Buying Civ4

[AndrewHk2]

Hey there,

I'm a big fan of strategy games and was looking through Steam recently to see if there was anything new I could buy to get stuck into. I've played a lot of Rome Total War and played Age of Empires a while back, but have never played any of the Civilization series.

Seeing its incredible ratings net-wide, I wanted to come and ask some of the fans themselves what they thought of the game and why they should recommend it.

1) This game was made nearly 5 years ago - is it still a leader in this category?

2) What is the online community like now? Is the game a decent multi-player game?

3) Will I need the other Civilization games to play this one?

4) What's the best thing you like about Civ4?!

All comments would be greatly appreciated - I've nearly made my mind up to buy it but would like some opinions before I do so from people that have played it.

Thanks for your time,
AndrewHk2.

 

[phungus420]

It is an increadible game. Also with all the great mods you end up getting about a dozen strategy games for the price of one. Check out the Modpack Project forums to get an idea of just how much content you get with CivIV:

Civilization 4 Modpack Projects Forums

 

[AndrewHk2]

Holy moly...

 

[AndrewHk2]

Another quick question:

Do most of the mods now require:

- Warlords
- Beyond the Sword
- Colonization

 

[mechaerik]

Beyond the Sword,, commonly abbreviated BtS.


Warlords mods were semi common a while back, when there was no BtS for Mac, and Colonization is a separate, stand-alone game (that's not particularly that great), but now most is on BtS, especially the better mods.

 

[Izmir Stinger]

1) This game was made nearly 5 years ago - is it still a leader in this category?

Yes. Absolutely and not by a slim margin.

2) What is the online community like now? Is the game a decent multi-player game?

Bustling. It is easy to find multiplayer opponents if you are into that kind of thing. Note, joining the MP community so late, you will crushed. Not beaten. Crushed. You may cry.

3) Will I need the other Civilization games to play this one?

No.

4) What's the best thing you like about Civ4?!

I have been playing for 5 years and it is still very challenging and I still cannot even attempt the highest difficulty level. An impossible difficulty level as a joke is a fine thing to add to a game, but it doesn't add any value. There is no much depth to this game that the highest difficulty level is attainable for anyone, it just requires that you learn and exercise your mind (rather than your thumbs).

 

[Izmir Stinger]

Another quick question:

Do most of the mods now require:

- Warlords
- Beyond the Sword
- Colonization

Colonization is not an expansion pack of Civ 4, it is a stand alone game. The vast majority of mods now require the Beyond the Sword expansion pack. You can skip Warlords, but I think the only way to buy them nowadays is bundled together. Warlords does not include hardly anything that isn't included in BTS as well. Kinda pissed I bought it.

 

[AndrewHk2]

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.

As a result, I've decided to go with the complete Civ4 pack from Steam that contains the above games/expansions.

Really looking forward to giving it a go after work tomorrow!

 

[nekom]

You won't be disappointed, I bought it the very day it came out so many years ago and just started another game last night. I haven't found a game with that much replay value since... well Civ 3

 

[Syiss_]

Welcome to the community! To echo the other responses, yes this is an amazing game and there is an enormous amount of content to explore with it. A quick warning though - there is a very steep learning curve at the beginning (made even steeper by the fact you haven't played the previous civ games), followed by just a kind of steep learning curve for a long time, followed by a somewhat flat learning curve that will go on and on for years. Do yourself a favor and read up on some strategies (after playing a few quick games to get a feel for it and learn about the things the articles are talking about), and frequent these forums for advice and help.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Also, if you have a question about a game feature, usually questions posted in the Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions thread get answered pretty quickly.

 

[Wez]

Hi and welcome
I also like the total war series i am playing empire at the moment but i will be coming back to civ4, i have also just bought the complete pack as my ex put my old copy somewhere safe!! for £8 of amazon which is amazing value.

havent played civ4 for ages so im going to have to learn a lot again but thats half the fun i would go so far as to say that this game is timeless it has that much to offer and the depth of the game is huge.

This game is not like other strategy games that you can just expect to win on normal straight away its a lot more complex, after playing for a month or so i could only win on noble and i couldnt guarantee that everytime so thats where im going to start again after xmas, anyhoo good luck and read the beginers guides youl need them.

 

[AveiMil]

Just keep in mind that Civ4 is more a decision based strategy game than a realtime action-oriented strategy game. You don't have nifty soldiers beating eachother up or any such animations in Civilzation. It's more of a numbers game where the numbers behind the military combat are much more visible and prevalent.

It's also a game that can be very fun and challenging enough without military involvement by simply focusing on developing and managing a strong empire and take a lead in technology advacement.

The game is extremly good, it offers a lot of replayability versus the AI and the multiplayer portion is also fun. There's like close to 10 difficulty levels when playing against the AI and you'll probably take quite some time until you're good enough to play at the highest difficulties (if ever). It is important to note that to be successfull in the game you'll need to learn the game mechanics quite well, which is not done in just a few hours.

If you get Civ4, don't just get the vanilla version, get Beyond the Sword (BtS) with the latest patch (3.19) as well. You don't need Warlords, BTS includes all the good Warlords stuff.

 

[karadoc]

It's worth keeping in mind that Civ4 is a very complex game. There are a lot of different things to keep track of; a lot of different viable strategies and play styles; a lot of new game concepts. It is possible to just muddle through the game and learn as you go along, but some people might find it overwhelming and become frustrated.

 

[Tapewormlondon]

I also have played total war and have 3 incarnations of it. What I will say is that whilst that is a very good game. Civ4 is simply amazing and on a different level. I game on PC, Xbox and I have owned many a console and have gamed for most of my life.

There has never been a game that has held my attention for so long (2.5 years straight), nor one that I have actually ever had to set an alarm to let me know 5 hours have passed and i should be getting some kip before work!!

That said Total war and Civ are very different strategy games. I know alot of people that dont like Civs slower gameplay than that of RTS games. I personally think they are crazy but every ones opinion matters right? Anywho for the amount that you can now buy Civ BTS for I would say 100% get it.... although I would cancel any dates/ work functions/ important family events you have.... you probably won't be going!!!

 

[Baldyr]

You're asking us, the Civilization Fanatics, for a review of the game?

I've been playing Civ games (almost) exclusively since the first one came out, so yeah, I'd recommend it! Duh!

I do, however, realize its not for everyone. Civilization is basically just a board game and you'll have no use for your lightning sharp reflexes or your superb eye-hand-coordination. It's turn based, as in "wait for your turn". (And wait you will do.) Still thrilled?

What's good about the game, then? Well it offers endless re-playability, and not because you can start every game on a randomly generated game board... I mean map. But because it has such depth and offers an infinite number of strategies. (And not only to win, as I seldom play to "win" myself.)

There are of course some obvious strategies that you will always use, and also universally acknowledged strategies will want to learn. But there are also alternative strategies and you're able to create your own unique strategies that suit your own playing style. (As you plan to play online, you'll probably have to conform to using some of the more commonly used strategies, though. I consider MP to be another game altogether...)

Note that it isn't any kind of a war game, at all. Sure, there are military aspects of the game and a military victory might even be the most common one, but it certainly isn't the greatest wargame ever. What Civ has that other games might not, is that the depth I mentioned above also extends to the military side of the game. You don't have to use the same strategies that others use, or the even fight your wars the way the game is designed for. Since you can combine your forces and custom your units in a wast number of different ways, you'll end up with your own personal strategy for war. And you can of course combine warfare with other aspects of the game, blurring the meaning of "military strategy".

One word of caution though, and someone else has also pointed this out: For the game to make any real sense in the beginning you probably need to play the tutorial first. After that you'll still keep failing miserably in every single game, since you haven't learned the main pitfalls the game design creates for you as a newcomer. After the initial learning period, the game is designed in a way that you should pretty much be able to try out any strategy thinkable by simply using common sense and your intuition. (You need better troops? Why not develop mechanization, flight or rockets? Wanna nuke somebody? Better get some nuclear materials before you launch your own Manhattan Project! And so on.)

Just don't allow yourself to get overwhelmed at first. Your not only purchasing a new game, but the fourth installment of the game. And with two expansions packs to boot! Any one of these factors could make a Civ veteran feel a bit at lost at first. I'm not even sure if you should read the manual back to back either (I dunno how the manual for Complete looks like), even if doing that was my biggest breakthrough ever! (This was with the first installment of the game, when it still was possible to get an overview of all the elements making up the game!)

Good luck and keep us posted on your adventures in Civilization!