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So how much time are you losing to Civ IV
these days?

You are an evil, evil man bringing this terror here! We all know Civilization in it's myriad forms is Electronic Crack of the highest potency. Once trapped within it's icy grip only near starvation, extended power outages or feats of extraordinary will power can break one free!

I, for one, am glad my discretionary budget has not made any room for this hyper-addictive, sleep depriving daemoness! Perhaps, malf, it's about time you joined Civilization Anonymous? They can help, you know.

I made the decision not to pick it up yet.  I have a busy life right now, which means I'd have to forgo sleep in order to play.  And I surely would. 

I played Civ pretty heavy in all the previous incarnations.  I'd love to hear your reviews of Civ 4.  I heard they tried to further cramp my style (very aggressive).  I've never been one to sit, bunker and micromanage cities...

I'd say it's a good game. They've made a few improvements to how the game flows, and it's now a much faster paced game. For example, they have removed the civil disorder when people grow unhappy, instead replacing it with a loss of production for not maintaining it. There's no more pollution (though there is still fall-out from nuclear weapons), industrial improvements just make the city unhealthy. You can combat this via things like aqueducts and hospitals, or you can bring in a variety of foods from your trade network. I find that to be rather innovative.

In addition, there's the new religion system which can be fun to play with. They didn't give the religions any bonuses or detractors (can you imagine how they would have been reamed for that?), but in general religious structures increase happiness and provide for science in the early goings and trade. They also have an impact on diplomatic affairs as civilizations of a different religion won't like you as much, especially if they've had wars with your religion before (like if the Germans and Americans were both Christians and got in a war with the Aztecs, the Aztecs would not like Christians very much when they met yours later). It's something that can be largely ignored if you don't want to mess with it, but it's an interesting twist to spread a religion and get everyone behind "your" religion.

One of the big things they wanted to get away from was the amount of worker-related things you had to do. First off they made workers have 2 move points, so in flat areas they can build improvements very quickly. They also have added a lot more choices for things to build. No more is it irrigation or mining. You can build workshops for production, lumber mills to keep forests around, windmills on hills for trade and food, cottages that grow into villages and towns for increased trade, and then the traditional irrigation and mining. This is ignoring the three or four "special" improvements that go on resources, of which there's a lot more of. Another nice improvement if my memory isn't hazy is that once you discover railroads, they build railroads straight off. On top of all that lovely enhancement, they have the ability to automate workers and have them act somewhat intelligently. Gone are the days when 90% of your moves were telling workers where to go and what to do, they allow you to get down to business, or manage it yourself if that's what you want.

With the different improvements, added resources, stream-lined gameplay and new religion system, Civ 4 is a great new game even without the window dressing of graphics and sound (which are good, at least). They really seem like they made a concerted effort to leave in the stuff that makes Civ fun while removing as much of the stuff that makes it tedious as they could. If you liked any of the previous Civs, you'll probably find a lot to like in the newest one.

Posted By nyarlathotep667 on 11/01/2005 10:54 AM
Civilization%20Anonymous?

Love the link.

Well, removing some of the tedium has to be a good thing.  The handling of civil disorder sounds like a definite improvement.  I've also heard that they've made borders less of a sieve, which is also good.  It was always annoying how enemy civs could march military units into your territory, and then YOU would have be the one to break the peace treaty to get rid of them. 

I just picked up my copy of Civ IV today and am looking forward to losing some serious portions of my life to the game.

The game is excellent. I really enjoy the extra elements that have been added.

It's been forever since I've played III, but things that I really like (be they new or not... ) are:
* No more advisors, instead the game will make suggestions on what to research/build next (by having those suggestions at the top of the list of choices, along with what the suggested choices would affect eg economy, military, science... ).  You can mouse over pretty much anything in the game to get more information, which is great.  The entire interface has been streamlined and integrated extremely well.
* Being the first to discover certain technologies will give your civ (and a random city in your civilization) something unique. Similar to being the first to build a Wonder. This makes going down the tech track much more satisfying, as you can rack up these benefits which begin to really add up over time. The most notable example is being able to found the different religions in the game by being the first to discover Monotheism, Polytheism, Code of Laws, etc... This enables you to build a holy shrine in the city where the religion began which, in turn, greatly increases that city's cultural output.
* Allowing other culture's units into your territory is now an option, not a given. Unless you've got an Open Boarders agreement going on, neither you nor they can enter your cultural boundaries without starting a war.
* A host of different options when setting up a game, including a handful of special maps (some global, others regional).
* Tons of countries to choose from, some having two different leaders to choose from each with a different pair of cultural bonuses.
* Great overall AI

Military victories are difficult to achieve, and wars are not easy affairs unless you greatly outstip your opponent in technology. There are a LOT of options for your unit promotions which means you can really tailor your attack stacks to various tasks (city assault, unit clean up, etc... ). Also, the computer is very sneaky, in a good way - like declaring war on you after you've been weakened by warring with a different neighbor...

Another big change for me was that you can no longer switch production and have the built up work go to the new project. This really sucks when you've been working on a wonder for 30 turns and some other culture beats you to the finish line - all that production is automatically turned into gold now instead of you being able to just turn around and dump it into something else. Makes pursuing wonders a bit more chancy than it used to be. On the flip side, you can put a long project on hold, build something else, and then go back to the previous effort if you need to (if, for instance, you get into a war and really need a couple of extra units to help tip the balance).

All things considered, I'd say it's a big step forward for the series. Go get the game, and kiss your free time goodbye for awhile...

KW

Wow, I was wondering how well it went. You all make such awesome reviews that I want to get it now.
I was a fan of II and loved III. Though I think Ill re-occupy myself with DOW WA some more before getting another game.
Yeah...

Does it have internet play? Multiplayer?

I don't know if there's a multiplayer suite, but I do know there's Internet play. And
since the game plays much faster now it's probably not half bad.

I have plaed several games now and am simply amazed by hour much shorter the games actually are. That is really great.

The other cool thing that I though was a great add-in was the clock with alarm, to remind you to stop playing.

Oh I think that was in for Civ III. Either that or they put it into
Centauri Alliance.

But whatever, it's not like anyone listens to them.

The alarm doesn't stop the game, it just reminds you to be
responsible. And when has that ever worked out?

Not often, but I do try and occasionally succeed.

Still haven't picked the game up yet...I'm dying to play, but my well-rested brain and body are thanking me for showing some willpower.

Further nerfing of military conquest isn't too appealing to me, though. I play pretty aggressively, and to me, city-building and technology development have always been a means to the end, not the end itself. Oh well. They tried to put some clamps on aggressive play in II and III, and I figured out how to adjust my approach both times.

Regarding the alarm, the only way that would be effective is if it shut the computer down and made restarting it impossible for an 8-hour period.

I applied the new patch the day before yesterday and it screwed up how my game runs. It's telling me my system doesn't meet minimum requirements and is setting all the graphics to the lowest levels. I have a 3ghz pentium 4, with 1 gig of Ram, 128mb video card and 200gig HD. Has anyone else encountered this? I have put in email to tech support to see what they say about it.