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[CoolTrick]

I like them both. I like how involved Civ 4 is, but I like the actual realtime gameplay of AoE better. I have a very very good computer, but not an OMGLATESTTECHNOLOGYHIGHEND computer. I probably enjoyed AoE2 than Civ 3 but I liked them both a lot.

Any indepth impressions from you guys would help a lot, particularly if you've played them both.

 

[Deku]

If you love strategy games, get both. AoE is the better of the Civ inspired RTS games like RoN.

If you love pure strategy, Civ IV
If you love faster paced games, get AoE III
If you like good RTS games get Rome Total War.

 

[Drinky Crow]

AoE3 runs better unless you enable the high-end shading effects. It alos looks a lot better, and has a lot more interesting changes to the core gameplay with the persistent home city and the card deck. The first time you see two fleets of Frigates engage off the coast of South America you will fill your pants with man-foam.

Civ4 is more of the same with a buggy, clumsy 3D engine. There's been some good changes to the gameplay -- city spamming is no longer viable, for example, and the "terraforming" units are smarter so there's less tedious farming and whatnot -- but the game chugs even on high end machines in the end game on large maps. And let's face it, large maps are the only ones worth playing, since every other size is ridiculously small -- and even large maps are too small for my tastes.

AoE3 is the best RTS in a long, long time. Get it!

 

[Rur0ni]

Civ 4 is my preferred choice. I couldnt get into AoE3 the same way. Civ 4 I can sit for hours(ashamed of) building my empire. I prefer AoE2(conquerors) over AoE3. But maybe I just didnt spend enough time with it.

Like just now, im playing Prince difficulty if im not mistaken, and was getting my ass handed to me by the leading AI for not paying tribute, luckly(after 2 tries) I produced enough spearman with woodsman upgrades to defend the choke points in the forests between a small mountain range. I may have killed 40 units(horse archers, crossbowmen, swordsmen, and war elephants lol before he agreed to get off me. I came crazy close to him owning me.

And lucky for me I chose Genghis Khan with the Mongols as my people. Kelsheks own you.

 

[Netrunner2k2]

AoE3 runs better unless you enable the high-end shading effects. It alos looks a lot better, and has a lot more interesting changes to the core gameplay with the persistent home city and the card deck. The first time you see two fleets of Frigates engage off the coast of South America you will fill your pants with man-foam.

Civ4 is more of the same with a buggy, clumsy 3D engine. There's been some good changes to the gameplay -- city spamming is no longer viable, for example, and the "terraforming" units are smarter so there's less tedious farming and whatnot -- but the game chugs even on high end machines in the end game on large maps. And let's face it, large maps are the only ones worth playing, since every other size is ridiculously small -- and even large maps are too small for my tastes.

AoE3 is the best RTS in a long, long time. Get it!

This guy is so, so right.

 

[Bregor]

My choice would be Civ 4 by far, but given your prefference for RTS, AOE3 may be a better bet in your case.

Edit: Just buy both if you have the cash.

 

[Deku]

Like just now, im playing Prince difficulty if im not mistaken, and was getting my ass handed to me by the leading AI for not paying tribute, luckly(after 2 tries) I produced enough spearman with woodsman upgrades to defend the choke points in the forests between a small mountain range. I may have killed 40 units(horse archers, crossbowmen, swordsmen, and war elephants lol before he agreed to get off me. I came crazy close to him owning me.

And lucky for me I chose Genghis Khan with the Mongols as my people. Kelsheks own you.

Prince difficulty is no longer the even difficulty level, its one level below in Noble. If the manual is to be trusted.

Also, it's no longer enough to have a large Civilization since the game is built so that even lower ranked players can win by simply having a more efficient civilization as opposed to a giant bloated empire.

 

[Phoenix]

If you love strategy games, get both. AoE is the better of the Civ inspired RTS games like RoN.

If you love pure strategy, Civ IV
If you love faster paced games, get AoE III
If you like good RTS games get Rome Total War.

This is the only valid answer possible for this thread

 

[Drinky Crow]

I used to be a turn-based nut but for some reason they're really draggin' for me these days. I think somehow I've developed a need for the instant visual gratification of an RTS.

 

[MrAngryFace]

Its called having other shit to do, I think.

 

[Deku]

This is the only valid answer possible for this thread

I should also clarify my statement by saying that although I recommend AoE III and its a nice game to look at, it is just another forgettable mediocre and BLOATED RTS with too many units to manage. But since the choice is between an RTS and a TBS I had to give that answer.

Rome Total War is far better than AoE III.

 

[MrAngryFace]

Rattling off the names of good games wont restore your credibility, Deku. Collect your things and go home.

 

[Drinky Crow]

yeah, outside of Disciples 2 and Shadow Magic, I just haven't been able to REALLY get into a TBS since college.

 

[MrAngryFace]

Well in addition to things to do, there's other games to play

 

[Drinky Crow]

Too many units to manage? wha...? Did we play the same AoE3?

 

[CoolTrick]

After playing Civ 3 I hardly think AOE3 has too many units to manage.

 

[Slayven]

Better yet kick it old school, Masters of orion 1+2.

 

[Deku]

After playing Civ 3 I hardly think AOE3 has too many units to manage.

With TBS games you can get away with having more unit types. Also, compared to the more hardcore TBS 4X games like Galactic Civilizations Civ 4 is a step away by streamiling quite a few things. But you're right, Civ3 was going in the direction of a very complex TBS game as well, had Civ4 followed in that trajectory, it would be a different kind of game.

Better yet kick it old school, Masters of orion 1+2.

MoO 1 is still great. That was what got me into the TBS genre. I didn't like II too much.

 

[Drinky Crow]

Oddly, I preferred MoO 1 to 2 as well. MoM for the win, though -- retard-grade AI and all.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Rome Total War is such an awesome game, play it if you haven't.

I'd go with AoE III myself.

 

[Shogun]

I don't really understand why you are choosing between the two of them. They are completely different other than both being great immersive PC Strategy games.
I am addicted to both of them at the moment.

Civilization 4 runs fine on my system, and it's the latest refinement of the already great Civilization formula. I have been playing this game since I was a child and it remains one of my favorites. The new religion system is amazingly fun, and at every stage of the game you could see the effort in making it a truly immersive experience. The new system for governmental management is great and allows you to really personalize your civilization's existence strategy. I think most amazing is the inclusion of 'great' individuals, and the addition of a cities cultural impact. Taking over the world by creating art, and guiding a prophet to create a shrine are truly unique experience, and they make this Civilization my heavy favorite since the unshakable experience of the first. A worthy game in a epic series.

Age of Empire 3 is amazing, I wasn't much interested in the franchise until this installment, but the charming hometown card system, the little florishes with the explorer made this a truly interesting change from the old age of empires formula and I really enjoy it, I love the different civilizations and the layers of strategy in deck building, creeping, upgrading, base building, and army building. The creeping is much more refined than Warcraft 3 and truly immerses you in the environment, easily my favorite addition. Age of Empires 3 is light years ahead of any other game in the series. It is the most complex RTS since M.A.X. but it's still incredibly fun in it's complexity.


I recommend getting both of these amazing games as I said they really play completely differently and I don't know why they would be compared, but forcing a choice I always opt for gameplay above all else, and if you like AoE's gameplay better, I would get it first.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

id get AoE3 in a second but it has starforce



so nope.

 

[CoolTrick]

I don't really understand why you are choosing between the two of them.

I hate responses like this. Because not everyone can sit on the computer all day and explore them both at the same time.

 

[siege]

Get Civ 4. It's not as pretty as AoE III, but it's got a lot more meat to it gameplay wise.

 

[MrAngryFace]

broken meat

 

[Shogun]

I hate responses like this. Because not everyone can sit on the computer all day and explore them both at the same time.

I just mean I don't get how they are related. I gave you the straight answer at the bottom, you liked it's gameplay get AoE III, I make that stronger seeing as you seem to have little patience, and Civilization takes more.

 

[fallout]

broken meat

Good meat, broken meat, whatever. It's still crack.

 

[Ellrick]

Civ IV because my brain isnt fast enough for 'real time'.

And Id play a New X-com game over both of them.

 

[Deku]

gameplaywise, Civ4 has no gameplay bugs that I'm aware of. There may be balancing issues that may happen down the road however.

 

[DSN2K]

CIV 4

quality game at the core, bugs hold it back but those can be fixed with a patch and what I hear is its coming next week.

 

[teh_pwn]

Warcraft III.

 

[Deku]

Here's my rule of thumb. I enjoy games that can let me do this.

case closed.

 

[teh_pwn]

Yeah, but you're at war with 3 people and they're on distant islands. Enjoy the hours of tedium ahead.

I personally can't stand that much tedious gameplay.

But if that's what the OP wants, Civ 4 is likely a better pick that AOE3.

 

[Deku]

Yeah, but you're at war with 3 people and they're on distant islands. Enjoy the hours of tedium ahead.

I personally can't stand that much tedious gameplay.

But if that's what the OP wants, Civ 4 is likely a better pick that AOE3.

I stole that screenshot from a Civ website. I actually haven't launched a single ICBM. Every game I play, I build the UN, pass global Free Trade and ban nuclear weapons so no one, including me, can use them.

 

[jamesinclair]

My comp (laptop) runs with a ATI Mobility Radeon X300 with 128MB memory.

Can I run any of these games?

 

[metta]

I vote Civ IV. AOE 3 is the the same old car with a new paint job. The A.I. can't even do stuff that Total Annihilation was doing 8 (?) years ago. Civ IV is remarkable! They've cut out much of the flab and given us a deeper and richer game exeperience.

 

[Zaptruder]

I stole that screenshot from a Civ website. I actually haven't launched a single ICBM. Every game I play, I build the UN, pass global Free Trade and ban nuclear weapons so no one, including me, can use them.

Yeah man, those comp AIs are crazy mofos.

 

[VALIS]

I bought AoE3 yesterday, and it kept stuttering and crashing on my 2.4ghz P4 with a 64mb Radeon 9100 card and 1gb of ram. I realize this machine has aged in the year and a half I bought it, but it should still run RTS games, right? Wrong. I took it back today for Liberty City Stories. And this is why I buy about one PC game per year...

 

[Seth C]

I'd tell you, but I can't even see the menus on Civ 4...haha.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Some of the AOE3 reviews aren't that inspiring. I just got Computer Gaming in the mail and it was pretty good.

 

[Fatghost]

I ran into the ATI problem with Civ 4 and got so frustrated I just uninstalled it and stuffed the game back on my shelf.

AOE3 on the other hand installed like a dream and looks fantastic and plays great. I vote for AOE3, especially if you've got an ATI card.

 

[Fatghost]

I bought AoE3 yesterday, and it kept stuttering and crashing on my 2.4ghz P4 with a 64mb Radeon 9100 card and 1gb of ram. I realize this machine has aged in the year and a half I bought it, but it should still run RTS games, right? Wrong. I took it back today for Liberty City Stories. And this is why I buy about one PC game per year...

I have it running on my GF's 1.8 ghz P4 with a 64 MB Geforce 4400 series card and 256 RAM. Granted it's on pretty low settings but it runs well.


As for the crashing, go into the music folder and delete the leisurelybrows.mp3 file. It has some kind of corruption that leads to sound crashes and even game crashes. You won't notice it missing once it's deleted.

For the stuttering, play with your mouse sensitivity. It stuttered like hell on my P4 2.4 with 1.25 gigs ram and X800 until I made the mouse more sensitive, now it scrolls smoothly and runs great even with a huge sea battle and max settings.

 

[Docpan]

Civ 4.

This game is something special. A bit buggy but once a patch comes out all will be well.

Amazing, AMAZING game.

 

[VALIS]

I have it running on my GF's 1.8 ghz P4 with a 64 MB Geforce 4400 series card and 256 RAM. Granted it's on pretty low settings but it runs well.


As for the crashing, go into the music folder and delete the leisurelybrows.mp3 file. It has some kind of corruption that leads to sound crashes and even game crashes. You won't notice it missing once it's deleted.

For the stuttering, play with your mouse sensitivity. It stuttered like hell on my P4 2.4 with 1.25 gigs ram and X800 until I made the mouse more sensitive, now it scrolls smoothly and runs great even with a huge sea battle and max settings.

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for the tips. I'm gonna bookmark this and pick the game up again after a price drop.

 

[Deku]

I vote Civ IV. AOE 3 is the the same old car with a new paint job. The A.I. can't even do stuff that Total Annihilation was doing 8 (?) years ago. Civ IV is remarkable! They've cut out much of the flab and given us a deeper and richer game exeperience.

Like a useful UN! I love this wonder. The XP needs to add in oil for food as a option.

 

[acklame]

Civ 4.

 

[MrAngryFace]

You guys are such fucking sheep.

 

[Azih]

Civ 4 is a buggy mess.

 

[Deku]

sheep gives +1 health and +2 food with pasture.

 

[DEO3]

Civ 4 is a buggy mess.

I've been seeing this a lot, but I don't get where it's coming from. I've been playing Civ4 night and day since it came out a week and a half ago, and I've never had a single problem.