Should I but Civ 4?

[lordsurya08]

I'm new to the Civilization series, with V being my first game. About 40 hours in, I'm somewhat disappointed. It's not so much the bad AI, poor diplomacy, or a broken happiness (a problem which I solved by hacking the game), it's just not as addictive as I thought. It's repetitive on the lower levels, and at higher levels the AI cheats so much that it doesn't feel right. Above all, the game seems flat and one-dimensional. I don't get the addictive element from Civ 5 that people describe when they talk about civ 4.

So the question is: should I get Civ 4? It depends on a few things:

1. How much does Beyond the Sword and the game cost total? I can't return V so I'll have to spend more money out of my pocket - $50 is my budget.

2. Do you think I'll enjoy it more than V? Will I get the addicting "one-turn syndrome"? Most importantly, will I be able to enjoy Civ 4 after tasting the better graphics, 1upt, and hex tiles of Civ 5?

 

[testdummy653]

No, buy Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, you'll get addicted and you'll realize what a good turn base game is.

http://www.amazon.com/Sid-Meiers-Alpha-Centauri-Pc/dp/B00001NTSO : 15 dollars for one of the highest rated games of all time.

SMACX
http://www.amazon.com/Sid-Meiers-Alpha-Centauri-Expansion-Pc/dp/B00000K3Q2 : really expensive and rare.

I personally don't like Civ IV. This is my opinion, and since it is my opinion, i will not try to flame this on every single thread and every single wall post in the Civ 5 discussion forum.

Probably everyone will tell you to buy it... But i say play the demo of Civ IV first...

 

[UknowsI]

Civ 4 is a quite different game from Civ 5, and I can see how it can be more addictive. Personally I don't think I can go back to Civ 4 though. If you didn't like Civ 5 the chances are you wont like Civ 4 either.

As for SMAX, does it add much to SMAC? SMAC is by far the "Civ game" I've played the least, I sometimes feel like I didn't give it a fair chance. A probably played it 1-200 hours, but that's nothing for a Civ game. I am a bit tempted to give it another try.

 

[need my speed]

Well, there are many people that do love Civilizations IV but do absolutely not like Civilizations V.

 

[Kylome]

Although I think Civ 4 is still many times better than Civ 5 in its current state I would not recommend getting it. The people like myself who still play Civ 4 and really enjoy are probably the ones who bought it when it first came out and have grown to idolize it through the expansions.

I love an old Snes game that few people have ever played but I would not recommend it to anyone because I grew up playing it and developed a nostalgic view of it.

Jumping head first into a 5 year old game with all the expansions would, I'm assuming, lead to confusion and perhaps even leave you with the feeling of, "is this really what all the fuss is about".

 

[Padje Dog]

Surely there is a Civ IV demo somewhere....

http://download.cnet.com/Civilization-IV-demo/3000-7489_4-10465206.html

What makes Civ IV ultra-fantastic is the mods. Fall from Heaven in itself could have been released as a stand alone game. I also like the Dune mod.

I've gone back to these Civ IV and these mods. Try the demo.

 

[stormerne]

. How much does Beyond the Sword and the game cost total? I can't return V so I'll have to spend more money out of my pocket - $50 is my budget.

2. Do you think I'll enjoy it more than V? Will I get the addicting "one-turn syndrome"? Most importantly, will I be able to enjoy Civ 4 after tasting the better graphics, 1upt, and hex tiles of Civ 5?

1. Get Civ4 the Complete edition. You get 2 games (or 4, depending on how you look at it). You get Civ4 vanilla, plus Warlords, plus Beyond the Sword, and also Colonization too - all on one DVD for less than $40. Here's one place you can get it, though you may find cheaper:
http://www.amazon.com/Sid-Meiers-Civilization-IV-Complete-Pc/dp/B0026EGO3A/
BE CAREFUL OF THE PLATFORM! This one is Windows Vista / 2000 / XP only.

2. Who can say? It's not Steam activated so you can give it away as a seasonal gift if you don't like it. The graphics are actually pretty good in my opinion. You can get much closer than the default Civ5 zoom (unless, like me, you've set Minimum Zoom Level = 4.000000 in config.ini) and you can swivel the camera +/- 45 degrees too. The square tiles and the multi-unit stacking on a single tile may deter you though. But there's only one way to find out!

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Buy Civ4: Complete. That's my suggestion.

Aussie.

 

[Janig]

After 40 hours of 5 I dont think so. I suspect that I could enjoy Civ4 bts if I played it again, but the psychological leap to revert is too much. Civ5 is progress and in terms of game design its clearly better than 4. Yes the AI sucks really bad and yes that deters me from playing right now, but the game has heaps of potential. Civ is a cash cow and the game will undoubedtly be developed further, theres other better things we can do with our civtime meanwhile. Then again I must have played 400+ hours of bts lol, if youve got the disposable income then theres worse things you could spend your money on.

 

[The Villan]

I went back to Civ IV after less than a week playing V. Buy the complete package though, including Warlords and BtS. Should be able to get it pretty cheap online now. Hope you like it.

 

[Psyringe]

I think at the price that Civ4 has arrived at (about 10 Euro for the complete edition, probably available somewhere for 7 Euro if I'd look hard enough), you can't do much wrong. You say that Civ5 feels flat and one-dimensional for you, that's definitely different for Civ4, because Civ4 has more gameplay elements interacting with each other. It's also harder to find an optimal strategy for Civ4. There are still some repetitive elements, but the abundance of available mods can give you hundreds of hours of enjoyment before you start to feel them.

 

[lschnarch]

So the question is: should I get Civ 4? <snip>
2. Do you think I'll enjoy it more than V? Will I get the addicting "one-turn syndrome"? Most importantly, will I be able to enjoy Civ 4 after tasting the better graphics, 1upt, and hex tiles of Civ 5?

I would recommend that if you get Civ4, you concentrate on the latest expansion BtS (Beyond the Sword). The latest patch of this version was 3.19 which after installation doesn't require the DVD anymore.

Next I would advise you to check for some of the popular mods (FFH is highly praised, personally I have had very much fun with RoM (Rise of Mankind) and its modmods; but there are several others as well).

Be prepared for quite a different gameplay, though. It plays completely different, and not many of your Civ5 experiences will be useful.

The learning curve may be much steeper, especially when including mods.
Personally I think even the basic game (iow: BtS 3.19) will offer you much more than Civ5, but this may include even some frustration in the beginning since there isn't THE ONE way to be successful.
You will have to find out which way is the best for your personal playstyle.

tl:dr: Get BtS 3.19 with the mods which are the most interesting for you. It will offera complete different experience and in my opionion, in total a better one.

 

[Haig]

First of all, I don't think that the Civ IV graphs are outdated.

I bought Civ IV Complete only this year, and I think that even after Civ V the graphics are beautiful.
The world feels much more alive, the trees sway in the wind,units leave footprints on sand and rivers flow and actually shores look better with the waves and all.
There's smoke rising from chimneys of cottages, and almost every building you build into your cities shows on the map after building too, unlike in Civ V where you see only the Wonders.

There are different unit sets for some units for different races, for example the swordman looks like a kilt-wearing highlander for some countries, a scimitar wielding eastern fighter for some races etc.

And the game mechanics and concepts give sooo many different strategies and options for you to consider, I think of my current game situations sometime when not on computer, which never really happened to me in Civ.

Also even though Civ V is supposed to be streamlined, everything is more sluggish and clumsy in a way compared to Civ IV, in my opinion.

Civ IV world feels like a world with real alliances, nations, events and your people which you need to take care of.

Two of my friends have quite recently bought Civ IV complete actually and are happy with it, actually hotseat gaming is also pretty fun..

 

[Neomega]

Fall From Heaven's terrain graphics are just beautiful. I don't care for vanilla civ IV's terrain graphics, those do look outdated to me.

 

[Roxlimn]

This thread is about Civ 4 and should be in the Civ 4 forums. I think that this is a problem with many threads in the General Discussion area. Fans of Civ 4 who want to talk about Civ 4 should head on over there and talk about it there.

 

[LegionSteve]

This thread is about Civ 4 and should be in the Civ 4 forums. I think that this is a problem with many threads in the General Discussion area. Fans of Civ 4 who want to talk about Civ 4 should head on over there and talk about it there.

The thread is about whether you can still enjoy Civ 4 after playing Civ 5. It makes sense to ask that question where people are likely to have played Civ 5.

 

[Bhoy]

Get CIV4 BTS, it's the best of the series at this current time.

I've gone back for the min but will be back to Civ 5 in a few patches or maybe and expansion, Civ 5 looks as if it's made some changes but it's left far too much out and I'm sure you'll enjoy Civ4 BTS more in the mean time.

 

[vincentz]

I'm a huge fan of Civ 4.
Buy it. Simple as that. As some mentioned it's not that expensive with the expansions anymore, and you'll own a piece of history. I think very few people won't acknowledge that Civ IV was one of the best games ever made. Some people like the streamlining (simplifying) that Civ V brought however.

But..... civ IV is 5 years old. What was the reason not to get it in the first place?
Maybe the reason is still there if you know what I mean. Not everyone likes empire building, turn based strategy games.

 

[Aoeu]

Definitely: it's pretty much better than Civ5 in all aspects, especially with the appropriate mods.

Civ5 probably should be played only if you played Civ4 and want something different at the expense of a dramatic drop in the quality of the game design and AI. It is otherwise not really a serious contender as a Civilization game, at least in its current state.

Just make sure to get Beyond the Sword with the latest patch, install the Better BTS AI mod for an even better AI, Blue Marble high-resolution terrain for better graphics, and the Perfect World 2 map script for much better map generation.

After you learn the basics, also install the BUG mod for a more powerful interface.

Other cosmetic mods might also be interesting, and the total conversion mods can be great if you get tired of the core gameplay.

 

[Alki]

I like 5, realise it has a few flaws (not least the MP is atrocious), but on the whole think it's a solid start.

I went back to BTS on my MP game and don't have the same love for it after playing 100+ hours on 5.