ReyLuis
Chieftain
Hi everyone,
Heres something that has dawned on me since losing my life to Civ 5 ever since 24th September: Have tech paths been taken out of Civ completely? .. Seems to me that the tech tree is now a very rigid function as opposed to something you can tailor to suit any particular victory method you may or may not choose to follow.
Although I like to be 100% objective when reviewing Civ 5, here I have to be a bit comparative in order to highlight what I actually mean (if some of you already know what I mean apologies). Before we start Id also like to say that I really enjoy playing the new Civ. There has been lots of needless linear functions removed, and more complex multi-layer functions (albeit a bit buggy) added which improve the overall experience and realism for me.
So then, here's my gripe LOL!
A tech path, per se, would be the specialised line you follow in order to achieve the results/victory you want, whatever that may be. In Civ 4, for example, say I wanted a full out conquest/domination victory I would then research certain war techs in order to build up the military power needed to fulfil said victory type. I would generally not bother with a lot of so-called science or culture techs as these dont really help me become an all-conquering warlord: Literature for example, yes I may end up an uncultured and illiterate savage but who cares when youve smashed everyone else into the ground and wiped them off the face of the Earth?!! Plenty of time to learn to read and write whilst chewing on your enemies bones
The flipside to that being a cultural or space race (science) victory: where I would adopt a different strategy and research techs more relevant to that victory ie discard the war techs. Yes, I may get crushed but thats the risk we all take when gunning for a Civ victory is it not?
In Civ 5, however, it seems to me that this functionality isnt there - the killer example for me being getting Infantry (I have got further than this by the way - I have 4 victories so far on King level) or the respective technology needed to build Infantry. In Civ 4, I could get to Infantry by selecting the various techs I wanted to get there and (as above) discard/not research the techs I felt would stop me getting there as fast as possible. Civ 5 is very different here: to get to Replaceable Parts/Infantry you have to research EVERY single tech behind its tech column, which I see as slightly ridiculous to be brutally honest. Why has it been built this way? Why do I have to research Optics for example just to get to Infantry? Even more so, on a Panagea map where I have no naval intentions whatsoever?? I think this is something the programmers have got very wrong indeed as, for me, it takes out a large part of the decision making side of the game - I know they wanted to balance things out with this new game but this seems odd to me. Balancing things out should not have to equate to reducing the users decision making options.
Your thoughts on this one?
Heres something that has dawned on me since losing my life to Civ 5 ever since 24th September: Have tech paths been taken out of Civ completely? .. Seems to me that the tech tree is now a very rigid function as opposed to something you can tailor to suit any particular victory method you may or may not choose to follow.
Although I like to be 100% objective when reviewing Civ 5, here I have to be a bit comparative in order to highlight what I actually mean (if some of you already know what I mean apologies). Before we start Id also like to say that I really enjoy playing the new Civ. There has been lots of needless linear functions removed, and more complex multi-layer functions (albeit a bit buggy) added which improve the overall experience and realism for me.
So then, here's my gripe LOL!
A tech path, per se, would be the specialised line you follow in order to achieve the results/victory you want, whatever that may be. In Civ 4, for example, say I wanted a full out conquest/domination victory I would then research certain war techs in order to build up the military power needed to fulfil said victory type. I would generally not bother with a lot of so-called science or culture techs as these dont really help me become an all-conquering warlord: Literature for example, yes I may end up an uncultured and illiterate savage but who cares when youve smashed everyone else into the ground and wiped them off the face of the Earth?!! Plenty of time to learn to read and write whilst chewing on your enemies bones

In Civ 5, however, it seems to me that this functionality isnt there - the killer example for me being getting Infantry (I have got further than this by the way - I have 4 victories so far on King level) or the respective technology needed to build Infantry. In Civ 4, I could get to Infantry by selecting the various techs I wanted to get there and (as above) discard/not research the techs I felt would stop me getting there as fast as possible. Civ 5 is very different here: to get to Replaceable Parts/Infantry you have to research EVERY single tech behind its tech column, which I see as slightly ridiculous to be brutally honest. Why has it been built this way? Why do I have to research Optics for example just to get to Infantry? Even more so, on a Panagea map where I have no naval intentions whatsoever?? I think this is something the programmers have got very wrong indeed as, for me, it takes out a large part of the decision making side of the game - I know they wanted to balance things out with this new game but this seems odd to me. Balancing things out should not have to equate to reducing the users decision making options.
Your thoughts on this one?