Why is the Call to Power series so (not) awful?

[Sim_One]

I've heard mixed reviews about the two games, more negative remarks than positive ones. I want to know if I should buy it or not. A comparison between CTP and Civ3 would be nice.

Note to Moderators: Please don't move this thread to the CTP forum because no one seems to go there and I want as many responses as possible.

 

[Azale]

Iv heard CTP has a bunch of units with stupid stats and weird powers that ruin a game.

The only positive would be that it's pretty, but now that Civ3 is out, that is even less important

 

[Archer 007]

Call to Power was terrible. Use the money wisely and buy Civ 3.

 

[Centrifuge]

I have to disagree

CTP and CTP2 have far more depth than the Sid Meir civ games. They are not exact clones of the SM games, therefore many people do not like them. There are many positives to CTP over Civ3, and vice versa.

Advantages of CTP2 over Civ3:

-far more elaborate tech tree
-more units to choose from
-Public works: does away with having to manage hundreds of workers, and gives more of an empire feel instead of "city states"
-Ctp2 compared to Civ3 is almost infinitely modable (Check out the Apolyton CTP2 modding section )
-The availability of more stealth units (slavers, clerics, corporate branch, spys etc.)
-Greater number of civs to choose from
-greater number of governments to choose from
-Sea cities in CTP an CTP2, and Space cities in CTP

This list can go on and on, but many things boil down to a preference issues

Don't get me wrong however, Civ3 is an excellant game, and has benefits over CTP2 in most namely strategic resources and the diplomacy model. However, as I've already stated, many of the things that are good about Civ3 are currently being or have already been modded into CTP2. Oh and both CTP and CTP2, came shipped with multiplayer (it's sometimes buggy, but that is easilly fixed through modding )

The main drawback of CTP2 is the weak AI. The out of the box AI is a pushover. Therefore it is imperative that mods be downloaded, there are several excellant ones to choose from which change the game ranging from very slight(ie Fixing the AI) to the extreme.

Also CTP1 and CTP2 can be found in the bargain bins. Best $10 that you'll ever spend

 

[Ren]

Or go for Civ 2, a much better game in my view So what if you don't get fancy graphics, it's about gameplay right?

 

[Locutus]

Originally posted by Sim_One
Note to Moderators: Please don't move this thread to the CTP forum because no one seems to go there and I want as many responses as possible.

Actually, many of the CtP2 vets on Apolyton are subscribed to most of the threads in the CtP forum so if you were to post in one of the existing threads rather than start a new one, you would get plenty of responses Alternatively, you could post on the CtP1 or CtP2 forums on Apolyton, where there are still plenty of people

Anyway, centrifuge (Hi, cen, didn't know you posted here ) summed it up pretty well. The one thing that still needs to be mentioned is that CtP1 and 2 have a combat system that's IMNSHO far superior to Civ3's system: you have actual stacked combat, meaning that your Archers attack the enemy from a distance (if possible) while your Hoplites go in for melee battle and Knights attack the enemy's flanks (but it must be said that CtP2's system is slightly more refined than CtP1's; CtP1 doesn't have flanking for example). Thanks to this (and because of more realistic stats, esp in the mods), Tank vs Spearman problem is non-existant in CtP

Oddly enough, many of the people who critize the CtP series have barely given it a decent chance (if they've played it at all), and usually, the more they hate it, the less they actually know/understand about the game. Much of this hatred probably comes from the fact that CtP1 was one of the first TBS games released in what I call the 'Internet era' of computer gaming, where you can't play a game properly without installing a few patches. This idea was pretty new back than and the fact that the unpatched game was rather buggy and unbalanced generated a lot of resentment. Today it's unfortunately industry standard and most people don't seem to mind nearly as much (how many patches did Civ3 have up 'til now? 4, 5, 6? ).

*With* the patches though, and especially with the mods, CtP1 and CtP2 are IMO both incredible games. Of course, as centrifuge pointed out, a lot depends of preferences (if you happen to like the Settler/Worker system better than the PW system, you're not gonna like CtP). Some people genuinely don't like it after having given the game a decent chance to prove itself, but much (but not all) of the criticism you'll hear tends to be unfounded and based on rumour (as Azale demonstrated excellently ). Over the past few months more and more Civ2/Civ3/SMAC veterans on Apolyton (and to a lesser extent here on CFC) seem to be willing to give the series (another) chance and come to the same conclusion. The best of example of this to date can be found here.

To conclude, for only about €10 there's not much to be lost and a LOT to be gained

 

[GenghisK]

Aah I remember one year ago, when I was in London, I had no game with me but CTP. I installed it on my laptop. 5 mins after playing. Uninstall.... Thought I would play a Civ like, but finally I wasted 5 mins of my life. Interface sucks, and it's not fun.

 

[Centrifuge]

Originally posted by Locutus


(Hi, cen, didn't know you posted here )

Well, only once in a while as you can tell from my post count...

Truth be known, I found the Civfanatics forums before Apolyton, but Apolyton felt more like home

 

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by GenghisK
Aah I remember one year ago, when I was in London, I had no game with me but CTP. I installed it on my laptop. 5 mins after playing. Uninstall.... Thought I would play a Civ like, but finally I wasted 5 mins of my life. Interface sucks, and it's not fun.

Dont you just love it when they give good reasoning? Makes converting the hesitant all that more easy. It aint civ its CtP.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

CTP civilizations completely lacked personality and I just didn't like the technologies and some of the more exotic units and especially techs.

I'll be honest and say the awful diplomacy interface and lack of personalities meant I ended up playing very little of CTP and CTP2...

 

[Rhye]

Eccentric units

 

[Pillager]

If CtP II had had a decent AI and diplomacy, I think it would have been a great game - tech. modding, gameplay - all were excellent. It was just the relationship with the AI on every level that let it down so much.

 

[Locutus]

Pillager,
Did you try the mods?

 

[MajorGeneral2]

One shouldn't HAVE to spend time downloading mods to make a game fun. The developers should spend the time initially to ensure that their game is worth the $50+ price tag, rather than release patch after patch after patch... trying to make a halfway decent game! I own neither game, but they sound about equal to me (though the CTP fans have given MUCH better reasons for their game).

 

[Pillager]

Originally posted by Locutus
Pillager,
Did you try the mods?

I tried some fans' mods yes. I can't remember if I tried any 'official' ones, if there were any.