Topic: Civ 5

[Stratos]

So I just saw that Civ 5 is coming this Fall. September 1st for $50 according to Amazon.



It will also be offered on Steam and a special edition with bonus content will also be available with an extra Civ and map pack.

I do prefer getting hard copies of favorite game series like Civ so I am torn about getting the Steam special edition or the traditional disk edition.

Anyone else planning on getting this and possibly interested in playing some matches? What civs do you want to see included the most? I was always partial to the Celts.

Looks a lot prettier than 4 did.

http://www.civilization5.com/

[NWR_insanolord]

I'll definitely be getting this, as soon as it comes to Mac. Hopefully now that we've got Steam it'll come day and date with the PC release.

I'm still kind of puzzled by the switch to a hex grid, since it makes it look more complicated but actually dumbs it down a bit. The old games used a square grid, but you could move diagonally, effectively making it an octagonal grid

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm staying as far away from this game as possible. If I were to own it and actually try to play it, I time warp to 2 weeks later. Jobs lost, money not made, hunger ignored. I can't do it again.
Time travel is too taxing on my life.

I'll buy it when it's on sale.

[Stratos]

I thought I read that both were releasing simultaneously on Mac and PC but I can't find where I read that now.

[ThePerm]

finding my starcraft cd was not good to my productivity

[NWR_insanolord]

Anybody here have this? The more I hear about it, the harder it is to wait for the inevitable Mac port. The changes to the combat system sound like a huge improvement over previous games in the series.

[kraken613]

It is amazing! Just sucks you in for hours at a time.

[Morari]

It is quite amazing. I'll be playing this game for years to come, I'm sure.

[KnowsNothing]

The changes to the combat system really make the game so much better (as do some smaller changes, like every unit being able to embark upon the high seas without the need for transport)...but unfortunately the AI can't really handle it.  In previous Civ games the AI problems were masked by the "stacks of doom" but now that actual tactics are involved it's obvious that the computer just doesn't know wtf it's doing.  Also diplomacy is completely opaque and rather baffling at times.

Despite some serious flaws however it's still more fun to me than Civ IV and that's mostly due to the hex system and tactical combat.  Also Japan is a military powerhouse that cannot be stopped.

[kraken613]

Its also the first week of a strategy game, give it a patch for balancing before really judging the AI.

[TJ Spyke]

I can't believe that PC gamers are still willing to put up with stuff like that. The AI should be tested and balanced before the game is released, not have consumers be guinea pigs and test it out for the developer. Same for games that need to be patched the same day they are released.

I watched GameTrailer's review, it looks like a pretty good game. I don't think my laptop could handle it though.

[kraken613]

Its not bad, a game as in depth as this will need to have some fine tuning because every single play through is completely different. You would have to test the game for a year or more to judge just half the ways people would play it.

[TJ Spyke]

I'm not saying they can't continue improving the game after launch (in fact, I think it's a good idea to take fan suggestions and make improvements based on them), I am just saying that it is fair to judge the game that is shipped, so if someone thinks the AI is bad then they have a right to complain. I think we both know there have been PC games before that were barely even playable when they first shipped, part of that is because there is no one to regulate game quality like there are with consoles.

[kraken613]

This game is brilliant already but will just get better with age. The AI is not bad just not perfected.

There are tons games with game breaking bugs on consoles cough:Metroid Other M:cough, or ones that run awful.

[NWR_insanolord]

I am incredibly pissed at Steam right now. Civ V for Mac launched at midnight, and since I preordered it I downloaded the files from Aspyr, the company that handled the Mac port, right away. I was able to activate my license in Steam with no issues. But now, despite my having all the files and an activated license, it won't let me install the files (the ones that are already on my hard drive) into Steam because the servers are busy. I was all excited to start playing (and probably play all night and through tomorrow), but now I can't for some stupid reason.

EDIT: I finally got it to work, and proceeded to spend 9 of the last 12 hours playing it. My god, it's fantastic. I've been a huge fan of the series for over a decade now, and this is easily the best one.

[oohhboy]

I would get this, but It cost a ridiculous $80US on steam. I can wait.

[NWR_insanolord]

It's SteamPlay enabled, so if and when the PC price drops, the Mac version goes along with it.

[NWR_insanolord]

I posted this in the Steam Deals thread, but that's easy to miss so I'm putting it here too. Civilization V is on sale on Steam this weekend, until 10 am Pacific Monday, for $17.

[NWR_insanolord]

Mega Bump! Civilization V: Gods & Kings has been announced for late spring 2012!

Tons of New Stuff. I know I just mentioned it, but I want to draw attention to just how many new things we've got here: 27 new units, 13 new buildings, 9 new wonders, and 9 new playable civilizations. Among the new civilizations are the Netherlands (William I, Prince of Orange), the Celts (Boudicca), and the Mayans (Pacal the Great).

Religion. That's right; quite possibly the most requested major addition to the game is coming in the Gods & Kings expansion. Using the new "Faith" resource, you'll be able to found your own religion and grow it from a simple Pantheon of the Gods to a world-spanning fully-customized religion.

Reworked Combat System. The expansion has a reworked combat system along with an AI that places more emphasis on balanced army composition. Among the changes to the combat system is the addition of melee naval units, which will force you to really rethink the way you execute your naval assaults.

Enhanced Diplomacy, with Espionage. In addition to being able to establish embassies with your rival civilizations, spies will now be an important part of how you conduct your foreign affairs. Surveilling foreign cities, stealing advanced techs, and garnering influence with city-states are some of the things you'll be able to do with this new powerful mechanic.

New City-States. With religion being added to the game, it only made sense to introduce Religious city-states which will interact with your religion in special ways. In addition, Mercantile city-states will be attractive for those of you who love to grow your civilization's treasury. All city-states will use the greatly expanded quest system, making city-states more dynamic and diplomatic victories more challenging, while decreasing the importance of gold when dealing with city-states.

New Scenarios. Three new scenarios will be coming in Civilization V: Gods & Kings. Experience the fall of Rome, explore the medieval era, and my personal favorite: a unique scenario in a Victorian science-fiction setting.

While the hardcore Civ community absolutely hates it, I really like a lot of the changes they made in Civ V and am glad to see they finally got around to doing an expansion pack. I figured once they announced Firaxis was making the new X-COM game that they'd moved on and this would never happen, so I'm really excited for this.

[Lithium]

i just realised i have civ 5 sitting in my steam library and dont even know how it even got there.
I blame steam sales.

[oohhboy]

I really like what they did in Civ5, especially with the more tactical combat that doesn't about creating some god stack of units. The only real issue I have with the game is how poorly it performs even with a standard game on a Mac and on PC it is only slightly better. Even playing in the simplified strategic mode doesn't really help with poor frame rate and random pauses. It really doesn't matter what the graphics setting is set to, it starts to run poorly and as the map gets increasingly explored, it gets worse.

Something about it is very badly optimised and over the years nothing has been done to fix it. I would like to play it more, but having to face the "Grind" every time just puts me off.

[Stratos]

My friend hates it and is going to give me his copy. Excited there is an expansion coming because those are always good.

I do feel that half of the expansions are giving us the good stuff from the last game. The Celts are always dropped in an expansion. Religion was a great mechanic in Civ 4 so glad it's coming back.

[kraken613]

My friend hates it and is going to give me his copy. Excited there is an expansion coming because those are always good.

I do feel that half of the expansions are giving us the good stuff from the last game. The Celts are always dropped in an expansion. Religion was a great mechanic in Civ 4 so glad it's coming back.

How is he going to give you his copy? Its a SteamWorks game which means it linked to a Steam account.

[Stratos]

I didn't think about that. Gonna have to come up with a new way to get it.

[oohhboy]

I got mine on special when it appeared on the Amazing Deals Thread for like $12.5. It didn't have the DLC and all that, but the DLC should have came out for free as the majority of it were just a couple of bits of data to define a civiliation, models of their unique units and a 3D leader. The price to gameplay impact was way out of line, not to mention in New Zealand the going Stem price is $70. The total of all the DLC is $51.39.

Have a google and there should be some 3rd party retailer selling the game at a pretty steep discount. All copies are steam works so regardless of where you source a copy, it goes into Steam. So it shouldn't be too much of a streach to find an affordable copy of a good game despite my personal complains against it.