VOTE: Game Speed?

[grumbler]

I prefer epic speed with increased tech costs with a pronounced 'bump' for the renaissance techs.

 

[King_Ford]

I have been using Epic, but still getting my butt handed too me. It seems like every map, Bismark has to be my neighbor and wants to declare war on me every chance he gets. I go and raze a few cities and then we are buds for awhile and then war again. It is a big circle. Maybe next time I will just wipe him with an early rush?

 

[Balderstrom]

@King_Ford, if you have BTS, there is an experimental AI Mod, that is working towards making the AI more intelligent towards WarMongering. It likely wouldn't be hard to apply the changes to CIV|Warlords, but it would require a DLL compile - which is beyond the capabilities of many.

Honestly I've found the AI reluctant to DOW on me, if I keep my Forces/Power somwhere within 60-90% of the 2nd/3rd most powerful AI. I even have Spain as my direct neighbour in a longstanding game, she has more than 1.5 times my Forces/Power, but I am within 90% of the next 2-3 most powerful civs. She's not declared on me as of yet - though I do usually give into her petty demands, aside from assisting her with War

 

[King_Ford]

I just found that mod and haven't had a chance to try it yet. The issue with Bismark is that he would demand tribute and I would tell him to stick it because I knew he was way behind in tech and power. He then he would declare even know I was considerably higher on the power scale. The first time it happened I razed or took every city, but his capital and the the AP voted to end the war so I didn't have a chance to take his capital. My economy was in ruins so I didn't press further and that is my lessened learned because he kept doing it for the entire game. I barely lost a space race even though my unfriendly neighbor did his best to try and cripple me. I have a long way to go with this game, but for some reason it seems like with patch 3.17 it got considerably harder on Noble for me?

 

[azzaman333]

Epic. That way, when I lose, I can say it was an Epic Failure.

 

[bestbrian]

I just found that mod and haven't had a chance to try it yet. The issue with Bismark is that he would demand tribute and I would tell him to stick it because I knew he was way behind in tech and power. He then he would declare even know I was considerably higher on the power scale. The first time it happened I razed or took every city, but his capital and the the AP voted to end the war so I didn't have a chance to take his capital. My economy was in ruins so I didn't press further and that is my lessened learned because he kept doing it for the entire game. I barely lost a space race even though my unfriendly neighbor did his best to try and cripple me. I have a long way to go with this game, but for some reason it seems like with patch 3.17 it got considerably harder on Noble for me?

I'm surprised. In all my games Bismarck is a total stiff.

 

[Minor Annoyance]

My PC's far too slow to play at anything higher than normal. I may even go to quick.

 

[ICNP]

Epic. At this point I wonder what speeds techs go at Normal. Marathon is too long however as 18 turns for a Cottage? No

Really if your Scout dies in Marathon your going to be pressing enter way to many times

 

[Peteyboy]

Marathon leads to possibly the greater art form so to speak, and I normally play on that mode, but very early on its a little dull, plus also by the nature of so many turns and the lack of obsolescence of units, invariably the game ends up determined by war. Normal leads to rapidly to obsolescence. Epic allows perhaps a better balance, where war will play a part but possibly not the determining factor. Also on a game difficulty level, the slower the game, the greater and benefit the computer gets out of its cheaper build & research times, so Marathon isn't always ideal.

I'm glad to see no-one selected quick - I can't really imagine war playing a major part in the game, or it would be a series of farcical mismatchs due to technology differences. I.E Tanks vs Grenadiers/Longbowmen. But never tried it.

 

[Crowqueen]

I'm surprised. In all my games Bismarck is a total stiff.

Bismarck likes quick settlement in my games, i.e. he can be at Essen (sixth city) before I have my third settler out (Warlord level). I don't like playing him (because Frederick is Organized if I want to play the Germans) but he can be annoying because of a tendency to REX ahead. I like playing maps where there is protection against REXers (apart from me) because of geographical constraints and if I get a REXer nearby (Zara Yaqob in particular) I axe rush them asap. However Bismarck always pops up out of nowhere and dissolves back into the fog-of-war and it takes me half the game to find him and then most of the rest of it to eliminate him.

@Peteyboy - welcome to the forums. I'm just so used to Marathon that nothing else will do and as we speak I am trying to find a way of modding Civs II and III to give me that extra time to develop and manoeuvre without landing me in the ADs still a Despot. For me it's not build times or obsolescence that's a real problem, it's just having the time at the beginning to (a) scout (b) establish yourself and (c) advance comfortably so that at the beginning of the ADs you are a civilization and not just a handful of small towns. I also appreciate having extra time at the end to go full out for victory (in whatever way) and enjoy what I've built up. I also have a particular gambit which gets the most out of religion (ie early religion, early Stonehenge, early shrine, AP, diplo victory as back-up if my warmongering doesn't pan out, though at the moment if I am not sweeping all before me by 1000 AD I quit the game and start over with another map...) and find this easier to achieve on Marathon because it gives me time to devote to dotmapping. On Civs II and III I am having difficulty deciding what techs to research when because things move so quickly that I don't feel there is enough time to do everything needed before the hordes descend on my little empire. I know this is Civ IV we are talking about but things are if anything more acute because the leaders have actual personalities rather than just being clusters of units on a map and attacking everything that moves (Civ II) or being so spread out it takes you an aeon or two to explore the immediate surroundings! So I find it easier to think things through on Marathon, and think it really should be the default on Civ V because it feels more like a civilization build and less just like a tactical war-game.

@whoever - As for RoM, thanks but I can't "see" it in BtS even after downloading it to the Mods folder. Should I move it? All in there apart from it are the mods that came with BtS itself, so maybe I'm missing something here. I've asked this on the appropriate forum but if you are passing by again I'd appreciate some help.

 

[Benvolio]

I like epic. Normal seems too quick, while marathon seems to drag on.

 

[Gainy III]

I am exaggerating a bit but I'm shocked most here dont use normal. What is normal about it if most dont use it.. or are you guys weirdos?

This arouses deeper ethical questions. Are Firaxis trying to make Civ appeal to the masses - who arent Civ players - by making the normal pace of the game fast(er)? Do we have a poor cross-section of civ players on a Civ fansite?

Ive played normal without thinking about it but my brother apparently likes epic. Does this mean I'm a better person than him? (rhetorical/obv yes)

 

[Eclipse-X010]

I voted normal because that's what I usually play on, however I play epic sometimes if I want my game to be... well epic. I.E. A giant empire with an Augustus Caesar leader rating.
Of course even on normal there comes a point where a city has built every possible building and it's still 1700 something so all they do is mass produce units which I then use to create a gigantic army to wipe Hannibal off the face of the map... (etc.)

 

[PimpyMicPimp]

I usually play Epic, but I do enjoy Marathon every once in awhile, although early game in Marathon is pretty tedious; hitting the END TURN button 90 times to build a monument just sucks.

 

[Aemilius]

I'm a Marathon junkie. Even epic seems to quick

 

[frog3]

Epic, I like myself some moderation.

 

[ICNP]

I only play Quick on Hotseat games. Interestingly though the whole match was very war heavy. Of course this could be more my fault because I was playing Rome and took no time to consolidate my troops as I was just trying to win in a couple hours.

 

[CCRunner]

Epic. Normal is to fast but Marathon is way to slow.

 

[kiwitt]

I am currently playing Marathon and I have been using my English "Redcoats" for years now.

 

[holiday_hawk]

I like Marathon so every era is like a game.