New Player Looking for Advice on what game to start with!

[Kane Hart]

Hello I'm new to Civ4 or any Civ game.. I kind of did not like back in the day the slow rts err whatever they call this game style..

But over time I really wanted to get into it and now really really want to..

Now I have the cash but I was wondering out of all the Civ 4 games what do I need for me and a friend to play some fun lovin Lan play?

Also playing just with my self what game or exp would be the best?

 

[Kierkegaard]

Hey,

I'd recommand civilization IV complete. It's not expansive anymore and deliveres the most fun!


Also! Give it time. I didn't like civilization when I started but now It's my favourite game!

 

[Balderstrom]

If you've never played CIV. Get Civ Complete as suggested, retail is ~$40.
But play CIV IV vanilla first - and at least run thru the Tutorial.
And possibly a few games of regular CIV before jumping into the BTS version.

 

[robbyextreme]

This game is overwhelming with information for the longest time so don't get discouraged.

 

[Willem]

But play CIV IV vanilla first - and at least run thru the Tutorial.
And possibly a few games of regular CIV before jumping into the BTS version.

That's really poor advice. The game has changed so much since vanilla that playing just vanilla first is going to lead to some bad habits that will have to be changed by the time you get to BtS. Yes there's a few more things to learn in BtS, but not so many that anyone should be overwhelmed enough by them to play the simpler version.

 

[Meatbuster]

You can focus on basic aspects of the game first, like building and economy and ignore new stuff like espionage, specialists, religion and warring. Once you've gotten the hang of it you can explore those alternate strategies.

 

[Balderstrom]

BTS doesn't have a Tutorial. Anyone absolutely new to the game should at least get a gist of it before being completely overwhelmed by BTS.

I highly doubt playing a couple games of Vanilla CIV and playing thru the tutorial is going to make anyone pick up "bad habits"

Why don't you actually contribute Willem, instead of belittling others that are actually attempting to help.

 

[Willem]

Why don't you actually contribute Willem, instead of belittling others that are actually attempting to help.

And why are you engaging in a personal attack against another poster, which is against forum rules? I've been around here for a long, long time. I've done more than my fair share of contributing, I don't need people like you telling me what to do. I have every right to question someone when they give bad advice.

 

[bhavv]

I would rather reccomend installing everything and playing BTS, but if you find there to be too much stuff you can deactivate espionage and random events from the options.

If you start on Settler difficulty, it hardly matters which game you play anyway.

 

[Meatbuster]

Playing on Settler will have its own bad-habit-forming problems.

IMO it's better to lose on Noble while being overwheled by said barrage of info... because everytime you lose (or fall behind in tech), you can figure out what you need to prioritize on.

I agree with jumping straight to BtS though.

P.S. Of course... playing on Noble may give habits that won't work in Emperor+, but... it might be easier to adjust from there.

 

[Dhaulagiri]

The game is complex enough that you still learn new things years later, but it's still fun when you barely have a clue. Just improve on a couple things each game and don't get stressed about all the things you don't understand. It's definitely a good game to buy, infinitely replayable.

 

[Verision]

As someone who just recently started playing Civilization 4 myself (about 2 months ago), I'd suggest buying Civ IV Complete and starting with Beyond the Sword.

I had only been playing Civ IV for about 3-4 weeks when I got BtS and I found the transition quite difficult. I had played a lot of Civ IV in those 3-4 weeks and went from Chieften (winning my first game), to Noble (losing my first 4-5 games), to Pince (again losing 4-5 games), but when I got BtS I had to go back down in difficulty to Noble and I still lost my first couple games.

If you have never played any Civilization game before, then I would suggest:
first) reading the manual
second) playing a game at the easiest difficulty (Settler)
third) moving up in difficulty levels one at a time until you lose a game, at which point you should visit the war academy here and read some of the articles.


Don't be discouraged if you aren't good at the game right way. I have a friend who has been playing Civ IV off and on for about a year and he still hasn't won a game at Prince. However, he doesn't come to this forum or read the articles on the main site. Honestly, the only way I got past Noble was by reading the articles on this site and reading advice threads in the forum. Don't be afraid to ask for help either; (most) people on the forum will be more than happy to give you advice. Just ignore the infantile bickering that some of the posters ingage in and have fun.