Any other games even close to Civ4 for you?

[Timsup2nothin]

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.

I wouldn't say always. Morrowind was good out of the box. But as you mentioned unmodded Oblivion was buried in a matter of hours, and they didn't do any better with Fallout so I gave up on them.

That said, with the right meticulously balanced mod load Oblivion was a great game, and I've been told the modders did equally well with Fallout though I never went through the effort to know personally.

 

[Iranon]

Morrowind was playable out of the box if you didn't concern yourself with build optimisation.
If you did, it was trivially easy to break the mechanics wide open. Played as intended, it would have been a bit grindy.

Oblivion was still easy to break so didn't work as an honest challenge for competitive players, but a casual "pick what seems nice thematically and go with it" invited the game to kick the player in the junk through over-zealous level scaling.
Not working casually is ok if the game works competitively, or vice versa. Oblivion didn't work either way, and required a very specific level of pretend-play to not fall apart.

 

[Lincoln Graves]

I own Civ IV but just don't care for it a lot. I probably would if I played the updates and looked into the mods. For me the best multiplayer Civ Game was Call to Power I which had the possibility to go to the year 3000 but usually ended around 1400 by someone completing conquest. Only really good players lasted longer. Along with a huge array of military units it had a lot of cultural units that were often invisible if you didn't have the right unit to counter it. These units could be used very deviously. Combat was not merely attritional in character, tactics were extremely important. It also allowed development beneath the ocean and in orbit so it had things eventually going on on three tiers. Call to Power II is a bust but was the basis for the most exhaustive modding ever done to a Civ game that I know of. Can't remember what that mod was called but it was just solo. I still play Civ 2 with my grown son and we have been playing it since he was 13 or 14. Its getting hard to get it to be fully functional on newer machines. The same is the case for CTP I. I am thinking of investing into a couple of older machines running XP to keep these going. Galactic Civilization II is strictly a solo game but it is a blast though I strongly advise not getting a download and searching out a used boxed edition WITH the instillation code instead. I really like Civ III a lot for multiplayer as well and solo play. It too requires extensive tactics to manage combat effectively and I like its diplomacy more than in any other game. Again, I think it is entirely possible that Civ IV with all its mods and update adds much that I would like. It sure looks clunky to me though. The impression I get is that Civ V is dumbed down and I definitely do not like that only one unit per hex is allowed. Hexes were a good idea though. I'm an old time wargamer so I like the hexes but I want to put more than one thing in them and have reasons to do so.

 

[Lincoln Graves]

I have to say that my opinion is quickly changing having taken a closer look at Beyond the Sword. It is clear that many ideas from Call to Power have found some expression in this version of Civ. I'm very pleased and will start to explore!

 

[paulcarri]

Going back a long long time and showing my age here...but i was utterly addicted to a game called 'elite' on the bbc as a kid. It had 3d graphics, a decent AI , trading etc...and the game size was about 30k!!

When the new elite comes out, i may try it

 

[KrzTeKILL]

Close to Civ 4... Morrowind I guess. With modding I think I must have played it every day for over a year... in saying that Oblivion was a ridiculous step backwards. Exact same situation as Civ 5. Change everything to be more accessible but ruin the game in the process.

Alpha Centauri, of course. I rate it above Civ 4.

I was a Rome Total War addict, tried the others and wasn't impressed they were just re-skins. It seems they are actually putting effort into the next RTW though, so I have high hopes. But with the state of Civ 5, Sim City and Oblivion, I am worried.

Sim City 4 also comes close a great game that I have nothing wrong with.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

.

I was a Rome Total War addict, tried the others and wasn't impressed they were just re-skins. It seems they are actually putting effort into the next RTW though, so I have high hopes.

Y'know, a lot of people in the TW community thought RTW went the wrong way from MTW...from the tactical screen standpoint I agreed with them, though the improvement in the strategic screen made it worthwhile. I think the combat has gone further downhill with every release though, so TW peaked for me somewhere between MTW and RTW...in other words, I'm not holding out much hope.

 

[Ambidexter]

One game I keep playing is Master of Orion 2. You can find it at http://www.myabandonware.com/game/master-of-orion-1v5 but if you're using Windows Vista or later you need the DOSBOX emulator http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1. I also recommend installing patch 1.31 http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1.

MOO2 is still eminently playable even thought it came out 17 years ago.

 

[gunslinger6792]

I'm actually a huge fallout 3 and fallout new vegas fan. both games need mods installed but once you have those mods they're great. I just wish I had a better pc to run them.

 

[fdrpi]

Starcraft II for me, and Zoo Tycoon 2 very rarely for nostalgia.

Oh and the 1998 version of Axis and Allies.

 

[MilesBeyond]

One game I keep playing is Master of Orion 2. You can find it at http://www.myabandonware.com/game/master-of-orion-1v5 but if you're using Windows Vista or later you need the DOSBOX emulator http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1. I also recommend installing patch 1.31 http://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1.

MOO2 is still eminently playable even thought it came out 17 years ago.

I actually never even played MOO2 until last year, and it has nonetheless become one of my favourite games which I've played almost religiously

 

[KrzTeKILL]

Y'know, a lot of people in the TW community thought RTW went the wrong way from MTW...from the tactical screen standpoint I agreed with them, though the improvement in the strategic screen made it worthwhile. I think the combat has gone further downhill with every release though, so TW peaked for me somewhere between MTW and RTW...in other words, I'm not holding out much hope.

Whaaaat? That's a surprise, I was aware MTW was the gold standard, but I never got into it. I played MTW2 a bit but didn't get into it as much. The theme isn't as good and I eventually got so powerful I didn't see the point in finishing. Empires just looked bizarre. They do seem to be getting worse, what a shame.

 

[History buff33]

Yeah, FIFA lol

 

[mynystry]

I'm a bit surprised that no one mentiones Doom. I'm always going back to Doom, and Doom II... it's just so relaxing to kill demons and get killed by them... The only other game (besides BTS & mods) is X-COM, such an unconquerable game.

I know there is a new version of X-COM by Firaxis, but I haven't tried it yet. Have any of you played it, opinions about it?

Cheers

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I'm a bit surprised that no one mentiones Doom. I'm always going back to Doom, and Doom II... it's just so relaxing to kill demons and get killed by them... The only other game (besides BTS & mods) is X-COM, such an unconquerable game.

I know there is a new version of X-COM by Firaxis, but I haven't tried it yet. Have any of you played it, opinions about it?

Cheers

I fully understand the 'relaxation through simplicity'. Linear plot, if you call it a plot at all. Just keep pushing on through the ankle deep, or knee deep, gore; much of it your own if you think about all the reloads. No deep strategy required, just point and shoot. Where you go back to Doom I generally go back to Halo, though I've also played through Mafia more than once.

@ paulcarri...'elite on the bbc'? The space trading sim? Have you played any X3?