Civ IV Exp and CivCity

The Core Video Games Forum
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I went ahead and bought both of these this week (I think everyone knows how I feel about Civilization), and I thought I’d comment on them both, since I hadn’t seen anyone else do so:

Civilization IV: Warlords

Honestly, I can’t tell the difference yet, other than a couple of new advances you can make. I haven’t tried the new races yet, so that’s probably where the big changes are. I can say one thing for it, though: it finally works on my laptop! Civ IV had some serious issues that caused the game to constantly crash on my laptop, and when my video card died on my desktop, that left me basically Civ-IV-free for several months. Whatever bug fixes they did on Warlords seems to fix the problem altogether. Civ IV v. 1.61 (the newest version) still crashes on my laptop, but Civ IV Warlords works like a champ. I’m ecstatic to be able to play again. I just wish I didn’t have to spend an extra $30 and wait nearly a year to do so… -_-

CivCity: Rome

I think someone at Firefly studios or Firaxis must have read my mind directly for this one. It’s been getting some pretty mediocre reviews from the press, and I can understand why; it doesn’t exactly fit into a genre. It’s real-time, and I’d best compare its gameplay to a mix of StarCraft and SimCity, set it the Civilization world. It’s real time, and you’re given missions to complete like StarCraft, but your only interaction is to build infrastructure and tax people, much like SimCity. If there are fires, you build Fireman Watch Towers. If there are mauraders or other opposing armies, you build bunkers and what-not. However, you don’t individually control the units; you simply build the infrastructure they live in. I recall those late-night StarCraft sessions from days of yore when Sin would end up saying things to me like “dammit, Saturn, stop building things, you’re not playing SimCity.” Well, finally, there’s been a game designed exactly for my play style. I’m not going to say it’s outstanding, but a helluva lot of fun if it’s what you’re looking for.

All of that being said, I am now (finally) able to play Civ IV multiplayer again… so long as it’s the Warlords expansion. So, if anyone’s game for that, let me know. I’m usually off work on Sunday and Tuesday, and get off of work at roughly 8 PM CST every other day (though I have Rocky on Friday and Saturday nights, so those are right out).

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Civilization is a cool series, I wish I could find it at one of the stores here. I had to download and play it for an hour.

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Woo, Civ4 Multiplayer!!

The big thing about Warlords seems to be the scenarios, which are a lot of fun. The Vasselage option is nice, and unique buildings give some more flavor to each civ, but… I’d feel better if it was, say $20 instead of $30.

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Yeah, I don’t think they’ve made a price-worthy expansion since Civ II…

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The major change is the Great General system which allows you to pair them with a unit, giving access to new promotions (Morale (+1 movement), Leadership (+50% exp), and Tactics (+30% Withdraw rate)). It also gives 20 free exp divided amongst every unit in the tile. You can also use them to make a Military Academy boosting unit production or make them an advisor for the city giving free exp to units made there. The new civs, scenarios, and 2 new leader characteristics also add on a nice bit.