Does anyone else here do this?

[stwils]

I don't know about you, but I love the early game - exploring, getting techs, hoping to get those triremes soon (I'm always on an island.) I love building my city with good things so they are happy and productive, and I love sending settlers out to found new cities. And I even like meeting with the first "enemy" civ.

But then after about an hour or so, I have to stop. (Real life calls...) So I save the game.

The trouble is, the next time I sit down at the computer and fire up Civ1, I don't want to go back to an old save. I want to start over.

So I rarely finish a game, and that doesn't seem right or something.

Do any of you do this? And what should I do to enjoy going back to an old save?

So you see, I rarely win a game... Just keep playing that first hour or so with a new start.

I guess I need encouragement to play the old save until completion.

How do you handle a situation like this when you sit back down to the computer and fire up Civ1? Do you load up the old save? (But do you really wish you were starting a new game?)

stwils

 

[Irish Caesar]

I typically start the new game, too.

 

[Andy6474b]

Yep. That pretty much describes me too!

 

[stwils]

So I am not alone!

Are you all saying that unless you finish the game in one session at the computer, you rarely go back to the old save?

How long does it take you to complete a game from start to finish in one sitting?

stwils

 

[Irish Caesar]

If I haven't gone back to the old save that day or the day after, I generally forget about it and picking it back up isn't too exciting.

It's been a while since I've played a game start to finish...

I'll get back to you on that.

 

[CivPartisan]

Hey Good People,

You know, I can understand where you are coming from on this. I think what is going on is that like many of us...when real life calls we forget the plan. Now, that doesn't mean that you still can't play a good game, but that the anticipation, the expectation and determination that was part of the plan to win has left. Who wants to pick up in the middle of something after forgetting about the strategy and watch all the units get chewed that you worked so hard for to begin with?

Actually, the way to finish a game doesn't have to be all in one day. I say stay fired up about your civ. Tell others about your success in the game, even if they don't care, and trust me your mom or your sister probably won't. Go back to the game and switch sides if your playing in CivNet (that is funny as heck). Save your game in the same name as your ruler or something that you might use every time -- this way, your not confused about where you left off. Challenge yourself to start in the middle of other games -- if your not doing so hot in the game in the first place, open an autosave and see if you can do better.

Most of all, download some cheat program and have a blast with it. Never take the final score as the final score -- that sucks. Go back and reopen those autosaves and give the computer hell. There's a program out there that gives you 30,000 bucks -- if you think the computer isn't playing fair replay that old game like an oil tycoon.

Some of the best games I've played, I've come back to a month later and beat the pants off the babylonians. I've beat the Zulu back into a single city and made them stay there until I launched my spaceship just to spite them. I used nuclear weapons against the French not because I had to but because I wanted to. I made Rome bow to me. This is civ, man, if your haven't had a glorious 5,000 year dynasty, you haven't had fun.

Go where no man has gone before...<---hey, that's kind of a catchy phrase...

CivPartisan

 

[Osvaldo Manso]

I love the early game - exploring, getting techs, hoping to get those triremes soon (I'm always on an island.) I love building my city with good things so they are happy and productive, and I love sending settlers out to found new cities. And I even like meeting with the first "enemy" civ.stwils

I agree with you. The first part of the game is the most exciting.

But then after about an hour or so, I have to stop. (Real life calls...) So I save the game.

The trouble is, the next time I sit down at the computer and fire up Civ1, I don't want to go back to an old save. I want to start over.

So I rarely finish a game, and that doesn't seem right or something.

The same thing happens to me a lot.

How do you handle a situation like this when you sit back down to the computer and fire up Civ1? Do you load up the old save? (But do you really wish you were starting a new game?)

Yes, most of the times I wish I was starting a new game.

According to my experience, I need a lot of discipline to end a game. I think that it is similar to reading a book. Seldom it is possible to read an entire book in just one night. But you need to read a little every night (or at least very often) or you will lose interest, no matter how interesting the plot is. With Civilization, I need to play a little every night or I will lose interest and prefer to start a new game instead. I believe it is more important to play half an hour every day than to play an entire night and then getting back to the game just after a week or so.

 

[stwils]

According to my experience, I need a lot of discipline to end a game. I think that it is similar to reading a book. Seldom it is possible to read an entire book in just one night. But you need to read a little every night (or at least very often) or you will lose interest, no matter how interesting the plot is. With Civilization, I need to play a little every night or I will lose interest and prefer to start a new game instead. I believe it is more important to play half an hour every day than to play an entire night and then getting back to the game just after a week or so.

There is so much wisdom in what you said: Discipline and Continuity (even if a little bit at a time but often.)

I have so many saved games that I never know which one to go back to, so I just start another.

Thanks. Your comments were helpful to me.

stwils

 

[hydraulics]

And what should I do to enjoy going back to an old save?

Have you tried taking some notes as you play? I remember I was always beginning a new game, everytime, until I started to write down what I was doing, when, and moreover why.

This way I actually started finishing my games even when I couldn't play for several hours continuously, and at the same time I forced myself to think on my next move, instead of carelessly choose a new building and press enter just to see what would happen next. And I learned from my mistakes too (well, many of them).

It takes longer to end a game, but it seems to me I'm really building a civilization.

 

[CivPartisan]

Hey hydraulics,

That's exactly it! Each game is a civilization and it tells a story. Seeing the replay is suppose to recap what you have accomplished. I've personally enjoyed beating up on the other civs that had be backed me into a corner but later I figured out how to conquer them.

For the rest of you...you've just got to finish a game...there is so much more to the game...

CivPartisan

 

[stwils]

Have you tried taking some notes as you play? I remember I was always beginning a new game, everytime, until I started to write down what I was doing, when, and moreover why.

This way I actually started finishing my games even when I couldn't play for several hours continuously, and at the same time I forced myself to think on my next move, instead of carelessly choose a new building and press enter just to see what would happen next. And I learned from my mistakes too (well, many of them).

It takes longer to end a game, but it seems to me I'm really building a civilization.

I think you have a very good point. I remember playing a few succession games where you made your 10 turns count and where you wrote down what you were doing. And I stayed with those games.

Otherwise, if you save a game with no notes, when you go back to it, it seems like a stranger.

Thanks for reminding me just how important note taking and planning is. (Otherwise, it's just aimless moving and advancing and saving and forgetting.)

stwils

 

[GoldBerg]

I don't know about you, but I love the early game - exploring, getting techs, hoping to get those triremes soon (I'm always on an island.) I love building my city with good things so they are happy and productive, and I love sending settlers out to found new cities. And I even like meeting with the first "enemy" civ.

But then after about an hour or so, I have to stop. (Real life calls...) So I save the game.

The trouble is, the next time I sit down at the computer and fire up Civ1, I don't want to go back to an old save. I want to start over.

So I rarely finish a game, ...

same here.
i just 'finish' maybe a third of all civDOS games.

just use the game the way you feel good,
there should be no inner urge to 'finish' every game everytime -
at least a railroad-covered civDOS map/world looks messy, somehow...

 

[Andy6474b]

at least a railroad-covered civDOS map/world looks messy, somehow...

Speaking of which, having a population challenge against a friend is a great way of making you stick with a game. The idea is you start a game (usually on Earth), with each playing from the same 3980bc map and trying to finish with the highest population. (See attached save game. Much higher populations are possible on Earth but this is all I had to hand. No, this is not an edited map! )

View attachment 137932

 

[GoldBerg]

Speaking of which, having a population challenge against a friend is a great way of making you stick with a game.
...

yes, and that's what the

Forum for the Civ1 Game Of The Month (GOTM)
http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=189

is for.

i know, i know -
it's nearly invisible here
because the CFC admin(s) spoil us civDOS lovers here at civ1 forum
with useless sticky threads inbetween forum and GOTM
about boring, unattractive games like civ 2, civ 3
and all that other &#167;$%&#!! cr@p.