The true value of the original Civ4 game...

[nik121]

So I was thinking earlier that day when I looked back at the amount of time I spent playing Civ 4 and I noticed how I have played days upon days of BtS expansion, and a little bit less of Warlords. Yet when I look at the original Civ 4 game, I hardly have 5 hours clocked. So does that mean that once you own the expansions, there's really no point in playing the original since it's the exact same game but with less options? Or is there something in the original that isn't found in the expansions?

Thanks, Nik

 

[Jarlaxe Baenre]

The only things Vanilla and Warlords have that BtS doesn't are their scenarios.

 

[NBAfan]

BtS is infinitely better then Vanilla and Warlords.

 

[starmanbeta]

BtS is so much better that there's no point in going back and playing Vanilla.

Actually, I don't even play BtS anymore since I found Legends of the Revolution on the C&C board here.

 

[Jerrymander]

There's very little in the vanilla version that isn't in the newer versions.

I guess if you really, really hated espionage you could play Warlords, since disabling it in BTS makes for cheesy culture wins.

 

[Gorey]

My most fond memory of vanilla was the culture bomb. It was so beastly.

I remember playing one of my first games and i dropped one.. i was like

Nowhere near as powerful now.

 

[Joe Steel]

My memory of vanilla was those russian cossacks

 

[DutchJob]

Russian Cossacks....indeed.

Wish I played more with them!

 

[StargazingDog]

For me, it's not about what vanilla has that BTS doesn't. It's about what vanilla doesn't have that BTS does. Corporations, Espionage, Warlord units, Sid Meier's voiceovers, vassals, etc. I feel the vanilla game is the most clean and balanced experience.

 

[ICNP]

I don't think Corporations really did a lot, but Espionage was great, although destroying tile improvements late game was irritating.

 

[Pacifist46]

BtS just has more stuff - more civs, more buildings, more mapscripts - and that includes pretty much everything in vanilla and warlords. Also, since there are so many custom game options, like turning vassals off, for example, you can pick what type of game you want and make it more like vanilla if that's what you like.

I agree with Jerrymander's point about turning espionage off leading to easy culture wins. Does anyone think that the turning espionage off option should just remove that element from the game, and not turn it into something else? (Not that I ever play with that option)

 

[deanej]

Well, before 3.17, it didn't even exist. The buildings are still there, though, so I guess they have to do something. Science would be more realistic than culture though. Then Firaxis changed it. 3.19 doubled the culture thresholds in No Espionage Games.

 

[Darth Caesar]

For me, it's not about what vanilla has that BTS doesn't. It's about what vanilla doesn't have that BTS does. Corporations, Espionage, Warlord units, Sid Meier's voiceovers, vassals, etc. I feel the vanilla game is the most clean and balanced experience.

I think that Sid Meier's voiceovers are pretty sucky he is great at making games but not so good at quoting on the other hand Leanord Nimroy is a genius with those quotes and if I ever made a documentary I would hire him for it. But that is just my opinion.