Maybe this game will be great after all...

[sav]

I reviewed Civ5 when it came out, giving it only 2 stars - for reasons everyone is aware of.

A few days ago, I reinstalled it, got the latest patch, and chucked in the Balance - Combined mod, and woah.

The game runs much, much faster than it did on release - I'm talking like, before I couldn't play beyond about 1850, cause it would go black between turns for about a minute or more, and crash every 20 minutes or so. The AI was atrocious, and blah blah, as I said in the review.

Now, I'm having worldwide battles that are actually fun; the game runs a lot smoother; and I actually have stuff to do, all the time - in complete contrast to what others are saying; and I feel like I'm able to make important changes to my Civ's direction with each building, movement of troops, techs, etc.

Between turn times could still be better, but there's always something happening.

I really think this iteration of Civilisation will be alright in the end.

 

[OrsonM]

Deep inside, we are all waiting for Civ to come back home, I guess I'll give the mod a try.

Though I actually like the game as it is... probably because it doesnt crash with my pc.

 

[wurstburst]

The balance-combined mod is great. More buildings that are actually worth building. Less worthless stuff. Better military balance. Better tile yield variations. etc.

The only thing really lacking for me right now is an expanded tech tree. I find the current tree too narrow for my tastes. The game isn't perfect, but it's up to "good enough to have an enjoyable challenge".

 

[sav]

I guess I don't know how much of the improvement is down to the mod, the patch or the unofficial patch... but I kinda knew I'd be looking to mods to improve the game anyway, after such a great experience playing Civ4 mods.

If unpaid people are able to improve the game so much - in such fundamental ways - in their spare time, why can't Firaxis? It boggles the mind how they can create such great game skeletons, but refuse to flesh them out. Even if 'fleshing out' is just fixing bugs.

Still, I'm actually feeling positive about Civ 5 now for the first time since the day before I got my copy...

 

[Polycrates]

If unpaid people are able to improve the game so much - in such fundamental ways - in their spare time, why can't Firaxis? It boggles the mind how they can create such great game skeletons, but refuse to flesh them out. Even if 'fleshing out' is just fixing bugs.

Still, I'm actually feeling positive about Civ 5 now for the first time since the day before I got my copy...

Balance is always off at the start with these sorts of games. I think they really just need a whole community of people who are finding new and innovative ways to break the game's mechanics before balance comes good, rather than just a relatively small group of beta testers. Also I suspect it helps to have fresh pairs of eyes looking critically at how things balance, rather than people who are significantly invested in the project and "know" how things work. And it's pretty clear they ran out of time and rushed it out anyway.
I really think most of Civ V's issues are balance-related, and I'm delighted that subtle balance mods are able to do such a great job of making it the game it ought to be. Plus WWGD is working on fixing up the woeful diplomacy!

 

[CivFanaticMan]

Lets take a moment to appreciate our modders

 

[sav]

I'm not sure what diplomacy is changed in Balance - Combined, but I'm finding it fairly realistic. Rome was happy until I culture bombed their land, got aggressive when I made moves on their city state ally, and settled down once I backed off.

Can't wait to get home from work and continue playing!

 

[Polycrates]

Lets take a moment to appreciate our modders

Hear, hear! You guys rock! Thankyou so much for your amazing contributions!

 

[the343danny]

I'm not sure what diplomacy is changed in Balance - Combined, but I'm finding it fairly realistic. Rome was happy until I culture bombed their land, got aggressive when I made moves on their city state ally, and settled down once I backed off.

Can't wait to get home from work and continue playing!

From what I know nothing was changed in diplomacy

 

[Polycrates]

From what I know nothing was changed in diplomacy

At least some versions of the combined balance mod also included WWGD in the pack, so that might be doing it

 

[Jesus is Lord33]

We are Generation NOW, aren't we?

 

[Solo4114]

I guess I don't know how much of the improvement is down to the mod, the patch or the unofficial patch... but I kinda knew I'd be looking to mods to improve the game anyway, after such a great experience playing Civ4 mods.

If unpaid people are able to improve the game so much - in such fundamental ways - in their spare time, why can't Firaxis? It boggles the mind how they can create such great game skeletons, but refuse to flesh them out. Even if 'fleshing out' is just fixing bugs.

It makes sense from a very cynical perspective, actually.

Look at it this way. You have a franchise that you know has an established fan base, and which you've also just expanded (presumably) via Civ Revolutions. You have a number in mind after which any money made is now profit instead of money that you have to pay to your devs and such. You know you can get to that number faster if you do things like fire a bunch of devs, dump your QA team, and limit development to only the barest minimum of functionality and really really pretty graphics and UI elements.

Why would you bother to "flesh out" the game when you can do all this and keep every dime that comes in afterward? You're not in the business of making quality games. You're in the business of making MONEY as effectively as possible. So if that means making a super pretty but otherwise pretty threadbare game, why WOULDN'T you keep all that profit and screw the consumer? Especially when you KNOW they'll still remain loyal to the product because of past experiences and a desire to chase that old high?

Balance is always off at the start with these sorts of games. I think they really just need a whole community of people who are finding new and innovative ways to break the game's mechanics before balance comes good, rather than just a relatively small group of beta testers. Also I suspect it helps to have fresh pairs of eyes looking critically at how things balance, rather than people who are significantly invested in the project and "know" how things work. And it's pretty clear they ran out of time and rushed it out anyway.
I really think most of Civ V's issues are balance-related, and I'm delighted that subtle balance mods are able to do such a great job of making it the game it ought to be. Plus WWGD is working on fixing up the woeful diplomacy!

You assume there was QA to begin with. Or that, to the extent there was and comments were made, the devs would have the resources to do anything about it.

 

[wurstburst]

I'm not sure what diplomacy is changed in Balance - Combined, but I'm finding it fairly realistic. Rome was happy until I culture bombed their land, got aggressive when I made moves on their city state ally, and settled down once I backed off.

Can't wait to get home from work and continue playing!

All the diplomacy changes are from the patch, not the mods.

 

[m4gill4]

Lets take a moment to appreciate our modders

This reminds me of a quote by Jerry Garcia, upon being asked why the Grateful dead flew all the way to South America for a rainforest benefit concert back in the day:

“Somebody needed to do something, and it was incredibly pathetic that it had to be us.”

 

[cman2010]

the only hope now is moders, as the developers of this game suck.

 

[Oerdin]

I upgraded my computer and the game is running much, much faster but there is still the problem of so little to do plus diplomacy is still broken with everyone denouncing everyone else and world wars starting at around 0 AD.

 

[jacyp]

I reviewed Civ5 when it came out, giving it only 2 stars - for reasons everyone is aware of.

A few days ago, I reinstalled it, got the latest patch, and chucked in the Balance - Combined mod, and woah.

The game runs much, much faster than it did on release - I'm talking like, before I couldn't play beyond about 1850, cause it would go black between turns for about a minute or more, and crash every 20 minutes or so. The AI was atrocious, and blah blah, as I said in the review.

Now, I'm having worldwide battles that are actually fun; the game runs a lot smoother; and I actually have stuff to do, all the time - in complete contrast to what others are saying; and I feel like I'm able to make important changes to my Civ's direction with each building, movement of troops, techs, etc.

Between turn times could still be better, but there's always something happening.

I really think this iteration of Civilisation will be alright in the end.

Hi! I'm afraid you are in the wrong part of the forum then. You should go thank Thalassicus for the mod in this thread, instead of hailing the game.

Lets take a moment to appreciate our modders

Said it all.

I would give the devs a one thumb up for giving us the oportunity of having mods, but since it's a must have feature for this kind of game nowadays, well... I won't.