Has any aftermarket program corrected C4's glaring deficiencies?

[NeoAnderson]

The biggest problem with Civ 4 from what I noticed was that it simplified the number of units and even took away nuclear submarines. Then there was the rather craven design of the religions which gave no religion any particular advantage over another.

Beyond that, I notice the game acts as though history stops after 2050, and doesn't let you play further and advance beyond plain old modern technology. Has any add-on fixed this?

 

[tsentom1]

The biggest problem with Civ 4 from what I noticed was that it simplified the number of units and even took away nuclear submarines. Then there was the rather craven design of the religions which gave no religion any particular advantage over another.

Beyond that, I notice the game acts as though history stops after 2050, and doesn't let you play further and advance beyond plain old modern technology. Has any add-on fixed this?

The Beyond the Sword expansion addresses a lot of that (nuclear subs, built in next war mod that added a future era, etc).

But for Civ IV itself there a still a many good mods out there. I suggest looking at the mod section and seeing what each one does and choosing the best fit. Sevomod was one of the best vanilla Civ IV mods.

 

[monolith94]

The biggest problem with Civ 4 from what I noticed was that it simplified the number of units and even took away nuclear submarines. Then there was the rather craven design of the religions which gave no religion any particular advantage over another.

Beyond that, I notice the game acts as though history stops after 2050, and doesn't let you play further and advance beyond plain old modern technology. Has any add-on fixed this?

Craven? Perhaps, from one perspective. From another perspective, you could see them making a statement that all religions have an equal claim to truth, something most christians, muslims, etc. would be offended by.

 

[vicawoo]

This is opinion, and not everyone shares it, so it's hard to call them glaring deficiencies. The religion thing is just trouble, and the civics provide good uniqueness.
The lack of units, I don't see that other than the galley/trireme sea dynamic. In most games, too many units just mean a lot of them are weak and useless or only needed in small numbers for counters.

For instance, early wars are almost all axes (if you had them). Pre BTS then it went into almost all catapults, even though there were horse archers, longbows, crossbows, swords, etc. Adjustments to make lesser used units more useful (warlords chariots getting axe bonuses, flanking damage, making siege unable to kill outright) did more to increase unit diversity than adding more units did.

 

[Chieftess]

The biggest problem with Civ 4 from what I noticed was that it simplified the number of units and even took away nuclear submarines. Then there was the rather craven design of the religions which gave no religion any particular advantage over another.

You can download mods, or create your own.

Beyond that, I notice the game acts as though history stops after 2050, and doesn't let you play further and advance beyond plain old modern technology. Has any add-on fixed this?

You already can, and it's been like that for years. Not only can you select to play beyond 2050, you can also play without a turn/year limit via custom game. The reason it doesn't have any real future technology is because none were made. The game is more about history, not the potential future.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Then there was the rather craven design of the religions which gave no religion any particular advantage over another.

I think the whole religion aspect was handled very deftly by Firaxis. They chose not to stir the hornet's nest. Every religion on earth has good and bad points, and they chose not to compare and pit one against the other. I find that refreshing. I was raised in a very Theocratic/Organized Religion/Police State household. My folks ran the Hypocrisy civic as well, and I was always taught that every religion other than my own was bad and evil. The very logic of that is idiotic, and I'm pleased to see that Firaxis included a very important part of human life and history into the game without making one religion better than another. The result is that fewer people are offended, and it's a very good game mechanic that gives a consistent benefit to everyone.

If the religions in the game bug you, (and I'm not criticizing, but I don't quite understand your obection here), just beeline to Free Religion and bribe the other civs to adopt it.

 

[Breunor]

Neo,

You will find that people here will be more helpful and accommodating if you use language that isn't as offensive or judgemental. For instance, if you had asked, ' Has anybody added content that makes choice of religions non-uniform to add some color and play options to the game by making them different' you could probably get the same information that you request without offending anyone.

As Tsentom said, the answer is yes, they are mods, and BtS adds materail mostly for the later periods. Many of the mods are quite good and I recommend that you peruse the mod section. Iirc, there are a few 'more realistic religion' mods out there.

Best wishes,

Breunor