JasonF

I'm a Civilization player from way back in the day -- I had the original Civilization on my 386. I've played it off and on over the years, but ever since I picked up the latest expansion for Civ III (Conquests) a month or two ago, I've been addicted like never before. Yesterday I stayed up until 3 in the morning just so I could launch my spaceship and win the game.

I'm also actually getting good at the game -- I used to always play on the easiest level, where you get all sorts of production bonuses over the computer. These days, though, I'm playing on Regent level, where the rules are exactly the same for the human and the computer. I'm pretty proud of myself.

I've also started playing the Conquests, which are historical scenarios. I won as Egypt in the Mesopotamia scenario, and I'll give the Rise of Rome a try next.

Anyone else playing Civilization?

SpaceBoy

I'm playing plain old Civ 3. I'm loving it so far, but I still think I like the original one best.. Heck, I even like the block pieces better, then the actual pretty armies. 1 thing I dont like about 3, is that you can't simply tie a lot of units together, which I thought you could on the older versions. Seems like the only way you can is to create an army, but even then you can only do 4 units, and have to have a leader first.

Other then that, enjoying it, and addictive to it as always..

I still play on easy levels, and don't do all that well. I get tired of managing the citizen's happiness after awhile and all my cities go down the toilet.

nickdawgy

Thanks alot, you guys. Now I am going to have to play Civ III and Conquests tonight.

finbogg

That's no monkey....that's a 500-pound Gorilla wearing a full suit of armor.

Civ has got to be one of the most addicting games I've ever played. I actually try not to play it since I have so much trouble making myself stop. I'm always going "one more turn....one more turn. Just have to exterminate the French. "

It's a great game for airplane flights (doesn't burn up as much battery as the FPS games)

sfsdfd

There's a reason why Civilization (in all its varieties) is consistently rated one of the best games of all time.

I played Civ 1, but I played a lot more Civ II, with the neato meet-a-leader interludes where you chat with Ghandi or Ramses. Very spiffy. I played a lot of it even though I sucked, even on the simplest level. That's the hallmark of a great game.

I also played a lot of a lesser-known Sid Meier game called Colonization, where you discover the New World, fight off Injuns, and eventually fight against your homeland for independence. Very cool, though smaller-scale, more directed, and not nearly as deep (imho.)

- David Stein

Mongo

Any of you have the "Play the World" multiplayer edition/add-on? I was just looking at that the other night. I lost my Civ III disk during my last move, and have been missing the game. Now that I'm finally moving very soon (to an area with RoadRunner) I've been thinking about picking up the bundled version that includes Play the World.

Static Cling

What? No mention of Alpha Centauri yet?

BigDave

Civ is an evil, evil game when trying to get work done.

JasonF

The expansions to Civ III (Play the World and Conquests) add a button that lets you move multiple units at once. I think Conquests also adds the option to set rally points for newly created units. You still have to make them attack their target individually (or in the case of workers, build roads or mines or whatever individually), but it helps get the units where they need to be faster.

Mongo -- I have PTW, but I've never used its multiplayer capabilities.

By the way, Sid Meier fans -- he's apparently hard at work on a remake of one of the best computer games ever: Pirates!

buzzdalf

I love Alpha Centauri!
I love them all actually!!

finbogg

Yep... I can't wait to see this one. I absolutely loved that game.

Breakfast with Girls

The strategy guide to Civilization ("Civilization... or Rome on 640K a Day," co-written by Alan Emrich) is still one of the best strategy guides ever written. His second guide, to Master of Orion, is another great one. Too bad his guide-writing skills didn't translate into good game design -- Master of Orion 3 sucked (and he headed up the design team).

I'm not terribly enamored of Civilization III. I think II is still probably the best one. Master of Orion I and II are also fantastic games -- they are basically Civilization with galactic empires.

shizawn

Played my share of Civ 3, but it didn't get nearly the play time as Civ 2 and Civ did.

I might have to fire it up again though as it's been quite a long time since I've played it.

Tsar Chasm

Civilization IV confirmed
By Curt Feldman, GameSpot
12/08/03 12:56 PM
URL: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/...s_6085198.html
One of PC gaming's most revered franchises is back--or at least, on the way.

Responding to reports that Firaxis is not only deep into development of Pirates 2, but also prepping the next installment in its Civilization franchise. A Firaxis spokesperson confirmed to GameSpot today that, "We are in the early planning stages of Civilization IV ... truly the very beginning stages."

The spokesperson pointed to high sales of the Civilization III expansion pack, Conquests, and interest noted among fan sites as being the primary reasons behind the studio's decision to go another round with the Civ franchise. "Based on sales of Civ III: Conquests, clearly, people continue to want more Civilization. As long as people continue to want more, we'll deliver."

Lastblade

Freshman year college..... Got Civ 1. There went my year, I think I played that game WAY WAY WAY more than all my course work COMBINED.

Civ 2, alright.

Civ 3, didn't care any more, I think I got burnt out from 1.

buzzdalf

Yeah Pirates!!

I used to play that game for hours on my Amiga!!!

xmiyux

While i played tons of Civ and Civ II, Alpha Centauri ruled my life for over a year. I played that game to death with the customizable units and those killer videos when you got a wonder..... Ah, good days...

JasonF

I loved a lot of things about AC. The diplomacy model was way ahead of anything they ever did in Civ, even Civ3, which post-dated AC. I also liked the idea of borders and territories, which was introduced in AC and brought over into Civ3. But as much as I enjoy AC, I have more fun playing through Earth history instead of some hypothetical future.

Panda Phil

I've tried playing Civ II a few times, but got tired of the computer constantly kicking my ass.

Nothing kills a game faster than just discovering steam power when suddenly a nuclear carrier comes sailing into your waters...

Breakfast with Girls

J-Dubya

Loved it too!

El-Kabong

Strangly enough, that's what killed Civ III for me. Civ II I could keep up or best the computer, even on moderate difficulty levels. But in Civ III, even on the easy setting I was getting my ass handed to me on about 90% of the time.

Civ II is the best of the lot for my money. But I'll probably pick up Civ IV when that hits the stands too.

Pirates on the other hand - never played it, but I have a friend who has been lamenting the death of his Amiga for 15+ years now. Any game that can put a stranglehold on someone from beyond the grave like that is worthy of checking out.

Tandem

Civ II is by far the best. I played a couple of the Civ III games but I never got to the level of enjoyment that Civ II delivered.

Then there is Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire. Oh, yeah! That's the direction the Civ series should have gone in.