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[Campster]

Alright, I've never played a Civilization game before and coincidentally, I was going to pick up Civ IV in a couple of weeks. So, between this and Civ IV, which one would you guys recommend?

As stated by so many others, it's largely a matter of personal preference. Civ IV has a ton more depth and complexity to it, but at the same time that comes with a bunch of micromanagement. You have to keep your populace happy (or production will stop) and healthy (or growh will cease). This makes things like choosing between an Obelisk (+1 happy) and a aquaduct (+1 healthy) very different than just choosing which upgrade you'd like to get next. You have to micromanage the individual tiles next to your cities by assigning workers to perform the upgrades you want (though automation does help, especially later in the game).

So it just depends on your personality type - if you just want the high-level strategy, CivRev is pretty awesome, and also seems like a callback to the older iterations of Civilization. CivIV gives you far greater power and far more depth, but you do have to sort of wallow through a lot of micromanagement of cities, units, and tiles. Both are excellent, however, barring the demo not reflecting the quality of the final product.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

I dont know how I feel about it.

Its pretty fun in that I dont have to micromanage but at the same time its a curse because I love setting up one city to be the super constructor and build units super fast or a wonder quickly but in CivRev its more like good placement is all you need for cities.

I think its pretty fun but I dunno how it will handle large scale battles. Is there an option to turn off battle animations and movement? I feel that slows the game down a bit.

 

[Wollan]

I'm pretty sure this will end up being the sleeper hit (or 'hidden gem' if you will) of the year.

Hopefully Fireaxis deem it worthy to continue console development (alongside traditional pc development) despite how this game may fare.

 

[besada]

Playing the demo, I found Atlantis. Jackpot! It dumped a ton of skills on me (which was nice since I'd done a lopsided build to get steam power) just for bumping into it.

Also, it took me three games to realize I could debark the rangers from my ship to explore, or put other units in my ship. Duh.

Love the demo, definitely getting the game.

 

[kbear]

Awesome thread for an awesome game. I really hope this does well in sales.

 

[ToxicAdam]

As stated by so many others, it's largely a matter of personal preference. Civ IV has a ton more depth and complexity to it, but at the same time that comes with a bunch of micromanagement. You have to keep your populace happy (or production will stop) and healthy (or growh will cease). This makes things like choosing between an Obelisk (+1 happy) and a aquaduct (+1 healthy) very different than just choosing which upgrade you'd like to get next. You have to micromanage the individual tiles next to your cities by assigning workers to perform the upgrades you want (though automation does help, especially later in the game).

So it just depends on your personality type - if you just want the high-level strategy, CivRev is pretty awesome, and also seems like a callback to the older iterations of Civilization. CivIV gives you far greater power and far more depth, but you do have to sort of wallow through a lot of micromanagement of cities, units, and tiles. Both are excellent, however, barring the demo not reflecting the quality of the final product.

To be fair, on the lower levels of Civ 4 difficulty, micromanagement as you describe is not needed much at all . You can very easily make Civ 4 on the PC a "dumbed down" (or streamlined) game and still have a blast.

 

[Zzoram]

I loved this demo. I am a Civ IV player, with like 250 hours logged (probably more), and I had to stop playing because I kept accidentally playing until 4am because games take so long :lol I have $47 in credit at Blockbuster which I'll use towards this game, but Blockbuster generally gets new games a week after release.

I want Civ Rev mainly for the shorter games and the Game of the Week, and I might dabble in multiplayer.

 

[Zzoram]

To be fair, on the lower levels of Civ 4 difficulty, micromanagement as you describe is not needed much at all . You can very easily make Civ 4 on the PC a "dumbed down" (or streamlined) game and still have a blast.

You only really need to micromanage at Prince and above, Noble requires some city specialization, and everything below is a breeze.

 

[Kinan]

Damn, this game only 42 Euro(30£) at play.com delivered, so I caved in, even though it takes a week normally to deliver it to me.

 

[Zyzyxxz]

I think this game would be great for multiplayer games since they probably wont take as long.

If I can't resist I'll probably get it during the summer, after I'm done with MGS4.

 

[Rahxephon91]

Demo was pretty fun. I actually like not having to control workers. May pick up but not at $60.

 

[Zzoram]

Oops I just played the demo to 4:30am :lol

The whole point of Civ Rev was to not do that like I do playing Civ IV.

 

[FabCam]

I liked it but it was killed by the map. It was so linear in the demo. Plus all the screens I've seen haven't had particularly big maps either.

 

[Aaron]

I liked it but it was killed by the map. It was so linear in the demo. Plus all the screens I've seen haven't had particularly big maps either.

I think you need to look up the definition of 'linear.' Being able to go in any direction is not linear.

 

[FabCam]

I think you need to look up the definition of 'linear.' Being able to go in any direction is not linear.

Well 2 of the levels I played were literally straight lines.

 

[Epix]

Tried playing the demo yesterday and I must be retarded or something (my first Civ game, however). I couldn't figure out how to really do anything. If I tried to move someone two or more spaces they would move one space and stand there. Then I would get a popup asking to "End Turn." Also, is there any way to zoom in?

 

[Ranger X]

Tried playing the demo yesterday and I must be retarded or something (my first Civ game, however). I couldn't figure out how to really do anything. If I tried to move someone two or more spaces they would move one space and stand there. Then I would get a popup asking to "End Turn." Also, is there any way to zoom in?

It must be because the unit you were moving could walk only one space per turn. You can order them more than more space but they will do it with subsequents turns.
Also, use the "play now" and follow the tutorial. I've never played a CIV myself and i understood everything.

 

[Brashnir]

It must be because the unit you were moving could walk only one space per turn. You can order them more than more space but they will do it with subsequents turns.
Also, use the "play now" and follow the tutorial. I've never played a CIV myself and i understood everything.

This. The number listed by/inside the cursor indicates how many turns it will take the unit to reach the destination. Roads improve a unit's speed, but bad terrain decreases it.

 

[The Librarian]

I've already played the demo five times and it's so frustrating how the demo is long enough for you to get a good empire going, but just as you're laying waste to everything in sight... thank you for playing! GRRR. The more I play though, the more impressed with it I am.

I think that's the point.:lol

 

[Falch]

I'll definitely be checking out the DS version.

 

[The Librarian]

I'll definitely be checking out the DS version.

It's a shame we don't know the exact date of the DS EU release

 

[Azrael]

Does the full version have multiple difficulty levels? Maybe they have it as an option for people who want more control.

 

[Azrael]

I'm pretty sure this will end up being the sleeper hit (or 'hidden gem' if you will) of the year.

Hopefully Fireaxis deem it worthy to continue console development (alongside traditional pc development) despite how this game may fare.

If this sells well enough, maybe they'll do an Alpha Centauri Revolution .

 

[The Librarian]

Does the full version have multiple difficulty levels? Maybe they have it as an option for people who want more control.

Yes it does. There are five difficulty levels.

 

[noonche]

I hope that the full version has the following:

• A camera that you can zoom out permanently
• A minimap
• less screen tearing
• The ability to turn off battle animations
  
  
  
  

 

[Chris R]

At first I thought the loading times were ULTRA SHITTY. Then after 2 mins I realized that the demo was the very first thing to ever freeze my PS3 :lol

Demo freeze for anyone else?

 

[Ranger X]

No freeze at all for me. Played 4-5 hours in total.

It really seem to be solid except the framerate. It's my only possible concert right now. I wonder if it will hold up in larger more busy maps in the retail version.

 

[The Librarian]

At first I thought the loading times were ULTRA SHITTY. Then after 2 mins I realized that the demo was the very first thing to ever freeze my PS3 :lol

Demo freeze for anyone else?

No. But then again, I have the 360 version.

 

[Tenks]

I had moderate hype for this game a month or so ago now I'm a full blown bandwagoning fanboy. Can't wait. Day 1.

This game is a true testament to good games under the radar with good demos will move units. This could easily be the best demo ever presented.

 

[Barakov]

Does the full version have multiple difficulty levels? Maybe they have it as an option for people who want more control.

I'm pretty sure it will.

 

[Pizawle]

Expected more from an official GAF thread.

Love the series and loved the demo. The US delay to July 8th really sucks.

 

[jakncoke]

I hope I have enough money to buy this on day 1.

 

[Cheech]

At first I thought the loading times were ULTRA SHITTY. Then after 2 mins I realized that the demo was the very first thing to ever freeze my PS3 :lol

Demo freeze for anyone else?

I played both the 360 and PS3 demos, and they're basically identical.

- scrolling/frame rate is definitely smoother on 360
- PS3 controller was a bit nicer for this one due to longer stick travel
- Had a weird bug that popped up in the PS3 version, but is probably coincidence. The Greeks would change their system of government almost every single turn, and it got *really* annoying. I would imagine this happens in both versions, I just triggered it while playing on the PS3 somehow.

If you put a gun to my head, I'd buy the 360 version due to it being more graphically solid. Really though, I'd buy either one. Toss a coin.

 

[The Librarian]

I wonder what the reason was for the US delay.

 

[X26]

godd demo, will probably buy once it drops in price, till then I always have the older versions to play if I get the urge

 

[Jtrizzy]

Does anyone know if this is going to be $60 USD? I saw someone saying it was cheap at one of the Euro stores. Anyway, I've been playing the shit out of this demo. It's nice to have a sleeper game that I had no idea was even in existence become a day one purchase. I'll have had time to get my fill of MGS4 by then as well.

 

[TurtleSnatcher]

Does anyone know if this is going to be $60 USD? I saw someone saying it was cheap at one of the Euro stores. Anyway, I've been playing the shit out of this demo. It's nice to have a sleeper game that I had no idea was even in existence become a day one purchase. I'll have had time to get my fill of MGS4 by then as well.

It's 60.00 in the US.

 

[Acid08]

So how much smaller is the tech tree in this game compared to CivIV? I played a bit of CivIV but I got really overwhelmed. I'm going to get this just to get me more familiar with the Civ mechanics and then upgrade to CivIV.

 

[Jtrizzy]

So how does a multiplayer game work? Two people just log on and play at the same time for hours? I see my self logging a massive amount of time on the game. How many players can be in one game? I tried to do the mp demo last night and couldn't get it to work.

If anyone wants to fuck around with it send me a message. My PSN ID is the same as my gaf handle. I'll be on in about 15 minutes and will be playing around for a while. I got a message from LiquidSnake last night about being friends inside the game, but couldn't figure it out.

 

[Zzoram]

So how does a multiplayer game work? Two people just log on and play at the same time for hours? I see my self logging a massive amount of time on the game. How many players can be in one game? I tried to do the mp demo last night and couldn't get it to work.

If anyone wants to fuck around with it send me a message. My PSN ID is the same as my gaf handle. I'll be on in about 15 minutes and will be playing around for a while. I got a message from LiquidSnake last night about being friends inside the game, but couldn't figure it out.

You basically play a full game where the other players are people. AIs fill out the group, and if anyone leaves before it ends, an AI takes over where they left off.

 

[Zzoram]

So how much smaller is the tech tree in this game compared to CivIV? I played a bit of CivIV but I got really overwhelmed. I'm going to get this just to get me more familiar with the Civ mechanics and then upgrade to CivIV.

It's not too much smaller, and the techs are kinda different in Civ Rev in what they do/unlock.

The concepts are generally the same so being good at one should help you play the other.

 

[Jtrizzy]

How long do full games last? I'd imagine at least a few hours.

 

[The Librarian]

How long do full games last? I'd imagine at least a few hours.

At least three hours, more I figure if you are on the harder difficulties.

 

[Acid08]

How long do full games last? I'd imagine at least a few hours.

CivIV games can last for a LONG times. Like 6 hours sometimes I think. These games seem to be 3-4 generally for a full one.

 

[Zzoram]

CivIV games can last for a LONG times. Like 6 hours sometimes I think. These games seem to be 3-4 generally for a full one.

Civ Rev games seem to be geared towards ~3 hours.

Civilization IV games on Normal speed can easily go 8 hours, 12 for Epic and 18 for Marathon. Quick Civ IV games can be like 5 hours, but the game isn't balanced for that speed so it's kind of broken.

 

[Laurentius]

uyb9t

 

[ntb825]

Absolutely loved the demo. Day one purchase for 360 and possibly DS.

Bravo, Firaxis.

 

[Ranger X]

So how much smaller is the tech tree in this game compared to CivIV? I played a bit of CivIV but I got really overwhelmed. I'm going to get this just to get me more familiar with the Civ mechanics and then upgrade to CivIV.

Man, you tell me. I'm CONSTANTLY learning new tech, i don't even have time to digest each one and truly see/feel their advantages. I will definetely need to play alot more to construct real solid strategies or play styles.
Can't image how overwhelming it must be in CIV4...

 

[Acid08]

Man, you tell me. I'm CONSTANTLY learning new tech, i don't even have time to digest each one and truly see/feel their advantages. I will definetely need to play alot more to construct real solid strategies or play styles.
Can't image how overwhelming it must be in CIV4...

CivIV does explain it a bit more. In Rev the Civilopedia is your friend. CivIV moves slower and gives you a bit more time to digest. The thing is CivIV has SO many more options that it quickly becomes more difficult to manage things.

 

[ntb825]

Is the progression of the tech tree sped up for the demo at all?