Civ IV question

[U2]

I would really like to know what system reqs this game will need. Does anyone know?? I have a good graphics card and 3 Ghz processor but only 512 mb RAM. I think I must buy new RAM [:)]

[pasternakski]

This from the Apolyton Civilization fansite:

MINIMUM
-Windows 2000/XP with SP1 or higher
-Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon CPU at least 1.2 GHz
-256 MB RAM
-64 MB graphics card with Hardware T&L (GeForce 2/Radeon 7500 or better)
-DirectX 7 compatible sound card
-DVD-CDROM drive
-1.7 GB free hard disk space

RECOMMENDED
-Windows XP with SP1 or higher
-Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon CPU at least 1.8 GHz
-512 MB RAM
-128 MB graphics card with DirectX 8 support (pixel and vertex shaders)
-DirectX 7 compatible sound card
-DVD-CDROM drive
-1.7 GB free hard disk space

Looks like you're in. I recently shoved 512 MB of additional memory into my 256 MB clunker, and it's the greatest. I needed it for my new 128 MB video card, which was pushing the old 256 capacity to the max. As lawyers say, "More is better." There's an outfit on the Internet called Crucial Technology that sells good memory cheap (I bought a 512 MB DIMM from them for 75 bucks, of course, Swedish experience may vary).

[oi_you_nutter]

i will get CIV4 when it comes out, it has just gone gold according to wargamer.com
but a game that can be played in 8 hours...what !!!!
playing a good long game of CIV2 or CIV3 takes 8 weeks !!!

the ability to mod CIV4 is a nice improvement, its time i learnt Python

[Charles2222]

ORIGINAL: oi_you_nutter

i will get CIV4 when it comes out, it has just gone gold according to wargamer.com
but a game that can be played in 8 hours...what !!!!
playing a good long game of CIV2 or CIV3 takes 8 weeks !!!

the ability to mod CIV4 is a nice improvement, its time i learnt Python

Yeah, the fools that say it takes 8 hours are the same ones that buy the line that you can let the AI handle almost all the tasks.

[ravinhood]

If a CIV game doesn't take 30 to 70+ hours, it's not a Civilization game to me, it's a rts version that plays out in turns. 8 hours to finish the game!! I've even read as low as 2 hours, that's rediculous. Streamlined suks.

Civ II is the best because it comes with an "easy" selection to slow down the tech speed. You don't have to know python or c++.

CIV IV is a 6 month waiter for me.

[U2]

Thanks guys.

BTW who said you can play CIV IV in 8 hours!? An idiot or is that what CIV IV is???

[oi_you_nutter]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

If a CIV game doesn't take 30 to 70+ hours, it's not a Civilization game to me, it's a rts version that plays out in turns. 8 hours to finish the game!! I've even read as low as 2 hours, that's rediculous. Streamlined suks.

Civ II is the best because it comes with an "easy" selection to slow down the tech speed. You don't have to know python or c++.

CIV IV is a 6 month waiter for me.

CivII and CivIII and also Call to Power 1&2 are long games, and that is part of the attraction. if i want a short game, i will play something else. are they trying to please the diehard civ fams or go for the possible big bucks by churning out an rts... its times to either put the money on the counter or wait for feedback by those who jump in ... time will tell

on the subject of modding

IF CIV4 comes with lots of game engine modding ability (using Python and XML iirc)
AND (its a big AND)
more importantly, it a good game framework then i would love to delve into modding it.

as far as i know, no C++ knowledge is required, which does not matter to me as I know C/C++ and have some scriping language experience: DCL, Perl etc so I am not daunted by the technology by that does not mean that modding it deep down in the engine may be easy [:)]

will it be any good straight out of the box, or will it need another 6 months and a few patches...that a good question and only time will tell !

[pasternakski]

I'm with Ravinhood on this one. I haven't read all of the stuff on the various sites or seen all of the screenshots, but I've seen enough to tell me that this may not be my cup of tea.

The first screenshots showed military units (now represented by clusters of guys instead of just one) towering over the landscape and cities and looking like they were three or four miles tall. Well, the designers changed that in midstream, apparently on advice from testers or somebody. That example tells me there's been a little slop in the system, if you know what I mean. We all know from watching how development has gone in some of the - shall we say - "less successful" Matrix-sponsored designs that this is ominous, to say the least. I'm gonna wait and see what the buying public have to say.

I remember reading in one of the interviews with the designers that the decision was made to emphasize the 3-D graphics approach, which meant cutting down on the overall size of the game (smaller worlds, and so on). Another red flag for me. I always play Civ II on a huge world, and even bigger custom maps. Civilization games should present a world that awes the various tribes on it. If this thing is claustrophobic, I'll pass.

One other thing that troubles me (there are others, but you all know me to be an extremely troubled person) is that the overall look is still very much Civ III, a game I did not particularly like. If the crisp, clean presentation of the city screen of Civ II has been forever lost, then the whole direction appears to be moving away from what I thought were the best elements of the game series. I remember thinking when Civ II came out, and I saw that the poor little Arab guy on his camel was no longer the unit depiction of the caravan unit, things were slipping away that should have been kept.

Maybe it's just me. I thought the simplicity of Civ II was one of its best features. Civ III, to me, added a lot of complex fluff that was more in the way than anything else. Civ IV, with religions and all that, may be a further move in that direction, and may be a place I'm not interested in going. I remember a screenshot that showed a city with a "Jewish Cathedral" in it. Hmmmm....

[Capitaine]

I've followed Civ IV on the Apolyton site for several months, and most there are convinced -- and I agree -- that it may be the best Civ game yet. Do not believe what you read or hear about short game time. On small worlds with small numbers of civs, and fully automated, you could conceivably have a "quick" game. They are merely pandering to the multiplayer, RTS crowd with such claims. From all appearances, Civ IV will be a deeper game than it's ever been. I haven't played it, but based on my intel it's one I want right away.

[ravinhood]

It's not an rts oi-nutter, but, by the speed at which one can play out a game of CIV IV it is made to seem like one compared to the great long games of the origional CIVS I & 2 & 3.

Yes, there is a movement this time to "streamline" everything, so noobs can easily pick it up (buy it mainly) and it's not so much geared toward the Civilization "die-hard fans". We've been given our games basically and of course we would enjoy more, but, this one is for the kiddies that like simple easy non complex non long games to play. It will be like playing Rise of Nations turn based, but, like "speed chess" in that sense. It's geared toward fast paced online multiplayer games, hence the ability to play out a small map in 2 hours or less as was stated in one of the previews.

The whine these days seems to be for more streamlined fast playing games for online multiplayer play. I've never seen so many whines and gripes if a game doesn't come with a campaign mp feature as I have in recent times. Most people used to be happy just getting a single player game that was good and challenging. Now it's mp mp mp mp mp, screw single play and single players.

And of course the 3D gd graphics age we live in. Every gd game has to be cutting edge 3D gd graphics and it doesn't make the game good at all, it just makes them look pretty and it sells.

Graphics has caused designers to lose creativity over to designing pretty pictures. Else we wouldn't be seeing so many gd II's, III's & IV's of games anyway.

I get angry everytime I see a game with a number after it's title. It's just milking the donkey with pretty pictures mostly, with 1 or 2 new game tweaks and they charge yah full retail price for much of the same. I have no doubt CIV IV is taking that path as well, a few new bells and whistles, streamlined for "faster" play and 3D graphics to jump on the graphics sells more games band wagon.

I feel if they truely listened to their die-hard fans they would have brought back the caravan, the diplomat and the spy, instead of abstracted them. They would have added the trade of resources and alliances and embargos to the wonderful CIV II game they already made. Nothing will ever surpass CIV II in my book, the CIV series just keeps going in the opposite direction IMHO.

I feel the success of a series of games is to "add to" what already works, not take away and "let's try this and see what happens ideas". Imagine CIV II with some of the features of CIV III? OMG that would have been the ultimate CIV game, but, noooooo, they gotta go this streamlined way of play, make it faster, dumb it down some more so 12 and 13 year olds can understand how to play it and spend their $50 on it (screw the real die-hard fans).

You mark my words Combat Mission X2 (Shock Force) is gonna suk compared to the origional Combat Mission series, mark my words this day in 2005. I'll betcha it suks.

Combat Mission is a wonderful engine and it works, they could have made a couple of more games with it at least for the Pacific side of the war, but, noooooooo, they gotta goto this "let's try this and see what happens idea". lol

[Pippin]

playing a good long game of CIV2 or CIV3 takes 8 weeks !!!

I dont' know, usualy I can win on deity mode in 2 to 4 hours. I think some people LIKE to take their time. IMHO after staring at the animations over and over again, it's best to just turn them all off, and get right down to business. Often the AI puts 50 cavalry and moves them from square to square and back again for no apparent reason (80% of the time this happens just before it attacks someone). Despite being pointless, this sometimes eats up minutes of time just waiting for the rediculous AI moves to complete. I'd rather play than watch.

[pasternakski]

If this "global" screenshot is any indication of what this game amounts to, I'm saying, "Thanks, but no thanks."

[U2]

ORIGINAL: pasternakski

If this "global" screenshot is any indication of what this game amounts to, I'm saying, "Thanks, but no thanks."

You know as well as I know that you can use settings to get different worlds with more land mass. My guess is that that was your issue with this screenie, as it was for me.

[pasternakski]

Well, actually, I think this screenshot shows how ugly, poorly conceived, and just plain uninteresting this game might turn out to be - for me, at least.

But, who am I? I thought "Colonization" had the potential to be developed into a great game ...

[Vyshka]

You realize that in the screen they are zoomed all the way out so you can see the whole planet. To see what the game will normally look like during gameplay when you are at a normal view distance look at some screenies at www.gamespot.com .

[pasternakski]

I've seen just about all the screenshots that have been published since they started developing this thing. I ain't impressed.

[U2]

ORIGINAL: pasternakski

I've seen just about all the screenshots that have been published since they started developing this thing. I ain't impressed.

I am very impressed with everything I've seen. Will pick it up as soon as it reaches my store

[Hard Sarge]

it has been a while, but I remember playing out a game in one setting (get a weekend off, and start it in the morning and be done by the time I went to bed the next day)

well, then again, I also finished BTR

[ravinhood]

I bet my high scores are better than you guys who play that fast. Wish they had something for Civilization like they do Galactic Civ. Where you play your games and then it's saved into an online world of others games and you get ladder and rank by your scores. Then we'd see who the best Civilization player is.

[Pippin]

I still have higher hopes for this... than Pirates (ughhh).