Multiplayer Question

[Walter Lloyd]

Hi,

New to Civ, have been playing Civ 5 for awhile, finally getting comfortable with the flow of the game. My question is how does the multiplayer option work? I have seen some unfavorable reviews and was wondering if it's gotten any better since the release. I basically just want to play against my brother with X random civs included. He doesn't have the game yet and is only going to purchase it if this scenario is doable and enjoyable. Both of our laptops/pcs are plenty powerful to run the game, FWIW.

Thanks

 

[Toady]

Well 2 players and AI is doable.

More than 4 Human players and you 'll start experiencing serious issues.

Multiplayer doesn't allow for MODs so if you play with mods you won't be able to, that goes for most DLC Civs too. Multiplayer also doesn't allow combat animations.

Multiplayer also doesn't allow saving the game in any other form other than an autosave, which can be quite annoying if you are planning on having more than 1 active multiplayer game going on at a time.

There are various other concerns as well but they are mostly gameplay stuff and since you haven't experienced previous Civ games there is no reason to go into them and shouldn't make your experience worse or better.

 

[alpha wolf 64]

i'm trying to do the same thing with a buddy. i set the game up as host a private game, but people keep jumping in. how do you set it up so that only the person i want can play, and to have 4 AIs?

 

[swordspider]

WALTER-

Multiplayer in general is much less of a CiV experience than if you play single player *unless* you are playing cooperatively against the AI, like you say. In human vs. human multi, the games end in the Renn Age or earlier with either players being disconnected, quitting, or just being killed. There is little strategy past kill or be killed. If you don't go to war or plan to, you have no winning options. Since you are playing cooperative though, you should be fine and actually enjoy the game. Also, like mentioned earlier, the more human players, the worse the connectivity issues get.

 

[Deussu]

Well 2 players and AI is doable.

More than 4 Human players and you 'll start experiencing serious issues.

Multiplayer doesn't allow for MODs so if you play with mods you won't be able to, that goes for most DLC Civs too. Multiplayer also doesn't allow combat animations.

Multiplayer also doesn't allow saving the game in any other form other than an autosave, which can be quite annoying if you are planning on having more than 1 active multiplayer game going on at a time.

There are various other concerns as well but they are mostly gameplay stuff and since you haven't experienced previous Civ games there is no reason to go into them and shouldn't make your experience worse or better.

While many people have complained about connectivity, it is not impossible to create a game consisting of 6 or more human players and still be able to finish it properly. (Here's one such example).

Multiplayer does allow mods, in a peculiar way. Editing XML files and providing everyone has identical changes can be done. I have yet to test how well it works though.

In a multiplayer game you can save manually by first pressing ctrl+s. This, however, creates a different kind of save which the multiplayer's load game function doesn't locate. More of that here.

Most problems with multiplayer games come from the simultaneous turns and wars. (Nearly) Everyone agrees it's a click-fest where the fastest finger of the west wins. If you plan on playing with your brother against AIs, you shouldn't face problems there.

Beware though as AIs in multiplayer games are notoriously bad in every aspect. In our multiplayer games they provide absolutely no challenge, are unable to expand and do not engage in diplomatic situations. They are useless, practically. Don't know if upping their difficulties can aid them somewhat.

 

[Smote]

I've had a couple games go to modern era, which were then subsequently decided by who got research labs/nukes first. It is quite surprising and rewarding when a rifle rush fails, which allows the game to progress past the renaissance.

 

[Deussu]

I've had a couple games go to modern era, which were then subsequently decided by who got research labs/nukes first. It is quite surprising and rewarding when a rifle rush fails, which allows the game to progress past the renaissance.

Multiple players possessing roughly the same skills and resources can achieve riflemen almost at the same time (with a 5-8 turn margin), which evidently thwarts militaristic superiority somewhat. And it does indeed make the game feel more rewarding. Way too often have all the players declared one player victorious after seeing a rush of riflemen advancing towards their own borders.

 

[Smote]

Yep. 5 riflemen and 2 cannons is frequently all it takes to start a chain of leaving ;P