The Coffee House

This is a thread for general discussion of the games from the Civilization series, which has endured for over a quarter of a century now. So far, there have been six entries in the main series: 
 

• Sid Meier's Civilization (1991)
  
• Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996)
  
• Sid Meier's Civilization III (2001)
  
• Sid Meier's Civilization IV (2005)
  
• Sid Meier's Civilization V (2010)
  
• Sid Meier's Civilization VI (2016)
  

That's not all, though. There have also been several spin-offs over the years, including Civilization Revolution, Civilization IV: Colonization, and Civilization: Beyond Earth. So, all in all, we have around a dozen games to discuss here . 

Myself, I've been playing the franchise since 2010, when I got the then-new Civilization V for my birthday. At this time, it was being savaged by long-time fans of the series; however, I had never known any different, so I had a blast with it . In fact, I've accumulated over 2,000 hours on Civ 5 on my Steam account over the years . I did later get Civilization IV, but as I explained in this thread, I never managed to get into it . Later on, I picked up both Civilization Beyond Earth and Civilization VI when they were new - and, while they never ate up my entire gaming time in the way that Civ 5 did, I've had great fun with both . Now, I'm excited about the upcoming Gathering Storm expansion for Civ 6, which was announced yesterday:




So, what about you? Which games in the series have you played, and which is your favourite?

To be perfectly honest, I have always have a hard time with Civilization. I own the fifth installment for PC and a friend of mine let me borrow the second one when it was one of the hottest IPs around, yet I could never get into it.

Maybe it is because I didn't really give it much time to grow on me, or maybe it is because I found it intimidating when I DID give it a try, but the thing is that I could never sit down and lead my empire to whatever goal you are supposed to achieve.

That's not to say that I don't want to eventually give the game a fair try, though, but it's gonna take a combination of free time and maybe a better PC to fully dive into the experience.

(11-22-2018, 01:27 AM)Dust Bowl Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe it is because I didn't really give it much time to grow on me, or maybe it is because I found it intimidating when I DID give it a try

Yeah, I can definitely understand what you mean there . I was the same way with Victoria II: as it's a rich, deep economic strategy game set up in the 19th century, I thought it would be right up my street. However, when I did try it out, it was so complex that I just felt intimidated by it . I figured it would take me about 50 hours' worth of playtime before I would have a good grasp of the mechanics - and I just didn't have 50 hours to devote to it (and, sadly, likely never will).

I tried Civ IV and wasn’t able to get into it. Then my Windows 7 laptop stopped working. :/

Awww, that's a shame . 

Now, we know the first of the new civilizations to be added. It'll be Hungary, led by Matthias Corvinus: 



Their bonuses are based around production and military (for example, they get to build districts faster if they're next to rivers). Sounds pretty powerful, but also quite situational: they seem pretty dependent on a good starting position to truly dominate the game.

Another new civ now. This time, it's the Maori, led by Kupe: 



They're quite interesting: unlike other civs (which really have to found their first city immediately), the Maori can afford to spend a few turns scouting around for a good starting position. This eliminates a lot of the luck that comes with your starting roll.

Ok, i really want to know if it's true.

Is Civilization 6 better now?

I still don't think it's worth my money still....


Also, Civ V boi right here. The game that started my enjoyment for Civ games.

Not gonna lie... it's looking quite tempting.

(12-07-2018, 01:12 AM)GiraKeng Wrote: [ -> ]Ok, i really want to know if it's true.

Is Civilization 6 better now?

I still don't think it's worth my money still....


Also, Civ V boi right here. The game that started my enjoyment for Civ games.

Kinda depends what you liked about Civ 5 . There's more depth to the city-building than Civ 5 ever had, and it's got more content from DLCs and expansions than it had at launch. Furthermore, the combat AI has improved somewhat since launch (though it is still pretty weak in my experience). However, some of the little annoyances I had with Civ 6 are still present (roads are still horribly underpowered!), and of course the graphics haven't changed: Civ 5 is definitely the more aesthetically-pleasing of the two games.

I'd say it's worth it if you can get it on sale, but probably not worth paying full price for it.

Now, another new civ from the expansion. This time, it's Mali, led by Mansa Musa: 



In some ways, they're an indirect replacement for Civ 5's Songhai civilisation (which existed in a similar geographical area, and indeed shared some cities with it). However, in gameplay terms, Civ 6's Mali plays a very different role from Civ 5's Songhai. With the Songhai, the way to play is to clear barbarian camps early in the game (to take advantage of their unique Culture and Gold bonuses for doing so). However, when playing Mali in Civ 6, the way to do it is to expand into a desert and trade, trade, trade, to accumulate loads and loads of Gold. In this sense, they play much more like Morocco did in Civ 5. 

I always enjoyed my Morocco games, so I suspect I'm going to like Mali as well!