Why play vanilla?

[Julian Delphiki]

I've played Warlords once since i got BtS, to finish one old game.

 

[magicalsushi]

I think you wouldnt

Warlords was a rather poor expansion as far as the core game is concerned:

+ Warlords
+ Vassal States
+ New Leaders/traits

But BTS:

+ New world wonders, including the apostolic palace -->
+ New win condition
+ New national wonders (moai, national park)
+ New techs that filled some holes in the techtree (aesthetics, military tradition, laser, superconductors, advanced flight)
+ New units: cuirassier, trebuchet, paratrooper, anti-tank and a lot of modern era stuff
+ New buildings: levee, security bureau, public transport, intelligence agency
+ New graphics (all those ethnic early game units)
+ New espionage system (although I am still not convinced)
+ Corporations!
+ Random Events
+ Great Spy
+ Better golden age mechanics
+ tons of needed balance changes
+ new leaders/traits
...and many more

Warlords also introduced a couple of wonders: the Great Wall and the University of Sankore.

 

[Deckhand]

Warlords also introduced a couple of wonders: the Great Wall and the University of Sankore.

And Great Generals.
Agreed: BtS is better and a bigger step forward. However, in its day, Warlords was a decent expansion.

 

[deanej]

BTS doesn't have Nimoy.

Actually it does. To get the opening clip, you must not be playing a scenario and must also not skip anything before the main menu. Yes, you have to watch the 2k games graphic, the nvidia promotion, the firaxis graphic, and the intro move to get Nimoy's intro, as well as be playing the unmodded epic game.

The tech quotes are still there as always, but the techs new to BtS were done by Sid Meier.

 

[ZeroM]

Actually it does. To get the opening clip, you must not be playing a scenario and must also not skip anything before the main menu. Yes, you have to watch the 2k games graphic, the nvidia promotion, the firaxis graphic, and the intro move to get Nimoy's intro, as well as be playing the unmodded epic game.

The tech quotes are still there as always, but the techs new to BtS were done by Sid Meier.

Exactly. And all respect to Sid, but nobody does "Beep....beep....beep.....beep." Like Mr Nimoy.

 

[Lyoncet]

Oh, that's Sid? Good to know; I'd always wondered about that.

That said, I guess he's all right at it… for a computer programmer.

 

[Still_Asleep]

Sid Meier isnt just a programmer, he is visionary

 

[Willem]

Isn't there some way to turn that off in-game without deleting the sound clips? I thought I saw TMIT do it in one of his LPs.

If you try to turn it off in the Options screen, you also turn off the voices for the various units. The only way to get rid of just Nimoy is to delete the tech audio.

 

[Willem]

Sid Meier isnt just a programmer, he is visionary

He used to be. These days he's just a businessman. He's had very little to do with Civilization for a long time now, all the versions except for the first were done by someone else. Mike Reynolds did Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri and started on Civ3. Soren Johnson finished Civ 3 after Mike left Firaxis, and then did Civ 4 and the Warlords XP. I'm not sure who did BtS, I don't remember his name. Sid just runs the company and offers some advice here and there, he doesn't really design anything anymore.

 

[Lyoncet]

Let me rephrase then: he's all right… for someone who likely has no acting/broadcasting/speech experience.

 

[StargazingDog]

When I went out to acquire Civ IV a few months ago, I found no reason to buy BtS. Unless you plan on running a mod, which I don't, there is no reason to drop the extra cash. The vanilla game is complex enough. Most of the BtS "features" are actually negatives for me (vassals, the AP victory). It has a negative worth to me, which means you would have to pay me to use it instead of vanilla.

Obviously, most people on these forums will be gung-ho about BtS. Only the most dedicated of players will respond to a thread like this, and these are the people who download mods and saved games and shadow games and such.

 

[raxid]

When I went out to acquire Civ IV a few months ago, I found no reason to buy BtS. Unless you plan on running a mod, which I don't, there is no reason to drop the extra cash. The vanilla game is complex enough. Most of the BtS "features" are actually negatives for me (vassals, the AP victory). It has a negative worth to me, which means you would have to pay me to use it instead of vanilla.

i would actually argue that vanilla is 'more complicated' than BTS when running the BUG (Beyond the Sword Unaltered Gameplay) mod. This is because a lot of useful information is much quicker and easier to access.

 

[Lyoncet]

Only the most dedicated of players will respond to a thread like this, and these are the people who download mods and saved games and shadow games and such.

<---- living proof to the contrary.

And BtS forever.

 

[Tim_Olaguna]

As I think becomes clear from the comments here, the big appeal for Warlords and BTS is to folks who like war games. Armies clashing, military heroes doing their thing, that's what those games are about. After playing BTS exclusively for about two years I've grown tired of it. I've gone back to Civ4 vanilla where the AI doesn't seem so dedicated to smashing you into the ground.