Is Civilization IV your favourite game ever?

[Ita Bear]

I've played a lot of games in the last 20 years but only one pulls me back time and again - you know which one. Even after playing Civs V and VI, IV just has that appeal; the strategy, the depth, the feeling of building a civilisation. Civilization is a strong contender for me with Age of Empires II as a follow up. Outside of the strategy genre I also love Deus Ex, Half-Life and tycoon management games.

Kinds regards
Ita Bear

 

[6K Man]

Computer game, yes. I don't really play anything else.

 

[Imaus]

It's up there.

Contenders are X:Com UFO Defense (1994), Fallout: New Vegas are for single player, while Space Station 13 and Star Quest Online for multiplayer games.... Those are my top five games of all time so far.

 

[sampsa]

The only computer game I've played in the past 10 or so years. Of all strategy games, I guess only chess tops CIV for me. Scrabble or various poker games probably not.

 

[Lennier]

Yep.

 

[Fippy]

Homm3 here, my first real internet game.
When comparing times it's also the better game for me, even with how good IV is.

 

[Pangaea]

Hard to say. It's definitely up there, and is by far the game I've played the most the last decade. Before that, various forms of Championship/Football Manager (but haven't touched those since they went steam only, which I refuse to pollute my computer with). Also loved roleplaying games such as Baldur's Gate (the originals of course), Planescape Torment, Witcher 1, Witcher 3 and also Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Then you have a bunch of Super Mario games that I played the hell out of on Gameboy and the 8-bit Nintendo way back.

Forced to pick one of these, I may have to land on Baldur's Gate 2, but Civ 4 is definitely up there. It has replay value much higher than even these wonderful RPGs. The stories will differ based on what you do, but the core story will always be the same. Once you've played through BG2 or Pathfinder about 3 times, you've basically seen it all (give or take). Not the case with Civ4.

Shame the franchise took a different path after 4, but then the Romans don't rule the world either, so there is that :|

 

[Abegweit]

I loved every edition of Civ since 1991 with the exception of V. Put hundreds of hours into playing each of them. I now only play IV and VI, probably more of the latter. However, these days I have recently gotten addicted to a video game from 1993 which I only just discovered this day and I play more than either version of Civ. That would the original Master of Orion. The graphics are really primitive, of course, but the gameplay is simply superb.

 

[lymond]

Silent Storm Gold

 

[Lennier]

I loved every edition of Civ since 1991 with the exception of V. Put hundreds of hours into playing each of them. I now only play IV and VI, probably more of the latter. However, these days I have recently gotten addicted to a video game from 1993 which I only just discovered this day and I play more than either version of Civ. That would the original Master of Orion. The graphics are really primitive, of course, but the gameplay is simply superb.

I never played MoO I, but I loved MoO II. Unfortunately, what they released for MoO III was effectively an alpha version. It included an unpatched overflow bug so if your treasury got too big, it would go to a very negative number and you'd go bankrupt. (The most egregious bug in the final "patched" version, but not the only one.) MoO III is the last game I bought at release. (Falls in the category described here:

)

 

[Abegweit]

I never played MoO I, but I loved MoO II. Unfortunately, what they released for MoO III was effectively an alpha version. It included an unpatched overflow bug so if your treasury got too big, it would go to a very negative number and you'd go bankrupt. (The most egregious bug in the final "patched" version, but not the only one.) MoO III is the last game I bought at release. (Falls in the category described here:

)

My understanding is that MoO II was really more a sequel to Master of Magic more than MoO I. And everyone says that MoO III destroyed the franchise. There is also a remake from about 2016. Apparently it is basically MoO II with updated graphics.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I newer liked the MoO games. They were always too simplistic. I preferred Space Empires IV.

 

[Abegweit]

MoO I is profound in its simplicity. That is its greatest strength.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

MoO I is profound in its simplicity. That is its greatest strength.

Except if you are the kind of guy that hates simple and considers even turning automation in CIV4 on to be a sin. Yes, I do manually go through each city in each turn to check if one grew and set up the optimal citizen positions for this turn. It's where the fun is. I also play dwarf fortress.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I'm not sure if Civ4 is my favorite game or not, but it is the one that I have logged the most hours in. I've been playing it for 12 years. With testing for modding and other reasons, I estimate that I probably have 5000+ hours in the game. That's a hell of a lot of my life, so I guess maybe it is my favorite game.

Cities:Skylines and Stellaris would be a close second and third, respectively.

 

[Ricci]

Is Civilization IV your favourite game ever?

Absofudginglutely




EDIT: F word automatically banned

 

[The Civs 6]

I think it's probably between Civ 4, Rise of Nations, or DOTA. HM to Civ 2.

 

[Quintillus]

No, but it takes 5th on my list of time played on Steam, which means it's also in the top 10 overall (probably somewhere in the 3rd - 7th range). My most-played game, and I'd have to go with favorite game, is Europa Universalis IV. Better alliances and diplomacy, and far more countries to play and interact with, outweighs the flexible tech tree and wider range of buildings in Civ IV. I'm also partial to Earth maps, and never found a Civ IV one that had the scale I like and also is playable performance/stability wise for an entire game (nominations welcome).

I'd put Civ IV as my second-favorite Civ game, narrowly trailing Civ III. In some respects Civ IV is better (more flexibility and nuance in building function, for example), but Civ III has better scale, and while I've gone back and forth over the years, overall I've played considerably more Civ III (12th on Steam playtime, but 1st on non-Steam playtime for 1st or 2nd overall).

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I am personally not a fan of III. Going back to it from IV it just feels weaker somehow. I can't put it into words but like it just does not have as much bite to it. The same can be said going from III to vanilla IV without expansions. Although there it's just a lack of features. All this being said my favorite game of the CIV series has to be SMAC. Like seriously. The story just grips me.

 

[Countmonte8242]

Its between Civ 4 and Everquest. Everquest gets the nod on favorite game and most hours but Civ 4 is the only thing that comes close on either count.