I have a problem, can anyone help?

[Gainy]

When im playing civ 3 i have a really bad habit/problem. Whenever anything in the game goes wrong (military wise) i always load the game back to before i made the move. Ill save the game before i attack a unit, and if i lose i will just load the game to before i attacked it.

And now since ive just bought PTW, there is that "preserve random seed" feature. i cant really help myself from turning it off. So now i simply just save my game before i attack a unit, and keep on loading it until i defeat it.

I find that im starting to not enjoy the game as much anymore, and its becasue of this.

Are there any suggestions on what i could do to stop myself doing this?????(its become second nature)

and is there anyone else that has the same habit?

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

do not save!



sounds dumb, but I made it a rule that I will save at end of turn only except on huge maps, where a crahs mid-term would cost me 30 minutes....

 

[test_specimen]

Like Killer M said: do not save. Always remember that a lost city is not lost forever. If you really lose the game, it is not because of a single city (except in early game), but because of your overall strategy.

I mostly forget to save at crucial points and regret that I can't turn back.

 

[Mega Tsunami]

Always go into a war with approx. twice the size of army that you might at first think you need.

It sometimes makes for a far better game to take one step back occasionally (ie a defeat) followed by two forward (ie get your own back).

I remember the time I decided not to save a game - it stopped me doing some stupid things. Previously I would try and defeat a unit on a mountain and if it won it was my good fighting. If it lost (the usual case), it was the stupid game and I would restore and try something else. Now I try the 'something else' first.

You can now buy civ_restore patches from your local chemist which help you stop your desire to restore. They are just next to the nicotine patches.

 

[Shillen]

Hmm, I wouldn't say don't save. I'd say don't turn random seed off and don't load. I save ALL the time. Practically every turn, I just never reload. I find having a lot of saves helpful in a few ways. If the game does crash, which admittedly hasn't happened in a long time, I always have a recent save to load. But mostly I just like having the saves so when I'm done with the game I can always go back and see what I did or where I was at any point in time. It's good for getting screenshots too. I don't take screenshots during the game.

EDIT: Oops I read the replies too quickly. I agree with Lt. Killer. I only save at the end of a turn, never before battles or anything like that.

 

[Padma]

Just apply a liberal dose of willpower, leave "Preserve Random Seed" ON, and only save as suggested above.

 

[CrackedCrystal]

The do not save idea is the best. But if you really want to save games, possibly to play later, pick certian time you allow yourself to save. For example, you may save only when you advance to a new Technology age, or when wiping out a rival civ.

The point is, when there are fewer save points, restoring to one holds a bigger penalty

In the end, there is nothing more than willpower that will help.

 

[Shokan]

I just learned the hard way. I didnt save after about 30 turns of play in the modern age. Game just crashed.

 

[Renata]

The first step is always admitting you have a problem. Good luck, it's a lot for fun when you earn it.

Renata

 

[Gainy]

lol, thanks. I always end up at the start of every game saying to myself

"gainy bo, this time you are not going to save n load all the time"

this works for approximately 10 mins, and then the habit kicks back in again.

alothough ill give it another try, thanks for the advice.

 

[Quandary]

If you can't control the re-load urge, and you think it's messing up your gaming fun, try a switch to playing online games.

Those won't let you re-load.

There's a decent, though not perfect, persistant world online strategy game (MMOG) called Time of Defiance, which has new games every month, at different levels, and allows you to demo the game defore subscribing to it.

Sorry, but I don't know how much they charge now. Used to be 6 USD a month, but I know it's gone up.

 

[MOAB]

DONT DO IT! PUT IT ON HARDER

 

[jack merchant]

Start smoking. Now, instead of reloading, you will light up everytime you do something dumb. Trust me, I know

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

Gainy bo:

try playing until the urge hits, save and leave the game alone until the next day.

Fresh looks at the same game will help to avoid reloading.

 

[anarres]

It is also worth remembering that if you reload the benifit to your game is minimal. So what if you lose a city or fail to take an enemy one? It is very rare that this would ever lose a winning game.

Take the hit and enjoy it.

 

[Gainy]

It's starting to work, im well into the middle ages and i have only done it once(when there was a sneak attack). Although im improving.

Thanks everyone

 

[Ram]

What's that?

 

[Gainy]

????

 

[Shillen]

A random seed is a number picked randomly. Using this number the computer generates a long string of numbers starting with the seed. These numbers will be called on in succession whenever the game calls for a random event. There is a preserve random seed option when you start a new game. What this does is stores the string of random numbers when you save the game. Therefore when you reload your game and replay events every event will occur exactly the same each time. If you preserve random seed off then each time you reload the events will change. So obviously if you leave it on there's no need to reload after a battle because the outcome will be the same every time anyway.

 

[Gainy]

ram: ull only have it if you have the "play the world" expansion