Some BTS feedback balance the negative

[White Elk]

I and others have expressed their disappointment with BTS and its patches. I've gone so far as to share that I wished I had never purchased the game in the first place. But I Must say that although I am deeply frustrated with Warlords and BTS and their patches, I do still think that Firaxis has done a job worth commendation. The game is ambitious and they've been quite creative with it. Firaxis is talented and I just want to say that even though I am very disappointed with the last two games and their support, I still do respect the Firaxians and hope that a managerial paradigm shift or something will once again elevate Firaxis to my most favored game developer once again. I haven't quite given up on them yet ;~P

 

[TheRisen1]

I agree. There's no denying that it's buggy, but:

1. Firaxis seems to be working their asses off to push out patches in a timely manner, even if they're not perfect. Contrast this with the Pirates remake, which Firaxis totally ruined with sloppy code and half-assed, exploit ridden game mechanics, then strangled in its crib with total lack of support. (Yeah, still bitter.) It's good to see that they're trying to learn from their mistakes.

and

2. Civ4 is without a doubt the most innovative and ambitious game in the series to date. The addition of religions, civics, GPs, and espionage (in BTS) make it a whole new game. It's not just shinier graphics.

 

[marioflag]

The Civ4 series has been the best civilization game up to now.BtS is an exceptional expansion pack.

I wish just that patches are released more frequently becuase the game was released 2 and half month ago and it has some serious bugs.

 

[ButSam]

I think another innovation with Civ4 in general is releasing the game in a quasi-open source manner. Sure, there are some bugs that we can't fix (such as the annoying black background for diplo/movies), but most of the bugs can be fixed unofficially in the meantime.

Sam

 

[White Elk]

Yes agreed ^^ And furthermore all the attention and resources that Firaxis has spared to make this game uber modable is very commendable. It is one thing to make a brilliant game, and it is quite another thing to design that same game for such unprecedented modability. I very much appreciate their continued attention to the modding aspects of the game. BTS took modding to yet another level.

 

[Horace]

bts is one of few games in the last few years to warrant my attention for a prolonged period of time.
uo, cs, champ and pro evo the others

 

[Indiansmoke]

I and others have expressed their disappointment with BTS and its patches. I've gone so far as to share that I wished I had never purchased the game in the first place. But I Must say that although I am deeply frustrated with Warlords and BTS and their patches, I do still think that Firaxis has done a job worth commendation. The game is ambitious and they've been quite creative with it. Firaxis is talented and I just want to say that even though I am very disappointed with the last two games and their support, I still do respect the Firaxians and hope that a managerial paradigm shift or something will once again elevate Firaxis to my most favored game developer once again. I haven't quite given up on them yet ;~P

I think you are exaggerating!

BTS was buggy but very much playable on release. 2 months for a patch like this is not a lot anyway, could be less, but not a reason to be dissapointed like this.

 

[White Elk]

Well to each their own and I actually think I understated my disappointment. One aspect of that disappointment being that I saw BTS as not just an expansion pack for Civ4, but also as a final and long overdue patch for Warlords. And Still Vassalage and the AI tactics were not wholly fixed. To name just one major problem... idle AI SODs. And we waited for three months for the patch, not two. Even so, and in light of the last two patches introducing new bugs and not fixing all of the old ones.. I do still admire Firaxis for their good works with the game. And that is what this thread is about.. To recognize that even though some people may have varying degrees of disappointment with the game, it is still brilliant and Firaxis deserves credit for that.

 

[bonafide11]

Despite some bugs, I also have enjoyed BTS quite a lot.

 

[fizsh]

I have to admit, BtS may be the last Civ game I buy, and this is meant as a compliment. The reason for that is that the game is so good, so varied, that it is a game that I find hard to get bored with. I can't imagine how they can make the gameplay much better! Course, it will probably be a couple years before they come up with Civ V, so who knows what can happen between now and then.

 

[megaclom]

I have to admit, BtS may be the last Civ game I buy, and this is meant as a compliment. The reason for that is that the game is so good, so varied, that it is a game that I find hard to get bored with. I can't imagine how they can make the gameplay much better! Course, it will probably be a couple years before they come up with Civ V, so who knows what can happen between now and then.

I just started playing Civ4 ten days ago and bts yesterday; so maybe the bugs are not yet clear to me, but having played the whole lot, Civ1, Civ2, CtP, and Civ3, I must say, Civ4bts is, in a word, "sublime."

 

[seasnake]

I agree, Civ IV with BTS has been incredible. I'm pretty satisfied.
If only they'd release a "build your own leaderhead" tool I'd pretty much be able to just enjoy this game for a long time.

 

[IronCrown]

Civ IV (and BtS) is an extraordinary game, one of the very best ever made. That makes it even harder to forgive that it is so badly supported after release. Such a great game should be worth some manpower to make it bug-free and to find the perfect game balance. Instead I'm convinced that only 1-2 people were working on the patch, and they not even full-time. It's the only way to explain the fact that a bugged patch could take so long.

 

[Mesix]

I am really enjoying the BTS expansion. With the original relaease of Civ IV, I found that the mod community brought the innovation to the engine that made it enjoyable. With Warlords, I enjoyed some of the scenarios, but once I finished them, it was back to the mod community to keep my interest. Now BTS comes out, and I am completely addicted to the standard game. Firaxis really outdid themselves with all of the new features. I used to quit the game once I reached the modern era, but now (as promised), BTS has added a new, much needed, element to the late game.

 

[White Elk]

If only they'd release a "build your own leaderhead" tool I'd pretty much be able to just enjoy this game for a long time.

Hehe I had wanted that ever since Civ4 first came out. Ida been willing to buy an expansion back which was just an editor but with basic modeling tools for new units, buildings etc. A 'plug and play' editor for the non-programmers among us.

 

[CivAgamemnon]

Perhaps that's something one of the dudes in the Customization and Creation forum could do? Has anyone asked? Be nice if they could come up with something like the Civ 3 editor.

 

[warpstorm]

I still do respect the Firaxians and hope that a managerial paradigm shift or something will once again elevate Firaxis to my most favored game developer once again.

Well, they do have a new Director of Technology...

 

[DaviddesJ]

Well, they do have a new Director of Technology...

Really? Who is that? It's not on their website.

 

[Öjevind Lång]

Civ IV (and BtS) is an extraordinary game, one of the very best ever made. That makes it even harder to forgive that it is so badly supported after release. Such a great game should be worth some manpower to make it bug-free and to find the perfect game balance. Instead I'm convinced that only 1-2 people were working on the patch, and they not even full-time. It's the only way to explain the fact that a bugged patch could take so long.

I agree with every word of this, not least the praise.

 

[warpstorm]

Really? Who is that? It's not on their website.

Steve Meyer.