I'm desperate - where the heck is my OMTS? (no cIVbash)

[Shigga]

Now look, I am a Civ vet, played every civ including non-meier-spin offs. I was freaking excited about cIV. I devoured everything I could find about it. Checked CFC several times a day. Been talking about cIV 24/7 and my friends started looking ascance at me.

Then cIV came via mailorder. I started to play. When I didn't get the knack after a couple of games, I started browsing CFC again, reading everything about very imaginable thing in cIV, strats, civics, wonders, traits, the whole nine yards, even though I consider myself a vet. I thought, well, perhaps you've got to get a decent idea on all the game mechanics.

I started playing again. Got bored again Renassaince latest. I usually play huge Maps on Warlord with 4 AI. I think that is perfect bc I don't like tight games- I play to relax.

cIV is in most repects way better than 3. But I played 3 until my eyes started to water from lack of sleep thinking "JUST ONE MORE TURN!". With IV, I cannot motivate myself enough to continue the game I am playing atm. WTH is going on?? They say cIV reinvented the franchise. Perhaps they made a too thorough job of it? Or is it just me? I'm missing the cult. I'm missing OMTS. I want to have OMTS. I'm desperate and running outta ideas fast. Anybody feel the same or can share a piece of advice?

 

[Sirian]

I usually play huge Maps on Warlord with 4 AI.

That's pretty far off the beaten path. You've got more than twice the recommended amount of room per civ, playing against weak competition with a handicap advantage in your favor. Maybe you should try something closer to the defaults, or crank up the difficulty a notch or two?


- Sirian

 

[Lahdoz]

I had the same feelings for a bit as well. I just needed a challenge. Building alone leaves so many of the new aspects of this game untouched. I suggest either bumping up the difficulty 1 notch, or playing with a few more civs (if you are fixed on huge maps). They say this game will work for builders, but having neighbors, and dealing with them appropriately, is what gives this game flavor. There are so many more strategies to use, you just need to know what will work.

I thoroughly enjoyed pumping out missionaries to convert everybody in my last game. My closest neighbor got so pissed that their state religion was only in the founding city, that they declared war on me. Watch out for those "too-good-to-be-true" open borders deals...

The biggest challenge in the game before that was the Chinese... I had their capital culturally surrounded on all but 1 side (culture bombs, and wonders), but couldn't take it by force, because that 1 city had 2/3 of their entire military.

 

[Darwin420]

Sorry to hear OMTS isn't afflicting you this time 'round, Shigga.

For me, personally, cIV brought a life back to the franchise that had been missing in Civ3.

I got my copy in the mail on a Tuesday, and didn't really have time to play until that Friday, but I wanted to make sure it would install OK. Well, the install went smooth (had to update my video codecs- but other than that, not a hitch). Three hours later my wife comes upstairs and is telling me it's time to put my son to bed... I hadn't even realized so much time had passed - I started cIV with the intention of seeing the intro movies, then started a game to get a teaser glance at the 3D world, and next thing I know BAM! 3 hours gone.

I think the fact that you HAVE to pay attention to current events and constantly shift your strategy around is what creates the OMTS for me. Plus, there are so many different ways to get to the same place, it's INSANE!

This is definitely the best vanilla incarnation of Civ to date. I imagine with an expansion pack or two (or three! yeah, I'm greedy), this game will last a helluva lot longer than 5 years.

 

[MattJek]

I agree with all the responses. Uping your difficulty level and adding more rivals will surely spice up your games ( it did for me). More rivals=more competition=more sweat=OMTS!

 

[wmtrexler]

Either that or try a smaller world size.

 

[DemonDeLuxe]

I agree to a degree with the OP. Granted, CIV4 has improved game-wise, I mean, it is more balanced and such as a game. The immersion factor, however, the effect that made you feel like an emperor who was in charge, has lessened, and it was primarily that what appealed to emotion and made the game so addictive for me.

CIV4 has more of a "game feeling" to it than any of it's predecessors IMHO. This might be great for many, but what I loved was the illusion, which has waned considerably, owing very much to the lack of creativity in overall and especially graphical design. I just don't identify myself with my civ any more to the same extent I did in earlier versions. I have never played CIV primarily to win, but to indulge in the feeling playing it.

It's a sad story, because I know that CIV4 has some very interesting improvements, but still, it feels sterile to me.

 

[MattJek]

I agree to a degree with the OP. Granted, CIV4 has improved game-wise, I mean, it is more balanced and such as a game. The immersion factor, however, the effect that made you feel like an emperor who was in charge, has lessened, and it was primarily that what appealed to emotion and made the game so addictive for me.

CIV4 has more of a "game feeling" to it than any of it's predecessors IMHO. This might be great for many, but what I loved was the illusion, which has waned considerably, owing very much to the lack of creativity in overall and especially graphical design. I just don't identify myself with my civ any more to the same extent I did in earlier versions. I have never played CIV primarily to win, but to indulge in the feeling playing it.

It's a sad story, because I know that CIV4 has some very interesting improvements, but still, it feels sterile to me.

Thats how I felt about Civ3. Civ4 has brought back that feeling for me personally. I feel more personally connected to my civ kinda like I did with civ1 and 2.

 

[vyapti]

CIV4 is a great game, but it hasn't had that addictive quality of past releases. I'm just starting my third game and I bought it the day it released. It probably took me a week to finish three games in CIV II and III.

I've pondered the lack of OMTS and couldn't tell you why. I'll play for a couple hours at most; I'll enjoy the play session; and I'll close the game. The only thing I can say is that it gets better. Each time through the tech tree reveals new surprises and I've had longer sessions in the third game, even though it's not going well.

Good Luck; Keep Playing

 

[Seanirl]

Huge world, 10 other civs, Noble difficulty... it's my first game and it took a while to get used to Civ IV (I still haven't fully) but it's got me with the OMTS.

I think you know a Civ has you when you start making plans about what to attack next and that a Library and Theatre here would be cool because the Indians are encroaching over here and you want to compete with culture... and then I've got to prepare to invade Baghdad...

 

[oper]

the same thing has happened to me, i simply loose interest in continueing the game, and i've played since the first civ.

 

[TacNuke]

I initially had the same problem. Been playing since Civ I (skipped Civ III altogether) and now I have had serious OMTS with cIV. At first with cIV, I had a hard time getting in to it. Lately i've been playing on Noble level with about 10 civs on huge map. Quite fun fending off the barbarian hordes (and isabella) and racing to build the different wonders etc. OMTS has returned and spouse glares at me more than usual.... My advice: increase difficulty level and try out new strategies.

just my 2 cents.....

 

[DemonDeLuxe]

Thats how I felt about Civ3. Civ4 has brought back that feeling for me personally. I feel more personally connected to my civ kinda like I did with civ1 and 2.

You are right in one respect: In CIV4, your empire as such is not as generic as in previous releases. I mean, in former times each assemblance of cities was just a preliminary step to an even larger assemblance. With CIV4, it can very well be the case that you have (roughly) the same borders in 2050 AD as you had in 500 AD, which results in a more "defined" empire.

However, the "leader feeling" has gone IMHO. No advisors, no throne room, extremely sterile advisor screens, and the map is trying to show cute little puppets as individuals, thus losing the impression it really were a map were you see icons representing large units. In a certain way, the more "realistic" 3D graphics are LESS realistic because they take away the feeling of brooding over a couple of maps of an empire.

If I were to decide, I'd cut out all the 3D representations of buildings on the map (with the exception of wonders which would be actually VISIBLE then) and instead have some nice representation of the city in the city screen, complete with fitting surrounding and such, thus individualizing the city. The nice side effect would be an improved performance because the engine wouldn't have to draw all those (admit it: UGLY) buildings on the main map.

 

[Steelsmith]

Just to give a different reaction... Civ III was one of the most addictive games I've ever played. For me, Civ IV is even more so. Once I start playing, I find it very difficult to stop. Even more than Civ III. I think in my case part of it has to do with the changes in the tech tree. You still move through "renaissance" and "industrial" ages, but the transition is a lot more seamless now.

Perhaps it's just the aspect that Civ veterans are already familiar with the basic concepts of the game, and have already spent many hours in the grip of OMTS. I can't say for sure whether Civ IV will keep me addicted as long as Civ III did, but right now I'm definitely about as hooked (and sleep-deprived) as I can be.

 

[jafink]

I started playing civ 2 when i was 8 years old, ( basically i played on cheiftan and tried to build every building in all my cities), and then made the transition to civ 3. Civ 3 was what really got me addicted, although it had many bugs and exploits, it was sooooo fun. First few games of civ 4 i was not really immersed in to the game, but i would have to agree with many of the prior responses.

Try different strategies! I'm usually more of a builder than a warmonger, but just for fun i tried a quick duel with 12 civs, noble, starting in the future age(start with all techs discovered). It was incredibly fun. A crowded map, slowly taking over the world.

Also try some of the scenarios included with the game. I got bored with the WWII one, but the Greekworld provides a different style of play, and a great since of brining an ancient empire to power.

Hope One More Turn starts again for you>

 

[Crispin]

One of the games ive played the most is civ2. I have played civ1 but just roughly, because when I started using computers, civ2 was just released, actually got to play it in school when I was around 14

I enjoyed it some much, specially scenarios after a while. Many different scenarios, specially ww2

Civ3 came and cant remember I really cared, after a while I tried it, and was very disapointed. It took me a very long time to start playing it, I dont know why I didnt like it that much in the start. Ive not finished many random games in civ3, the interesting part in civ3 I found in the expansion Conquest. And with ofc ww2 scenarios ive found here. So a month or two ago was the time I spent most time on civ3, and civ4 was just around the corner.

Got civ4, waited maybe 1-2weeks before trying it, tried it, looked REALLY weird, and not like a civ game. So I went back to my Japan campaign in civ3. But then I got a bit bored, and gave civ4 a real chance, man am I hoooooooked. Been playing for 3days straight, started optimistic on a earth scenario, huge, with 18teams. Played as France(I LOVE FRANCE, and im always france if I can, altough im from norway) and I stopped playing around 1950, Russia has kept bashing me, not giving me a break, and Caesar Isabella also giving me a hard time. They aint exaclty gaining cities, but in the long run I wont last. So I decided to start over(thinking a bit of what I can do in the another game etc), as Japan(my second favorit) Reduced the difficulty a bit and its going better.

So..ive written alot, sorry but when I started I just couldnt stop. And also, I was VERY disapointed about the french special unit, musketeer. If im right its just faster than the other ones, and when Russia got theirs they had a Cossack with a strength of 2more, and that just felt UNFAIR But the graphic on the french musketeer, LOVELY ! Wish the periode when I used them would last, I felt so proud and it was just great to use them !!!

 

[Psyringe]

To the OP: I am heavily inflicted with OMTS, to a degree where it even seems possible to break my all time record of non-stop-playing (currently held by Civ1 with 35 hours straight). Apart from the possibility that our personal tastes just differ and the game just appeals to me morethan to you, I'm pondering what I've done different:

a) I play on small maps and on a difficulty level where I lose about one third of my games. You say you want to relax, which is fine. But as others said already, people are usually more immersed in the game when victory is possible, but not too easy to achieve.

b) I haven't read much about Civ4 before. I deliberately abstain from the strategy forums because I like to find out strategies myself, this is more fun to me than replaying other's. I haven't followed everything about Civ4 prior to release. I did that for many games, and this often led to my anticipation rising so high, that the letdown was inevitable. Often my anticipation peaked at the moment when I bought the game, and then I suddenly didn't feel very compelled to actually play it. It was as if the long period of anticipation had worn me out, and I was entering a period of exhaustion as soon as I bought the game.

With Civ4, I did it differently. I didn't read that much about the game before I played it. That way, the game offers a lot of surprises to me. I like that, and I didn't run into the danger of expecting too much, or reading too much marketing hype.

Perhaps you experience a similar "anticipation exhaustion" as I did for many games? If that's the case, the good news is that this exhaustion always went away after some days. So your OMTS syndrome may be just sleeping ... or be in its incubation period.

 

[Phoenix_56721]

I have found that the more I play Civ4 the more addicted I become, The OMTS is alive and well with me, and is more way worse then it was with Civ3! (Just ask my wife! lol)

 

[Shigga]

Well@all thank you all for your suggestions. I will try pumping up the number of civs and the difficulty. Perhaps I need to find a new balance between relaxing and competition. Plus, a very good friend of mine will visit me soon and we will give the MP a thorough playtest.

@Psy: The same thought occured to me, that my level of anticipation rose higher than the game could ever be. Like I said, I'm willing to give cIV every possible chance to grip me bc I still think the civ franchise are the best TBSG ever made.

@Demon: My feelings exactly. Feels more like a game like ever before. I feel a little detached from my empire which was not the case in prior incarnations. Could be the absence of advisors and throne room, but I am thinking that perhaps the grand reduction of micromanagement wasn't so grand a move at all in terms of immersion/involvement.

 

[DemonDeLuxe]

I feel a little detached from my empire which was not the case in prior incarnations. Could be the absence of advisors and throne room, but I am thinking that perhaps the grand reduction of micromanagement wasn't so grand a move at all in terms of immersion/involvement.

Well, it is certainly nice if micromanagement gets reduced - at the first glance. OTOH, with more (enforced) micromanagement, you have the impression you actually WORKED for your flourishing empire. And seeing that a typical game of CIV4 has less cities than prior versions, more necessary microing wouldn't be too hard, anyway. Micromanagemant is bad only if it is some tedious routine you have to do for a gazillion cities. With only a handful of them, it's ok, no, it's good. You have to care,you know. As it is, you can actually complete a game of CIV without ever having seen a city screen - unthinkable in prior versions.

And, of course, seeing the city screen isn't exactly something to write home about either. It's a statsitical thing, it's Excel with graphics, it has NOTHING in the way of atmosphere, not the tiniest little bit.

I do like the game, I am in love with CIV in general, I respect Firaxis, but I could *KICK* them for the sterility they forced upon my all-time favourite game series, even more so since Firaxis and Sid Meier excelled exactly in this respect in earlier times.