Civ IV doesn't compare to Civ III

[TerraHero]

I like it beter, and i find it alot more addictive. Also the Multiplayer games are alot more streamlined and actually run very smooth.

The game itself is clear enough to follow, and it commes with enough option settings to set the game to your preference. Dont like the 3 warriors and rather see 1? then change that. Want a grid? get it in.

All the game options like advisors, domestics, civic options, victory conditions are all lined up in 1 bar in the top left making it so much easier to go to them.

The game itself looks smooth aswell and i got no trouble with managing stuff. The only thing i fel could be beter is the combat system, and giving more advanced units a more definite advantage. The whole advantage in combat lies purely with the terain the defender is on and the individual stats of units count alot less in comparison. Swordsman vs Warrior, warrior in a city with some defence and the Warrior already got the upperhand over the swordsman. Had 1 malinese Skirmicher rape 13 op my rifleman in a jungle as i tried to get it killed, well i ran out of Rifleman. Its no longer Tank gets whipped by a Spearman, but its a little closer, more like Navy SEAL gets whipped by longbowman.

 

[Stilgar08]

The absolute worst part is the Civilopedia. It's so hard to use now because of all the icons. An alphabetical listing would be tons better

Wholeheartely Agreed! The Civilopedia is poor and not linked thoroughly enough... If you want to see terraintypes and want to chek which improvement is best in the situation you have to go back the whole path... :thumpsdown:

An alphabetical tablet would be better as well... Right now I'm searching through the icons... I know it will get better but it's tedious...

 

[MayanKing]

First off, I want to make it clear: I do not have the game yet, will be picking it up in about 3 hours. But I have to wonder if any of you complaining about the icon driven interface have played any RTS games?

MOST all of your RTS production, research, and construction is icon driven without text to identify what, who, when, where, or why. You mouse over the icon for the info, and continue on your way. After time, you know what the icons are, where they are, and what order you click them for your specific strategy.

I find it a quick, and streamlined way to do things in Starcraft, DoW, C&C, etc etc. Having civIV move towards this approach is actually very appealing to me.

I personally think you all should just give the game some time, get used to the new way of doing things. I mean, we've all known for a long time now that civ IV wasnt going to be C3C with a graphics face lift

--RR

Well have fun with the (off the top of my head) 8x10 grid of incons! I'm a StarCraft fanboi. No, they went insane in Civ4 with the icons, you'll see.

 

[BearMan]

You really need to spend 20 hours playing. And then do a statement like that.
CivIV is new, and it's not like the old versions. It takes time to get used to it.
Here is my learning curve of civ4 :
Time Grade :
0-10 min. 10.
10-30min. 8.
30-60min. 7.
1-3 hours. 5.
3-6 hours 6.
6-10 hours 7.
10-12 hours 8.
Currently at a grade of 9.

As you can see, there is a threshhold of a game that brings so much new into the series, every adult person experiences it, more or less. (childs do not=Developing brain).

 

[doggiedaddy]

Well, I'm glad I found this thread. I played for almost 8 hours, and I LOVE the new setup. I like the easy to use interface, and I enjoy the different approach.

What I DON'T LIKE is the fact that a turn based game is so demanding when it comes to graphics. They could have used the same type they did in CivIII and I would still enjoy it. It's not about the graphics to me, it's about the concepts and the gameplay. I can play CivIII on my laptop, I can't play IV. My graphics card is only 16mb and can't be upgraded. Fortunately my desktop can handle it. If it didn't take so long to load, that would be a bonus.

Ah well... I guess now I have a reason to upgrade my systems...

 

[rastak]

I really like civilization and have been playing it since the first civ. I was eagerly awating civ IV and bought it the first day (I upgraded my computer just to play it). Unfortunanetly, however, the game just plain sucks. The interface is HORRIBLE!!! Civ III's interface was so much better. The game is just not fun to play anymore; its hard to see what's going on and hard to play. I really hate Civ IV, and wish they just had improved Civ III. I'm really upset, and I can't believe the reviews of this game have been so high.

Maybe because YOU are in the huge minority here. I love it. But to each his own, you certainly are entitled to your opinion.

 

[Liquid-Fire]

I do there are just too many icon and not enough text but that it really the only complaint i have, plus there some to be a major problem with a memory leak that makes me restart the game every couple or hours which i hope will be patched very soon.

one of the biggest areas of improvement, if what they say it true, the the amount of power you have with modding the game using the civilization 4 SDK, i am very interrested in getting into that.

 

[Jecrell]

You can't tell people what they like and what they don't like. Stop shoving it down their throats.

Personally I think there's a lot more to the game than a 2 hour session can yield.

 

[Poisos]

I have an easy solution to offer for searching the Civilopedia.
For instance: You want to know more about the Building "Market".
Just go to the TOP menu of the Civilopedia, click buildings, click on ANY building and then an alphabetical list of the buildings will appear to the right were it is easy enough to search for the character "M" .
This can of course also be done with units etc.

 

[King Jason]

Do you like CIV IV better than CIV III, or II for that matter? Can you honestly tell me CIV IV is more fun and more addictive? I just cannot believe there is anyone out there that likes CIV IV better -- please post if you do (and, for the sake of my understanding, why).

I like it better, can't really say why. It's just fun, and I've enjoyed every game to date.

I had a problem with the game speed the first 2 games, I played on normal and It wasn't that bad, but I like slower progression.

I tried the Epic game play but I will say - that style is all messed up. So... I modded my on style in and now I'm having a blast, it only took about a minute and all I had to do was type numbers.

That I like. It also is a very pretty game, regardless of the dispute of graphics and gameplay, I do think it's nice looking and I enjoy the atmosphere the 3D engine brings.

I also like religion, it adds a flavor to the game, it's nothing big, it's more subtle, like culture in civ3, but I like it.

anyway, I think this game is awesome, so much so that I've been up all night with it, it's 7:26 a.m. for me and I haven't slept yet. that must be saying something.

 

[rastak]

Well I had a little mishap yesterday, basically I had a nail driven through my friggen elbow....after spending 4 hours at the emergency room I got home and played civ 4 for three hours using my left hand to mouse (I'm right handed but couldn't move my right arm)....once the pain drugs kicked in I got sleepy and had to quit but hows that for an addictive game.....

 

[Madrigal61]

...basically I had a nail driven through my friggen elbow...

Wow... now that's a serious Civer! I've had several surgeries, so I know what those pain drugs can do!!!!! Hope your elbow heals soon so you can do some serious civing!!!

 

[Darwin420]

Well, I must say, I'm LOVING THIS GAME. The interface is a little weird, but I'm starting to get used to it. I can now recognize more than half the icons on sight, and I'm sure once I know ALL the icons, everything will be good.

The only gripe I have is the worldbuilder. I liked having a separate worldbuilding program, instead of having to start a game and go into the worldbuilder that way (is there another way? Am I just stoopid?)

I think the graphics are absolutely superb for a Civ game. Can't wait to see what the modders ('specially Snoopy) do. My impression is that one just needs to get used to the new style of graphical display.

 

[wmtrexler]

I have played for a few hours now.

I can say that as an old CIV'er that yes the interface takes some getting used to (and no I am not used to it yet) and I can understand how that may through some people off. I also agree that some tweaking of the Icon interface would help improve things.

However playing the game I am impressed and very happy. I know that I will get used to the new interface. I really like how a selected worker will show you what terrain tiles they can upgrade.

I really can not complain so far and unlike some people I wish that I wasn't stuck at work right now.

 

[kasner]

i understand the gripe about the icons and the interface, but i think eventually the learning curve will be overcome, and reaction to a certain pic happens automatically (oh, that's an archer!). until then, it'll be consuming as you flick over every single image trying to find the thing you want. hmm. it sure does frustrate newcomers.

hopefully, a group can be formed together consisting of writers, designers and techies to form a superteam to help streamline the cityscreen design, and improve, add new details and make the civilopedia more accessible, according to public demand. i'd love to be a writer, but i've got a lot of stuff on my hands.

 

[THARN]

.after spending 4 hours at the emergency room I got home and played civ 4 for three hours using my left hand to mouse (I'm right handed but couldn't move my right arm)....once the pain drugs kicked in I got sleepy and had to quit but hows that for an addictive game.....

Guess now you can boast to your opponent civ's that you can beat em with one hand tied behind your back-so to speak.

some of the complaints about certain things are probably because the game was released a bit early and they didn't get to polish it up.
these things happen all the time- and will be remedied. At least the game play is there.

 

[LogicSequence]

Do you like CIV IV better than CIV III, or II for that matter? Can you honestly tell me CIV IV is more fun and more addictive? I just cannot believe there is anyone out there that likes CIV IV better -- please post if you do (and, for the sake of my understanding, why).

I LOVE Civ IV 500% more than Civ III. civ4 brings brings back the magic that (in my opinion) civ3 lacked. i in fact i pretty much DISliked Civ3 altogether. But Civ4 is a whopping 180 degree improvement to me. it's like playing civ2 all over again, but better!!! i can see myself playing for weeks on end like i did with civ2. my current game is running on 3 days long now, and i've just now finished the tech tree.

It sounds to me like u had an expectation of what YOU wanted civ4 to be, a remake of civ3, and it wasn't and it's sullied your view. perhaps you should take some time to play it and see if you cant get used to it.

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW, you can't stay in the past forever, civ's that do that get crushed under the nuclear heal

 

[GDI]

I had yesterday off from work, so I got most of a day's worth of play time in. I've played three full games now and a couple partial games. So far, I'd say I like it far more than Civ III, even with the Conquests expansion. The interface has become a non-issue for me at this point, though I'm still discovering new things about it. In the last game I played last night, I never struggled to find a single button or unit, so it does become easier.

In terms of gameplay, I didn't care much for Civ III. I felt like the game forced me to play a certain way whether I wanted to or not. If I didn't expand fast enough in the early game, I never felt like I could catch up to the AI. In Civ IV, I feel a lot more in control of my empire. If I don't expand a ton initially, I can spend some energy to build up my cities instead and still be able to compete with my larger neighbors. If anything, Civ IV seems a bit too easy at the moment, even at the Noble difficulty level. In all my games, the AI has only declared war on me once (and I won that, despite being totally unprepared for it). The AI seems to still be exploitable, particularly since you know why it's annoyed with you at the moment, though that can be patched.

I'd go on, but there's been a lot said elsewhere. It took me a while to get used to it, so I encourage others to give it a chance as well. Right now, all I can think about is getting home tonight and cranking out another game before bed. (Yes, you can complete a Normal length game in under three hours.)

 

[Jyscal]

This game was built from the bottom up. I believe that people are just not use to it. They have to venture out of their comfort zone. I have to say, when i first started it up and started playing i was like, uumm.... where is everything. Having played Civ III for many many hours, i was very confused. The more i played it, the more i got used to it.

The learning cure is evident from the very beggining. Once you learn to use the interface, then everyting becomes clearer. I find my self not having to jump in the 5 menus to do something that i can now do from the main screen. Diplomacy is thankfully now only one click away. Icons are not a burden, they are nice to people who know how to use them, like hotkeys. People don't gripe about those, but they are more cumbersum than the icons because you don't have an onscreen guide. You have to dig out the instuction manual or dig through option menues. Let me ask you this, why does no one gripe about those, but icons in which they can learn and if not, just mouse over and it will tell you what it is.

I will have to agree that many of the advisors screens are pretty useless. You can't do much in them. They just tell you stats. I just haven't found a way to do the things i want to do. I'm confident that i'll find them eventually. Just take sometime and learn something new. Something new isn't bad, just different.

 

[Varelse]

The interface was a bit confusing at fist but I'm getting used to it. The icons don't bother me. They are easy enough to learn quickly. I don't like how often when I put my mouse over an icon I get info about the tile below it instead of info on the icon itself. That'll probably be patched though. I agree about the advisors....the military advisor in particular seems completely useless. You see a map of the world and a list of your units, then there is a row of leaderheads for all the civs in the game. You click on a head and the outline around it disappears but nothing else happens. Nothing in the manual or civilopedia gives any insight into what exactly you are supposed to do on that screen. And I agree that the Civilopedia is sub par. It is difficult to navigate, is missing a search feature, and most disappointing of all in my opinion, there no longer seems to be any historical information on the different features like you had in previous civs. In civ3 you had two screens for each unit, building wonder etc....one screen for the ingame effects, another screen for historical information. Unless I am missing something, that is no longer the case. And the smaller maps are initially disappointing, but when you consider that you don't need that many cities for an enjoyable experience, it's not really so bad as it seems at first.

All in all, if those are my biggest complaints, I really don't have mich to complain about. The gameplay is fun, I still get that "one more turn" feeling, and some of the atmosphere that made civ2 so addictive(and was missing in civ3) seems to be back. All in all I am very pleased with the game so far.