skill also, otherwise you had "wasted" points/effort...and one certainly wouldn't want to waste effort like that considering its tedium!
Well designed games require either deep thought or at least make their effort engaging. One of civ V's flopping points is the highly reduced frequency/turn at which important decisions are made while increasing the time the turns take. Some of its slowness is actually because it physically runs slowly, but it's also a matter of making a decision, and sometimes waiting up to 5 minutes (quite a few turns) before anything thought provoking occurs again...and in late game peace situations possibly much longer than that!
Games that get this engagement balance right are good candidates for "other games close to civ IV" for me. The Souls series by From Software fits (I've been playing those off and on...with quite a bit of on...for years now). HOMM III and Warlords II/III fit, Starcraft II fits (interestingly so does its custom game mafia, but that's because of how it is mostly a front-end for making an old party game much better). Madden and other sports games would definitely fit if their fundamental strategy worked, which unfortunately doesn't happen.
Heck, even competitive pokemon would fit if they didn't needlessly ruin the experience with crits, oddly uneven accuracy modifier rules, and full para procs.
- "stand there while something beats on your shield"
- "jump lots...preferably into the nearby dock so you bang your head and can jump more frequently"
In Oblivion and in other games, any task that requires little-to-no actual skill from the player and is otherwise mundane is a poor candidate for inclusion. I don't see how anybody could enjoy letting a trio of rats beat on their shield for an hour or eight while healing for example, but that's how you were to grind that skill...and if you didn't want to permanently have a bad level-up because you didn't get max points, you had to do it long enough before progressing to the next level and before leveling up more than 1 other skill also, otherwise you had "wasted" points/effort...and one certainly wouldn't want to waste effort like that considering its tedium!
Well designed games require either deep thought or at least make their effort engaging. One of civ V's flopping points is the highly reduced frequency/turn at which important decisions are made while increasing the time the turns take. Some of its slowness is actually because it physically runs slowly, but it's also a matter of making a decision, and sometimes waiting up to 5 minutes (quite a few turns) before anything thought provoking occurs again...and in late game peace situations possibly much longer than that!
Games that get this engagement balance right are good candidates for "other games close to civ IV" for me. The Souls series by From Software fits (I've been playing those off and on...with quite a bit of on...for years now). HOMM III and Warlords II/III fit, Starcraft II fits (interestingly so does its custom game mafia, but that's because of how it is mostly a front-end for making an old party game much better). Madden and other sports games would definitely fit if their fundamental strategy worked, which unfortunately doesn't happen.
Heck, even competitive pokemon would fit if they didn't needlessly ruin the experience with crits, oddly uneven accuracy modifier rules, and full para procs.
Yes, I prefer my games tight with a high ratio of depth : filler.
Grinding is an abomination in its own right... and that sucked too in Oblivion.
What I was addressing in my last post is more this:
It's ok if a "perfect" character build takes some planning and is fiddlier than standard builds (unforgiving, starts out weak, odd limitations...).
It's not ok if I need to make such contortions not because I want an optimised character, but because "the game hates me" if I don't. Exactly that is the case in Oblivion.
Grinding is an abomination in its own right... and that sucked too in Oblivion.
What I was addressing in my last post is more this:
It's ok if a "perfect" character build takes some planning and is fiddlier than standard builds (unforgiving, starts out weak, odd limitations...).
It's not ok if I need to make such contortions not because I want an optimised character, but because "the game hates me" if I don't. Exactly that is the case in Oblivion.
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