Learn to write before you can read and build the Taj Majal right in Cleveland!
September 26, 2010 9:58 PM Subscribe
Not that this isn't cute, but it already had lyrics. mp3
On preview, yes.
posted by yellowbinder at 10:10 PM on September 26, 2010
On preview, yes.
posted by yellowbinder at 10:10 PM on September 26, 2010
Montezuma! Christ, what an asshole.
posted by bicyclefish at 10:10 PM on September 26, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by bicyclefish at 10:10 PM on September 26, 2010 [6 favorites]
So lame! (j/k -- this was cute)
Having somehow MINECRAFT done the unthinkable and missed the release of Civ V, I was wondering what might have become of the immensely popular Baba Yetu and whether it would be recycled... but I just checked out a Youtube clip of the supposed Civ V theme and it appears not. I suppose it needed its own theme, but nothing will match Baba Yetu, methinks.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:18 PM on September 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Having somehow MINECRAFT done the unthinkable and missed the release of Civ V, I was wondering what might have become of the immensely popular Baba Yetu and whether it would be recycled... but I just checked out a Youtube clip of the supposed Civ V theme and it appears not. I suppose it needed its own theme, but nothing will match Baba Yetu, methinks.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:18 PM on September 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
On the first computer where I ran Civ 4, the Baba Yetu theme synced up absolutely perfectly with the initial spinning earth you see right at the beginning of this video. Just watching that beautiful Earth spin, with that fantastic music going, was quite an experience, but then watching the sun rise precisely when the music hit its first chorus gave me goosebumps.
It's never come out that well since...the sync is never quite right. I got very lucky on that first viewing. Such a small thing, and such a strong memory.
I couldn't tolerate this video, on the other hand, for more than about fifteen seconds. :-)
posted by Malor at 10:32 PM on September 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
It's never come out that well since...the sync is never quite right. I got very lucky on that first viewing. Such a small thing, and such a strong memory.
I couldn't tolerate this video, on the other hand, for more than about fifteen seconds. :-)
posted by Malor at 10:32 PM on September 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
In fact, they'd abandoned Baba Yetu even with the Civ IV expansions, which struck me as tragic.
I remember the first time I loaded Civ IV back in 2003. The screen went black, the earth gleamed from space, and the music played. And that music said, "Yes. This series has ruled the world since you were 12. This game is going to rule the world for the rest of the decade. This, young man, is a big fucking deal. Don't think we don't know it. We have Leonard Nimoy. And now we will sing the Lord's Prayer in Swahili!"
There was no argument.
posted by bicyclefish at 10:41 PM on September 26, 2010 [16 favorites]
I remember the first time I loaded Civ IV back in 2003. The screen went black, the earth gleamed from space, and the music played. And that music said, "Yes. This series has ruled the world since you were 12. This game is going to rule the world for the rest of the decade. This, young man, is a big fucking deal. Don't think we don't know it. We have Leonard Nimoy. And now we will sing the Lord's Prayer in Swahili!"
There was no argument.
posted by bicyclefish at 10:41 PM on September 26, 2010 [16 favorites]
Civilization is one of the few games with which I wished I could pause time and play turn after turn, as long as I wanted. I actually barely played Civ 4 for lack of time. My computer probably can't run Civ 5 and I don't have much time for that one as well.
I wish I did.
posted by Defenestrator at 10:52 PM on September 26, 2010
I wish I did.
posted by Defenestrator at 10:52 PM on September 26, 2010
"Civilization is the shit
I hope they don't drop the ball
when the bring it to Facebook"
posted by Mike Mongo at 10:52 PM on September 26, 2010
I hope they don't drop the ball
when the bring it to Facebook"
posted by Mike Mongo at 10:52 PM on September 26, 2010
I remember the original Civilization I had "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" playing in a minor key with a pissed-off looking Abe Lincoln (in the diplomacy screens). Years later, around 2003 or 2004, I remembered that tune and thought how well it suited the real-world United States back then. It's also a fun little tune to try on the piano. Damn if I can't find it online... YouTube pulls up a million hits for Civ IV.
posted by crapmatic at 11:23 PM on September 26, 2010
posted by crapmatic at 11:23 PM on September 26, 2010
GIVE ME MORE SOLDIERS, NOBLE LEADER, THAT THEY MAY SHEATHE THEIR SWORDS IN THE BEATING HEARTS OF OUR ENEMIES
I like to think that somewhere within the bowels of my old computer, Military Advisor from Civ 2 and Transportation Advisor from Simcity 2000 are having an epic, never-ending rage-off.
posted by Rhaomi at 11:25 PM on September 26, 2010 [8 favorites]
I like to think that somewhere within the bowels of my old computer, Military Advisor from Civ 2 and Transportation Advisor from Simcity 2000 are having an epic, never-ending rage-off.
posted by Rhaomi at 11:25 PM on September 26, 2010 [8 favorites]
Ghandi dropped an a-bomb.
posted by Brocktoon at 11:29 PM on September 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Brocktoon at 11:29 PM on September 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Speaking of the A-bomb, I just dropped one on a civ in Civ V and lemme tell you folks, nuking enemy cities has never looked cooler than it does in the new game.
posted by Effigy2000 at 11:32 PM on September 26, 2010
posted by Effigy2000 at 11:32 PM on September 26, 2010
I wouldn't be able to tell, it gets so laggy by late game that I'm just staying in Strategic View the entire time.
*grumble*
posted by The Pusher Robot at 11:56 PM on September 26, 2010
*grumble*
posted by The Pusher Robot at 11:56 PM on September 26, 2010
Yeah, huge maps (like I tend to play) tend to be pretty resource intensive. I found out that playing in the standard map size feels plenty big and massively cuts down the wait between turns.
Or, you can do what I did the first time I finished Civ V and have a book next to my computer which I read between turns.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 12:03 AM on September 27, 2010
Or, you can do what I did the first time I finished Civ V and have a book next to my computer which I read between turns.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 12:03 AM on September 27, 2010
it gets so laggy by late game that I'm just staying in Strategic View the entire time.
Strategic View is the shit. I play the entire game in it from start to finish. There's no reason to use anything else. Now if only I can figure out how to select a unit garrison in a city without having to leave stragetic view...
Oh, and the video is correct; Civ IV's Montezuma was a total douchebag.
posted by Justinian at 12:10 AM on September 27, 2010
Strategic View is the shit. I play the entire game in it from start to finish. There's no reason to use anything else. Now if only I can figure out how to select a unit garrison in a city without having to leave stragetic view...
Oh, and the video is correct; Civ IV's Montezuma was a total douchebag.
posted by Justinian at 12:10 AM on September 27, 2010
Zoom in. Once you're close enough, you'll see the detailed city nameplate and can select the garrisoned unit.
posted by The Pusher Robot at 12:33 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by The Pusher Robot at 12:33 AM on September 27, 2010
Hahaha, in the Civ5 game I just took a break from Montezuma declared war on me like three turns ago. I'd been expecting it for a while and so the city he's going after has a Great General chilling in it and my army is dominating. But don't ask me how I managed to take a break. It's a Civilization game, and you can probably guess how little I've slept since it was released. Like the lab rat pressing the button for the cocaine, except the button's slightly different in this case.
posted by palidor at 4:06 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by palidor at 4:06 AM on September 27, 2010
Twitch.
I have a very important day ahead of me. A very busy week. I thought CIV 5 was coming out later. When I'd have more time.
It's going to rain all week.
Did I mention it's my birthday?
I think I'd better uninstall Steam just to be safe.
Twitch.
posted by The Whelk at 5:15 AM on September 27, 2010 [4 favorites]
I have a very important day ahead of me. A very busy week. I thought CIV 5 was coming out later. When I'd have more time.
It's going to rain all week.
Did I mention it's my birthday?
I think I'd better uninstall Steam just to be safe.
Twitch.
posted by The Whelk at 5:15 AM on September 27, 2010 [4 favorites]
I've also been playing entirely in stategic view, from the very start. It just offers so much more information at once that there's no reason to use the regular view (which looks pretty but that's about it).
posted by yeoz at 5:51 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by yeoz at 5:51 AM on September 27, 2010
I remember the original Civilization I had "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" playing in a minor key with a pissed-off looking Abe Lincoln (in the diplomacy screens). Years later, around 2003 or 2004, I remembered that tune and thought how well it suited the real-world United States back then. It's also a fun little tune to try on the piano. Damn if I can't find it online... YouTube pulls up a million hits for Civ IV.
There's an a decent extract of the song here. It's from the Amiga version, so I assume the quality is at least on par with the PC version if not better. The rest of the video has the all of the other leader themes from Civ 1.
posted by jedicus at 6:44 AM on September 27, 2010
There's an a decent extract of the song here. It's from the Amiga version, so I assume the quality is at least on par with the PC version if not better. The rest of the video has the all of the other leader themes from Civ 1.
posted by jedicus at 6:44 AM on September 27, 2010
OK, people who've played Civ5: how disruptive is the new no-unit-stacking thing? To me, that looks like such a radical change that I'm kind of scared away from the game. Or does it just not matter once you're playing?
posted by COBRA! at 7:38 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by COBRA! at 7:38 AM on September 27, 2010
OK, people who've played Civ5: how disruptive is the new no-unit-stacking thing? To me, that looks like such a radical change that I'm kind of scared away from the game. Or does it just not matter once you're playing?
posted by COBRA!
It fundamentally changes the game of course, but I wouldn't say it's in a bad way at all. If anything I'd say it makes the game more tactical because you can't just superstack. Movement is more challenging and requires more thought due to units potentially blocking each other. It allows for terrain to actually have a defensive purpose (mountains and oceans make it so you can't surround a city). People have complaints about the game (mostly AI related from the reviews I've read online) but mostly they aren't related to the no-unit-stacking.
posted by haveanicesummer at 7:43 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by COBRA!
It fundamentally changes the game of course, but I wouldn't say it's in a bad way at all. If anything I'd say it makes the game more tactical because you can't just superstack. Movement is more challenging and requires more thought due to units potentially blocking each other. It allows for terrain to actually have a defensive purpose (mountains and oceans make it so you can't surround a city). People have complaints about the game (mostly AI related from the reviews I've read online) but mostly they aren't related to the no-unit-stacking.
posted by haveanicesummer at 7:43 AM on September 27, 2010
The no stacking is awesome and really encourages you to think about what you're doing and strategize your moves. There's also a whole bunch of things you can do with adjacent units if you pick the right policies. Also, Hiawatha is the new Montezuma. That prick is totally going down as soon as I get my Giant Death Robot. In other news, in Civ 5 you can build a Giant Death Robot.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 7:45 AM on September 27, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 7:45 AM on September 27, 2010 [2 favorites]
I'll admit I enjoyed those first two albums, but I think Vampire Weekend's trying a little too hard to stay relevant these days.
posted by gompa at 8:03 AM on September 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by gompa at 8:03 AM on September 27, 2010 [1 favorite]
No unit stacking is awesome, I just wish the AI wasn't so dense. I can go through them like a hot knife through butter.
posted by Mick at 8:15 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by Mick at 8:15 AM on September 27, 2010
I've been addicted to Civ ever since I saw my dad playing Civilization 1 when I was ten. I've played every iteration except Civ V...which I most definitely will be buying soon, although Civ II is still my favorite (maybe that will change with Civ V?).
On a related note, I really, really need a new Alpha Centauri.
posted by jnrussell at 8:20 AM on September 27, 2010
On a related note, I really, really need a new Alpha Centauri.
posted by jnrussell at 8:20 AM on September 27, 2010
For me the flaw in CIV 5 has always been the tedious end game. Have they fixed that in this version? I really like the idea of not having to build transports.
posted by empath at 8:23 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by empath at 8:23 AM on September 27, 2010
You can change the future a lot. See? / You can even make Jewish Nazis!
Okay that was pretty good.
posted by The Bellman at 8:23 AM on September 27, 2010
Okay that was pretty good.
posted by The Bellman at 8:23 AM on September 27, 2010
For me the flaw in CIV 5 has always been the tedious end game. Have they fixed that in this version?
GIANT DEATH ROBOTS.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 8:28 AM on September 27, 2010
GIANT DEATH ROBOTS.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 8:28 AM on September 27, 2010
The endgame is vastly improved from before, but I do still find it a might bit tedious. Mostly just because sometimes you reach the point where you are going to win, you know you are going to win, but you still need to play out another 20 turns while that last structure / spaceship part / etc builds. Other than that, the game is totally and completely addictive. I have fond memories of almost every version (particularly 1 for being first and 4 for being the culmination of that thinking) and this one changes up a few old sacred cows, but I think it is the best yet.
posted by meinvt at 9:10 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by meinvt at 9:10 AM on September 27, 2010
They need a patch that restores the in-game real life clock though. Badly. Apparently if you load a mod you don't get achievements (even a mod that just adds a clock). While achievements mean nothing, I like getting a pop up saying I accomplished something (even if I didn't know I was attempting to do so.)
posted by haveanicesummer at 9:16 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by haveanicesummer at 9:16 AM on September 27, 2010
On the occasion of Civ5's release, I was working on a post about how all 4 Civ4 games on DVD (without DRM and playable in Wine on Linux) can be had for under $30 new, work on nearly any remotely modern machine, and how the mind-bogglingly awesome Civ4 modding community provides an additional several games' worth of cool stuff for free.
But civfanatics is melting down under the Civ5 traffic and it's been too much of a pain in the butt to try to collect the URLs to the specific mods I wanted to mention.
posted by Zed at 10:12 AM on September 27, 2010
But civfanatics is melting down under the Civ5 traffic and it's been too much of a pain in the butt to try to collect the URLs to the specific mods I wanted to mention.
posted by Zed at 10:12 AM on September 27, 2010
they'd abandoned Baba Yetu even with the Civ IV expansions
Civ4: Beyond the Sword (at least in the latest revision, not positive about originally) offered a menu option to switch back to Baba Yetu and the spinning Earth for the startup music/video.
posted by Zed at 10:18 AM on September 27, 2010
Civ4: Beyond the Sword (at least in the latest revision, not positive about originally) offered a menu option to switch back to Baba Yetu and the spinning Earth for the startup music/video.
posted by Zed at 10:18 AM on September 27, 2010
Didn't do so originally, but was pretty easy to figure out how to switch the files (which I promptly did).
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:20 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:20 AM on September 27, 2010
Damn right Montezuma is a douchebag. The worst though is Tokugawa. Asshole won't sign Open Borders unless you offer him your sheep. Who the shit does he think he is?!
[ / may or may not have played a few too many hours of this game. May or may not be silently weeping that it will be months before Civ V comes out for Mac. ]
posted by sonika at 10:36 AM on September 27, 2010
[ / may or may not have played a few too many hours of this game. May or may not be silently weeping that it will be months before Civ V comes out for Mac. ]
posted by sonika at 10:36 AM on September 27, 2010
No stacking sounds awesome now that they're taking terrain seriously, but other things I'm reading have me worried. Naval transports made obsolete? "Micro"-managing of cities gone? Seems like a lot of people hate any deviation from IV (or hate the bugginess, or hate Steam), but I get nervous when I see comments like "I picked up IV on release and couldn't get into it. It was so complicated. But Civ V I love!"
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:49 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:49 AM on September 27, 2010
Zed -- I'd be pleased to see what mods you recommend, or even if you could just describe them. I was surprised to see comments in V reviews noting the "active modding community" for Civ IV, since I'd never encountered such a thing.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:51 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:51 AM on September 27, 2010
Durn - from the videos I'm watching it looks like they've made micro-management optional. All the deep tools are still there, but they're not right on the surface. You can seemingly automate a lot more things.
posted by The Whelk at 10:56 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 10:56 AM on September 27, 2010
Cool, thanks TW. I'll then add that to the (lengthening) list of complaints from people about options and features that have been hidden away rather than eliminated (like world gen options and info screens).
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:09 AM on September 27, 2010
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:09 AM on September 27, 2010
I was initially put off because the new interface seemed so intuitive and friendly and streamlined. But it's all there if you want it, and I honestly feel like they've given you even more control over things in a few different ways. I guess you could put everything on automatic and just stare at the pretty water and play complete games while only skimming the surface of what you could/should be doing, but that doesn't mean all the controls aren't still there. They've also closed almost every loophole I used to use, and you really have to think about what you're doing.
Getting rid of naval transports- this was tough to get used to. I spent about ten minutes going GET INTO THE FUCKING CARAVEL CLICK CLICK CLICK THE FUCK before I figured out the new mechanic. There is this frankly bizarre thing where, once you can embark a unit, you move it into a coastal hex and a boat fwops up out of the water to take the unit, and then when it disembarks on land the boat disappears soundlessly beneath the water again. It is disturbing. But it actually works really well with the new gameplay mechanics.
I wish they'd give us an option to taunt the AI. Sometimes they just talk shit at me, for no reason, and then go away. Yesterday the ruler of Siam popped up out of nowhere and said "you know, I'm really getting tired of pretending to like you." Just apropos of nothing!
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 12:43 PM on September 27, 2010
Getting rid of naval transports- this was tough to get used to. I spent about ten minutes going GET INTO THE FUCKING CARAVEL CLICK CLICK CLICK THE FUCK before I figured out the new mechanic. There is this frankly bizarre thing where, once you can embark a unit, you move it into a coastal hex and a boat fwops up out of the water to take the unit, and then when it disembarks on land the boat disappears soundlessly beneath the water again. It is disturbing. But it actually works really well with the new gameplay mechanics.
I wish they'd give us an option to taunt the AI. Sometimes they just talk shit at me, for no reason, and then go away. Yesterday the ruler of Siam popped up out of nowhere and said "you know, I'm really getting tired of pretending to like you." Just apropos of nothing!
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 12:43 PM on September 27, 2010
Yesterday the ruler of Siam popped up out of nowhere and said "you know, I'm really getting tired of pretending to like you." Just apropos of nothing!
Didn't shit like that happen in earlier Civs? I seem to remember being randomly harassed by foreign leaders. Of course, in Civ IV they just come up and demand tribute and then it's time to take 'em out.
posted by sonika at 1:17 PM on September 27, 2010
Didn't shit like that happen in earlier Civs? I seem to remember being randomly harassed by foreign leaders. Of course, in Civ IV they just come up and demand tribute and then it's time to take 'em out.
posted by sonika at 1:17 PM on September 27, 2010
The original Civ had unpredictable foreign leaders. There was basically no way to win actual loyalty or gratitude with them; one day you'd be best buds and the next you'd be threatened or just skip directly to troops at your door. We just accepted it as a (sucky) limitation of the game.
Meanwhile, Civ IV taught me that the only way to be a peaceful nation (ie: not to face continual threat of invasion) was to be armed to the fucking teeth.
I think Alpha Centauri was the only game in the series, if I can call it that, that gave me a real sense of having allies I could depend on. It never felt arbitrary, because it would be based on some underlying ethos as well as action, but I haven't experienced it since. Maybe the placating factor of a common religion in Civ IV, but that only ever seemed a temporary and minor hindrance to conflict, while on the contrary a difference in religion would be a complete peacebreaker.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 1:34 PM on September 27, 2010
Meanwhile, Civ IV taught me that the only way to be a peaceful nation (ie: not to face continual threat of invasion) was to be armed to the fucking teeth.
I think Alpha Centauri was the only game in the series, if I can call it that, that gave me a real sense of having allies I could depend on. It never felt arbitrary, because it would be based on some underlying ethos as well as action, but I haven't experienced it since. Maybe the placating factor of a common religion in Civ IV, but that only ever seemed a temporary and minor hindrance to conflict, while on the contrary a difference in religion would be a complete peacebreaker.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 1:34 PM on September 27, 2010
Apparently one of the goals of this build was to give the AI leaders more distinct personalities and goals - you always know how Napoleon is going to act. Someone I know who's played it says she saw a lot of Alpha Centuari influences flying around and that is so not a bad thing. AC remains one of the most ...replayable games I've ever come across.
posted by The Whelk at 1:47 PM on September 27, 2010
posted by The Whelk at 1:47 PM on September 27, 2010
My gods. Civ V is ruling my soul. Currently bouncing between two games where I'm taking Siam then China out for a spin.
Father Governs Children is insane near a pile of citystates, and Paper Makers...wow. Easy money.
posted by palabradot at 1:52 PM on September 27, 2010
Father Governs Children is insane near a pile of citystates, and Paper Makers...wow. Easy money.
posted by palabradot at 1:52 PM on September 27, 2010
Apparently one of the goals of this build was to give the AI leaders more distinct personalities and goals - you always know how Napoleon is going to act.
posted by The Whelk
That's interesting, as Civ IV had this to some extent (Montezuma and Saladin always starting shit with me, Gandhi always being peaceful). After many, many Civ IV playthroughs I tried random personalities and it indeed raised the difficulty as I'd been relying on the known personalities in my defense tactics.
Steam just told me Civ 5 just updated but I can't find any patch notes. Wonder what they did.
posted by haveanicesummer at 1:57 PM on September 27, 2010
posted by The Whelk
That's interesting, as Civ IV had this to some extent (Montezuma and Saladin always starting shit with me, Gandhi always being peaceful). After many, many Civ IV playthroughs I tried random personalities and it indeed raised the difficulty as I'd been relying on the known personalities in my defense tactics.
Steam just told me Civ 5 just updated but I can't find any patch notes. Wonder what they did.
posted by haveanicesummer at 1:57 PM on September 27, 2010
Didn't shit like that happen in earlier Civs?
Yeah it did, but as others have said it's much more personalized and just....snarkier. And much more kind of hilariously snide. I would like the opportunity to talk shit at them instead of just declaring war.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 2:40 PM on September 27, 2010
Yeah it did, but as others have said it's much more personalized and just....snarkier. And much more kind of hilariously snide. I would like the opportunity to talk shit at them instead of just declaring war.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 2:40 PM on September 27, 2010
Ahh, found the patch notes. Nothing major.
posted by haveanicesummer at 3:01 PM on September 27, 2010
posted by haveanicesummer at 3:01 PM on September 27, 2010
I was surprised to see comments in V reviews noting the "active modding community" for Civ IV, since I'd never encountered such a thing.
Huh. Civ IV has the greatest mod for any game I've ever seen. The Fall From Heaven 2 mod (and various modmods; I prefer Orbis) is stunning. It's like a whole new game but with the Civ IV mechanics! Elves, dwarves, angels, demons, lizardmen, werewolves, vampires, golems, dragons, spellcasting, artifacts, the whole shebang.
Civ IV + Beyond the Sword + Fall From Heaven 2 is easily the most gameplay I've ever gotten out of a game. I'm very glad my copy isn't steam because I don't want to speculate on whether I played more or less than 500 hours.
posted by Justinian at 5:07 PM on September 27, 2010
Huh. Civ IV has the greatest mod for any game I've ever seen. The Fall From Heaven 2 mod (and various modmods; I prefer Orbis) is stunning. It's like a whole new game but with the Civ IV mechanics! Elves, dwarves, angels, demons, lizardmen, werewolves, vampires, golems, dragons, spellcasting, artifacts, the whole shebang.
Civ IV + Beyond the Sword + Fall From Heaven 2 is easily the most gameplay I've ever gotten out of a game. I'm very glad my copy isn't steam because I don't want to speculate on whether I played more or less than 500 hours.
posted by Justinian at 5:07 PM on September 27, 2010
In the interest of full disclosure, I would guess "more than 500 hours".
posted by Justinian at 6:03 PM on September 27, 2010
posted by Justinian at 6:03 PM on September 27, 2010
haveanicesummer: actually a pretty big fix for those of us who have been unable to do anything with mods because they simply would not install.
I was never the brightest or most talented Civ IV player, but I definitely find Civ V to be more complex in many ways, and it definitely feels bigger and takes longer. My first game I played on a Standard sized map with all other settings equal and I never even saw more than the barest hint of the coastline of the other major continent on my map. (I do kinda miss satellite fog-of-war-clearing).
posted by nightchrome at 7:36 PM on September 27, 2010
I was never the brightest or most talented Civ IV player, but I definitely find Civ V to be more complex in many ways, and it definitely feels bigger and takes longer. My first game I played on a Standard sized map with all other settings equal and I never even saw more than the barest hint of the coastline of the other major continent on my map. (I do kinda miss satellite fog-of-war-clearing).
posted by nightchrome at 7:36 PM on September 27, 2010
actually a pretty big fix for those of us who have been unable to do anything with mods because they simply would not install.
you want to make a thread on civfanatics or apolyton about that. The guy who designed your mod (and who firaxis in one or two cases employed briefly) may well answer your question.
I love Civ V by the way. However, Steam achievements like "The Appian Way: Build 1000 roads, across any number of playthroughs" could well make me burst into tears in perhaps a few months time. Steam says I've played 53 hours so far. I've only had it four days.
posted by I_pity_the_fool at 9:20 PM on September 27, 2010
you want to make a thread on civfanatics or apolyton about that. The guy who designed your mod (and who firaxis in one or two cases employed briefly) may well answer your question.
I love Civ V by the way. However, Steam achievements like "The Appian Way: Build 1000 roads, across any number of playthroughs" could well make me burst into tears in perhaps a few months time. Steam says I've played 53 hours so far. I've only had it four days.
posted by I_pity_the_fool at 9:20 PM on September 27, 2010
Also anyone who says this has been dumbed down because of the removal of religions or the lack of a science slider obviously hasn't given the game much thought. There are plenty of things in Civ 5 which make it more complicated - for example, even a particularly rich supply of iron will only allow you to build 8 swordsmen. You can see the details up at the top bar of the screen - I don't know how the reviewers missed it.
posted by I_pity_the_fool at 9:23 PM on September 27, 2010
posted by I_pity_the_fool at 9:23 PM on September 27, 2010
Some Civ4 mods of note... (another reason I wasn't getting this post done was that I haven't tried to stay current in some 18 months or so, so my info was out of date)
Blue Marble (prettier terrain graphics)
New map generation scripts like Perfect World
A problem with mods is they sometimes don't play nicely with other mods. So people have integrated them together into giant modpacks tested with each other. Most of these require the latest revision of Beyond the Sword, 3.19.
BUG/BULL/BAT/BUFFY are parts of the Beyond the Sword Unaltered Gameplay project, a series of changes to improve the interface, playability, and graphics without changing the rules (though some bits of the info it computes and reveals is somewhat game-changing in that you'd never ever compute it by hand... but most things can be turned off if you choose)
Better BTS AI improves the computer players (the release version of Beyond the Sword included an AI based on a mod called Better AI developed by a modder)
Better BUG AI combines the above.
But if you're changing the rules, a popular collection of changes are in the BTS unofficial patch, which modifies various things widely considered bugs or shortcomings in the final BTS revision.
The PIGmod is "probably improved gameplay" and combines all of the above and more, but I haven't tried it.
Civ Gold goes crazy with adding civs -- 120 of them.
Planetfall is SMAC inspired.
Rise of Mankind adds more of everything (and looks like it would take forever to play.)
Justinian has already mentioned Fall From Heaven 2
Most of these and many more can be found in Civfanatics' Civ4 Project & Mod Development forum, see also the modpack forum; both of these are part of the Creation and Customization forum.
posted by Zed at 10:17 PM on September 27, 2010 [7 favorites]
Blue Marble (prettier terrain graphics)
New map generation scripts like Perfect World
A problem with mods is they sometimes don't play nicely with other mods. So people have integrated them together into giant modpacks tested with each other. Most of these require the latest revision of Beyond the Sword, 3.19.
BUG/BULL/BAT/BUFFY are parts of the Beyond the Sword Unaltered Gameplay project, a series of changes to improve the interface, playability, and graphics without changing the rules (though some bits of the info it computes and reveals is somewhat game-changing in that you'd never ever compute it by hand... but most things can be turned off if you choose)
Better BTS AI improves the computer players (the release version of Beyond the Sword included an AI based on a mod called Better AI developed by a modder)
Better BUG AI combines the above.
But if you're changing the rules, a popular collection of changes are in the BTS unofficial patch, which modifies various things widely considered bugs or shortcomings in the final BTS revision.
The PIGmod is "probably improved gameplay" and combines all of the above and more, but I haven't tried it.
Civ Gold goes crazy with adding civs -- 120 of them.
Planetfall is SMAC inspired.
Rise of Mankind adds more of everything (and looks like it would take forever to play.)
Justinian has already mentioned Fall From Heaven 2
Most of these and many more can be found in Civfanatics' Civ4 Project & Mod Development forum, see also the modpack forum; both of these are part of the Creation and Customization forum.
posted by Zed at 10:17 PM on September 27, 2010 [7 favorites]
you want to make a thread on civfanatics or apolyton about that. The guy who designed your mod (and who firaxis in one or two cases employed briefly) may well answer your question.
I_pity_the_fool: Er, no, this patch was needed because for those of us who did not have Steam&CiV installed on the C drive, the entire mod system of Civ V simply did not work. At all.
posted by nightchrome at 10:29 PM on September 27, 2010
I_pity_the_fool: Er, no, this patch was needed because for those of us who did not have Steam&CiV installed on the C drive, the entire mod system of Civ V simply did not work. At all.
posted by nightchrome at 10:29 PM on September 27, 2010
Zounds. Thanks for that, Zed and Justinian. 120 new civs?!
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 1:09 PM on September 28, 2010
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 1:09 PM on September 28, 2010
And I should note that once you've gone BUG, you'll never go back. Or at least that was true for me -- playing without it became painful and tedious... it does a lot of nice things for the UI. My use of any other mod was dictated by its BUG compatibility.
I cut things short last night because I needed to get to bed, so I wasn't as clear about the message I wanted to imply as I might have been, so I'll just come out and say it instead:
Civ5's the new shiny and all, but Civ4 has a hell of a lot of life left to it for free (if you already have the game itself) or cheap (if you don't.)
posted by Zed at 1:47 PM on September 28, 2010
I cut things short last night because I needed to get to bed, so I wasn't as clear about the message I wanted to imply as I might have been, so I'll just come out and say it instead:
Civ5's the new shiny and all, but Civ4 has a hell of a lot of life left to it for free (if you already have the game itself) or cheap (if you don't.)
posted by Zed at 1:47 PM on September 28, 2010
Mmm, well, it got me. The shiny. Somewhere between the field placement of troops (which seems to be eliminating mid-late game weariness) and the social policies system (which I love), I found myself not missing Civ IV much at all. Except maybe the graphics (including the wonder videos). Also, I built Himeji castle, which is pretty freaking awesome.
Will no doubt explore the Civ IV modded universe at some later date, but this is getting to be interesting.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:49 AM on September 29, 2010
Will no doubt explore the Civ IV modded universe at some later date, but this is getting to be interesting.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:49 AM on September 29, 2010
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