Civilisation 5

[Rus-Evo]

I got it......I played about 20 minutes.....I dont know what I think yet!!!

Multiplayer LAN is hard to get going......we had to start an internet game in the same room.

Any other Civ fans excited to try this?

[WebHead]

Have you played the others in the series? It never appealed to me personally, though the games always look very impressive and based on a good premise.

Now I have so little time, I have to pick and choose my games so carefully.

[Rus-Evo]

I played Civilisation on the Amiga

Civilisation 2 on old PCs

Civilisation Call to Power recently.

Civ 4 more recently

And now Civ 5.


So yeah Ive played a bit of Civ They are a bit epic in scale.

[WebHead]

Everyone who's played has been generally positive about it. Some of the things I've read:

GOOD
1. Great graphics
2. Addictive as usual
3. Hex tiles add a tonne of depth (looks like a good enhancement to me)
4. Addictive (like all civs before it)

BAD
1. No Spain (way to alienate a lot of angry people )
2. Fewer cutscenes
3. Too simplified
4. Social policies not as good a civics
5. Lost some of its charm
6. AI not diplomatic, very war focussed

Seems like more bad than good but people tend to focus on the bad and not the things that seem to be working well.

[Rus-Evo]

Ive done about 10 hours now..........multiplayer games are Supreme Commander level laggy (if you know what I mean).......and we used the computer with the fastest CPU we got (but the weakest GPU) to host the game.

That plus epic speed and waiting for the other person is making turns very long!!!

Its hard to adapt to less units which are non stackable, army coordination is a needed skill (even to move a field army requires planning).

[Dave]

I got Civ V a few days ago. It's very addictive once you get going. The biggest improvement is the way battles are conducted. Perhaps the main disappointment is that it has been 'streamlined' a little. Some of the info and screens etc available on earlier games have been done away with. It's also not immediately apparent what to click to get what info. Is there a tutorial? If so I haven't played it... maybe I should.

[Dave]

I just lost a game on 'Prince' level. It just told me I lost. No explanation of the kind of victory or anything. Rather annoying!

[Rus-Evo]

Thats why I only play domination, as long as I stay alive they cant get a cultural or space victory or whatever!!!

2 player internet games are llllaaaaaggggggyyyy!!!!

[Rus-Evo]

Also there is no way of knowing which civs are allied etc with which other civs......so invade someone and its Russian Roulette to see who else you have made mad!!!

[Dave]

Yep that's true too. It's certainly a good game and very addictive but I don't understand why they decided so many of the good features of the old games. There's also no graphs of progress or replays when you win or lose.

[Rus-Evo]

And you have to use Satan....um I mean Steam....I HATE THAT
!!!

[Dave]

I like it

[aussieracer]

I never really gave any Civ games much time. It always looked appealing so I might give this one a proper try.

[Dave]

You can probably get Civ IV cheap.

[Dave]

Civ 5 gets better and better the more you play it. I am definitely a convert now.

[Rus-Evo]

Playing 2 player with a mate currently, we set it to Prince level (too easy) so he has no suspicion that I shall end the game soon by invading his civ....

[Dave]

I usually pride myself on my strategic abilities but I have been struggling on King level! I can comprehensively whoop the computer players' arses at Prince level but I am struggling to keep close to their scores on King level.

On Prince level you don't need to worry about one player getting ahead because after a while you can invade them and, if you stick at it long enough, they surrender and give you the majority of their cities.

On King level, if you remain passive and just expand peacefully, they do it faster. Then if you invade, they keep throwing armies at you. The one thing I haven't considered (and this is maybe my weakness) is diplomacy. Whenever a player says "Hey let's both kill Napoleon" I tend to say no because I am not ready. Maybe this is the key I am missing.

[Rus-Evo]

I just started a 2 player king game today Dave, thankfully me and my mate are neighbours, this can make all the difference if we support each other.

Im Indian which has an advantage with population unhappiness, also I only found new cities on a luxury resource, and Im the growth civic. So I am trying to keep up with the NPCs by sheer population. But thats only 150 turns in.

I am all about the luxuries!!!

[Rus-Evo]

Dave I hate the diplomacy because you cant analyse who likes who, who is allied with whom, who you have common traits with. So I dont have a clue how to proceed except to trade!!

[Dave]

I often play Napoleon because of the free culture boost. Caesar is good too (although I can't remember what freebie Rome provides). Am currently playing Elizabeth whose naval bonus isn't much use!

[Dave]

Ok that Japanese Yoda bloke or whatever his name is needs nerfing. Even if his units are down to 1HP they fight at full strength. Just had half my cities captured by him because he can just wipe out practically all units with just a few of his ninjas or whatever they are.

[Rus-Evo]

Oh that sounds like a nice perk!!

I was a huge naval guy in other civ versions (7 Battleships, 7 Destroyers, 10 Carriers, 10 Transports, 30 Fighters, and a general "Sub-net" for recon).

But in this version you use one or two Triremes to explore and have one or two more guarding the coast. Naval can be irrelevant.

[Rus-Evo]

Do you fight using terrain and combined arms Dave?

[Dave]

Yep navies were crucial in older civs. You had to at least have a fleet big enough to defend the transports full of land units. In Civ 5, I don't really see the point of a big navy unless you're playing a map with millions of islands.

Combined arms? If you mean long range and melee then yes I am. I do also try to make use of the terrain but that Yoda guy is ridiculous!

[Dave]

Ok I reloaded the game a few turns before he declared war and managed to build and buy a few more swordsmen then kicked his butt. He had to surrender and give me most of his cities. He now only has three left and I will have them just as soon as my happiness is no longer about -20!