Game Legnth

[kaltorak]

Marathon is for people who don't understand how to play the game. Each game has the same number of decisions regardless of the number of turns - increasing the amount of time it takes to build a unit or improvement doesn't improve the game play.

While I think this statement isn't true, actually I would prefer if epic and marathon would only increase research time and not building time.

I like to play in ancient-medieval age. Or even until rifle, but not more. But that doesn't mean I like to produce less units or buildings, I just want the older ages to last longer and let me do more things.

I play epic, and I would play marathon for the longer tech time, but things just take so damn long to build too.

 

[need my speed]

I would like that too, or perhaps a serperate option, like we have Marathon, Marathon Techs, Marathon Buildings, Marathon Units, Marathon Workers, and any combination.

 

[JECTX]

Marathon is awesome. Krill is a hater just doing what haters do.

 

[PieceOfMind]

The typical argument for why people like marathon is that unit speed is not tied to gamespeed and so marathon gives you the most opportunities for units to travel long distances without going obsolete on the way. This is very important on larger mapsizes like Huge.

Unit speed and gamespeed being unrelated is something that can't be avoided in civ4 except possibly through a mod. So it's pretty ignorant to say people who use marathon don't know how to play the game. I might question why someone play marathon on a tiny map (because IMO it would be completely unnecessary) but on larger maps it's very justified to use marathon. Unfortunately, there are side effects to using marathon that many high level players argue makes marathon a broken gamespeed. It's certainly not broken but it is quite a different experience to normal speed that it makes comparisons across different speeds a lot more difficult. For example, there are some strategies that would work on marathon speed that would be near impossible on quick, and vice versa.

 

[Methos]

Marathon speed is also favored in the HOF competitions for both speed and score.

 

[Blue Arc]

I'm not a fan of Marathon mostly because I don't care for really long 20+ hour games, and I enjoy a faster paced, more tension-filled pace that Normal provides, that is still allows for some breathing space.

But I don't think it matters what speed someone is playing. It's a game, why should I or anyone else care how other people play it, so long as they're having fun with it? Krill was both being incredibly arrogant and purposely playing the fool because he wouldn't acknowledge what the implications of his clearly biased statements were.

 

[V. Soma]

The typical argument for why people like marathon is that unit speed is not tied to gamespeed and so marathon gives you the most opportunities for units to travel long distances without going obsolete on the way. This is very important on larger mapsizes like Huge.

Unit speed and gamespeed being unrelated is something that can't be avoided in civ4 except possibly through a mod. So it's pretty ignorant to say people who use marathon don't know how to play the game. I might question why someone play marathon on a tiny map (because IMO it would be completely unnecessary) but on larger maps it's very justified to use marathon. Unfortunately, there are side effects to using marathon that many high level players argue makes marathon a broken gamespeed. It's certainly not broken but it is quite a different experience to normal speed that it makes comparisons across different speeds a lot more difficult. For example, there are some strategies that would work on marathon speed that would be near impossible on quick, and vice versa.

I agree.
Like, I have a P4 CPU, so I play Civ4 on Small map, with normal or quick speed.
I am a man with a job (EDIT: plus wife ), no time for 24+ hrs of games...

 

[Krill]

*shrug* I don't suffer fools gladly.

The typical argument for why people like marathon is that unit speed is not tied to gamespeed and so marathon gives you the most opportunities for units to travel long distances without going obsolete on the way. This is very important on larger mapsizes like Huge.

 

[Ahriman]

I'm sure everyone who has different preferences to you just *loooves* you calling them fools.

 

[Takeda]

Marathon is for people who don't understand how to play the game. Each game has the same number of decisions regardless of the number of turns - increasing the amount of time it takes to build a unit or improvement doesn't improve the game play.

false

In marathon mode research is proportionately slower compared to build times and unit speeds than it is in normal, so the game does in fact play differently. It allows you to spend more time in each era. You know, so your armies aren't obsolete the second they come off the production line as they are in normal mode.

 

[Shurdus]

This is also something that has me wondering.

In BtS on the higher difficulties I feel that succes in war is greatly determined by how many tricks you know in getting a standing army. You have time to grab a few key techs and then pre-whip an army out, and then you need to declare or the window of opportunity is gone. I would prefer it if this game will allow for more relaxed warring, since not only does warring in BtS involve little strategy, building up for war on any difficulty over monarch is lame and requires too much planning ahead to be worth the hassle in my book. It stops being fun when you can no longer 'play', but rather you are forced to think anout every move.

 

[Ahriman]

I would prefer it if this game will allow for more relaxed warring

My worry, if the rumors about free upgrading are true, is that this is going to be even worse; strong incentives to wage war as soon as you hit the new tech, before your enemies do.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

My worry, if the rumors about free upgrading are true, is that this is going to be even worse; strong incentives to wage war as soon as you hit the new tech, before your enemies do.

Yes, I Really hope that the rumors are an indication of 'management free' but costly automatic upgrading. (ie Obsolete units cost 2x maintenance for 10 turns and then upgrade.... Or Healing is expensive and full health, obsolete units automatically upgrade and take damage)

 

[Requiem4lp]

Getting back to the original topic...

It was brought up that with smaller armies, less roads, one army per tile, etc. combat could take much longer then the previous Civ games. Especially if you are playing a quicker game.

However, I wanted to point out that, in the confirmed features section, we are told that even "slow" land units like pikeman, etc. are going to have 2 movements per turn. Up to 4 movements per turn for tanks. I think this makes sense as you do not need to move as far in the early game as you do in the late. And the added movement abilities should allow for more effective and efficient combat with smaller armies.

This thread wasn't supposed to be a battle over the merits of marathon vs. normal...