Playing Civ1 automatically means making it very late.

[Matrix]

What is it with Civ1?? Every time I play Civ1 I play on until it's 2 or 3 AM, or even later.

Civilization is by far the most addictive game that exists. Surprisingly enough, I didn't even notice a topic about that.

But that makes me think: Has anyone played a game that was in a way addictive and released within the last two years? A very few, and that's because it's the <u>simplicity</u> that makes a game addictive. And games are getting more and more beautiful and complicated these days; including Civ3.

But despite my

-smily, I'm sometimes really in for an addiction - concerning computer games, that is.

That's why I still like to play old games, like Civ1 or Raptor (most people prefer Tirian instead of Raptor).

Do you think that when a game will be copied exactly but only with the graphics improved, will it still be addictive? E.g.: the game Civ1 with Civ3 graphics. Is it the gameplay or the graphics? Or both?

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[Zibby]

Yeah, I know what you mean, the newer games are all concerned about fancy graphics and millions of diferent choices a person can make, but they never capture the addictivness of the old classics. I think one of the reasons civ I is so popular is that its so simple to learn the mechanics of the game, theres enough different options avaliable to use, but not too many to get swamped in, thats where a lot of sim/stratergy games lose me. But yeah, I personlay think that gameplay wise, you cant go past the old classics.

 

[GenghisK]

Psss, Matrix, I don't sleep at all when I start a civ1 game...
And yeah it's still a great game because it's even better than the newest civ-like (CTP1 and 2). If we forget the pollution bug and some other annoying things, it's still worthy to be played. I haven't the courage of deleting it... And there's something else that makes me addicted. I'm a great nostalgic. I also play games such tetris, or even master of orion 1! I play a lot of old games. Games that were released 10 years ago. When people were still creative, tried to make fun games and not copying each others doing something-like-3d-bump-mapped-transform-and-lighting-but-with-a-pitiful-gameplay-and-no-fun. See what I mean.

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[TTG]

I think the addictiveness of a game depends on how well it fits the strategy-genre ideal of "A minute to learn. A lifetime to master." The mastering part of strategy computer games always comes along with your familiarity with the game mechanics. The build order is always a significant discovery. That is, the order you should always build buildings in order to get the most in the least amount of time. Other things include AI flaws, and the balance of which units to build. Many flashy games today require you to know some of these "mastery" elements before even basic success can be achieved in the game.

Example: Age of Empires 2. Here is a downright beautiful game (love those giant catapults). However, a beginner operating simply on real-world knowledge is not likely to have any level of success on even the easiest level until he has had some practice. The marketplace doesn't earn you money, the building costs are unrealistic, and the numerous units are hard to keep track of in real time. Players will guess at what they would do in real life, and still lose because the game takes *hours* to learn and a lifetime to master. Luckily, it has some handy tutorials.

Now Civilization 1 is great in this respect. I remember my very first few games of Civilization. I made some serious errors, sure... like attacking with defense units and vice-versa, and overlapping my cities too much. But the number of things I did right was a lot. I was able to defend my cities, improve my economy, launch attacks, study technologies, etc. without much confusion. Everything was where it should be, and it all made a lot of sense.

More than anything, what has kept me playing civ again and again over other strategy games is the speed at which it can be played. All of the stupid animations can be shut off, the units move really fast, and the menus fly up instantly. What's more, the game can be played using only the keyboard. I can send 30 units to war and balance my budget in the time it would take you to move the mouse from one side of the screen to the other. I love the speed because these kind of games are slow enougn already (turn-based, lots of thinking). The last thing I want to do is sit there waiting while the COMPUTER does something that takes a long time. If I remember correctly, the AI for Civ2 on a 486 (common when the game was released) can take several minutes to take its turn. Ouch. A civ2 fan who's a friend of mine used to get a good book and read it during the waits.

ROTFL.

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Civilization I Master of masters and webmaster of Civilization III Arsenal

 

[rouli]

I can't agree more with TTG, the greatness of civ1 is that you can learn it while playing (and even win a game before you mastered it).
However, for me the addictive element of civ1, the element which keeps me awake late at night, is revenge- "That puny little stupid civ declared war on me! I'll crush them at once"; Of course, crushing a civilization, however puny it is takes a lot of turns to complete (at least for me, and at least in the middle of the game 0AD-1800AD).

 

[Supernaut]

I agree about the mastery element, but what also keeps me going, and keeps me up so late, is that there are no natural breaks in the game - you can't say 'I'll play to the end of this level' or whatever. I try to say 'I'll play 'till 1000BC' or whenever, but just as I get to that date I'm about to do something really good, so I think 'I'll just capture this city, or land this boat or build this wonder' and then that leads on to another thing, and before I know it I'm saying 'I'll just play 'till 1AD'

The other thing I like about CIV and CIV2 is the way you change the map by improving it and building on it - gives me a real feeling of mastery over nature! There is always an element of playing against yourself as well as the other civs.

 

[Matrix]

Absolutely, Supernaut! It's the continuity of the game that it so addictive.

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Game of the Month administrator.

 

[thedirk]

I'm with all of you. The minute to learn, lifetime to master balance is key. It is simple enough that anyone can play a decent game without much practice. You don't need to read manuals and tutorials for 10 hours before you play your first game. And the fact that you are always on the verge of taking city X, or in the middle of executing a certain multi turn strategy that you might not remember if you save and come back later keeps you going forever.
When I first started playing Civ I, I was in college and it was not uncommon to find myself starting a game in the evening and then looking up at the clock and having to rush to make it to morning class on time.

Almost didn't make it to