Which version should I play if I want to have fun?

DakaSha

Chieftain
Joined
Dec 23, 2010
Messages
53
Title^

Well and this:

Ive been wanting to try this seriously for (literally) years. But i feel the mod has just become more and more about constantly making (large!) changes that the regulars test, *****, complain, moan, and debate about instead of actually finishing up what could be a great product.

I have very little experience with the mod, so i cant comment on much, but what i mentioned above does not feel like its actually helping the game. It just feels like its being over balanced, over designed, and basically over done all around, leading to more of a mess.

Dont take this too serious though. I really dont know much about the actual trajectory of the mod. For all i know everything happening is justified and needed (or maybe this is just fun to you guys, in which case who am i to judge).

Im just expressing what it feels like as somebody new that just wants to play a (more or less) finished game, without having to worry about bugs, unbalanced ****, broken functionality and constant changes to the games rules. As it stands, I come in here.. look at the newest version thread.. read through the thread.. see a number of (pretty large) problems, and just drop the idea of playing because the game doesnt appear to be in a very playable state (by my definition of playable anyways). Even if it were playable, and fun.. well its gonna change 3 weeks later anyways. May as well wait.. again

So, is there some kind of general consensus on which version I should just play until the mods finally finished? Does some version stand out that the community can kinda maybe sorta agree on being the best one up to now?

You arent going to agree are you? :undecide:
 
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Huh? The forums are very active, but the game is very well balanced and there are no game-breaking bugs. So yes, just play the latest version.

You may have been unlucky and seen the discussions about a couple of versions in June /July where the happiness was difficult to manage. Except this period, the mod has been playable without any major problems for a couple of years. No idea what you are basing your opinion about lack of balance and game-breaking bugs on.

Don't wait, just try it out. I can guarantee, you will never go back to any current or future version of Civ :-)
 
The general consensus is:

"Read the thread from the last version, (wait few days if the version has just been release, an hotfix is quite probable, and wait a few days after any hotfix) and look at what people says."

For the January version, going quickly trough the thread after the hotfix, some bugs are still reported (which is unfortunate), but happiness is considered as "too much happiness" (which is better from 'fun' point of view than "not enough happiness", which tend to be the norm in previous version).

Looking at all the bugs fixed between the january and december version, it is mostly AI bugs.

Hence:
+ If AI "cleverness" matter a lot to you, go for the January version.
+ If you struggle with happiness, and find it unfun, go for the January version.
+ If you absolutely don't want bugs, take the December 18th. Even though the January version PROBABLY has less bugs, the December version CERTAINLY has no game-breaking bugs.
 
Don't think "it might be fun to have more space", and remove one of the AI from setup. Something like this may happen, even on Prince level, because the AI are doing very well, and expand very fast. Songhai explodes. Korea is already in modern era, other AI industrial, Denmark in Renaissance... I wonder why the Danes are still happy :king:
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I think the OP is also asking, is there a "final version". We are working on that Gold version which we would consider the polished version of VP, but looking at the current pace of change, I don't think that will happen in the near future.
 
I think we're closer to 'gold' than you think. Lots of pretty small tweaks and bugfixes/UI cleanup, but major shakeups are really only happening as we make a pass over systems that didn't get much attention before (like naval melee promotions).

IMO 'Gold' would be a version of VP that's virtually bug-free (quirks can happen, but show-stopping bugs would be gone), has the majority of its UI clarity implemented, and is balanced enough most civs, policies, beliefs, buildings, etc. are viable and useful with the correct strategies. Small changes can happen after 'Gold,' but we'd stop with the structural/API changes. Make sense?

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Hmm alright.

Maybe my impressions are skewed since the people commenting in the update threads know the mod in-and-out (meaning that things that would be less perceptible to me are brought up).

Thanks for the replies. I may try out the newest version then. Still waiting for the "finished" 1.0 version though :)
 
As someone who has played changes during more than three years, I can say that what you call major changes amount to 2-5% of player experience.
A minor tweak is usually unnoticed in terms of gameplay, unless you are a deity player. A major change you'll certainly notice, but overall the game is pretty much the same.
The only caveat is that I sometimes forget some of the changes and keep playing with old strategies.

One great thing about playing that many changes is that it never gets old. Anyways, for a buggy free experience, try out the Dec 18 release.
 
Hmm alright.

Maybe my impressions are skewed since the people commenting in the update threads know the mod in-and-out (meaning that things that would be less perceptible to me are brought up).

Thanks for the replies. I may try out the newest version then. Still waiting for the "finished" 1.0 version though :)

Now something you put in the title that I think is important to review is....."Is the game fun?"

This is where less "hardcore" perspectives are needed imo. We veterans get used to certain things and certain ways, and forget the more casual player experience. Its important to give that feedback, because ultimately the balance of a game doesn't mean a damn thing if its not engaging and interesting.
 
Now something you put in the title that I think is important to review is....."Is the game fun?"

This is where less "hardcore" perspectives are needed imo. We veterans get used to certain things and certain ways, and forget the more casual player experience. Its important to give that feedback, because ultimately the balance of a game doesn't mean a damn thing if its not engaging and interesting.

I have only played a game up until around 0AD. This was maybe 4-6 months ago? Roughly.
I enjoyed myself but I remember not being too crazy about how happiness is handled. Overall i think it may be one of the weakest points of the mod. I felt like choices were actually taken away from me, since I was required to constantly base my decisions on trying to get some number closer to what it should be.

But as I said thats really where my experience ends, so im in no position to give any kind of review. My main interest in the mod is the AI, and ill take some (imo) not so great design decisions if I can get a semi-competent, fairly "human-like" opponent out of the deal.
 
I have only played a game up until around 0AD. This was maybe 4-6 months ago? Roughly.
I enjoyed myself but I remember not being too crazy about how happiness is handled. Overall i think it may be one of the weakest points of the mod. I felt like choices were actually taken away from me, since I was required to constantly base my decisions on trying to get some number closer to what it should be.

But as I said thats really where my experience ends, so im in no position to give any kind of review. My main interest in the mod is the AI, and ill take some (imo) not so great design decisions if I can get a semi-competent, fairly "human-like" opponent out of the deal.
Happiness is much more forgiving in the latest version. Just try a standard game on Prince difficulty if you don't want to worry about happiness, but still have a slight challenge while getting your feet wet. I'd honestly suggest disabling the events system (in the advanced settings of game setup) for now. Other than that, you should have no problems.
 
4-6 months ago - this would probably be the version I mention above in which the unhappiness was too harsh.

If you skip this unlucky period of roughly 2 months, I think you can play any version from the last 2 YEARS and you will have a fun and balanced game. So yeah, get the newest version. If there was anything game-breaking you would already be seeing reports from players in its thread - soon followed by a speedy hotfix by our amazing Gazebo and co.
 
Is the version you played with from 4-6 months ago the version that still has ‘Crime’ as a source of unhappiness? The old system was punishing big cities way too much, and was changed in newer versions. It’s had a few kinks to get the amounts and mathy math sorted out since then, and it’s my opinion that dec 18 is still a bit too harsh for unhappiness, but the newer version is gentler.

It sounds like the next version after this is going to be even more forgiving for happiness, at least based on the rumblings on the forums.
 
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