Civilisation IV is really, really good

[Andyr]

I think I explained my past love of the first two of these games in some other thread. After not being enamoured with III, I can say IV is very good. If you like strategy games I can heartily recommend it!

 

A word of warning: you'll wonder where the hours went...

[CamDawg]

Yes.

[Andyr]

I have just been decimated by the combined forces of the Persians, Greeks and Egyptians. I think I'll go to bed now...

 

... and try an easier difficulty level tomorrow!

[Bri]

And I've yet to play a version of Civilization which, if Gandhi is present, doesn't betray me and attack me, even if I hold the upper hand.

[Tameon the Dragoon]

I agree, Civ IV is the best. I find the combat is way too harsh; I was dominating all the Barbarions that had the nerve to attack, so when I got the courage to pick a fight with Ghengis Khan, he crushed me.

 

Still, it's fun. In my last game, Moses was born in Kyoto, Japan, travelled to Tokyo, constructed the Temple of Solomon and then blew up. Hurray for historical inaccuracy! As a Christian, I suppose if I were less understanding I would find it offensive; it's just too ridiculous to take seriously, though.

 

If I had to pick between Civilisation IV and Rome: Total War (the two best strategy games of last year, in my opinion) this one would win. It's simple to get into, but really difficult to get out of. I play for days straight...

[neriana]

And I've yet to play a version of Civilization which, if Gandhi is present, doesn't betray me and attack me, even if I hold the upper hand.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Gandhi's actually pretty peaceful this time around. His AI is extremely pacifistic. He wins space races on a regular basis, though.

 

Civ 4 is indeed full of awesomeness.

[Ascension64]

The only disadvantage about Civ IV is the amount of hours lost while playing it...and you wouldn't even be able to keep track until you looked at the clock!

 

Great game, though. However, it was the lost time that made me put it down. I hope others have enough self-control not to get consumed by the game...

[jester]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/

 

Read the Succession Games for some interesting hints on strategy.

[cirerrek]

A few things I've found that work in Civ4

 

Catapults are the key to taking early walled cities.

 

Later you want cannons, artillery, a battle ship bombarding a city from the cost, etc.,.

 

If you don't lower the defense rating of city before you attack it, then you are going to lose way more troops than you should have.

 

Cavalry generally sucks at attacking cities, especially if they have spearmen.

 

Use cavalry to pillage war resources such as copper and iron and also scout for and if possible destroy troops coming in from other cities.

 

Beef up your boarder defense before going to war.

 

Keep a few fast moving cavalry type troops in reserve for pesky invaders that cross your boarder in out of the way locations.

 

Put troops at key locations along your boarder and set them to sentinel.

[Andyr]

Yeah, I tend to send a pair of catapults with a group of Swordsmen/Axemen in my wars... those siege weapons really help lowering city defenses! I like leaders with the Aggressive traits, as combined with Theocracy, Vassalage and a Barracks you can get some pretty elite units coming fresh out your cities.

[cirerrek]

Yeah, I tend to send a pair of catapults with a group of Swordsmen/Axemen in my wars... those siege weapons really help lowering city defenses! I like leaders with the Aggressive traits, as combined with Theocracy, Vassalage and a Barracks you can get some pretty elite units coming fresh out your cities.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I'm mostly a builder type. So I've had good luck with the English. They tend to generate lots of money and lots of Great People. Moreso depending on which of the two leaders you use.

 

My biggest problem is that since I like to build large civilizations, I like Huge maps. But when you ratchet up the difficulty levels on larger maps, 1) the barbarians have more places to settle and spawn 2) you lose you bonuses vs. barbarians as the difficulty increases.

 

I've noticed that the barbarian spawns do decrease as more and more of the world gets settled. Still, when there is a constant barrage of barbarians, it is hard to plan for the future, when you are just trying to survive in the present.

 

Anyway, Fireaxis did it right by addressing virtually every issue that I had or anyone else for that matter had about Civ3. Civ4 is definitely an improvement and an addictive one at that.

 

For those having trouble getting completely sucked into Civ4 for hours on end, in the options menu, you can set and alarm to remind you that it is time for bed. But you know that you have time for JUST ONE MORE TURN

[Andyr]

Yeah, in Civ 2 I used to found dozens of cities but it's not quite so simple to do that in IV unless you have the Financial or Organised traits.

[Western Paladin]

Civilization IV is the best Civilization game I've played since Alpha Centauri. And that's saying something, because I *loved* Alpha Centauri. I like the cultural features, but I think I'm going to have to jump up to a higher difficulty because the AI doesn't fight enough for my liking.

 

And yes, Gandhi is teh suck.

 

Edit: Now I'm just waiting for a Discworld mod like they had way back in Civ2.

[Lord Ernie]

Heh... playing a game with Ghandi at the moment, and I'm winning pretty well. Some good ol' fashioned chop rushing has put me 2 or 3 researches ahead of the lot.

[Bri]

Heh... playing a game with Ghandi at the moment, and I'm winning pretty well. Some good ol' fashioned chop rushing has put me 2 or 3 researches ahead of the lot.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Heh, I didn't always say I lost to him, just that he always backstabs me. Though, some games, it is a little bizarre to have his Indian deathsquads on my front door...