Hello and Merry Christmas

[Fredster]

Hi all.

Santa will soon be bringing me Civ IV (and the strategy guide hopefully even though he says it's out of print)

I have been a gamer for 20 years or so, but have never once played any of the Civ games. I don't know the answer why, until this past 12 months for some reason turn based strategy hasn't hasn't appealed to me. However, for the majority of these 20 years I have been gaming, several magazines, games sites and people have all said that the Civ franchise is the greatest game/s of all time. I think therefore the time has come for me to see if this constant claim is true.

The questions I would like to ask are:

Why is this game so good?

What make this game as addictive as people claim?

Is the learning curve steep? ( I have been playing X3 Terran Conflict and other X games for a couple of years, and the learning curve in those games are considered very steep)

I'm sure I will have a host of other questions to ask when I start to play the game however, for now thanks in advance for any replies to my questions above.

 

[Padma]

Moderator Action: Thread moved to the Civ4 forums.

 

[Baldyr]

Welcome to the club, even if you're not a fanatic yet! You will be though, if you give the game a chance.

As to your questions, I personally think that Civilization offers a nearly philosophical approach to strategy. You get all of human civilization, from stone age to near future. All in one single game. You pretty much can't beat that, and the scope itself is enough to draw you in. Since the game is so complex (it really is, even if it might seem like a glorified boardgame at first glance) you won't be able to deplete all the possible approaches in strategy and playing style. Its a game to grow with, not grow apart from as other things come a knocking.

The addictivity factor might stem from how big the game actually is. Once you finish one game you're already coming up with plans and approaches for the next one. Like, you just colonized another solar system and won the entire session at hand, but all you can think of is what kind of settings you wanna use the next time, or can't wait to try out something completely different in you next game.

Also, the game is turn based, as you well know. This is the reason why most people have a hard time saving and resuming at another time. You are typically in the midst of a handful of delicate operations raging from siege warfare to the logistics of colonization, from setting up your research queue to placing those last tracks of railroad that will, finally, connect your entire empire. How could you just save and quit? You're bound to forget half of what you were doing if you don't keep on playing! (This is the "One More Turn" syndrome. It has ruined careers, marriages - and lives.)

I would say that there will be some hurdles at the beginning, and because of the complexity there will also be new ones along the way. You better be a bit philosophical about the whole thing and focus on a few game aspects at a time. Most features can be ignored at first, since they tend to self regulate themselves. See it as a voyage of exploration the first few sittings, and enjoy any progress you'll be able to make.

One key feature of the game is that it's supposed to be fairly intuitive. You should be able to play a full game once you figure out a handful key game concepts. (Some of these could in fact feel counter intuitive, but they tend to be stuff inherited from the game's origins nearly 20 years back.) Other than that; if, for the sake of argument, a religion would spreads to your civilization, that should have some sort of impact, right? In fact it has, whether or not you're aware of it or not, or actively try to manage the situation in any particular direction. So you discover gold deposits near your cities - a gold rush never hurt the coffins, right? Its simply a question of finding a way to take the most advantage from what you've been dealt. The game is prompting you about barbarian activity near another city! Maybe get some troops assembled, then? Could you find any way of organizing some sort of expedition to those wild border regions?

My point is that you don't have to know every single rule to play. You might figure things out or you won't, but rest assured there will always be more to learn. Try to use common sense and always try out new stuff. Hey, its turn based so its not like you're in a hurry or anything!

First tip: Find and play the tutorial. It should explain a lot.

 

[Fredster]

@ Baldyr.

Thanks for your reply. I have loaded the game, played the tutorial, and realise I have a long long way to go

With just a few hours of game play under my belt, I feel that the scope for this game is massive. I aslo feel that one of the best ways to learn this game is to jump in now and learn from mistakes. The tutorial didn't present too many problems, whereas having half a dozen opponents to worry about, all encroaching on my borders will give me cause for more thought.

One question now springs to mind, (I have read the online manual but I didn't see or missed this) Can you push back an opponents borders through culture? and also vice versa?

many thanks

Fredster

P.S apologies and thanks to the moderator for placing my earlier post into the correct forum slot. Happy New Year to all.

 

[Baldyr]

Yeah, the "culture wars" is an ever ongoing event in the game. Its basically a tug-of-war and you can see the amount of culture on a tile by mousing over it.

In early game its a priority to get your culture up, hence your borders will expand. Otherwise you would pretty much need to build cities next to every single special resource... (You want to cover as much territory as possibly, as soon as possibly.)

The most obvious solutions would be to just pick a "Cultural" leader and get a flying start!

Tip: Your first city is always your capital, and it supplies its own culture - as well its own funding. Its really the other cities you have to put some initial work and thought into (as for culture and money).