CivBE ... it nearly needs a re-make !

[Dannythewolf]

Hi everyone !

I follow Sid Meyer's creations since 1991.
I have to say that, according my opinion, Civilization V - Brave New World is simply great ! (Although I miss some Diplomacy features of Civilization IV).
And now ... Beyond Earth. I bought the game just shortly afther it was available on commerce.

Well ... CivBE is a strange mixture of really good ideas and bad development.

I love when the game begins. I gladly play the first 100 turns (normal speed), when the spaceships gradually land on the planet, the workers perform their duty (I love to see them working), the Explorer hunts for strange thinks around, and ... the aliens. The giant alien worm is really impressive and frightening. And the Quests, although minimized, are a nice add to gameplay. All these things make "atmosphere" in the game, and it's good.

However, other game aspects aren't good at all.

First : the Civilizations choice. I simply hate them. They're anonimous.
I really would have liked to see NORMAL civilizations : United States, Russia, Cina, India, European Confederation, etc... Personally, I soon downloaded The Galactic Roman Empire MOD and I'm always playing with it, to have at least some sense of Civilization.

Second : WHY NOT one or two ALIEN civilizations ? Like the Zerg and the Protoss in the good old Starcraft , or the Kilrathy in the good old Wing Commander ? It would have been much more fun !

Third : The military system is too much similar to "Ancient Times" model : infantry, cavalry and siege. I don't think that future military would keep this order of things, simply because nowadays this order of things is no more yet. If I wonder what type of armies would be in future wars in 2600 - 2800 A.D. , I would imagine:
- Lots of flying things, from helicopters to jets.
- Lots of "smart" bombs and missiles.
- Several types of armored vehicles, from light to heavy, each of them with a specialized task (NOT a single cavalry units that evolves).
- Hi Tech soldiers, with many "super-abilities".
Instead, in CivBE the programmers simply kept the equations :
- Civ5 Warrior ---> CivBE Soldier
- Civ5 Archer ---> CivBE Ranger
- Civ5 Chivalry ---> CivBE Rover
- Civ5 Catapult ---> CivBE Siege
Personally, I don't think at all that this is "Future" ... but "Ancient Times re-skinned" !!

Fouth : the AI Diplomacy. I hate it, pehraps because I hate these "anonimous" civilizations. Diplomacy in CivBE it's worse than in Civ5, that it's poorer than in Civ4. I never espected that one day I would have played a Civ game, in single player mode, thinking : "I hope that these stupid AI Diplomats will shut up and stay to their homes, once and for all !!" True. Neverthless, they contact you about every 10 turns ... and, the craziest thing, the AI diplomats continue to say : "I don't want you to settle near me !" - "I don't want you to buy land !" - "I reprimand you because ..." - Like the planet would be their own land !! I wonder what would have happened in the United States, centuries ago, if the diplomacy between colonists was so dumb and annoying like Civ AI ...

Fifth : For some strange, still unidentified reason inside my mind ... I'm thinking to return to play Civ5 - Brave New World, and stopping to play CivBE. I don't know why, but I feel not so comfortable with this new Civ version.

 

[Roxlimn]

Er. I think you're not using all the units.

Rovers are for taking out stragglers and taking out cities under enemy unit protections. They're only kind of like Knights. Actually, not really.

Siege can be done with Missile Rovers, but also done with Orbital units, Ships, and Air units, all of which open nearly from the start of the game. I don't think I've used just Siege for a while now.

Ranged units are primarily for city defense and support. Their weakness (nearly assured kill on any attack) to any kind of melee means that they require escort pretty much everywhere.

Melee are just for tanking and taking cities.

Basically, you prosecute war by taking out targets with ranged (orbital, air mostly) units and holding territory and ZOC with melee units. Siege units take down enemy orbitals and help out siege now and then. Ranged Gunners are early siege and support.

 

[Dannythewolf]

OK, but unit classes are a bit too few. At least, they should have created two unit classes for mobile units : cavalry (light tanks) and armor (heavy tanks), each class with an evolution tree. The same for ships and Aircraft.

But neverthless I think that there is a more general "insufficient atmosphere" problem.
I think that, at least, the Quests should have been supported with some videos and images, to make the stories a little deeper and immersive.
The "anonimous" (with no any real historic background) Civilizations do not help. Real nations would have been much better, because Civ is based on History.
The Aliens have not been well developed into game history ... an Alien civilization would have helped.

 

[Lglenhaber]

With an alien civ, you could have it start as a group of stations, and develop as human aggression increases

 

[Greasy Dave]

I sort of agree, with the OP regards unit types - on the other hand, that's what the affinity units are supposed to be about - the future sci-fi unit thing. Although, it's true they pretty much translate into melee or range or armoured.

But, TBH this for me is a minor issue. The game has other issues I hope they'll solve.

 

[SantoshKashyap]

Inclusion of Alien Civilisation, why not!