Topic: I think I've lost it... (my video game drive.)

[Maverick]

So I'm feelin' pretty bored sittin' around the house after work.  I have to go to Target to get some standard monthly supplies, so I go on my merry way.  While there, I decide I should get a cheap, older PC game to enjoy and perhaps free me from my "got nothin' to do" blues.  I purchase Civilization III.  I install the sucker, enter the program and navigate through the opening menu.  Upon starting the game, I become immediately overwhelmed by all the menus and what not and close it after staring at the screen for approximately 30 seconds and laying down one city.

When I was younger, all throughout elementary, middle, and high school, I would devote hours of my life each day to playing games anywhere and everywhere I could find them.  I was excited to find a new game and learn all its ins and outs and really get into it.  I was never "overwhelmed" before.  I'll probably go back to the game and go through a tutorial or something and see if I can bring myself to enjoy it, but I've never just had the experience of "WTF IS ALL THIS STUFF? *CLOSE PROGRAM*".  It just really shocked me.

I don't know if I've just grown older and want more simplistic and direct gaming experiences to compensate for my lack of free time, or if I have just been out of the PC gaming scene for so long that I have lost that "drive" to spend the time to learn a new system.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Is it just a quality of PC gaming?

Or am I overreacting and Civ III just sucks ass?   

[ShyGuy]

Here's what I do:

Find a time when you're supposed to be doing something else (taking out the garbage, filing your taxes), and then play Civ III. the game will become FASCINATING.

[Maverick]

Haha, actually I think you may have just solved my problem.  Now you're making wish I didn't work at a family owned business or I'd call into work and give it a try. 

[NWR_insanolord]

Civilization is a very complex game and I can see how just jumping into it without reading any documentation could produce that response. It's not something you should try to learn as you go along.

[Chozo Ghost]

Civilization III is my least favorite game in the Civ series (although, I haven't played Civ IV yet so...). Civ III is probably best if you try one of the scenarios where cities are already established so you can just go about doing your war stuff. One of my favorite scenarios was the war in the pacific one. I had a lot of fun as Japan with their cool special infantry unit with its extra mobility point.

[NWR_insanolord]

Civilization III is my least favorite game in the Civ series (although, I haven't played Civ IV yet so...). Civ III is probably best if you try one of the scenarios where cities are already established so you can just go about doing your war stuff. One of my favorite scenarios was the war in the pacific one. I had a lot of fun as Japan with their cool special infantry unit with its extra mobility point.

What specifically about III didn't you like? I thought it was an all-around improvement on II. IV blows them both out of the water, though.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I think it may have just been the mood you were in, Maverick.  Sometimes I feel bored and restless and want to play a game, but can't actually get into anything.  It's annoying.

[bustin98]

Sometimes I get to thinking "I should play [insert game barely played here] and get it over with", but then that makes it feel like a chore and I'm even less inclined to play it. Then I go to one of my old standbys and suffer through my guilt trip.

[Maverick]

I think it may have just been the mood you were in, Maverick.  Sometimes I feel bored and restless and want to play a game, but can't actually get into anything.  It's annoying.

Yeah, perhaps you're right.  I just kind of feel like I wasted 8 bucks, so I'm gonna try to back to it tonight, and maybe turn tutorial mode on.

I just thought I would be into the game considering what great fun I had with Alpha Centauri and its expansion.  Little did I know that the Civ interface was completely different from what I remember about Alpha Centauri.  Dang it, now I want to find my old discs so I can play that instead!

[Chozo Ghost]

What specifically about III didn't you like? I thought it was an all-around improvement on II. IV blows them both out of the water, though.

Well, I remember back when the game was still in development and I was a huge fan of the previous Civ games, so I was eagerly anticipating the release of this 3rd one. We were promised it would have multiplayer without an addon and there was talk about religions and unit workshops being added, but the final product fell very short of my expectations for the game.

I also really didn't like what they did with resources in the game. If you don't have Iron or Gunpowder in your territory then its pretty much game over. Without those resources you are stuck with catapults and spearmen until the discovery of riflemen. I really didn't like that about the game, and another thing I hated was how no matter what I did neither I nor the computer players managed to get past the industrial age before the game ended.

Oh, and another thing I hated was they got rid of those advisors from Civ II. *angry*

[Ceric]

Civilation I felt was better than Civ 2 but I thought Civ 2 was excellent.  The right amount of resources and everything.  Looks like I'll skip Civ 3.

[Maverick]

Well I gave it another shot today.  Did a lot better and actually filled up a good twenty minutes.  Unfortunately my first and only city fell into civil disorder and I ended up quitting out of frustration.

Tomorrow maybe I'll really go for the gusto!

[Chozo Ghost]

Civilation I felt was better than Civ 2 but I thought Civ 2 was excellent.  The right amount of resources and everything.  Looks like I'll skip Civ 3.

I'm not sure if I agree or not. I loved both of them, but Civ II had a VERY large number of mods and addons for it which extended its replayability to insane levels. Civ III was kinda meh in comparison. I mean, it did introduce some good additions, but it also cut stuff out and there were some additions (as I pointed out) that I really didn't like or feel made the game better. What they should have done was incorporated ideas from Alpha Centauri instead... Alpha Centauri is sorta a part of the Civ series, and happens to be my favorite. Civ III could have borrowed some ideas, but it didn't and that's why I just was disappointed by it.

[NWR_insanolord]

Civilation I felt was better than Civ 2 but I thought Civ 2 was excellent.  The right amount of resources and everything.  Looks like I'll skip Civ 3.

I'm not sure if I agree or not. I loved both of them, but Civ II had a VERY large number of mods and addons for it which extended its replayability to insane levels. Civ III was kinda meh in comparison. I mean, it did introduce some good additions, but it also cut stuff out and there were some additions (as I pointed out) that I really didn't like or feel made the game better. What they should have done was incorporated ideas from Alpha Centauri instead... Alpha Centauri is sorta a part of the Civ series, and happens to be my favorite. Civ III could have borrowed some ideas, but it didn't and that's why I just was disappointed by it.

Civ III did take a few things from Alpha Centauri, but not as many as it probably should have. Some of the best things, like being able to create your own units, don't really make sense in a historical setting. If you're interested in mods you should really check out Civ IV, in addition to adding in more stuff from Alpha Centauri (the Civil Engineering create-your-own-government screen), the game was made with mods in mind with most everything done in XML and an official SDK. There are some really cool mods available.

[Maverick]

Any advice for avoiding/fixing civil disorder early in the game?  Like I said it crippled me yesterday.

[Chozo Ghost]

Civ III did take a few things from Alpha Centauri, but not as many as it probably should have. Some of the best things, like being able to create your own units, don't really make sense in a historical setting.

But Civ isn't a historical simulator. The point of the game is to be able to change history. That being the case, rather than be locked into a certain Unique Unit for the Civ I happen to be playing, why not let me design my own? The only difference between a Civ unit workshop and the Alpha Centauri unit workshop would be the lack of laser rifles and futuristic stuff like that, but the concept would be the same otherwise. Drop a crossbow on a cavalry chasis and give it a jaguar skin uniform and you've created some weird new unit that never existed, but it would be cool and very fun to do this. The point of games is to have fun, you know, and I would love to be able to design units in Civ.

[NWR_insanolord]

Any advice for avoiding/fixing civil disorder early in the game?  Like I said it crippled me yesterday.

Make sure to build Temples in every city as soon as possible.

Civ III did take a few things from Alpha Centauri, but not as many as it probably should have. Some of the best things, like being able to create your own units, don't really make sense in a historical setting.

But Civ isn't a historical simulator. The point of the game is to be able to change history. That being the case, rather than be locked into a certain Unique Unit for the Civ I happen to be playing, why not let me design my own? The only difference between a Civ unit workshop and the Alpha Centauri unit workshop would be the lack of laser rifles and futuristic stuff like that, but the concept would be the same otherwise. Drop a crossbow on a cavalry chasis and give it a jaguar skin uniform and you've created some weird new unit that never existed, but it would be cool and very fun to do this. The point of games is to have fun, you know, and I would love to be able to design units in Civ.

There wouldn't be near as many choices as Alpha Centauri's sci-fi setting gave you but I suppose it could be done. I'm not sure it would be worth it for the few extra options you'd have.

[Chozo Ghost]

There wouldn't be near as many choices as Alpha Centauri's sci-fi setting gave you but I suppose it could be done. I'm not sure it would be worth it for the few extra options you'd have.

Why wouldn't there be? There have been lots of military advancements made between the stone age and the modern age. In fact, you should have far more choices than with Alpha Centauri.

[Maverick]

Make sure to build Temples in every city as soon as possible.

Thanks!

And everybody stop talking about Alpha Centauri.  You're just making this game more frustrating by discussing one of the best goddamn games ever made.   

[Kairon]

Man, I'm jealous. I want Civ III but can't figure out how to squeezxe it into my budget. Hmm...

Hey, if ever you need something to spice up the game, try the official HistoriCanada mod that the CANADIAN GOVERNMENT made for Civ III!

http://www.historicanada.com/

[Maverick]

Man, I'm jealous. I want Civ III but can't figure out how to squeezxe it into my budget. Hmm...

You can't afford 8 dollars in the Target bargain bin?   

[animecyberrat]

I discovered a long time ago I spend a lot more time reading about and discussing video games on the internet than I do actually playing video games. For some reason I spend more time lately playing Sim City SNES on the Wii than I do anything else. I am so close to getting the Mario Statue I can almost feel it.

I never played many PC games other than Mahjong, Sim City (original) Doom, Quake, and Duke Nukem, so I am not too familiar with the newer stuff, mostly cuz my piece of crap computer can't play any good games and I can't afford to upgrade video cards. (I couldn't even run Halo 1)

But this Civilization game does look interesting, does it require a hefty video card or is a standard built in 64mb card good enough?

[Chozo Ghost]

Man, I'm jealous. I want Civ III but can't figure out how to squeezxe it into my budget. Hmm...

Hey, if ever you need something to spice up the game, try the official HistoriCanada mod that the CANADIAN GOVERNMENT made for Civ III!

http://www.historicanada.com/

If you find it (and don't already have it) I would suggest picking up Alpha Centauri instead. Otherwise, you may want to get Civ IV or just wait until Civ comes to the DS/Wii later this year.

[Chozo Ghost]

I discovered a long time ago I spend a lot more time reading about and discussing video games on the internet than I do actually playing video games. For some reason I spend more time lately playing Sim City SNES on the Wii than I do anything else. I am so close to getting the Mario Statue I can almost feel it.

I never played many PC games other than Mahjong, Sim City (original) Doom, Quake, and Duke Nukem, so I am not too familiar with the newer stuff, mostly cuz my piece of crap computer can't play any good games and I can't afford to upgrade video cards. (I couldn't even run Halo 1)

But this Civilization game does look interesting, does it require a hefty video card or is a standard built in 64mb card good enough?

You should see if you can find Civilization for the SNES. That game was ported from the PC by Koei and it makes use of the SNES mousepad that comes with Mario Paint. Maybe it hasn't been put on the VC yet, but I still highly recommend looking for it on ebay or whatever. Its true you could just play the PC version, but the SNES version actually has better graphics and some extra features which make it the better choice. The SNES version happened to be my very first experience with the series since I didn't have a PC way back then.

As for Civ III, that came out in 2001 or so. I think your standard 64mb card will be more than sufficient to play it, but once again I would suggest you play Civ I or Civ II first if you are new to the series. You may like Civ III but some people don't, and it would suck if you get a bad impression of the whole series just from that game. The original Civ and Civ II run on Dos and Win95 respectively, so those system requirements should be no problem at all to meet. And one of the good things about Civ II over most other games is that you play it in a window rather than fullscreen so it makes it very easy to do other stuff on your computer in the background like chat or listen to music or whatever.

[animecyberrat]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll be looking for this on VC.