Is this a dumb question? Where's the MANUAL?

[angelickitty]

Really?

What page is the information on Railroad bonuses on?

Yep.

That's just one of about 10 questions I had during my first hours of playing that I could NOT find in the manual - a manual done so poorly it DOES NOT POSSESS AN INDEX. That is unforgiveable in a game like this.

Venger

lol, tell me about it... i had founded 5 of the religions so the enemy couldnt get them... converted half of the world to them.. then found out by chance that i could build special building for them.. and spent a day trying to figure out what on earth it took to build that building... their was one very small paragraph that was unbelievably easy to miss in the manual... and the civopedia didnt even mention that one of the requirements was a great prophet... now to just wait till i get that prophet.. lol.. plenty of artists and definitly scientists.. but so far nothing for a prophet.. lol.

 

[BeefontheBone]

The 180 degree flip in the display is in the printed manual as well as the pdf, it's to cram more information into the end section. You're not missing anything - even the English version has many spelling errors (as does the tech tree) which is ludicrous and it's pretty useless - as with Civ 3, the ingame information is more useful.

 

[Asterothe]

That's unfair. People ho buy the game deserve at least
a manual. They don't even give jewel cd boxes anymore.
For the bilangual situation they should have given the
option to choose one of them and they should send it
by mail.

 

[rykh]

Im not 100% on this but I don't think it's against the law with regards to the whole has to be french and English. My civ3 manual is only english as was my tech tree if I recal corretly. Also many other games that I have bought recently as well were only english. Im not sure but I think the law is if it's made in Canada it has to be in both Languages but if it's imported it doesnt I dunno can someone out there explain this to me then because I don't understand why some say they have to be in both language while some arn't.

I looked it up when I noticed there was no manual included in my game box. It appears that there is a law that says certain labelling on the outside of the box has to be in English and French but nothing inside the box is required to have both languages. Of course, this is different in Quebec, where everything needs to have as much (if not more) French as there is English text.

http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/internet/index.cfm?itemID=1248&lg=e#2.4.1
Any label information in addition to the mandatory requirements discussed above (i.e. directions for use, promotional statements, etc.) does not have to appear in a bilingual manner. Dealers are, however, encouraged to include such information in English and French.

So, it means that either 2K Games has crappy lawyers that don't know the difference between provincial laws and federal ones, or (more likely) they were too cheap to actually produce and distribute two copies of the game for Canada.

I did glance through the pdf's though, and I really don't think I'm missing anything by not having a hard copy of it. From the bit that I did read, it seems very substandard compared to the book that came with . Still, for $60, I can't help but feel slightly cheated...

 

[francois9]

Why not give the Canadians a printed manual in English and a French Manual on a CD.

Problem solved, not?

 

[Chopperhead]

Why not give the Canadians a printed manual in English and a French Manual on a CD.

Problem solved, not?

Because then the French Canadians would be even more angry because why do they have to get the crapy PDF version while the anglos get the nice hard copy. And like wise I would be mad as well if only the french version came in Hard copy and english was in PDF.

 

[warpstorm]

The manual is not a complete source of knowledge on Civ 4. It lacks many things which require explanation. For instance, the definition and explanation of each civics choice and what they can/cannot do for you and why.

They spent 8 pages on it describing the effects. Did you want them to tell you how to use it strategically too?

Here is an example from the manual for those of you who haven't cracked it open yet.

THEOCRACY
Tech Requirement: Theology
Upkeep: Medium
Effect: new units get +2 free experience points when constructed in cities with the state religion, no spread of non-state religion in civilization's cities.

A theocracy is a form of government where holy men or women are in charge of the State.

Honestly, what more could they have told you about this choice? That it's good for war? Well, isn't that obvious? That is works well with the the other civics that are good for war? Isn't that obvious, too?

 

[WuphonsReach]

The manual is about 67% useful. There are a lot of parts where they don't fully explain something. Which tells me that the manual was written at a certain point in the dev cycle before those bits were finalized.

The biggest annoyance with the manual is lack of a keyword index. The PDF version is actually preferable in that regard because you can text search for terms.

 

[doggiedaddy]

You guys read the manual?

I got one, but I usually just flip through it when the game is loading..

 

[doggiedaddy]

That's unfair. People ho buy the game deserve at least
a manual. They don't even give jewel cd boxes anymore.
For the bilangual situation they should have given the
option to choose one of them and they should send it
by mail.

Oddly enough, that's the one thing that ticks me off as well...no more jewel cases. They probably cost a few cents.. and considering I just paid 50 bucks for the thing.... yeesh!

 

[warpstorm]

Which tells me that the manual was written at a certain point in the dev cycle before those bits were finalized.

This is true. On most of our games we have to have the manual finalized (even if the game isn't) and sent to the printers months before the game comes out to ensure that they will be ready on time.