Normal Civ 5 or Civ 5 Deluxe?

[MaxCiv]

No, I'm not particularly Steam-averse, and in fact I'd rather have Steam-based DRM than have to play with a disk in the drive. The problem is I don't trust my own hard disk. If I ever have to reinstall I want a physical CD to reinstall from. I don't want to have to download the game and possibly buy it again if I've lost some critical piece of information needed to establish my right to download it.

Once you have the game installed, Steam allows you to make a backup copy of it and span it across multiple CDs or DVDs if it's big enough.

To restore a game, all you have to do is have the Steam client installed and then run the executable that was created with your backup file. As simple as that.

I currently have 53 games in my Steam account and they are all backed up that way so every time I rebuild my machine don't have to redownload 40+GB of stuff.

You can also use the backup to install the game on multiple machines. Very convenient.

 

[duckstab]

You can copy the entire Steamapps folder onto CD/DVD and just copy back when you reinstall Steam to avoid downloading the whole thing again. All it does is validate the files and download any updated files (if any).

That's good to know. Have you actually done this?

 

[Chalks]

That's good to know. Have you actually done this?

I have for individual games - not for the entire folder but I assume it would work just the same.

 

[Dale]

That's good to know. Have you actually done this?

Yes when I rebuilt my computer. Just copied it to a USB HDD.

 

[Coldie]

Oh hello there Dale.
Before you get launched into a massive discussion about Steam, DRM-ing, and Piracy, Id like to ask you something.
You know your Civ 4 Colonization mod, Age of Discovery II?
It doesnt work for me.
I mean, it starts up, the special menu picture shows up, and nothing else happens.
No extra music, no maps, nothing different from regular colonization except for the little picture on the menu.
Do you know if anything's wrong?
Oh yes, and I use a Windows 7.
Thanks.
Oh yeah, and with your discussion about DVD's, Im actually going to buy the box and DVD from Amazon.com.
I like to have an actual DVD when I play. It makes me feel......more secure somehow.
and its better than having a random shiny disc with a random pen titling; Civ V.

 

[Dale]

Oh hello there Dale.
Before you get launched into a massive discussion about Steam, DRM-ing, and Piracy, Id like to ask you something.
You know your Civ 4 Colonization mod, Age of Discovery II?
It doesnt work for me.
I mean, it starts up, the special menu picture shows up, and nothing else happens.
No extra music, no maps, nothing different from regular colonization except for the little picture on the menu.
Do you know if anything's wrong?
Oh yes, and I use a Windows 7.
Thanks.

Sounds like you haven't got the Firaxis 1.01 patch installed.

Oh yeah, and with your discussion about DVD's, Im actually going to buy the box and DVD from Amazon.com.
I like to have an actual DVD when I play. It makes me feel......more secure somehow.
and its better than having a random shiny disc with a random pen titling; Civ V.

Hey, wasn't advocating Steam over any other method, just answering a question.

 

[NBAfan]

I'd like publishers/developers to use an enticement model, such as Paradox.

Paradox has very light DRM in the game (if any) but entices users to register the game on their forums to access free content, mods, support and patches. It's worked reasonably well for them too.

It is a great system. Plus you get a nice icon under your avatar.
Of course it helps the Paradox has a smaller group playing their games.

 

[Ahriman]

You might laugh, but the true answer to your question is:

None*.

Umm, yeah, because games with no copy protection at all *never* get pirated....

I'd like publishers/developers to use an enticement model, such as Paradox.

Paradox has very light DRM in the game (if any) but entices users to register the game on their forums to access free content, mods, support and patches. It's worked reasonably well for them too.

This seems like a reasonable model for companies like Paradox with small market niche products, particularly when their games are highly complex and historic, and tend to appeal mostly to relatively high education/high income/dedicated fan players.

I am very skeptical that this kind of system can work well for more general audience "blockbuster" games.

 

[need my speed]

Well, companies make more money when having no DRM. Adding DRM costs money, and pirates will crack the game anyway, so that's money totally wasted.

 

[Xoatl_169]

I dont like the idea of paying more for a map, a civ, a leader and a soundtrack im probably not gonna use. But I want the full experience, the map im most likely gonna use and I want more civs in one map when I start. Plus, I love the civ franchise, they're pulling my strings but Ill go the way of the fanboy and pre-order my first game, the deluxe edition.

 

[Ahriman]

Well, companies make more money when having no DRM.

Evidence?

Adding DRM costs money, and pirates will crack the game anyway, so that's money totally wasted

You're missing the point. Most game purchasers are not very sophisticated or tech-savvy. If they can easily install an extra copy of a game from a friend because of no copy protection, or download for free an identical copy of the main game from a reputable site, there are quite a lot of people who might do that.

But there are a much smaller proportion of potential game purchasers who will go out searching for warez, or who are willing to download and run questionable exe files from dodgy websites.

So the existence of a cracked version somewhere does NOT mean that copy protection won't reduce the amount of pirating.

Game companies know this, which is why they create DRM systems in the first place. So they're not wasting money.

 

[Moff Jerjerrod]

IMHO it is not a good investment to pay the extra 10 dollars/euros/pounds for the 19th civ when I can save that towards purchasing an expansion. Every civ'er who has been with this franchise since Civ3 knows all the good stuff really comes out in the expansions.

My vote is to play vanilla until an expansion comes out, then spend the money on that instead of playing with my Babylon ganja in the deluxe version.

 

[Shurdus]

IMHO it is not a good investment to pay the extra 10 dollars/euros/pounds for the 19th civ when I can save that towards purchasing an expansion. Every civ'er who has been with this franchise since Civ3 knows all the good stuff really comes out in the expansions.

My vote is to play vanilla until an expansion comes out, then spend the money on that instead of playing with my Babylon ganja in the deluxe version.

Hear hear!

 

[Padje Dog]

How long would it take for a mod to include "Babylon", presumably without the flashy leader graphics but with all the same stats, unique units....

Or will the whole "Steam controls your mods" thing mean this will never see the light of day.

 

[marioflag]

I'm in general against DLC because they are moneygrabbers, but honestly for Civ5 i will buy anything is released for it because Civ5 will be one of my main hobbies for the next years.

I still hope that there is a comparable retail edition of the Digital Deluxe Edition otherwise i will buy Deluxe.

 

[Disgustipated]

anyone know what the soundtrack is? I haven't see the news release of this deluxe package.

 

[Rashiminos]

It worked so well for Westwood! /sarcasm

 

[Ahovking]

All i can say is Deluxe baby !!!

 

[BigBirdZ28]

I'm going Deluxe! I love Civ and don't mind supporting 2K/Firaxis at all!

I'm sure Firaxis relies on people like you to make all future games with DRM a reality.

 

[tom2050]

The Deluxe Version is Download only? Digital Download is vastly cheaper than a Store Item. They should offer it for $10 cheaper than the alternative.

They will be raking in tons and tons of extra cash from digital download (that costs only bandwidth) from those who wish to 'get it all' by throwing in this very very very little extra content at outrageous additional cost.

I agree I will wait and just get the 1 civ later when an expansion comes out. It's bound to be included sooner or later. This is if I decide to put up with Steam (there is a small chance).