Which games did which things the best?

[Archon_Wing]

Civ 2-- Easiest to pick up, and also advisors
Civ 4-- Diplomacy, Unit Balance, City Management, Yield Management, UN >>>> WC, Religion
Civ 5-- Can't really speak here since almost every system pisses me off, but tourism.
Civ 6-- Lots of civ choices, builder management, modular policies, wonder placement

 

[tzu]

Civ II had animated advisors. Never heard anyone not liking this feature.

Unforgettable!

But they are still there ... sometimes the civ2 advisor voices are audible when clicking on the civ6 governor icons in the cities:
Victor: "We need barracks, noble leader, or would you have our soldiers sleeping on your palace steps?"
Amani: "Excellency, let us sharpen our diplomacy first and our swords later ..."
Pingala: "Most blessed leader, the torch of enlightenment sputters in your hand!"
Reyna: "Excellency, let us make currency instead of swords, for it is wealth that moves the world and profit that rules it."
...

Hasn't anybody else seen this?

 

[KayAU]

The short answer for me: Alpha Centauri did most things best. Social Engineering was fantastic, why haven't they tried to imitate this since? Diplomacy was excellent, and tied into the also excellent Planetary Council. The leaders, although they were not that numerous and relatively one-dimensional, were tremendously memorable, and had clear and consistent agendas. I love the world building, the atmosphere, the story telling. You could terraform, and you could design your own units. The Wonders were truly wonderful, and the wonder movies were awesome.

Civ V did the best job of giving the player something new to focus on in the late game, as micro management was reduced, and you could instead focus on dominating your competitors through ideology and the World Congress. I would also credit it for introducing the concept of bonus trees to the Civ series, in the form of Social Policies. However, I can not credit it with having the best bonus tree, as I believe Beyond Earth's Virtues were better.

EDIT:
Come to think of it, I would like to add that Beyond Earth has by far the coolest game setup, as it starts you out configuring the mission in the hangar back on Earth. Very atmospheric. I also think it is a strong contender for best soundtrack. Beyond Earth is really an underrated game, which I believe was just one expansion away from becoming truly great. It had a lot of great ideas, but never fully realized its potential. The same could be said for Civ VI, albeit for different reasons.

 

[Banazir864]

I'd definitely agree with government/policies being best in Civ IV, with the ability to select a policy for each issue. The one downside is that it was a bit too linear with not enough equal options.

Civ V basically didn't have governments until BNW introduced the ideology system, and even then it was only in the late game. Each policy added to what you already had rather than replacing it, as if, say, communist Russia still maintained all of the old Tsarist policies in addition to the communist ones.

In Civ VI, there's not much flavor to the policies---just slot in the ones with the best mechanics. It doesn't even tie in to your government at all beyond a couple government-specific policies in the third tier. Sure, different governments focus on different aspects of politics (e.g. military vs. economic), but there's nothing to stop, say, a communist government from slotting the Lassiz-Faire policy or a fascist government from slotting Flower Power.

Improvements can probably be made to the Civ IV system (for example, it might be fun if some issues only opened up later in the game), but it's still more flavorful that what came after.

 

[Bactrian]

Civ I: Just the absolute drama. No Civ game has again captured the sheer highs and lows of pushing an enemy empire into civil war by capturing their capital or having your veteran battleship killed by a settler unit. I had one game where I was reduced to a single city but came back to win by launching a coastal raid on the enemy capital and splitting the empire. (That sense of drama and emotion was also, I'm sure, helped by the fact I was in elementary school at the time.) **Palace**

Civ II: Wonky and charming character. **Palace**

Civ III: The introduction of culture and real borders was excellent. **Palace**

Civ IV: By far the deepest of the franchise. I spent more hours and struggled more in this entry than any of the others. The systems fit together well and I was constantly working to balance different priorities. I felt truly threatened in this entry, something I've felt is missing from V and VI. Bring back stacks of doom! (boo all you like I'm not changing my mind)

Civ V: I appreciate the attempt to expand the governmental gameplay through the policy trees. I don't love how it turned out honestly, but it was a good and solid effort. I don't love Civ VI's implementation either, but I think this is an important area for future growth in the franchise.

Civ VI: Playing the map. I like the unbundled cities and, if anything, wish it went further. I'd like to see more of the population on the map, with towns and residential districts, and less obviously optimal placements for districts. I hope future installations in the series push this direction more.

 

[mrwho]

CIv 4 did the economy and AI the best
Civ 5 did the World Congress, tall gameplay, and possibly culture victory (after the first DC) the best
Civ 6 does religion, combat, civilisations and leaders, great people, city building, and a bunch of good new mechanics the best.

I'm a bit biased against Civ 4 as I was young when I played it, was bad at it, and never understood it in-depth. But in most respects, Civ VI is just a straight-up improvement on Civ V to me, with some notable exceptions.

 

[enKage]

All refers to not modded games

Base interface:
civ4 > civ6 > far far behind civ5

Diplomacy
civ4> civ6 > civ 5

Policies / civics
SMAC (this one has to be mentioned as a bonus) > civ4 far far far behind civ6 > civ5

Replayability
civ4 (really adapting to situation) > civ6 partially adapting to situation > civ5 one vital strategy

Difficulty
civ4 far behind civ5. Civ 6 doesnt even deserve to be ranked

Uniqueness of civs / leaders
Civ 6 > civ4 > civ5 (though in theory civ5 leaders differ much more than civ4, it is cosmetic change, as most of the game are played the same way)

City screen
civ 4 > civ5 > civ6

Early game engaement
civ 4> civ6 > civ5

Late game engagement
civ5 miles ahead (ideologies + tourism! wow wow wow) > civ4 > civ6

Economy
civ4 far ahead > civ5 > civ6

Tech tree
civ4 (least linear) > civ 6 > civ5 (very linear)

Great people
civ4 > civ6 > civ5

Religion
civ4 (so simple and somehow the most impactful) > civ 5 > civ6

Espionage
civ5 > civ4 > civ6

Managing happiness
civ4 > civ6 > civ5 (total disaster)

Managing units
civ4 > civ6 > civ5

Micromanagement required
civ 4 > civ5 > civ6

Map grid
civ5/6 > civ4

wonders
civ4 (most impactful) > civ5 also impactful, but spoilt idea of national wobders) > civ6 too many wonders that are not worth building


.......

 

[topsecret]

What was the last version of Civ to not have World Congress? I'd say that was the version that did World Congress best.

Civ4 didn't have it. It did have the UN, but that's really not like the World Congress, and you can turn it off easily if you didn't like it. (Just turn off diplo victory).

 

[ThunderLizard2]

The ideal Civ game would a remake blending Civ IV and III with the resource limitation of Civ V. Civ VI is too much internal focus on things like districts. Also, AI could never handle 1 UPT so either go back to SoD or incorporate a tile support limit so desert would handle 1-2 units and maybe plains 4-5. Also, incorporate World Congress from Civ V.

 

[Haig]

Civ III:
A big modern battle created shell holes on the map and bombarding cities was brutal.

Civ IV:
World Congress

Civ V:
Along with Civ VI an amazing soundtrack
My favorite scenarios like Smoky skies

Civ VI:
Map graphics, so much life and effects on the map
Leaders, both the personality and animations
Civ bonuses
Unit trees
Generally the game mechanics
City-state and great people have unique bonuses

 

[Gedemon]

From a modder perspective: (edited to summarize)

Civ1:
Nop, I mean, hex editing maybe ?

Civ2:
I didn't mod it, but seeing the forum still active here, and the possibility of scripting using Lua, as well as simplicity, it still seems quite good, similar to civ6 level of access for what I can gather.
-> most accessible

Civ3:
A nice accessible editor, but a lack of depth compared to every other iterations (not even scripting IIRC)

Civ4:
Not perfect, I mean civ5 and civ6 do some things better, but still the best overall, lots of moddable assets, gameplay source code, mods working in MP. Use Python for scripting, so slower than civ5 and especially civ6 on that point, and no SQL for database editing. And less user friendly when you want to mix mods.
-> most moddable

Civ5:
Introducing SQL, great to edit the database (and artdefs that were using it, unlike civ6), using Lua for scripting, gameplay source code released a bit late, but better late than never (*hint*), but less access to assets than civ4, and no official MP modding.
-> best SQL usage (yes, that's a thing)

Civ6:
Great for graphical assets modding with the editor and the attachment system, great for reusing game effect thanks to the modifiers system, faster scripting than all the other iteration (Havok Scripting) and official mod support in MP. But maybe the harder to start modding with, no API documentation, no SQL for artdefs (I miss that one a lot), and no access to the gameplay source code, which would compense the lack of documentation and allow to expose methods to scripting that are missing compared to civ5.
-> best assets editor (well, best and only)
-> faster scripting

 

[Mr. Salt]

As a person who began the series with 6, I find it interesting that there's such a huge dichotomy between unique bonuses in that game and pretty much the rest of the series, as far as I can tell. The bonuses are so much more in-depth in this game, but that also kind of means that you're ushered down a particular path or three with the exception of generalist civs like Cree and Japan. It makes playing each civ feel more distinct from others, and gives you different goals based on who you're playing as. I'd have to try out other games to see whether I like this approach or the more generalist approach more. Unfortunately, I play 6 on my Switch and my computer is a total potato, so a game of Civ 5 isn't in my future anytime soon.

One thing that I've heard about Civ 5 and would much prefer to its current iteration is the method of founding a religion. By what strange magic is "Faith" separate from "Great Prophet points"? If you could only recruit them with faith, but doing so was much cheaper, that would be much better.

 

[Leucarum]

I've got to echo that SMAC was the best game wth Sid Meier's name attached to it. The story and immersion were on a level I don't think any 4X has reached since. The customization options for both government and units were awesome. The range of viable strategies was a lot of fun... I'm getting nostalgic.

The Palace I miss from the earliest incarnations of civ. Imagine how much fun it could have been to have Civ 6's historic moments be incorporated in how your palace deceloped... Missed opportunity for sure. While I have nostalgia for the animated advisers, I'm pretty sure they were an artefact of their time and wouldn't stand up these days.

I found Civ5 completely impenetrable. I think the pace just felt completely off for me. I always got bored and never wanted to take one more turn in that game. I think that makes me completely unqualified to critique what it did best.

Civ6 - the district system is amazing, I really like loyalty, and the uniqueness of each civ are what sets it apart for me.

 

[tiamats4esgares]

The first game I played was Civilization II, I played it a LOT. I also played III and IV a LOT. However, I don't remember any of them well enough to comment. Civilization V did so many things better than IV that after I started playing it, I never went back. After playing VI vanilla, I went back to V right away because it sucked at first but after a couple expansions it was good enough that i went back to VI. Still, I play V from time to time even to this day. I think Civilization V is, by far, the best game in the series, as well as the most innovative. Nobody will ever convince me that IV or VI are better.

Because I don't remember II through IV that much and I think BE is absolute garbage, I'll be comparing only V and VI. One thing I'll note though is the hex system and one-unit-per-tile was WAY better than the alternative. The series in general is better now that the games have this. I hope it stays this way forever.

I think most people will agree that V had better diplomacy, city-state relations, and diplomatic victory.

I also liked V's cultural victory better pre-BNW, and even post-BNW it's better than VI (though I still don't like it).

I like VI's district system. I think it makes the game more fun and dynamic.

Despite liking "cultural" things generally better in V, I like VI's civic tree. Was pretty cool, but:

I think inspirations and eurekas are stupid. They force you to play a way you otherwise wouldn't, think too far ahead about too many things, and punish you more when you don't play the "meta" way.

I LOVE Tall more than wide. If VII doesn't go back to making tall a thing, I will probably not even buy it; that's how annoyed I am by it not existing in VI.

One of the most controversial opinions I have is that I think V has more civ variety than VI. BOTH of them are better than I to IV of course, but I think V is better than VI. When VI first came out, I thought all the civs were too similar and that's one of the main reasons I went back to V. Even to this day, the ONLY civ I like playing is the Maori and have played them at least 90% of the time I've spent in that game. In V, I like England, Babylon, AND Ethiopia and have played each of them a lot and even like Arabia and Brazil quite a bit.

The whole "multiple leaders per civ/some leaders get 2 civs" thing is too niche and there's no point in it. The way it was implemented is just lame. They should've just divided Greece into Athens & Sparta and called it day. No need to switch things up for the sole sake of switching things up. And on that note.....

The entire "natural disasters" thing and all kind of other dumb pointless stuff that came afterwards are also...dumb...and...pointless. The ONLY reason for natural disasters is to hopefully randomly make diplomatic victories quicker in a stupidly arbitrary way. The whole thing with the disasters was implemented poorly, almost as bad as diplomatic victory itself. When you have it turned up high, you see disasters basically every turn, slowing down your gameplay to tell you about something that most likely doesn't matter to you. And if it does, you could be severely at an unfair disadvantage quickly. A flood kills off 60% of your population on turn 30. WTF? A hurricane kills your explorer unit on turn 5. A volcano destroys 3 districts. Etc. etc. Basically it's a low chance to be majorly kicked in the face, but a high chance to just waste your time or do something uneventul and unimportant. (And turning the level down doesn't seem to stop the turn 30 floods from ending you run immediately.)

 

[darko82]

Great thread! I need to make my long list. For now:

Civilization 1:

- Great simple and clean top down view.
- Difficulty. The AI could wipe you down on high difficulty before you even started.
- The feeling of constant enemy threat. (In such case diplomacy is even more meaningful).
- Immersive
- The graphics did not feel so childish and colorful.
- Music tunes, which I like the best.
- Sometimes, simplicity is the best (enough).
- It's one of the last true Sid best games he has ever created. A foundation on which he's built the whole franchise. One of the best strategy games in the gaming history.

Civilization V:

- Best leader screens and leader animations (mostly).

Civilization VI:

- Best graphics so far.

 

[Naktis]

Civ 2:
Animated advisors.

Civ 3:
Leaders looks change depending on era. Also was a bit cheating coz from interaction you knew at what tech level other civ are but still was nice feature.

Civ 4:
Alternative leaders.(civ6 so far fail at this)

Civ 5:
Combat and unit system change to chessboard strategy, this is huge, many old fans hate it, but I think this feature alone brought A LOT new players to this franchise, from other games with similar gameplay.
Tall gameplay.

Civ 6:
Wonder placement and districts.

 

[Linklite]

...Civ 3:
Leaders looks change depending on era. Also was a bit cheating coz from interaction you knew at what tech level other civ are but still was nice feature...

To be fair, if in real life they really were an entire era ahead or behind, you would have been able to tell...

 

[tzu]

Civ1: Nop, I mean, hex editing maybe ?

Sure, we did some fine hacks with the HexEditor as Cheat gold etc., Edit tile, Give back beaten unit, Change midgame the civilization you are playing, Play as the barbarians ...

State of the art back then (like for all other games). Comparably simple effects & complicated modding.

Civ2: the possibility of scripting using Lua

I'm uncertain when that Lua scripting started. As far as I remember, the following RULES.TXT contained all the accessible content for civ2 vanilla & expansions Conflicts in Civilization / Fantastic Worlds (besides some static .gif pictures for units, terrain etc.).

Later there was a remake called Civilization II: Test of Time, released in 1999. Methinks that version got much later tacked on the Lua thingy in fanatical Test Of Time Patch Projects - but I'm guess here a lot: at that time I modded civ4 already ...

Nevertheless RULES.TXT (607 lines, 25.8kB) was a quantum leap above hexEditing! Have a look, quite convenient to change statistics of units, rework the tech tree, implement terra forming ....

Spoiler rules.txt :

;
; CIVILIZATION GAME DATA
; Copyright (c) 1995 by MicroProse Software
;
; This file can be altered at your own risk to change
; the rules of the game. Keep in mind that altering the
; contents of this file may cause your game to malfunction,
; particularly if you use values outside the specified
; ranges.
;
;
; Cosmic Principles
;
; The following numbers control various key rules
; of the game. GREAT discretion is advised if you
; opt to change these. Values too far out of the
; expected range can cause the game to behave strangely.
;
@Cosmic
3 ; Road movement multiplier
2 ; 1 in x chance Trireme lost (mod. by Seafaring, Navigation)
2 ; # of food each citizen eats per turn
10 ; # of rows in food box (rows * city_size+1 = box)
10 ; # of rows in shield box
1 ; Settlers eat (govt <= Monarchy)
2 ; Settlers eat (govt >= Communism)
7 ; City size for first unhappiness at Chieftain level
14 ; Riot factor based on # cities (higher factor lessens the effect)
8 ; Aqueduct needed to exceed this size
12 ; Sewer System needed to exceed this size
10 ; Tech paradigm (higher # slows research)
20 ; Base time for engineers to transform terrain (x2)
3 ; Monarchy pays support for all units past this
3 ; Communism pays support for all units past this
10 ; Fundamentalism pays support for all units past this
0 ; Communism is equivalent of this palace distance.
50 ; Fundamentalism loses this % of science
50 ; Percent shield penalty for production type change
10 ; Max paradrop range
75 ; Mass/Thrust paradigm (increasing slows spaceship time)
5 ; Max effective science rate in fundamentalism (x10, so 5 = 50%)
;
; Civilization Advances
;
; Ai Value, Civilized Modifier, Preq1, Preq2, Epoch, Category
;
; Ai Value = Basic value at which computer players
; view this advance (used in determining
; which discovery to pursue, which to
; acquire during exchanges, and value of
; gift during diplomacy).
; Modifier = Modifier to value based on the "civilized"
; aspect of a leader's personality. Positive
; values increase value for civilized leaders,
; decrease it for militaristic. Negative
; values vice versa.
; preq1, preq2 = Prerequisites
;
; Epoch = historical period
; 0 = Ancient
; 1 = Renaissance
; 2 = Industrial Revolution
; 3 = Modern
;
; Category = Knowledge category
; 0 = Military
; 1 = Economic
; 2 = Social
; 3 = Academic
; 4 = Applied
;
@Civilize
Advanced Flight, 4,-2, Rad, Too, 3, 4 ; AFl
Alphabet, 5, 1, nil, nil, 0, 3 ; Alp
Amphibious Warfare, 3,-2, Nav, Tac, 3, 0 ; Amp
Astronomy, 4, 1, Mys, Mat, 1, 3 ; Ast
Atomic Theory, 4,-1, ToG, Phy, 2, 3 ; Ato
Automobile, 6,-1, Cmb, Stl, 3, 4 ; Aut
Banking, 4, 1, Tra, Rep, 1, 1 ; Ban
Bridge Building, 4, 0, Iro, Cst, 0, 4 ; Bri
Bronze Working, 6,-1, nil, nil, 0, 4 ; Bro
Ceremonial Burial, 5, 0, nil, nil, 0, 2 ; Cer
Chemistry, 5,-1, Uni, Med, 1, 3 ; Che
Chivalry, 4,-2, Feu, Hor, 1, 0 ; Chi
Code of Laws, 4, 1, Alp, nil, 0, 2 ; CoL
Combined Arms, 5,-1, Mob, AFl, 3, 0 ; CA
Combustion, 5,-1, Ref, Exp, 2, 4 ; Cmb
Communism, 5, 0, Phi, Ind, 2, 2 ; Cmn
Computers, 4, 1, Min, MP, 3, 4 ; Cmp
Conscription, 7,-1, Dem, Met, 2, 0 ; Csc
Construction, 4, 0, Mas, Cur, 0, 4 ; Cst
The Corporation, 4, 0, Ind, Eco, 2, 1 ; Cor
Currency, 4, 1, Bro, nil, 0, 1 ; Cur
Democracy, 5, 1, Ban, Inv, 2, 2 ; Dem
Economics, 4, 1, Uni, Ban, 2, 1 ; Eco
Electricity, 4, 0, Met, Mag, 2, 4 ; E1
Electronics, 4, 1, E1, Cor, 3, 4 ; E2
Engineering, 4, 0, Whe, Cst, 0, 4 ; Eng
Environmentalism, 3, 1, Rec, SFl, 3, 2 ; Env
Espionage, 2,-1, Cmn, Dem, 3, 0 ; Esp
Explosives, 5, 0, Gun, Che, 2, 4 ; Exp
Feudalism, 4,-1, War, Mon, 0, 0 ; Feu
Flight, 4,-1, Cmb, ToG, 2, 4 ; Fli
Fundamentalism, 3,-2, MT, Csc, 2, 2 ; Fun
Fusion Power, 3, 0, NP, Sup, 3, 3 ; FP
Genetic Engineering,3, 2, Med, Cor, 3, 3 ; Gen
Guerrilla Warfare, 4, 1, Cmn, Tac, 3, 0 ; Gue
Gunpowder, 8,-2, Inv, Iro, 1, 0 ; Gun
Horseback Riding, 4,-1, nil, nil, 0, 0 ; Hor
Industrialization, 6, 0, RR, Ban, 2, 1 ; Ind
Invention, 6, 0, Eng, Lit, 1, 4 ; Inv
Iron Working, 5,-1, Bro, War, 0, 4 ; Iro
Labor Union, 4,-1, MP, Gue, 3, 2 ; Lab
The Laser, 4, 0, NP, MP, 3, 3 ; Las
Leadership, 5,-1, Chi, Gun, 1, 0 ; Ldr
Literacy, 5, 2, Wri, CoL, 0, 3 ; Lit
Machine Tools, 4,-2, Stl, Tac, 2, 4 ; Too
Magnetism, 4,-1, Phy, Iro, 1, 3 ; Mag
Map Making, 6,-1, Alp, nil, 0, 1 ; Map
Masonry, 4, 1, nil, nil, 0, 4 ; Mas
Mass Production, 5, 0, Aut, Cor, 3, 4 ; MP
Mathematics, 4,-1, Alp, Mas, 0, 3 ; Mat
Medicine, 4, 0, Phi, Tra, 1, 1 ; Med
Metallurgy, 6,-2, Gun, Uni, 1, 0 ; Met
Miniaturization, 4, 1, Too, E2, 3, 4 ; Min
Mobile Warfare, 8,-1, Aut, Tac, 3, 0 ; Mob
Monarchy, 5, 1, Cer, CoL, 0, 2 ; Mon
Monotheism, 5, 1, Phi, PT, 1, 2 ; MT
Mysticism, 4, 0, Cer, nil, 0, 2 ; Mys
Navigation, 6,-1, Sea, Ast, 1, 1 ; Nav
Nuclear Fission, 6,-2, Ato, MP, 3, 3 ; NF
Nuclear Power, 3, 0, NF, E2, 3, 3 ; NP
Philosophy, 6, 1, Mys, Lit, 1, 2 ; Phi
Physics, 4,-1, Nav, Lit, 1, 3 ; Phy
Plastics, 4, 1, Ref, SFl, 3, 4 ; Pla
Plumbing, 4, 0, no, no, 1, 4 ; Plu (Cst & Pot)
Polytheism, 4, 0, Cer, Hor, 0, 2 ; PT
Pottery, 4, 1, nil, nil, 0, 1 ; Pot
Radio, 5,-1, Fli, E1, 3, 4 ; Rad
Railroad, 6, 0, SE, Bri, 2, 1 ; RR
Recycling, 2, 1, MP, Dem, 3, 2 ; Rec
Refining, 4, 0, Che, Cor, 2, 4 ; Ref
Refrigeration, 3, 1, E1, San, 3, 1 ; Rfg
The Republic, 5, 1, CoL, Lit, 0, 2 ; Rep
Robotics, 5,-2, Cmp, Mob, 3, 0 ; Rob
Rocketry, 6,-2, AFl, E2, 3, 0 ; Roc
Sanitation, 4, 2, Med, Eng, 2, 1 ; San
Seafaring, 4, 1, Map, Pot, 0, 1 ; Sea
Space Flight, 4, 1, Cmp, Roc, 3, 3 ; SFl
Stealth, 3,-2, Sup, Rob, 3, 0 ; Sth
Steam Engine, 4,-1, Phy, Inv, 2, 3 ; SE
Steel, 4,-1, E1, Ind, 2, 4 ; Stl
Superconductor, 4, 1, Pla, Las, 3, 3 ; Sup
Tactics, 6,-1, Csc, Ldr, 2, 0 ; Tac
Theology, 3, 2, MT, Feu, 1, 2 ; The
Theory of Gravity, 4, 0, Ast, Uni, 1, 3 ; ToG
Trade, 4, 2, Cur, CoL, 0, 1 ; Tra
University, 5, 1, Mat, Phi, 1, 3 ; Uni
Warrior Code, 4,-1, nil, nil, 0, 0 ; War
The Wheel, 4,-1, Hor, nil, 0, 4 ; Whe
Writing, 4, 2, Alp, nil, 0, 3 ; Wri
Future Technology, 1, 0, FP, Rec, 3, 3 ; ...
User Def Tech A, 3, 0, no, no, 0, 0 ; U1
User Def Tech B, 3, 0, no, no, 0, 0 ; U2
User Def Tech C, 3, 0, no, no, 0, 0 ; U3
;
; Above 3 tech lots allow you to define your own civilization
; advances if desired. Supply the name, the AI value, and
; the prerequisites.
;
; Then use the "U1", "U2", or "U3"
; identifier to incorporate it into the tech chain as a
; prerequisite for other techs, units, city improvements.
;
;
; City Improvements
;
; cost(x10), upkeep, preq
;
@IMPROVE
Nothing, 1, 0, nil,
Palace, 10, 0, Mas,
Barracks, 4, 1, nil,
Granary, 6, 1, Pot,
Temple, 4, 1, Cer,
MarketPlace, 8, 1, Cur,
Library, 8, 1, Wri,
Courthouse, 8, 1, CoL,
City Walls, 8, 0, Mas,
Aqueduct, 8, 2, Cst,
Bank, 12, 3, Ban,
Cathedral, 12, 3, MT,
University, 16, 3, Uni,
Mass Transit, 16, 4, MP,
Colosseum, 10, 4, Cst,
Factory, 20, 4, Ind,
Manufacturing Plant, 32, 6, Rob,
SDI Defense, 20, 4, Las,
Recycling Center, 20, 2, Rec,
Power Plant, 16, 4, Ref,
Hydro Plant, 24, 4, E2,
Nuclear Plant, 16, 2, NP,
Stock Exchange, 16, 4, Eco,
Sewer System, 12, 2, San,
Supermarket, 8, 3, Rfg,
Superhighways, 20, 5, Aut,
Research Lab, 16, 3, Cmp,
SAM Missile Battery, 10, 2, Roc,
Coastal Fortress, 8, 1, Met,
Solar Plant, 32, 4, Env,
Harbor, 6, 1, Sea,
Offshore Platform, 16, 3, Min,
Airport, 16, 3, Rad,
Police Station, 6, 2, Cmn,
Port Facility, 8, 3, Amp,
SS Structural, 8, 0, SFl,
SS Component, 16, 0, Pla,
SS Module, 32, 0, Sup,
(Capitalization), 60, 0, Cor,
Pyramids, 20, 0, Mas,
Hanging Gardens, 20, 0, Pot,
Colossus, 20, 0, Bro,
Lighthouse, 20, 0, Map,
Great Library, 30, 0, Lit,
Oracle, 30, 0, Mys,
Great Wall, 30, 0, Mas,
Sun Tzu's War Academy, 30, 0, Feu,
King Richard's Crusade, 30, 0, Eng,
Marco Polo's Embassy, 20, 0, Tra,
Michelangelo's Chapel, 40, 0, MT,
Copernicus' Observatory, 30, 0, Ast,
Magellan's Expedition, 40, 0, Nav,
Shakespeare's Theatre, 30, 0, Med,
Leonardo's Workshop, 40, 0, Inv,
J. S. Bach's Cathedral, 40, 0, The,
Isaac Newton's College, 40, 0, ToG,
Adam Smith's Trading Co., 40, 0, Eco,
Darwin's Voyage, 40, 0, RR,
Statue of Liberty, 40, 0, Dem,
Eiffel Tower, 30, 0, SE,
Women's Suffrage, 60, 0, Ind,
Hoover Dam, 60, 0, E2,
Manhattan Project, 60, 0, NF,
United Nations, 60, 0, Cmn,
Apollo Program, 60, 0, SFl,
SETI Program, 60, 0, Cmp,
Cure for Cancer, 60, 0, Gen,
;
; Expiration advancements for Wonders of the World
;
@ENDWONDER
nil, ; Pyramids
RR, ; Hanging Gardens
Fli, ; Colossus
Mag, ; Lighthouse
E1, ; Great Library
The, ; Oracle
Met, ; Great Wall
Mob, ; Sun Tzu's War Academy
Ind, ; King Richard's Crusade
Cmn, ; Marco Polo's Embassy
nil, ; Magellan
nil, ; Michelangelo
nil, ; Copernicus
nil, ; Shakespeare
Aut, ; Da Vinci's Workshop
nil, ; Bach
nil, ; Newton
nil, ; Smith's Trading Co.
nil, ; Darwin
nil, ; Statue of Liberty
nil, ; Eiffel Tower
nil, ; Hoover Dam
nil, ; Womens' Suffrage
nil, ; Manhattan Project
nil, ; United Nations
nil, ; Apollo
nil, ; SETI
nil, ; Cure for Cancer
;
; Unit Types
;
; until, domain, move,rng, att,def hit,firepwr cost,hold, role, preq, flags
;
; until = Civ advance which renders unit obsolete
; Move = Movement rate (spaces per turn)
; Range = # of turns fuel carried (0 for non-air units)
;
; domain = Movement domain of unit
: 0 = Ground
; 1 = Air
; 2 = Sea
;
; att = Attack factor (chance to score hit attacking)
; def = Defense factor (chance to score hit defending)
; hit = Hit points (damage x10 which can be taken before elimination)
; firepwr = # damage points caused per hit scored on enemy.
;
; cost = Cost (# of shield rows, usually of 10 shields each)
; hold = # of holds on ship (for carrying units)
;
; role = AI role (Generally affects the way in
; which computer players use the unit, but
; roles >= 5 will actually affect abilities
; of the unit)
; 0 = Attack
; 1 = Defend
; 2 = Naval Superiority
; 3 = Air Superiority
; 4 = Sea Transport
; 5 = Settle
; 6 = Diplomacy
; 7 = Trade
;
; preq = Prerequisite advance
;
; "Flags" control special advantages & restrictions. Not
; all of these flags "make sense" for all types of units
; (paradropping ships, for instance). Nonsensical variations
; may produce bizarre effects (or worse). You were warned.
;
; 000000000000001 = Two space visibility
; 000000000000010 = Ignore zones of control
; 000000000000100 = Can make amphibious assaults
; 000000000001000 = Submarine advantages/disadvantages
; 000000000010000 = Can attack air units (fighter)
; 000000000100000 = Ship must stay near land (trireme)
; 000000001000000 = Negates city walls (howitzer)
; 000000010000000 = Can carry air units (carrier)
; 000000100000000 = Can make paradrops
; 000001000000000 = Alpine (treats all squares as road)
; 000010000000000 = x2 on defense versus horse (pikemen)
; 000100000000000 = Free support for fundamentalism (fanatics)
; 001000000000000 = Destroyed after attacking (missiles)
; 010000000000000 = x2 on defense versus air (AEGIS)
; 100000000000000 = Unit can spot submarines
;
;
@UNITS
Settlers, Exp, 0, 1.,0, 0a,1d, 2h,1f, 4,0, 5, nil, 000000000000000
Engineers, nil, 0, 2.,0, 0a,2d, 2h,1f, 4,0, 5, Exp, 000000000000000
Warriors, Feu, 0, 1.,0, 1a,1d, 1h,1f, 1,0, 1, nil, 000000000000000
Phalanx, Feu, 0, 1.,0, 1a,2d, 1h,1f, 2,0, 1, Bro, 000000000000000
Archers, Gun, 0, 1.,0, 3a,2d, 1h,1f, 3,0, 1, War, 000000000000000
Legion, Gun, 0, 1.,0, 4a,2d, 1h,1f, 4,0, 1, Iro, 000000000000000
Pikemen, Gun, 0, 1.,0, 1a,2d, 1h,1f, 2,0, 1, Feu, 000010000000000
Musketeers, Csc, 0, 1.,0, 3a,3d, 2h,1f, 3,0, 1, Gun, 000000000000000
Fanatics, nil, 0, 1.,0, 4a,4d, 2h,1f, 2,0, 1, Fun, 000100000000000
Partisans, nil, 0, 1.,0, 4a,4d, 2h,1f, 5,0, 1, Gue, 000001000000010
Alpine Troops,nil, 0, 1.,0, 5a,5d, 2h,1f, 5,0, 1, Tac, 000001000000000
Riflemen, nil, 0, 1.,0, 5a,4d, 2h,1f, 4,0, 1, Csc, 000000000000000
Marines, nil, 0, 1.,0, 8a,5d, 2h,1f, 6,0, 0, Amp, 000000000000100
Paratroopers, nil, 0, 1.,0, 6a,4d, 2h,1f, 6,0, 1, CA, 000000100000000
Mech. Inf., nil, 0, 3.,0, 6a,6d, 3h,1f, 5,0, 1, Lab, 000000000000000
Horsemen, Chi, 0, 2.,0, 2a,1d, 1h,1f, 2,0, 0, Hor, 000000000000000
Chariot, PT, 0, 2.,0, 3a,1d, 1h,1f, 3,0, 0, Whe, 000000000000000
Elephant, MT, 0, 2.,0, 4a,1d, 1h,1f, 4,0, 0, PT, 000000000000000
Crusaders, Ldr, 0, 2.,0, 5a,1d, 1h,1f, 4,0, 0, MT, 000000000000000
Knights, Ldr, 0, 2.,0, 4a,2d, 1h,1f, 4,0, 0, Chi, 000000000000000
Dragoons, Tac, 0, 2.,0, 5a,2d, 2h,1f, 5,0, 0, Ldr, 000000000000000
Cavalry, Mob, 0, 2.,0, 8a,3d, 2h,1f, 6,0, 0, Tac, 000000000000000
Armor, nil, 0, 3.,0, 10a,5d, 3h,1f, 8,0, 0, Mob, 000000000000000
Catapult, Met, 0, 1.,0, 6a,1d, 1h,1f, 4,0, 0, Mat, 000000000000000
Cannon, Too, 0, 1.,0, 8a,1d, 2h,1f, 4,0, 0, Met, 000000000000000
Artillery, Rob, 0, 1.,0, 10a,1d, 2h,2f, 5,0, 0, Too, 000000000000000
Howitzer, nil, 0, 2.,0, 12a,2d, 3h,2f, 7,0, 0, Rob, 000000001000000
Fighter, Sth, 1, 10.,1, 4a,3d, 2h,2f, 6,0, 3, Fli, 000000000010001
Bomber, Sth, 1, 8.,2, 12a,1d, 2h,2f, 12,0, 0, AFl, 000000000000001
Helicopter, nil, 1, 6.,0, 10a,3d, 2h,2f, 10,0, 0, CA, 100000000000001
Stlth Ftr., nil, 1, 14.,1, 8a,4d, 2h,2f, 8,0, 3, Sth, 000000000010001
Stlth Bmbr., nil, 1, 12.,2, 14a,5d, 2h,2f, 16,0, 0, Sth, 000000000000001
Trireme, Nav, 2, 3.,0, 1a,1d, 1h,1f, 4,2, 4, Map, 000000000100000
Caravel, Mag, 2, 3.,0, 2a,1d, 1h,1f, 4,3, 4, Nav, 000000000000000
Galleon, Ind, 2, 4.,0, 0a,2d, 2h,1f, 4,4, 4, Mag, 000000000000000
Frigate, E1, 2, 4.,0, 4a,2d, 2h,1f, 5,2, 2, Mag, 000000000000000
Ironclad, E1, 2, 4.,0, 4a,4d, 3h,1f, 6,0, 2, SE, 000000000000000
Destroyer, nil, 2, 6.,0, 4a,4d, 3h,1f, 6,0, 2, E1, 100000000000001
Cruiser, Roc, 2, 5.,0, 6a,6d, 3h,2f, 8,0, 2, Stl, 100000000000001
AEGIS Cruiser,nil, 2, 5.,0, 8a,8d, 3h,2f, 10,0, 2, Roc, 110000000000001
Battleship, nil, 2, 4.,0, 12a,12d, 4h,2f, 16,0, 2, Aut, 000000000000001
Submarine, nil, 2, 3.,0, 10a,2d, 3h,2f, 6,0, 2, Cmb, 000000000001001
Carrier, nil, 2, 5.,0, 1a,9d, 4h,2f, 16,0, 2, AFl, 000000010000001
Transport, nil, 2, 5.,0, 0a,3d, 3h,1f, 5,8, 4, Ind, 000000000000000
Cruise Msl., nil, 1, 12.,1, 18a,0d, 1h,3f, 6,0, 0, Roc, 001000000000000
Nuclear Msl., nil, 1, 16.,1, 99a,0d, 1h,1f, 16,0, 0, Roc, 001000000000000
Diplomat, Esp, 0, 2.,0, 0a,0d, 1h,1f, 3,0, 6, Wri, 000000000000010
Spy, nil, 0, 3.,0, 0a,0d, 1h,1f, 3,0, 6, Esp, 000000000000011
Caravan, Cor, 0, 1.,0, 0a,1d, 1h,1f, 5,0, 7, Tra, 000000000000010
Freight, nil, 0, 2.,0, 0a,1d, 1h,1f, 5,0, 7, Cor, 000000000000010
Explorer, Gue, 0, 1.,0, 0a,1d, 1h,1f, 3,0, 0, Sea, 000001000000010
Extra Land, nil, 0, 1.,0, 1a,1d, 1h,1f, 5,0, 0, no, 000000000000000
Extra Ship, nil, 2, 4.,0, 4a,2d, 2h,1f, 5,1, 2, no, 000000000000000
Extra Air, nil, 1, 8.,4, 8a,8d, 2h,2f, 10,0, 0, no, 000000000000000
;
; Note: the above 3 unit types (extra land, ship, air) are available
; for user defined unit types. If these units are given prerequisites
; other than "no" they will appear in the game when the specified
; technology is reached. Use if you want to create your own unit types
; without sacrificing any of the predefined units. Be sure to define
; the "role" field accurately, so that the computer will understand how
; to make use of the new units in its own civilizations.
;
; There is no requirement that the extra units be used to
; create exactly one of each type; you could create three
; ground units. But the icons provided are for one of each.
; The 3 extra unit types have default icons provided by the game.
; To actually change the icons is a somewhat more difficult
; task. The icons are stored in "UNITS.GIF".
;
; Sound effects for these three units may be added by providing
; CUSTOM1.WAV, CUSTOM2.WAV, and CUSTOM3.WAV. These should be
; 8-bit, mono, and sampled at 22050hz.
;
; Ideas:
;
; Hovercraft, nil, 2, 8.,0, 0a,1d, 2h,2f, 7,1, 4, MP, 000000000000000
;
;
; Terrain
;
; Movecost, defense, food, shields, trade,
; . . . Irrigate, bonus, #turns, ai-irrigate,
; . . . Mine, bonus, #turns, ai-mine
; . . . Transform
;
; defense = multiply by 50% to get % of normal combat factor defended at.
; (so 3 x 50% = 150%, meaning a strength 2 unit defends at 3).
;
; Irrigate/Mine = yes, no, or type of terrain changed to
; Transform = Terrain type engineers can transform to
;
; bonus = # extra production from that change
;
; turns = # turns for settler to make change
;
; ai = Minimum govt level necessary for
; computer player to want to perform irrigate/mine
; 0 Never
; 1 Despotism
; 2 Monarchy
; 3 Communism
; 4 Fundamentalism
; 5 Republic
; 6 Democracy
;
@TERRAIN
Desert, 1,2, 0,1,0, yes, 1, 5, 5, yes, 1, 5, 3, Pln, ; Drt
Plains, 1,2, 1,1,0, yes, 1, 5, 1, For, 0,15, 0, Grs, ; Pln
Grassland, 1,2, 2,1,0, yes, 1, 5, 2, For, 0,10, 0, Hil, ; Grs
Forest, 2,3, 1,2,0, Pln, 0, 5, 5, no, 0, 5, 0, Grs, ; For
Hills, 2,4, 1,0,0, yes, 1,10, 0, yes, 3,10, 1, Pln, ; Hil
Mountains, 3,6, 0,1,0, no, 1,10, 0, yes, 1,10, 6, Hil, ; Mou
Tundra, 1,2, 1,0,0, yes, 1,10, 1, no, 0, 0, 0, Drt, ; Tun
Glacier, 2,2, 0,0,0, no, 0, 0, 0, yes, 1,15, 3, Tun, ; Gla
Swamp, 2,3, 1,0,0, Grs, 0,15, 6, For, 0,15, 0, Pln, ; Swa
Jungle, 2,3, 1,0,0, Grs, 0,15, 6, For, 0,15, 0, Pln, ; Jun
Ocean, 1,2, 1,0,2, no, 0, 0, 0, no, 0, 0, 0, no, ; Oce
Oasis, 1,2, 3,1,0,
Buffalo, 1,2, 1,3,0,
Grassland, 1,2, 2,1,0,
Pheasant, 2,3, 3,2,0,
Coal, 2,4, 1,2,0,
Gold, 3,6, 0,1,6,
Game, 1,2, 3,1,0,
Ivory, 2,2, 1,1,4,
Peat, 2,3, 1,4,0,
Gems, 2,3, 1,0,4,
Fish, 1,2, 3,0,2,
Oil, 1,2, 0,4,0,
Wheat, 1,2, 3,1,0,
Grassland, 1,2, 2,1,0,
Silk, 2,3, 1,2,3,
Wine, 2,4, 1,0,4,
Iron, 3,6, 0,4,0,
Furs, 1,2, 2,0,3,
Oil, 2,2, 0,4,0,
Spice, 2,3, 3,0,4,
Fruit, 2,3, 4,0,1,
Whales, 1,2, 2,2,3,
@GOVERNMENTS
Anarchy, Mr., Ms.
Despotism, Emperor, Empress
Monarchy, King, Queen
Communism, Comrade, Comrade
Fundamentalism, High Priest, High Priestess
Republic, Consul, Consul
Democracy, President, President
;
; Leaders
;
; leader, female, color, style, plural, adjective, ...
; ...attack, expand, civilize, ...
; ...govt, male, female...<repeat>
;
; female: 0 = male 1 = female
;
; color: Color set (1 - 7)
; style: City style (0 - 3)
; 0 = Bronze Age
; 1 = Classical
; 2 = Far East
; 3 = Medieval
;
; attack: 1 = aggressive -1 = rational
; expand: 1 = expansionist -1 = perfectionist
; civilize: 1 = civilized -1 = militaristic
;
; govt = government type for name replacement (0 = Anarchy, 6 = Democracy)
;
; male, female = titles for leader of government
;
@leaders
Caesar, Livia, 0, 1, 1, Romans, Roman, 0, 1, 1, 1, Dictator, Dictator, 2, Imperator, Imperatrix
Hammurabi, Ishtari, 0, 2, 0, Babylonians, Babylonian, -1, -1, 1,
Frederick, Maria Theresa, 0, 3, 3, Germans, German, 1, -1, 1, 4, Archbishop, Archbishop, 6, Chancellor, Chancellor
Ramesses, Cleopatra, 1, 4, 0, Egyptians, Egyptian, 0, 0, 1, 1, Pharaoh, Pharaoh, 2, Great Pharaoh, Great Pharaoh
Abe Lincoln, E. Roosevelt, 0, 5, 1, Americans, American, -1, 0, 1, 4, Reverend, Reverend, 5, Speaker, Speaker
Alexander, Hippolyta, 1, 6, 1, Greeks, Greek, 0, 1, -1, 6, Prime Minister, Prime Minister
Mohandas Gandhi,Indira Gandhi, 0, 7, 2, Indians, Indian, -1, -1, 0, 2, Maharaja, Maharaja,
Lenin, Catherine the Great, 1, 1, 3, Russians, Russian, 1, 0, -1, 2, Czar, Czarina, 4, Patriarch, Matriarch
Shaka, Shakala, 0, 2, 0, Zulus, Zulu, 1, 0, 0,
Louis XIV, Joan of Arc, 0, 3, 3, French, French, 1, 1, 1, 4, Archbishop, Archbishop, 6, Premier, Premier
Montezuma, Nazca, 0, 4, 0, Aztecs, Aztec, 0, -1, 1,
Mao Tse Tung, Wu Zhao, 0, 5, 2, Chinese, Chinese, 0, 0, 1, 3, Chairman, Chairperson
Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, 1, 6, 3, English, English, 0, 1, 0, 4, Lord Protector, Lady Protector, 6, Prime Minister, Prime Minister
Genghis Khan, Bortei, 0, 7, 0, Mongols, Mongol, 1, 1, -1,
Cunobelin, Boadicea, 1, 1, 0, Celts, Celtic, -1, 1, 0, 4, Druid, Druid
Tokugawa, Amaterasu, 0, 2, 2, Japanese, Japanese, 1, -1, -1, 2, Shogun, Shogun, 6, Prime Minister, Prime Minister
Canute, Gunnhild, 1, 3, 3, Vikings, Viking, 1, 1, 0, 1, Warlord, Warlord
Philip II, Isabella, 1, 4, 3, Spanish, Spanish, -1, 1, -1, 4, Archbishop, Archbishop
Xerxes, Scheherezade, 0, 5, 0, Persians, Persian, 0, -1, 0, 2, Shah, Shah, 4, Ayatollah, Ayatollah
Hannibal, Dido, 0, 6, 1, Carthaginians, Carthaginian, 0, 0, -1,
Sitting Bull, Sacajawea, 0, 7, 0, Sioux, Sioux, 0, 0, 0, 1, Chief, Chief, 2, Great Chief, Great Chief
Saladin, ..., 0, 5, Arabs, Arab, 1, 0, 1, 4, Ayatollah, Ayatollah, 2, Sultan, Sultana
Atawallpa, ..., 0, 1, Incas, Inca, -1, 1, 1,
;
; Trading Commodities
;
@Caravan
Hides,
Wool,
Beads,
Cloth,
Salt,
Coal,
Copper,
Dye,
Wine,
Silk,
Silver,
Spice,
Gems,
Gold,
Oil,
Uranium,
@ORDERS
Fortify, F
Fortified, F
Sleep, S
Build Fortress, F
Build Road, R
Build Irrigation, I
Build Mine, m
Transform, O
Clean Pollution, p
Build Airbase, E
Go to, G
@DIFFICULTY
Chieftain
Warlord
Prince
King
Emperor
Deity
@ATTITUDES
Worshipful
Enthusiastic
Cordial
Receptive
Neutral
Uncooperative
Icy
Hostile
Enraged

Civ3: (not even scripting)

I think civ4 was the first official with revolutionary (Python) scripting & of course the Holy band-aid (C++ core source code) ...



Edit: Traditionally in CIV the odd numbers bring new elements and the even numbers find perfection.

 

[SammyKhalifa]

I've got to echo that SMAC was the best game wth Sid Meier's name attached to it. The story and immersion were on a level I don't think any 4X has reached since. The customization options for both government and units were awesome. The range of viable strategies was a lot of fun... I'm getting nostalgic.

In general I agree as I said a few pages back, really wish that they could get the rights back and do a remake. I'd probably keep the story and mood but change a lot of the gameplay.

Some of it is just because of the changing times, but to be fair there were many issues with SMAC that even at the time you could criticize:
--the AI was probably the dumbest of the lot. This is probably because there were so many different options that it couldn't keep track of everything. CivII which was right after it was scaled down a lot in this regard ,and the AI was much better.
--the unit builder system was a neat idea but in practice kind of pointless. IT was cool to prototype goofy machines like "Spy Boat" and "Settler jet" though. It was so hard to tell between two vastly different dunebuggy or infantry units.
--certain paths and stragegies (hello there supply crawler) were vastly superior to others and unbalanced. You didn't even need an online community of thousands to point it out to you!
--it was intentional but in my opinion the map and most of the graphics were the ugliest to date.

But still, those were absolutely bearable because everything else was so good.

The most annoying thing for me was the tendency for the AI to walk a colony unit all the way across the map and plant a crappy useless city right in the middle of your territory if there was even a one tile space where it would fit. WHY?? I think the whole advent of expanding borders and culture flipping in III was a direct answer to this.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

SMAC unit creator is nothing special, it is basically just a more free form of the unit system used in Civ III, it still comes down to attack, defence and hp and thats basically it. The difference between weapons is just how much attack they have and if they are artillery or not. By that time Master of Orion 2 had a significantly more indepth unit customization. Later Pandora first contact have unit customization with various weapons with different abilities, such as anti tank or anti infantry and overall a combat system that seems superior to any civ game.

Neither was the civic engineering all that great, it is a step up from static governments, but Civ IV civic system with specific bonuses and even unlocking abilities is better.

I don't think there is anything really good about SMAC gameplay by todays standard, basically everything about it have been done better in other games. The story and atmosphere however do set it appart.