Civilization 5 Steamworks questions/concerns for inclusion in the FAQ

[StStutter]

Just to point something out, Tom2050 is facepalming all over the place, saying its stupid to say 2k owns firaxis because Take Two owns Firaxis, sheesh gets your facts straight. He stopped reading a well thought out, well phrased post by Dale because it said that 2k owns Firaxis.

Then he calls other people petty?

Moderator Action: Infraction for trolling

 

[12agnar0k]

Relating to the "Why am I expected to buy two copies of the game to play with my nephew."

Absolutely, I learnt how to play games from watching and also playing games with my father, I remeber some fond memories from a long while back now, watching him play kings bounty, (the original heroes of might an magic, which is a major rival of Civ Franchise no?) & also the first civilisation games, as well as playing them myself. But we only had 1 computer and took turns to play these games or played them together on the same machine which is my point I am taking a while to get too.

Hotseat, will be patched into Civ5 about 1 month after release. This will allow you to teach and play with your nephew a lot better than buying him (or illegally obtaining) a second copy of the game and playing simulataneously on two computers, playing on two computers while easier to do these days with cheaper computers, its not the best way to help someone learn the game.

So use hotseat to teach your nephew the game, if he has his own computer at home and would like to play by himself after he has learnt it, then you may as well buy him his own copy no?

...

I would just like to add, everyone if possible should buy all the copies of the games they need, as this is the legal way to do it and supports your game manufactuers. Most games don't come with "multi-user licenses" which means you can install on more than one computer and use at the same time. Steam can be installed on any amount of computers (as people may own more than one computer in thier life time ;p) but everyone is only allowed to have one account and not share it. This is the license we are agreeing to when buying Civ5, the Steam EULA.
As I have said, Hotseat will be coming, and this will allow more than one person to play the game at the same time with one license, which is what a lot of people will want.

 

[CanuckSoldier]

I think 2K should take the same approach as Activistion with the CoD series, were you can play LAN MP with no CD/DVD in the drive, but if you want to play SP you have to have the CD in.

This allows you to play with your friends( I was in Afgahanistan doing this for endless hours of fragging fun) and if your friends like the game they are very likely to go buy a copy for themselves.

But Hotseat once added to the game will let you play legally with your family friends abet in a slower style game.

CS

 

[Tylerryan79]

I think 2K should take the same approach as Activistion with the CoD series, were you can play LAN MP with no CD/DVD in the drive, but if you want to play SP you have to have the CD in.

This allows you to play with your friends( I was in Afgahanistan doing this for endless hours of fragging fun) and if your friends like the game they are very likely to go buy a copy for themselves.

But Hotseat once added to the game will let you play legally with your family friends abet in a slower style game.

CS

Except for the whole not having a dvd thing.... Steam remember?

 

[CanuckSoldier]

Except for the whole not having a dvd thing.... Steam remember?

Yes but the principle is the same, all we have done is substitute Steam Keys for CD/DVD checks. So clicking on LAN/local game tells steam to allow the use of a single steam key for all LAN players.....


CS

 

[LDiCesare]

For clarification:
- Mods can either be downloaded via the mod browser OR like you do it now, just from a website, and you don't have to go online with Steam for the second option.

Yes, but I wonder whether in the first case, you have to go online with Steam. In which case Steam would have something to do with mods, which 2K Greg says is wrong. So I guess based on what 2KGreg said that the mod browser wouldn't require Steam to be online.

Hotseat, will be patched into Civ5 about 1 month after release.

Which is good. I certainly won't buy Civ5 without hotseat, playing with my daughter on the same computer is much better than playing with her on another one.

 

[Tylerryan79]

It would be nice, but after seeing Elizabeth's posts it clearly will not happen. Maybe there will be ways, but it wont be approved/legal, such as offline mode. Im sure they will plug that hole, if there even is one.

 

[The_J]

Yes, but I wonder whether in the first case, you have to go online with Steam. In which case Steam would have something to do with mods, which 2K Greg says is wrong. So I guess based on what 2KGreg said that the mod browser wouldn't require Steam to be online.

If i understand it correctly, Steam has with mods as much to do as AtomicGamer or CFC: It's just a distribution plattform in this case. And to get mods from the internet, you sure have to go online.

Which is good. I certainly won't buy Civ5 without hotseat, playing with my daughter on the same computer is much better than playing with her on another one.

To mention: We don't know, which MP modus will be included in the release.

 

[12agnar0k]

Which is good. I certainly won't buy Civ5 without hotseat, playing with my daughter on the same computer is much better than playing with her on another one.

Yeah I know right, they weren't planning on implementing hotseat in at all, till fan outrage caused them to change thier minds or something like that, while Civ wasn't ever my favourite "hotseat" enabled game for playing in hotseat, I certainly have made use of it in the past, if you only have one computer or if you want to teach someone expecially a youngster how to play hotseat is very useful. Personally I used hotseat more on Civ's biggest competitor in my opinion for the turn based strategy fans which is "Heroes of Might and Magic", as civ is really fun just playing single player, tends to eat a lot of time in hotseat. But yeah, launching the game without including a main playing style that has been always a key feature for multiplayer, (games that dont have "same machine" multiplayer suck) is just nonsensical, just like that word.

 

[CanuckSoldier]

Well reading between the lines, and this is just my speculation, it is obvious that the mod hub, is not being powered by Steamworks, Greg hasn't come out and said this per se, but he's said quit a few things that make this a logical conclusion.

So 2K is using some other method/server to host the mod hub, now as far as my research has shown 2K isn't big into running game servers themselves, so I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that perhaps Gamspy might even be the host for the mod hub.

Why would I think that, well I is obvious that MP was developed very late in the dev cycle for Civ5, or they would have been happy to push details alot sooner than they have been. We still don't know alot of details even now. So what I am thinking is Steam(works) was a decision made late in developement as well. And if that was true, was was planned for MP before Steam? Hmmmm, Gamespy perhaps like every other Civ game since civ3.....

And perhaps because of this 2K already had a contract with Gamespy and wants to get something for their money....and hosting mods is definitely a better role for GS than getting it's fingers into the p2p code!

So I'm betting that is the back end for the mod hub that is coded into the game interface and has no direct links to Steam at all. And any web server functions are likely handled by GS as well for the in game web browser.

But on the other hand I could be wrong, time and netstat will tell

CS

 

[tom2050]

Just to point something out, Tom2050 is facepalming all over the place, saying its stupid to say 2k owns firaxis because Take Two owns Firaxis, sheesh gets your facts straight. He stopped reading a well thought out, well phrased post by Dale because it said that 2k owns Firaxis.

Then he calls other people petty?

I said Take-2 acquired Firaxis... the rest was made up. Dale made up arguments by putting words in peoples mouths that they never said, like Dale always does. You are doing the same thing.

Quote where I called someone petty?

Moderator Action: <snip> Infraction for Trolling

 

[Dale]

Dale made up arguments by putting words in peoples mouths that they never said, like Dale always does.

Please point out where this occurred. I think you will find you are mistaken. You said Take-Two acquired Firaxis (to which I never disagreed with if you'll notice) but kept arguing that Take-Two is still the owner/parent of Firaxis, even after I clearly showed multiple times that is not correct.

 

[12agnar0k]

Well reading between the lines, and this is just my speculation, it is obvious that the mod hub, is not being powered by Steamworks, Greg hasn't come out and said this per se, but he's said quit a few things that make this a logical conclusion.

No actually he directed said "Steam will have nothing to do with the mod's"

 

[agoodfella]

I'm trying to decide if I should get the game retail or via Steam.

If I buy the game from Steam is there any way to get a physical copy of the manual? Other than printing it out. (i.e. can I go to Kinko's and get demand printed version)

Also what will retail box content as far physical player ads. A manual (how big) any tech tree map, or list of improvements like in Civ 4?

This is my only reservation now (having gotten over the lack of a physical DVD, in fact, in some ways, I kind of like the fact that everything will simply run off the hard drive).

But it is nice to have the manual and tech tree, etc.

 

[Mercade]

I'm trying to decide if I should get the game retail or via Steam.

If I buy the game from Steam is there any way to get a physical copy of the manual? Other than printing it out. (i.e. can I go to Kinko's and get demand printed version)

Also what will retail box content as far physical player ads. A manual (how big) any tech tree map, or list of improvements like in Civ 4?

There is no formal confirmation of what is in the box for the Regular Edition. However, Walmart published on its site that the box weighs 0.3 pounds (~150 grams) and the product dimensions are 7.5 x 5.0 x 0.5 inches (19 x 13 x 1.3 cm). They've got a reputation from requiring very strict information from their suppliers about this sort of thing. My best guess is not to expect a printed manual of the Civ4 size, but more something of the Warlords or BtS size with the Regular Edition. The Special Edition (see links in my footer) is a different story, though.

 

[Wodan]

Is there any place that lays out the contents of each version of the game, so that we can decide whether to preorder through Steam or a physical copy at GameStop, or whether to get the Deluxe version?

 

[Thyrwyn]

Stickied thread on this very forum.

 

[Wodan]

Stickied thread on this very forum.

Which, while helpful, is not comprehensive or conclusive to enable a purchase decision.

 

[The_J]

You have first to figure out: There are 3 versions, basic, Deluxe (online only), Special (retail only).
These are the same everywhere, only the preorder bonus depends on the retailer, and these are listed relativly at the end of the mentioned post separatly, so that you can compare them easily .

 

[Mercade]

Stickied thread on this very forum.

Which, while helpful, is not comprehensive or conclusive to enable a purchase decision.

So between the list of versions / configurations and the list of websites and prices, which element is not comprehensive or conclusive to you? Of course you have to decide for yourself which aspect of the choices is most important to you.