Civilization IV

[Hollow Knight]

Cheers guys. What about Wonders? Are they particularly advantageous or are they more a distraction from the main game of trying to dominate? So far, I've played on the two lowest levels and so I've been able to conduct wars and build pretty much every wonder but when you get to the harder stages, do you need to pick and choose which wonders to build?

Each wonder gives your Civilization different benefits.

Building Broadway for example gives you a culture and happiness boost in the city you build it in, and also gives you 5 units of Broadway musicals to trade to other civilizations.

Building the Oracle gives you a free technology and a higher chance for a Great Prophet to be born.

Building the United Nations opens up the Global Election part of the game, allowing you to press for a diplomatic victory (so try not to piss off the other countries... you need their votes!) . Also gives a greater chance for a great merchant.

There is a list of wonders here, and the benefits they give.

In short, you need to decide which Wonders will benefit your particular civilization, and decide whether they are worth the costs of building them. Also factor in what type of victory you are going for (Conquest, Culture, Diplomatic, Space Race etc).

That whole Civ Fanatics website is great actually, lots of good information there. Civ IV is such a deep game.

 

[Tim the Toolman]

Bugger, not allowed to access that site from work!

 

[Mooney_d'King]

Wow, I should come to this board more often - I love Civ 4!! But I haven't played it a lot recently due to being totally engrossed in World of Warcraft.

Anyway, I reckon the best starting strategy is get settlers made as fast as you can early and go the territory grab. Choose to play in a 'huge' world to minimise your chances of early warfare. Keep only one military unit in each city for as long as you can get away with it. Trade for sciences unless you're ahead of the pack (probably obvious).

For some reason, I used to win most often playing as the Japanese.

As far as Great Wonders, I didn't tend to make them until the middle ages cos they can slow down expansion. When you have established a fair few major cities you can kind of afford to lose one city's production to a great wonder for a while. I always loved getting Hoover Dam (from memory), increased production across the entire Civ!

 

[Mooney_d'King]

A guy at my work is engulfed by WOW.

His GF gave him an ultimatum, he had to choose: it was her or WOW.

He picked WOW.

LOL!!! I was able to get my wife into it. I hardly get meals anymore, but not only can I play WoW and get away with it whenever I want, I can also watch the footy whenever I want (cos she's too busy playing)!!

 

[Tim the Toolman]

Japs were good and if you can get the Samurai early enough they're virtually unbeatable.

Unfortunately if I'm up against the Vikings it's no good because no matter how advance my units are, I just can't defeat them in any battles. Being the Vikings doesn't help either as they just don't build quick enough. Japs are a better, more resourceful Civ.

 

[Hollow Knight]

LOL!!! I was able to get my wife into it. I hardly get meals anymore, but not only can I play WoW and get away with it whenever I want, I can also watch the footy whenever I want (cos she's too busy playing)!!

I played Ultima Online back in the day...

I started to realise eventually that it wasnt really a game, and that I was just doing pointless busywork in order to make numbers go up.

Tried out WOW when it first came out, got my orc Shaman to level 38 and discovered I felt the same way.

Once I stopped playing, and broke the cycle of pointless grinding, I realised that I wasn't even having fun.

 

[Mooney_d'King]

I played Ultima Online back in the day...

I started to realise eventually that it wasnt really a game, and that I was just doing pointless busywork in order to make numbers go up.

Tried out WOW when it first came out, got my orc Shaman to level 38 and discovered I felt the same way.

Once I stopped playing, and broke the cycle of pointless grinding, I realised that I wasn't even having fun.

Yeah levelling can get boring. Then again, gearing up at level 70 for instances can be an annoying grind too. Instances are enjoyable. But in general you're right, it is just making numbers go up.

But I still can't stop playing it!

 

[Hollow Knight]

Yeah levelling can get boring. Then again, gearing up at level 70 for instances can be an annoying grind too. Instances are enjoyable. But in general you're right, it is just making numbers go up.

But I still can't stop playing it!

Yeah, I can understand that people enjoy the social aspect of it... guilds etc.

I just dont have the attention span for it.

Mario Kart for Wii is my addiction at the moment. So good online.

 

[Mooney_d'King]

Yeah, I can understand that people enjoy the social aspect of it... guilds etc.

I just dont have the attention span for it.

Mario Kart for Wii is my addiction at the moment. So good online.

LOL. Attention span, you said it

 

[POBT]

Bugger, not allowed to access that site from work!

Me neither...

 

[Propagandhi]

I've played a helluva lotta games over the years, but Ultima Online is still my all time favourite.

I played WoW for a bit too (level 60 Hunter), but I just don't have the time to play those sorts of games anymore.

Microsoft Hearts is where it's at now!

 

[dlanod]

Civ used to be my perennial timewaster (Civ 1 was the very first game I bought on our first real computer), but I've got Civ 4 sitting on my shelf uninstalled... blaming WoW like so many others. Essentially having IRC in an RPG form is so very time-wasting.

 

[Tim the Toolman]

I relate Civ to a poor man's (or geeks) version of heroin.

It has ruined my life but brought soooooo much joy....

 

[POBT]

I relate Civ to a poor man's (or geeks) version of heroin.

It has ruined my life but brought soooooo much joy....

I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who need reasons when you've got.......

 

[Hollow Knight]

Uh oh!

Can your marriage handle this Tim?

 

[Tim the Toolman]

Whatever that site is, I can't access it from work. Was it something to do with Civ Revolutions or another Civ?

I've got to reiterate, I am still playing Civ IV Beyond the Sword at least 3-4 times a week and still am not sick of it!

And yes, it's definitely a marriage breaker - my wife just cannot figure me out, she thinks I'm surfing pr0n or something!

 

[Hollow Knight]

Whatever that site is, I can't access it from work. Was it something to do with Civ Revolutions or another Civ?

Its a new Colonization game, using the Civ IV engine. Looks fricken brilliant.

 

[Tim the Toolman]

(From Wiki...) Civilization IV: Colonization is a 2008 reimagining of Sid Meier's 1994 game, Colonization, and the fourth game of the Civilization IV franchise.[1] Like its 1994 predecessor, players control settlers from one of four European nations, England, Spain, France or the Netherlands, that are trying to conquer/colonize the New World in the time period between 1600-1800. The final goal of each player is to build up their colonies and declare independence from their mother country.[1][2][3][4] Civilization IV: Colonization is due for release as a standalone product on Microsoft Windows in late 2008.


OMG, I'm getting excited!!!!

 

[Hollow Knight]

Timbo: Colonization is out, and its great. Deep as hell.

49.95 at EB Games.

 

[Tim the Toolman]

I did buy it last week and gave it a crack but boy is it hard?!

I may need to either read the material with it or get some help. I couldn't get into it at all and ended up swapping the disks over and just having another game of Civ!

I'm going to have another crack this week and I'll see how I go. I started another thread in the Computer Games board and someone's given some good advice there that I need to follow.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Civilization 5 looks great.

 

[pulpdriver]

Civilization 5 looks great.

I'll second that. Just hope a Mac version isn't too untimely.