How long does a civ 4 game take for you?

[marick]

I suppose it depends on the size of the map and such, but, playing the setting you like to play, how long does a Civ 4 game take for you (start to finish, not including breaks, time spent writing up the game, etc.)?

 

[GooglyBoogly]

I tend to find that the more I play the faster my games become.
They started out at about 25hrs for a full game under standard settings, and are now down to about 20 hours (although ive only played three times)

 

[Bandobras Took]

Hmm . . . nobody's taken the 4th option yet.

 

[Ibian]

Too long. I have been on my current PYL for... 3 or 4 days. This is partly due to actually having stuff to do in RL for once, but also partly because im just slow. Its also why i dont like war in this game, it takes too much time.

 

[CCRunner]

I tend to find that the more I play the faster my games become.
They started out at about 25hrs for a full game under standard settings, and are now down to about 20 hours (although ive only played three times)

My games take like four hours. What settings do you play with?

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Too long. I have been on my current PYL for... 3 or 4 days. This is partly due to actually having stuff to do in RL for once, but also partly because im just slow. Its also why i dont like war in this game, it takes too much time.

My war games are faster than my nonwar ones due to the earlier finish dates and the fact that I'm very, very used to unit control micro (having extended experience with high-level play in starcraft/warcraft 3 and other RTS probably helps). Space wins take me an extra half hour to an hour over war.

Diplo if I'm really shooting for it is a sub 2 hour affair . Those games aren't as fun though.

Obviously based on the other thread I voted 3-5 hours...standard map size, epic speed. I oscillate between monarch and emperor (monarch for noble's club and MadScientist's RPC's, otherwise emperor).

I want to master emperor before moving up, especially since jumping monarch to emperor was such hell at first.

 

[Ibian]

I think there are a couple things i could do to speed things up. The game slows down after so many turns, a save and reload fixes it but i always keep putting it off. A full reinstall of the entire system is probably in order (its 2 years overdue actually).

And of course turning combat graphics off. I just like seeing my cannons go boom so much.

 

[Gliese 581]

I voted the 4th option since 30 hours wasn't available. You should probably have had a 20+ option.

 

[Underdawg]

It really really depends on your computer hardware. My 12AI Epic Speed Large Map games take 3-4 hours (note: I play with battle animations off, but that's it). I remember on my older computer, the same game would probably take 7-9 hours.

The second factor, of course, would be playstyle, namely the speed or lack thereof one takes during their turns. (I play quite quickly, often pressing end turn [shift+enter] way too soon).

 

[furlock]

can 7 minutes a option

 

[Jet]

^^^ exactly, usually about ten minutes.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

^^^ exactly, usually about ten minutes.

That's slow. I won a duel Terra on Emperor in 3 minutes playing as Inca .

Seriously. I actually did it quickly last night because I was pissed at my Stalin RPC loss mistakes and wanted to trash something ASAP. It was good for like a 30kish score...one of the few games I've played as Inca.

 

[Dirk1302]

Depends, space game almost always under 10 hours unless it involved a difficult renaissance war. Domination always takes more than 10 hours and can be well over 20 if there are modern wars to be fought. 5-15 seems reasonable.

 

[Solid]

And 9 people already voted that their name is Sisitul...

 

[TheMeInTeam]

And 9 people already voted that their name is Sisitul...

When you hang out in that thread long enough..........

 

[caketastydelish]

I would turn battle animation off, but it makes the gameplay so much better, its tough thing to quit.

 

[CCRunner]

After a game or a 100 though, it gets old.

 

[Solon70]

I find animations necessary for defense, because otherwise it's hard to keep track of where the action is. On offense, since you know exactly which unit is attacking and where, the animations are unnecessary. Yeah, they look kinda cool, but they add up to a ton of time over the course of a full game.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I find animations necessary for defense, because otherwise it's hard to keep track of where the action is. On offense, since you know exactly which unit is attacking and where, the animations are unnecessary. Yeah, they look kinda cool, but they add up to a ton of time over the course of a full game.

You should probably know where enemy stacks are, and what they're composed of, long before an invasion . You do have OB, right? Scouts are cheap units...or just use leftover chariots if you have those.

The AI attacks from very predictable locations unless you're talking coastal invasion (think pathing - AI likes its shortest paths and will usually follow a road leading from its civ to yours with its main SoD. How many of these connections do you really have? It can't take nearly as long to check as it does to watch 20 units fight!). It's really not all that hard to tell where the enemy SoD is though. A circle picture with a red arrow appears at war after all. Pre-war, the animations don't help anyway, do they ?

 

[vicawoo]

I'm not sisustil, but it takes me at least 10 hours to get halfway through (liberalism-ish) a game on a small map, so over 20 hours if it's not a pangea conquest/domination.