Civilization V Impressions

Orgull · Post by **Orgull** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 1:15 pm

Oddly my first two plays of BnW I got wiped out by the Japanese before the Renaissance. I don't know what I'm doing that's setting them off but the Japanese just can't seem to stand me. Attila on the other hand, NEVER attacks me. It's hilarious. I can do anything to Attila and he never retaliates. Sometimes I think the AI is completely insane and virtually non-existent. I often wonder if the computer 'rolls dice' and consults a magic 8-ball type table each turn to decide what to do next.

dbemont · Post by **dbemont** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 1:31 pm

I got attacked by Assyria in the Classical period, playing Shoshone. Luckily for me, the AI does a very poor job using siege engines.

I'm pulling myself away from Eador to give Civ V yet another try. I played most of the earlier Civs to death, but this one never really got hold of me. One thing is that tech tree feels kind of bland, like you can't really choose to go a particular direction, because everything is required to go on anyway. But more than that, it's hit me that my problem is never quite getting the hang of city states. I think the problem is two fold. What is the strategy to this? And what is the fun of it?

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 2:19 pm

I'm playing Siam and have bought off all (20) of the city-states and even tho I only have one city I progress faster and have more money coming in than ever before from allied city-states. I have complete domination over the United Nations and the city-states are always giving me things (supplies, units, etc).
A science victory would have been tight and I don't stand a chance in the domination category but could win the other conditions pretty easily.

Malacheye · Post by **Malacheye** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:03 pm

Another issue with Venice to be aware of is that late game resources can be hard to come by. In my current game, no city states have aluminum or coal within their borders, so the only way I can get those resources is to trade with other nations. Luckily, I had one resource with six coal within my Venice border, but six factories took all of that coal. Since I am now over 500 points ahead of my next closest rival on turn 350 on King level, I believe I have this game in the bag, but on higher difficulties, being without key resources or the ability to spawn a new city to get a necessary resource can be a big problem...

I have "purchased" all but two city states in the game (there were 16 to start).

To this turn, the most angry a rival civilization has been towards me is "Guarded", and once again, none have started a war with me even though I have been in the lead all game.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 8:16 pm

I can't get Sistine Chapel to produce a theming bonus no matter which two pieces of same-era art I put in it. (Maybe they were artifacts, does that not work?)

When you use archaeologists, do you guys pick the artifact or the improvement?

Butterknife · Post by **Butterknife** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 10:35 pm

JetFred wrote:I can't get Sistine Chapel to produce a theming bonus no matter which two pieces of same-era art I put in it. (Maybe they were artifacts, does that not work?)

When you use archaeologists, do you guys pick the artifact or the improvement?

I had that same problem. I think it does have to be art, not artifacts.

Jolor · Post by **Jolor** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:39 pm

Does a wonder being in your territory now increase tourism? Is that what it means by the "tile being worked" in BNW parlance?

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 12:56 pm

I'm playing a game as Venice and since they rely on trade I decided to play on a Huge map with the maximum possible number of Civs (22) and City States (41).

I'm in the Industrial Era now and turn resolution is pretty painful. It's taking 3-4 minutes to resolve all the AI turns.

It's a strange game so far - I've only been involved in one war when I sniped Egypt's capital to seize the Wonder Pinata they always build. Now that ideologies are present we've seen a few rounds of mass denunciations so I think war is inevitable.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 7:01 pm

Y'know what cheeses me off about Civ V? Using mods freezes you out of the high scoreboard. A couple of weeks ago I had what might be my highest score ever, somewhere around 6,000 points. But I wouldn't know because the Hall of Fame shows "No games played."

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:36 pm

I just realized Sistine Chapel has to be same civ too for theming bonus.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 9:58 pm

For anyone that hasn't bought it yet, BNW expansion for $12 at Newegg (unlocks on Steam). I think that's cheaper than it was during the Summer Steam sale, but not sure.

Sooo tempted to buy this and try ONE more time to like V.

Hell, I bet they have already been working on VI for a while now...

Linky to sale: http://tinyurl.com/k7n8c7b" target="_blank

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:26 pm

Dayum, that's a good price. I might have to cave on this tomorrow.

So...um...how's the game in terms of bugs and balance? I've seen some complaints that the AI was castrated. True?

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:29 pm

Kraken wrote:So...um...how's the game in terms of bugs and balance? I've seen some complaints that the AI was castrated. True?

The AI is generally less warlike, at least before you hit the more modern eras. The new trade route mechanic makes it more costly to wage war on your immediate neighbors and tends to keep things more peaceful early on.

I'm still undecided about the change but it's certainly not game-breaking. And the crazies (Zulu!) will still declare war at the drop of a hat.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 11:57 am

Carpet_pissr wrote:For anyone that hasn't bought it yet, BNW expansion for $12 at Newegg (unlocks on Steam). I think that's cheaper than it was during the Summer Steam sale, but not sure.

Sooo tempted to buy this and try ONE more time to like V.

Hell, I bet they have already been working on VI for a while now...

Linky to sale: http://tinyurl.com/k7n8c7b" target="_blank

Thanks for the heads-up. I ordered last night (about ten hours ago), and am still waiting for my download code. But hard to beat the price! (The unfortunate thing is that I'm getting on a plane for a six-hour flight in about an hour, and would really love to have BNW downloaded and installed prior...)

WarPig · Post by **WarPig** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:26 pm

Man, I ordered it, got my download code, activated on steam, and now steam says I activated %subscriptioncode%, and isn't associating it with anything. :/

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 12:32 pm

Sorry to hear that guys...I assumed when you buy a digital code it's pretty much an instant thing, but sounds like that is not the case. Apparently not a "thanks for the money, here's your code" kind of thing.

And it's not like this is some fly-by-night outfit, it's Newegg for pete's sake!

I wonder if others are having trouble. I've bought Steam codes from other sites, but never from Newegg. Never had a problem.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:07 pm

Hmmm, maybe I'll wait a bit longer. Let us know if and when your purchase is satisfactory.

Hamsterball_Z · Post by **Hamsterball_Z** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 8:08 pm

It's $14.99 at Amazon if you don't mind spending a bit more to avoid the Newegg hassle.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:41 pm

I would pay $3 more to avoid Newegg's apparent Steam conflict. 'Course, I'd rather pay $3 less if there is no such conflict. Waiting to hear how The Meal and WarPig's complaints get resolved.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:52 pm

I don't think we'll hear from Meal for a while...so it's up to Warpig.

WarPig · Post by **WarPig** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 11:50 pm

Just checked back and I went to view DLC for Civ V and it's showing in the list. I had uninstalled previously, I am reinstalling from scratch now; it appears to be there.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:59 am

So do you think that it just automagically updated after some time, or is a complete reinstall required?

WarPig · Post by **WarPig** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:31 am

It didn't appear in the dlc list until later. As I had uninstalled the game prior to seeing it appear, I can't confirm what was required to make it work. I also rebooted my machine during that period doing some routine maintenance and had to sign back into Steam, that could have something to do with it as well. Sorry, I wasn't in troubleshooting mode so I didn't narrow down methodically.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 11:03 am

I'm not clear. Was the game uninstalled when you got the DLC code and tried to use it? If so, then maybe that is why it didn't show up, because you didn't have the base game installed? Otherwise, I got nothing

I really want to get the expansion and New Egg or Amazon are great prices. I just wasn't going to pay $30 for an expansion.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:34 pm

I just bought the expansion from New Egg, entered my key and everything worked without a hitch. No problems here at least

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 2:39 pm

Where Grifman leads, I fearlessly follow. Before I install, do you know if I can finish my current G&K game after I upgrade to BNW?

(edit) Never mind. Plunge taken, game installed without any hiccups. That was $12 well spent.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 8:01 pm

Mine was a six and a half hour flight followed by 12 hours of exploring Oahu. The next time I checked email, the Newegg code was there and installed painlessly (for me). Still haven't tried my first game yet.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 10:16 pm

I'm far enough into my first game to realize that my standard opening strategy needs to change.

This is the first game in ages that I've played with no mods at all. My jaw dropped when I saw only 5 or 6 map scripts in the setup. How do people live like that?

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:13 pm

Exodor wrote:I'm playing a game as Venice and since they rely on trade I decided to play on a Huge map with the maximum possible number of Civs (22) and City States (41).

I'm in the Industrial Era now and turn resolution is pretty painful. It's taking 3-4 minutes to resolve all the AI turns.

Finally finished this game yesterday. AI turns were taking 5+ minutes to resolve before I won a diplomatic victory.

Fun - but never, ever again.

Then I played an achievement-whoring game - tiny map, settler difficulty playing as the Huns. I won on turn 13 when I used my battering rams to take the other enemy capital. I got 3 achievements.

Butterknife · Post by **Butterknife** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 11:10 pm

Exodor wrote:
Exodor wrote:I'm playing a game as Venice and since they rely on trade I decided to play on a Huge map with the maximum possible number of Civs (22) and City States (41).

I'm in the Industrial Era now and turn resolution is pretty painful. It's taking 3-4 minutes to resolve all the AI turns.
Finally finished this game yesterday. AI turns were taking 5+ minutes to resolve before I won a diplomatic victory.

Fun - but never, ever again.

Then I played an achievement-whoring game - tiny map, settler difficulty playing as the Huns. I won on turn 13 when I used my battering rams to take the other enemy capital. I got 3 achievements.

I usually like to play somewhere between those two extremes.

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Thu Sep 12, 2013 12:46 pm

Haven't bought any of the expansions for vanilla CiV. Steam has "Upgrade to Gold" for $20...and it may be a losing battle to wait for the Christmas sales.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 6:05 pm

Aaaaand the best deal to date on BNW expansion:

Gamefly has Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World Expansion Pack (PC Digital Download) $9.99 - 20% off with coupon code GFDSEP20 = $7.99

Unlocks on Steam of course.

I do believe I will bite, though it will probably be $4.99 come Thanksgiving.

http://digital.gamefly.com/#!/download- ... id=cmju029" target="_blank

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 7:37 pm

Now I feel ripped off for paying $12!

I won my first game with a political victory, btw, playing the Shoshone. My second game is off to a rockier start.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:36 pm

Yes! FINALLY got into a game of Civ V after trying with each iteration: vanilla, 1st expansion, and 2nd expansion. Never clicked with me, and frankly turned me off (again, always relative to IV), but not sure if it's that I keep trying, or the changes they actually made in this one seem more familiar...but spent a few hours dicking around in a new world, and really, really enjoyed it. Let's see how far I get before I get whomped, because I get the feeling I am far, far behind militarily, and Shaka Zulu keeps giving me the stink eye every time I sneeze.

Lordnine · Post by **Lordnine** » Sun Sep 22, 2013 9:51 pm

I picked up Brave New World. I wasn't too impressed with Civ5 on launch but this really does add a lot of fun new features. Highly recommended at that price.

Lagom Lite · Post by **Lagom Lite** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 4:24 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:Yes! FINALLY got into a game of Civ V after trying with each iteration: vanilla, 1st expansion, and 2nd expansion. Never clicked with me, and frankly turned me off (again, always relative to IV), but not sure if it's that I keep trying, or the changes they actually made in this one seem more familiar...but spent a few hours dicking around in a new world, and really, really enjoyed it. Let's see how far I get before I get whomped, because I get the feeling I am far, far behind militarily, and Shaka Zulu keeps giving me the stink eye every time I sneeze.

To be fair, Civ IV came into its own with the final expansion too. Civ 4 pre-BTS wasn't all that great, especially with regards to AI.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 5:38 pm

Lagom Lite wrote:
Carpet_pissr wrote:Yes! FINALLY got into a game of Civ V after trying with each iteration: vanilla, 1st expansion, and 2nd expansion. Never clicked with me, and frankly turned me off (again, always relative to IV), but not sure if it's that I keep trying, or the changes they actually made in this one seem more familiar...but spent a few hours dicking around in a new world, and really, really enjoyed it. Let's see how far I get before I get whomped, because I get the feeling I am far, far behind militarily, and Shaka Zulu keeps giving me the stink eye every time I sneeze.
To be fair, Civ IV came into its own with the final expansion too. Civ 4 pre-BTS wasn't all that great, especially with regards to AI.

Agree that BTS made Civ IV better, but I feel strongly that even IV vanilla was a better, more interesting game than any of the previous V iterations. With the latest V expansion, now I'm not so sure...this will take HOURS, nay DAYS of testing.

KiloOhm · Post by **KiloOhm** » Thu Sep 26, 2013 7:34 am

Carpet_pissr wrote:Aaaaand the best deal to date on BNW expansion:

Gamefly has Sid Meier's Civilization V: Brave New World Expansion Pack (PC Digital Download) $9.99 - 20% off with coupon code GFDSEP20 = $7.99

Unlocks on Steam of course.

I do believe I will bite, though it will probably be $4.99 come Thanksgiving.

http://digital.gamefly.com/#!/download- ... id=cmju029" target="_blank

I did this deal and then yesterday they sent me a free copy of Mafia II (Steam). What a great deal!

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Sep 26, 2013 8:21 am

I was wondering why I got that email....thanks. And actually a title I don't have, that I was mildly interested in. Yay!

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Sep 26, 2013 12:21 pm

After an iffy start I opened up a big lead midway through my second game (playing as Morocco). It seems like it's pretty easy to dominate the world congress, while the trade system prevents any AI from running away with an unrecoverable tech lead. At one point I was 6 techs behind the leader, now I'm only down by one.

It might be time to kick the difficulty up a notch from King to whatever's next (Emperor?). Has anyone else noticed that this expansion made the game easier?