jessiecat
Divine Monarch
I've been reading this lot with interest, because although I bought Civ IV last year, I really can't get into it. I feel a bit guilty about that, as I played III, II & I to death. I even gave CTP & CTP II a fair try. Athough Civ IV added some new ideas which should be developed further (like religion), it seems to have embraced the idea that graphics are everything.
Perhaps the best test of Civ IV is to see how much it has replaced it's predessor. Back in 2003 (when the ages of Civ II and Civ III are comparible to the ages of Civ III & Civ IV) Civ II was fading away, as the majority of gamers upgraded to III (Hardcore II fans don't shoot!) Today, the Civ III community is still very healthy, which may be a sign that perhaps I'm not alone in my feelings regarding IV.
The continuing vibrancy of the Civ III society may also be a sign of the quality of the game. As a quite hardcore gamer with over a decade experiance with PC games, I can say that III is possibly the most stable (doesn't crash, etc) game I have ever played, and is joint first in length of large community support (the other is The Sims)
With the comment about having to learn XML and Python, it's the way of the world. It is stupid, however not to have a dedicated editor for IV. It is often the first port of call for new scenario creation.
For me, I'm willing to give IV another year or so. If I still can't get into it by then, i'll put it aside and wait for Civ V. It will proberly be around in '09, I hope.
Agree with most of this. As you may have noticed, I'm one of those who's
moved back to Civ3 after 6mos. of Civ4. I wasn't happy when I first saw it,
either. Civ 3 plays and feels more like Civ 2. And, yes, I was one of those
who didn't want to move on to civ 3 at first. but after smashing the A.I
time and time again on Diety with huge scores I needed a bigger challenge.
Civ 3 gave me that, though I've never been as successful on anything
above Monarch as I once was on Civ 2 Diety. Diff. AI I guess or maybe I'm just getter older.
Still playing Civ 3 rather than Civ 4 cause it's more fun.
That's all that really counts, isn't it?

BTW What does "Hardcore Civ2 fans don't shoot" actually mean?
