Civ 4 gone gold!

Sponge · Post by **Sponge** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:07 am

Gold

Nothing like waiting till the last minute to announce your product has gone gold. It's shipping in less than a week!

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:18 am

LordMortis, it's going to suck, nothing to see here.

Hrnac · Post by **Hrnac** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:19 am

Yeeeeeeesssssssss!!!!!!!!!

-Hrnac

The Preacher · Post by **The Preacher** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:21 am

Peacedog wrote:LordMortis, it's going to suck, nothing to see here.

Yes, this will be awful.

/waves hand

This isn't the game you're looking for.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:36 am

gurgle.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:46 am

Damn. I don't have time to play games. I was hoping this one would be late. Like three months late. Now all I can hope is that the initial reaction is bad enough to keep me from wanting it.

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:49 am

I was hoping this one would be late. Like three months late. Now all I can hope is that the initial reaction is bad enough to keep me from wanting it.

I've actually been playing it (stole a copy from Firaxis). It's terrible. Maybe in about 3 months it'll be good after a few patches fix everything. So don't feel rushed.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:31 am

Peacedog wrote:
I was hoping this one would be late. Like three months late. Now all I can hope is that the initial reaction is bad enough to keep me from wanting it.
I've actually been playing it (stole a copy from Firaxis). It's terrible. Maybe in about 3 months it'll be good after a few patches fix everything. So don't feel rushed.

Tell Mortis and me more about all the bugs. You know, the ones that'll get patched just as the price of the game hits our "target levels." Thanks!

~Neal

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:32 am

The only thing I can think of that would make me more excited, PC game-wise, than a new Civ, would probably be a Fallout 3, and I might consider putting that on the same level in terms of excitement factor.

Begin rant/derail about the good ol days:

I rarely get pumped about games anymore (i.e. I buy it as soon as it hits the shelf), but Civ does it to me every time.

Even HL2 didn't have that effect on me, though I loved that game (as well as HL1) and I knew it would rock (which it did) before I even played it.

I'm a sad, old cynical PC gamer has-been, a throw back to the "Golden Years" of PC gaming.

Though I think when you hear someone say "Golden Years of PC Gaming" they are referring to THEIR golden years "of gaming" and maybe not a real indication of quality of games during a particular time. Maybe.

Who knows. All I know is I don't get the same enjoyment from games that I used to when I was playing things like Half Life for the first time, or Full Throttle, Monkey Island, Return to Zork, Fallout, X-Wing, Crusader, Gabriel Knight, etc etc. No, this is not a derail saying PC games are dead, but I think it's more of a people change than a quality in the industry change.

I will say this, and stop - I do think it's more of an INDUSTRY now than in "those days" when you could look at the Mail Order Monsters box for instance, or the Bard's Tale box, and just see the love they had for what almost seemed like a hobby in those days. I am not naive enough to believe that 100%, but it just seemed that way.

And to end on topic, I have full confidence Civ 4 will rock. Let's hope they don't retail the sucker at $65 or something ridiculous though.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:38 am

The Meal wrote:
Peacedog wrote:
I was hoping this one would be late. Like three months late. Now all I can hope is that the initial reaction is bad enough to keep me from wanting it.
I've actually been playing it (stole a copy from Firaxis). It's terrible. Maybe in about 3 months it'll be good after a few patches fix everything. So don't feel rushed.
Tell Mortis and me more about all the bugs. You know, the ones that'll get patched just as the price of the game hits our "target levels." Thanks!

~Neal

I am totally going to snap. I can feel it. Just let it be 1/4 as good as my would make it... and less than $60. It doesn't help that I have been looking forward to the slow game turns of SMAC coming my way, even though I am clearly way outclassed in both of the games I am in.

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:44 am

Tell Mortis and me more about all the bugs. You know, the ones that'll get patched just as the price of the game hits our "target levels." Thanks!

I wanted to test the uninstaller and it wiped my entier c:\. Strike 1. I know what you're thinking "well, I'm not buying it to uninstall!". True, however, during install there's roughly a 1 in 3 chance (based on 20 installs) that the install will "go wrong" and halfway through will switch to the uninstall process.

Two, every time I try to give a unit it's fifth promotion (I've only gotten maybe 5 chances), the game crashes. And then I come to find out that somebody I love very dearly has died of mysteirous causes. And the cause of death is always right near the time of my attempt to give a unit the fifth promotion (unverified for the first two occurences, but it looks like it's true and the last 3 were all measured within 15 minute window). You'd think this would be the worst bug. I mean, I do kind of miss my family. you'd be sadly mistaken.

Three, the game occasionally goes blackscreen and weird chanting begins to come out of my speakers. This happened twice, and I just powered everything down because it was kind of creepy and I wanted to play Civ IV. But one time, I let it go on for awhile. Fortunately for me and the rest of the planet, I happened to wander into the den from the computer room and blance out the back door. What I saw I won't ever be able to describe; I don't remember much of it and when I try to I have some rather unfortunate "episodes". It's nice of the doctors here at the sanitorium to let me use the internet sometimes during the day. They think it's good to do things that are part of my normal routine.

Also, I haven't tried gouging out my own eyes or needed to wear the mouth piece (to prevent my swallowing my own tongue) in almost two weeks. I'm told I was found huddled in the closet of my bed room scrawling "beware the watchers from beyond the stars!" on the wall, over and over. A grid blew and we lost power, and it has been suggested to me that whatever was going on stopped as a result. I'm also told that no living creature that isn't human won't go within 500 yards of the backyard now. And that humans who do feel uneasy, and someone tried to sleep there had awful nightmares and terrible visions.

Gotta run, time for my meds.

Kael · Post by **Kael** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:48 am

Peacedog wrote:
Tell Mortis and me more about all the bugs. You know, the ones that'll get patched just as the price of the game hits our "target levels." Thanks!
I wanted to test the uninstaller and it wiped my entier c:\. Strike 1. I know what you're thinking "well, I'm not buying it to uninstall!". True, however, during install there's roughly a 1 in 3 chance (based on 20 installs) that the install will "go wrong" and halfway through will switch to the uninstall process.

Two, every time I try to give a unit it's fifth promotion (I've only gotten maybe 5 chances), the game crashes. And then I come to find out that somebody I love very dearly has died of mysteirous causes. And the cause of death is always right near the time of my attempt to give a unit the fifth promotion (unverified for the first two occurences, but it looks like it's true and the last 3 were all measured within 15 minute window). You'd think this would be the worst bug. I mean, I do kind of miss my family. you'd be sadly mistaken.

Three, the game occasionally goes blackscreen and weird chanting begins to come out of my speakers. This happened twice, and I just powered everything down because it was kind of creepy and I wanted to play Civ IV. But one time, I let it go on for awhile. Fortunately for me and the rest of the planet, I happened to wander into the den from the computer room and blance out the back door. What I saw I won't ever be able to describe; I don't remember much of it and when I try to I have some rather unfortunate "episodes". It's nice of the doctors here at the sanitorium to let me use the internet sometimes during the day. They think it's good to do things that are part of my normal routine.

Also, I haven't tried gouging out my own eyes or needed to wear the mouth piece (to prevent my swallowing my own tongue) in almost two weeks. I'm told I was found huddled in the closet of my bed room scrawling "beware the watchers from beyond the stars!" on the wall, over and over. A grid blew and we lost power, and it has been suggested to me that whatever was going on stopped as a result. I'm also told that no living creature that isn't human won't go within 500 yards of the backyard now. And that humans who do feel uneasy, and someone tried to sleep there had awful nightmares and terrible visions.

Gotta run, time for my meds.

I had this same experience with Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:50 am

IA Shubbrubba
IA Shubbrubba
IA IA

Azhure · Post by **Azhure** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:23 am

Ironrod wrote:Damn. I don't have time to play games. I was hoping this one would be late. Like three months late. Now all I can hope is that the initial reaction is bad enough to keep me from wanting it.

Sorry, you are going to be out of luck I'm afraid

Sponge · Post by **Sponge** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:45 am

Carpet_pissr wrote:The only thing I can think of that would make me more excited, PC game-wise, than a new Civ, would probably be a Fallout 3, and I might consider putting that on the same level in terms of excitement factor.

Yeah, the imminent release of a new Civ is about as exciting as it gets for me too (PC gaming-wise!). I suppose a good portion of this feeling is based on nostalgia but I've never been let down by a Civ release with the exception of PTW. Yuck.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:47 am

The pre-order is $49.95. If you pre-order, you do get a spiral bound manual and a collector's case and a bunch of other stuff. I wanted the case and the spiral bound manual, so I pre-ordered (which I honestly never do cuz I usually buy stuff on sale at Fry's).

I'm working 6am -1 am on Wednesday and taking Thursday off, just to play this game! Can't wait!!

Lorini

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:51 am

In the interest of full disclosure, I felt bad for stealing so I also preordered the game. The doctors sayu they don't want me to play it for awhile, though.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 12:25 pm

LOL

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/searc ... 67-3564121

I went to amazon to look for Civ IV and look what brought back.

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 12:26 pm

Somebody pre-order this for me.

Moggy123 · Post by **Moggy123** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:26 pm

I don't normally pre-order games. If I'm whipped into a OOFE-like frenzy, I drive around attempting to find a copy.

This time, I pre-ordered through Amazon. While I know this means I'll not get the game day 1, I sit back, relaxed in the knowledge that a copy wil be on it's way and enjoying the brief respite before all other activities cease.

I'm so psyched I even started up a Civ III (R&R) game this week!

Of course, timing couldn't be worse. I have a move to coordinate at the end of the month. Of course, I could always get organized BEFORE the game arrives. Hmmmm...

Queequeg · Post by **Queequeg** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:55 pm

I am completely amped up for this game. Oddly enough, I have all of next week off.

...and the GalCiv 2 Beta 4 gets released next week as well. Too much TBS goodness at once.

CFC has a multiplayer preview up here.

I see some 18 player OO games in the not too distant future.

tals · Post by **tals** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:13 pm

The Meal wrote:
Peacedog wrote:
I was hoping this one would be late. Like three months late. Now all I can hope is that the initial reaction is bad enough to keep me from wanting it.
I've actually been playing it (stole a copy from Firaxis). It's terrible. Maybe in about 3 months it'll be good after a few patches fix everything. So don't feel rushed.
Tell Mortis and me more about all the bugs. You know, the ones that'll get patched just as the price of the game hits our "target levels." Thanks!

~Neal

Great thing about being a Euro - other than the game is being released here a week later

Is http://www.play.com have the game at bargain basement price at release. Now that is a deal I can live with

Tals

Sponge · Post by **Sponge** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:15 pm

Queequeg wrote:I am completely amped up for this game. Oddly enough, I have all of next week off.

...and the GalCiv 2 Beta 4 gets released next week as well. Too much TBS goodness at once.

CFC has a multiplayer preview up here.

I see some 18 player OO games in the not too distant future.

OMG, 18 players in simultaneous turn mode would awesome but it would be a logistical nightmare! I suppose it might be doable for one of those "quick" 2-3 hour games but that's not really Civilization, IMHO.

I suppose Pitboss might make it more feasible but we'll have to wait a few more months for that.

BUt definitely count me in for some smaller PBEM games.

tals · Post by **tals** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:19 pm

Simultaneous pbem ala Stars! or Dom 2 has no issue - particularly if the turn server can force gen in a time scale and quick host if players submit earlier.

Most people I suspect only know pass the parcel pbem and hence scaling is an issue.

Tals

Meghan · Post by **Meghan** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:24 pm

And then I come to find out that somebody I love very dearly has died of mysteirous causes. And the cause of death is always right near the time of my attempt to give a unit the fifth promotion (unverified for the first two occurences, but it looks like it's true and the last 3 were all measured within 15 minute window).

Damn. This just shot to the top of my must-have list. Oh well. On the bright side, my Christmas shopping list is going to be shorter!

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:31 pm

Will this have PBEM right out of the box?

If so, whose for some out of the box, we have no idea what we are doing, play the computer on the hardest level PBEM madness as soon as we can get it organized?

The Preacher · Post by **The Preacher** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:33 pm

I don't know about PBEM specifically but Pitboss, the main MP component, is not going to be live until the New Year, iirc. That leaves me to believe that no MP will be available initially but there is an opening for them.

Sponge · Post by **Sponge** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:37 pm

The Preacher wrote:I don't know about PBEM specifically but Pitboss, the main MP component, is not going to be live until the New Year, iirc. That leaves me to believe that no MP will be available initially but there is an opening for them.

BY all accounts the game was built with MP as a priority and it definitely has the direct MP modes ready to go (read the MP impressions linked above). AFAIK the only missing piece is Pitboss but I still haven't read any impressions about PBEM so maybe that's part of Pitboss too. Which would suck cuz I'm ready for a new PBEM game.

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:21 pm

BY all accounts the game was built with MP as a priority and it definitely has the direct MP modes ready to go (read the MP impressions linked above). AFAIK the only missing piece is Pitboss but I still haven't read any impressions about PBEM so maybe that's part of Pitboss too. Which would suck cuz I'm ready for a new PBEM game.

It's multiplayer out of the box as I understand it.

I wouldn't agree that MP is a "priority". I know, they built it for MP from the ground up. But there are suggestions that the AI is better this time around, and I think Firaxis know their core audience. I think a better way to put it migbht be "they also built the multiplayer in from the ground up". MP and SP don't ahve to be mutually exclusive after all. I might be wrong though.

Zurai · Post by **Zurai** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:27 pm

The Preacher wrote:I don't know about PBEM specifically but Pitboss, the main MP component, is not going to be live until the New Year, iirc. That leaves me to believe that no MP will be available initially but there is an opening for them.

Pitboss is not "the main MP component". It's a persistent turn based server (PTBS, thus the name PiTBoSs), much like Dominion 2's multiplayer. It's one mode of multiplayer out of many.

Sponge · Post by **Sponge** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:27 pm

Peacedog wrote:
BY all accounts the game was built with MP as a priority and it definitely has the direct MP modes ready to go (read the MP impressions linked above). AFAIK the only missing piece is Pitboss but I still haven't read any impressions about PBEM so maybe that's part of Pitboss too. Which would suck cuz I'm ready for a new PBEM game.
It's multiplayer out of the box as I understand it.

I wouldn't agree that MP is a "priority". I know, they built it for MP from the ground up. But there are suggestions that the AI is better this time around, and I think Firaxis know their core audience. I think a better way to put it migbht be "they also built the multiplayer in from the ground up". MP and SP don't ahve to be mutually exclusive after all. I might be wrong though.

Bad choice of wording.

I meant that the devs built MP in from the very start of the development cycle rather than tack it on at the end. At least, that's what I've read.

The Preacher · Post by **The Preacher** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:45 pm

Zurai wrote:
The Preacher wrote:I don't know about PBEM specifically but Pitboss, the main MP component, is not going to be live until the New Year, iirc. That leaves me to believe that no MP will be available initially but there is an opening for them.
Pitboss is not "the main MP component". It's a persistent turn based server (PTBS, thus the name PiTBoSs), much like Dominion 2's multiplayer. It's one mode of multiplayer out of many.

To each their own, but for me MP Civ is unplayable in one sitting. I require something like Pitboss.

ioticus · Post by **ioticus** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:47 pm

tals wrote: Great thing about being a Euro - other than the game is being released here a week later Is http://www.play.com have the game at bargain basement price at release. Now that is a deal I can live with

Tals

I just looked at play.com. I can't believe the discounts you guys get. Why isn't there such an option for Americans? It's not fair

Queequeg · Post by **Queequeg** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:50 pm

From what I've read - MP games (even the out-of the-box direct connect version) can be saved, So you could set up a MP night, play for a few hours and then continue the game later. Plus, if a player leaves the game or drops, the other players are prompted to let an AI take over the Civ and continue the game. If the original player comes back or a new player wants to enter the game, they can then take over from the AI. Pretty sure PBEM is there out of the box too.

Edit: The team based mode and/or co-op sounds like alot of fun too.

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 5:05 pm

Dang...I really want the spiral bound manual, but I got burned with Civ 3. All of the expansions made it a terribly expensive game. I don't want to buy Civ 4 pre-order, only to have an expansion out in 4 months that's really a patch (PTW, anyone?).

I'll have to bring it up with the wife tonight...

What's the best pre-order deal out there?

Mattc0m · Post by **Mattc0m** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 5:07 pm

Whew, they had my thinking it would go gold after it shipped.

tals · Post by **tals** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 5:28 pm

ioticus wrote:
tals wrote: Great thing about being a Euro - other than the game is being released here a week later Is http://www.play.com have the game at bargain basement price at release. Now that is a deal I can live with

Tals
I just looked at play.com. I can't believe the discounts you guys get. Why isn't there such an option for Americans? It's not fair

hehe yeah this one does seem a deal and a half. Bear in mind it comes from Jersey and so they have no tax - so that is where the extra is coming from. Good deal nonetheless. I think they ship to the US as well - someone may need to clarify it. Just for those that are too lazy th edeal is £17.99 around 32$

Tals

DCL · Post by **DCL** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 5:29 pm

Cool news.

But, I was listening to an older interview with Sid and crew about civ 4 and the interviewer mentioned the good news about the early release date.

I have to give credit to one of the devs, I think it was Jeff Briggs who did say Take 2 really really wanted an early release of the game (though he didn't exactly mention why) and Firaxis was doing everything in their power to appease Take 2's wishes for the pushed up release. And the chances of an early release was (surprise!) looking good.

Needless to say while I am certainly excited about the game, I'm waiting for a lot of impressions on this one before buying. One of the other nice things about waiting is that titles like this usually always show up at best buy for 40 bucks in a few weeks. I might just wait for the first or second patch.

Anyway looking forward to the impressions of the game. And after a few weeks of game playing and (hopefully bug free) positive impressions, who knows maybe I'll cave and buy it before the first patch.

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 6:08 pm

I have some Best Buy bucks, and it's the same price as the Gamestop pre-order. Does anyone know if BB's pre-order includes the bonuses?

Fitzy · Post by **Fitzy** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:18 pm

Has anyone seen the system requirements for this? I'm not too worried, but my computer is getting a little ancient.