Which mod would you recommend?

[Vonreuter]

Hello!

A returning Civ IV player would like to know which mod to try out. I dusted off the DVD covers and put in the worn Civ IV disk the other day, started a game as Egypt (Ramesses), played till the modern age and... wanted something different. I'm still going to finish the game, but I don't think I want to start a new vanilla game very soon.

I've never played a Civ IV mod and I don't really fancy the ones in the game. I like exploring, capturing resources and waging war on a moderate scale (i.e. not huge wars). What I dislike about Civ IV is how quickly some eras pass, but then I also don't want to play a Marathon game. I'd also like to have more diplomatic options than simply choosing my religion (oh no, I said too much).

I think I'd like a mod with interesting tech trees and nice resources sprinkled around - and I'd like the map to be random, if that's possible. I don't want to relearn the game, which makes me shy away from the mods in the game.

I checked the mod forum and there were tons of mods. Which one of them would you recommend to me?

 

[phungus420]

Legends of Revolution​

The Legends of Revolution mod is set up to play like a commercailly viable expansion pack. As such this mod can make the following boasts:

• Great Stability. There have been no known critical bugs found in LoR in months, the current version of LoR will not crash in single player (unless you try to play on a map your computer can't handle, in which case the same map would lag out and/or randomly crash in BtS)
• Easy Installation, and playability. All you do is click the installer, and everything is handled for you.
• Coherent setup. Legends of Revolution adds a few new concepts and objects, like Revolutions, Influence Driven War, and Legends Units. The amount of new content is equivalent to the change from Vanilla civ4 to Beyond the Sword; like with BtS concepts such as espionage and Vassals you can also turn off the new concepts in the custom game start up menu as per your game preferences.
• New improved AI. The most recent version of BetterAI is included, so the AI is much better then in BtS.
• Better Interface. The BUG mod has been fully incorporated in LoR, so you get all the great interface improvements available from the BUG team.

Others will post more expansion type mods in here, but they cannot make the above boasts, period. The only mods that can claim the same high level of performance and ease of use are either entire new re-designs (like Planetfall, a great mod to try BTW), or do not expand on the game much (like the PIG mod, and BUG itself). Accept no substitutes, try the most stable and coherent expansion type modpack available. Play Legends of Revolution Today

 

[JoeHollywood]

I've been having a lot of fun with the newest rise of mankind mod. The tech tree is about 4 times as big and tons of other features, like civ stability, that really seem to preserve eras for much longer.

 

[idle]

I second the suggestion for Legends of Revolution! I never play "vanilla" BTS anymore. It's just boring when you don't have revolutions and minor nations. Plus, the swordsman actually has a role to play in LoR.

 

[Vonreuter]

An easy-to-install mod with lots of goodies yet rather similar to Civ IV? I'll try it!

I like the idea of legendary units, and your unit advancement chart looks pretty cool. Planetfall looks very good too, and I liked the game it's based on, but I think I'll leave that for a later date.

Hmm, now I need to find the willpower to finish my game as Ramesses before installing Legends of Revolution. Gandhi's building his spaceship already, and Roosevelt is the world's favourite little pet in the UN... It'll be a tough nut to crack.

Thanks for the tips, everybody.

 

[TheWilltoAct]

The only mods that can claim the same high level of performance and ease of use are either entire new re-designs -- or do not expand on the game much (like the PIG mod, and BUG itself).

That's the one I use, PIG mod!

 

[Baldyr]

The only thing I play nowadays is the Rhye's and Fall of Civilization mod - its actually included in the Beyond the Sword expansion.

Note that even though its a World history mod, there is also a random map version available for download!

I couldn't recommend this mod enough.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

You have not plaid CIV until you have plaid Fall From Heaven.
It is the absolute best mod around completely transforming the base game into one with a D&D fantasy setting complete with magic, giants, dwarves, elves, demons and all the other things your hearth can desire.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=190

The absolute best mod for CIV.

 

[TheWilltoAct]

My hearth desires some plaid

 

[Lemon Merchant]

There's certainly enough plaid around my flat. Celtic crap everywhere...
(Tartan is probably a better word. )


For the most complete mod that offers the most "commercial quality" experience, I would happily recommend Legends of Revolution. The quality of LoR is unmatched by most of the other mods available here. It's clean and balanced, and doesn't suffer from the "Kitchen Sink Syndrome" that some of the other mod packs do.

If you're looking for something a little less game changing, The BAT Mod offers a stylish and interesting visual improvement over the standard BTS graphics, without modifying the game play in any way. It's primarily eye candy, and it also includes the "can't live without it" BUG Mod, and the informational enhancement of BULL.

See the links in my sig for further details.

 

[phungus420]

For the most complete mod that offers the most "commercial quality" experience, I would happily recommend Legends of Revolution. The quality of LoR is unmatched by most of the other mods available here. It's clean and balanced, and doesn't suffer from the "Kitchen Sink Syndrome" that some of the other mod packs do.

Much love back at you LM

You have not plaid CIV until you have plaid Fall From Heaven.

Well the OP asked for something along the lines of Civ4. But I agree Fall from Heaven is a great mod, very professionally done, and also very stable. Given it's popularity I'm surprised Firaxis didn't hire Kael to produce an entirely new game following the concepts of the mod, it certainly would have been a money maker, and wouldn't have required alot of resources to produce. Firaxis is a small firm though, they likely only have the ability to focus on 1 project at a time, so with the development of BtS, then Colonization, then CivRev and now Civ5 they probably already had a full plate.

I usually don't mention Fall from Heaven though, it has over half a million downloads. It's not hard to find, or come across. It doesn't really seem like a mod that needs more free publicity. This is why I normally point out Planetfall and History of the Three Kingdoms as well done mods to check out if you want something entirely different. They are not well known, yet they are of superb quality and many players would enjoy them if they just knew they were there.

 

[NBAfan]

If you want a more epic game try Rise of Mankind.

 

[gramcrkr103]

Rise of Mankind plus A New Dawn is practically a different game compared to vanilla

 

[mechaerik]

Another cool sci-fi mod is Marsjetzt (AKA Mars, Now!).

For coherence and stability, its Legends of Revolution.

If you want something new and very different, try Fall from Heaven II (basically an entire new game).

For MOAR stuff, try Rise of Mankind.

Other good modpacks include Quot Capita, BUFFY (its BUG+BULL+HOF. no real gameplay changes, but once you try it you will find it hard to play without), Rhye's and Fall of Civilization (RFC, a very interesting mod, but you need a fairly good computer to play it).

White Lies Black Ops is a sort of obscure mod that adds some really interesting concepts, too (like a second espionage system, terrorist attacks, natives, and overall coolness).

 

[Scoottr]

Big fan of History in the Making. And just the right amount and you don't have to deal with annoying revolutions.

Highly recommend it!

 

[Vonreuter]

Oh wow, thanks for all the tips!

Now I have a ton of mods to choose from... Which kind of brings me back to the problem in the beginning.

No, just kidding. Before I started this thread I had a ton of mods to choose from but no idea what they were really like and whether people enjoyed playing them or not.

LoR is looking pretty good. I haven't learned all the nuances yet, but I got what I asked for: a mod that is not far from Civ yet different - and it feels new. I also like the new Civilizations & leaders. Once again Civ feels interesting!
Thanks again!