Thoughts on the new game by Civ 4 designer?

[DrCron]

I've seen that several of the Youtube channels that cover Civilization are now uploading let´s plays of "Old World", the new game by Soren Johnson (lead designer of CIV 4). I´m curious, since CIV 4 is my favorite game ever, but spending 30+ euros on a game that´s still on early access is not something I'd usually do.

Have any of you guys tried it? Do you recommend it? It seems to be rather complicated judging by the few videos I've seen so far.

 

[nebux]

from what i've seen played by sulla on youtube i don't like it. 1upt is still crap and i don't like all that micromanaging for the sake of moving troops around. the rest i don't care if it's a good game as it can't beat Civ 4

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I've seen that several of the Youtube channels that cover Civilization are now uploading let´s plays of "Old World", the new game by Soren Johnson (lead designer of CIV 4). I´m curious, since CIV 4 is my favorite game ever, but spending 30+ euros on a game that´s still on early access is not something I'd usually do.

Have any of you guys tried it? Do you recommend it? It seems to be rather complicated judging by the few videos I've seen so far.

If you are looking for reviews on the subject, there are some threads which discuss the new game in this subforum.

 

[Windsor]

Haven't tried it yet. Event-driven RPG-4X with tactical combat isn't the type of 4X I prefer. The gameplay seems to be very different than Civ4.

 

[drewisfat]

Lemons' right, there's a better forum for discussion...... but I also really don't want Soren to hear me critical of his work, as I will always love him for civ 4

I've been debating getting the game. I'm definitely looking for a new 4x game. But there are several game concepts that will not be reversed at this point and worry me greatly.

1UPT. The issue is complicated and been beat to death. But at the end of the day, the AI does not militarily pose a challenge in Civ 5 or Civ 6 because of 1 UPT. As someone interested in difficult single player games, that's a game ruiner all by itself. I'm skeptical that a smaller studio will come up with an amazing AI, when a large studio has failed to come close in two consecutive releases.

Events. Game seems controlled and run by events. There's a reason everyone here turns events off. Hopefully Soren doesn't leave anything as absurd as "haha 6 horse archers have spawned next to your city..... on an island", but no doubt you're going to run into situations where one bad bit of RNG destroys hours of planning in a way that seems unfair. And you'll need to like consult an encyclopedia of event files if you want to make optimal choices..... or even understand your choices. Idk, worrisome.

Orders also worry me. The idea that I can either move 10 units 1 space or 1 unit 10 spaces is just insane to me from a logic/immersion perspective. But it also seems pretty obvious that this is *THE* resource, and any decision between more Orders and more X, I'm going to go with orders.

Limiting city sites is also a weird call. While that might stop some noob trap cities, it's going to inherently limit decisions. I wouldn't be a surprised if the early game is just a mad dash to secure any and all available city sites near the border.

I will say that I like the graphics and look of the game a lot. Completely subjective issue, but it beats out 5 and 6's cartoonish feel in my mind. The map is at least bigger, so maybe the "carpet of doom" issues with 1 UPT won't be that bad. Also the UI looks decent, and Sulla's involvement gives me a lot of hope. I also like the innovation of mortal leaders / dynasties. Sure there are issues but I don't see them as insurmountable and I've been looking for a hybrid taking the best of civ and crusader kings. I also think the map scripts look great.

 

[Abegweit]

Lemons' right, there's a better forum for discussion...... but I also really don't want Soren to hear me critical of his work, as I will always love him for civ 4

I've been debating getting the game. I'm definitely looking for a new 4x game. But there are several game concepts that will not be reversed at this point and worry me greatly.

1UPT. The issue is complicated and been beat to death. But at the end of the day, the AI does not militarily pose a challenge in Civ 5 or Civ 6 because of 1 UPT. As someone interested in difficult single player games, that's a game ruiner all by itself. I'm skeptical that a smaller studio will come up with an amazing AI, when a large studio has failed to come close in two consecutive releases.

Events. Game seems controlled and run by events. There's a reason everyone here turns events off. Hopefully Soren doesn't leave anything as absurd as "haha 6 horse archers have spawned next to your city..... on an island", but no doubt you're going to run into situations where one bad bit of RNG destroys hours of planning in a way that seems unfair. And you'll need to like consult an encyclopedia of event files if you want to make optimal choices..... or even understand your choices. Idk, worrisome.

Orders also worry me. The idea that I can either move 10 units 1 space or 1 unit 10 spaces is just insane to me from a logic/immersion perspective. But it also seems pretty obvious that this is *THE* resource, and any decision between more Orders and more X, I'm going to go with orders.

Limiting city sites is also a weird call. While that might stop some noob trap cities, it's going to inherently limit decisions. I wouldn't be a surprised if the early game is just a mad dash to secure any and all available city sites near the border.

I will say that I like the graphics and look of the game a lot. Completely subjective issue, but it beats out 5 and 6's cartoonish feel in my mind. The map is at least bigger, so maybe the "carpet of doom" issues with 1 UPT won't be that bad. Also the UI looks decent, and Sulla's involvement gives me a lot of hope. I also like the innovation of mortal leaders / dynasties. Sure there are issues but I don't see them as insurmountable and I've been looking for a hybrid taking the best of civ and crusader kings. I also think the map scripts look great.

There are no Carpets of Doom in OW.The Orders system means that unit spam is pointless. You'll never get to move them all if you try it. For the same reason, there are no SODs either. As such warfare in this game is very different than in any of the CIV series.

Initially I thought that pre-positioned city sites was a weird idea too. But the consequence is that cities are spread far apart and they grow naturally into the space between each other. There are several mechanisms you can use to expand their borders. Really they are more like provinces than cities. To compensate for this, units can move a long way, 10 tiles or even more.

The combination of these facts means than warfare in OM is more about ambush than armies formed up in lines against each other. Think about the Old West where Cavalry would appear at an Indian village and capture/massacre the inhabitants. The Indians would launch raids on white settlements. The AI is actually pretty good at this kind of war. There are several frustrated posts in the OW forum from folks who lost cities when a bunch of AI units appeared out of nowhere and overwhelmed the defenses.

It's an interesting game, very different from any version of Civ. I like it a lot and have certainly gotten my money's worth since buying it.