Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Civilization: 25 years, 33M copies sold, 1B hours played, and 66 versions

venturebeat.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 195 posts

Re: Civilization: 25 years, 33M copies sold, 1B hours played, and 66 versions

#141

Post by morgante »

zyxley wrote: post #29
mattzito wrote: post #24

I started playing civilization when I was 12 or 13 (Civilization 1), and still, to this day, the closest thing I have to meditation is playing Civ V. I travel a decent amount, and one of my great joys is being on a plane without wifi but with inseat power (Civ V on the mac is a ridiculous power hog), and knowing that I've got X hours of civilization to play with no one to bother me. My strategy isn't great, I have ev…

I still haven't really been able to make the jump from Civ 5 to Civ:BE. BE's civ and tech choices somehow manage to feel painfully samey and confusingly unorganized all at the same time.

I got a good 40 hours of play out of BE, but I'm back to 5 now. It essentially felt like a big scenario rather than a whole new game.

Ultimately, the dynamics of playing historical civilizations offers a lot more diversity and interest than a single sci-fi game.

Re: Civilization: 25 years, 33M copies sold, 1B hours played, and 66 versions

#142

Post by goda90 »

yen223 wrote: post #61
phillco wrote: post #36

My favorite thing about Civ is that its creator has kept control over it, and continues to evolve it. We'll probably be enjoying a new Civ in 2026. The charm is that it's the same game in many respects — parts evolve, but the core remains. This seems unusual; I can point to several popular 90's games that peaked there and never recovered (Roller Coaster Tycoon, Age of Empires II, and arguably SimCity 4 if you include…

Strategy games in general seem to have hit a slump for some reason.

There has been an uptick in large scale RTS lately. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, Ashes of the Singularity, Planetary Annihilation, Grey Goo to name a few. They don't gather the big attention like AAA console games but they are still coming out. And of course there are the Pandora Interactive games that are always great.

Re: Civilization: 25 years, 33M copies sold, 1B hours played, and 66 versions

#143

Post by pimeys »

manyxcxi wrote: post #127
lackbeard wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you ever play 4? Was the best one, IMO.

I agree. I like 5, in all the ways that it's different- but I always feel like 5 has a long expanse of seemingly meaningless turns until all of a sudden things get good. Then it will have another long lull between interesting events. Maybe in a way, the team finally got their model of Civilization true to real life? :)

The Brave New World expansion really fixed this. With the world congress, trading and collecting art, there are no more meaningless turns in the game. Definitely try it out.

Re: Civilization: 25 years, 33M copies sold, 1B hours played, and 66 versions

#144

Post by exar0815 »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #130
frik wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah sadly. More game developers changed to "console first" or "mobile first". Streamlined casual gameplay pay to win / free to play and the lack of a precise input device (mouse) on consoles almost killed the former very popular PC strategy games segment. Civ, SC and Anno barely survived that trend in some streamlined form or another. I am still playing old perls from Age of Empires, Roller Coaster Tycoon, SimCity,…

There are hopeful signs that this is starting to change. The 2012 XCOM title has a more console-friendly interface (it plays better with a controller) and has a great mobile port (the iOS version is mechanically identical to the PC game, and is only missing a few maps and graphical flair). Yes, that title is streamlined, but that streamlining sanded off the rougher edges of the 1990s games (especially in the tactical…

Can just recommend the new XCOM2. A massive improvement, absolutely brilliant game. Gives some hope for Strategy again.

Re: Civilization: 25 years, 33M copies sold, 1B hours played, and 66 versions

#145

Post by exar0815 »

yen223 wrote: post #61
phillco wrote: post #36

My favorite thing about Civ is that its creator has kept control over it, and continues to evolve it. We'll probably be enjoying a new Civ in 2026. The charm is that it's the same game in many respects — parts evolve, but the core remains. This seems unusual; I can point to several popular 90's games that peaked there and never recovered (Roller Coaster Tycoon, Age of Empires II, and arguably SimCity 4 if you include…

Strategy games in general seem to have hit a slump for some reason.

Depends. There are some really good STrategy games out there. Endless Space/Endless Legend, the Wargame-Series and the Total War titles. Still waiting for Empire II, though.

Re: Civilization: 25 years, 33M copies sold, 1B hours played, and 66 versions

#147

Post by emptyfile »

jhanschoo wrote: post #50
kinghajj wrote: post #39

Nobody else has mentioned this, but something Civ has taught me is how to appreciate realpolitik. Nothing makes it more clear than when you catch yourself having thoughts like: - "Washington spawned too close for comfort; they're a threat to my peoples' long term security. Annihilate them first." - "Hmm, the Mayans have some strategically valuable territory..." - "Hey, the Persians are way back in the Renaissance, wh…

If you're interested in realpolitik in games, I'd like to recommend the excellent Crusader Kings II game and its DLC. You play as a feudal ruler, and find your character plotting murders, marrying off daughters, and conspiring for claims to titles.

Why doesn't anyone like Victoria 2? For me it's miles and miles more engaging than CK2 or EU4

Re: Civilization: 25 years, 33M copies sold, 1B hours played, and 66 versions

#149

Post by douche »

emptyfile wrote: post #147
jhanschoo wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're interested in realpolitik in games, I'd like to recommend the excellent Crusader Kings II game and its DLC. You play as a feudal ruler, and find your character plotting murders, marrying off daughters, and conspiring for claims to titles.

Why doesn't anyone like Victoria 2? For me it's miles and miles more engaging than CK2 or EU4

I love Victoria 2, but it does feel a little more on rails than either CK2 or EU4. There tends to be a lot less really interesting ahistorical results than in the other two - invariably you end up with the USA, UK, Germany, France, Russia, and Japan, or possibly China if it managed to industrialize, as the superpowers.

Re: Civilization: 25 years, 33M copies sold, 1B hours played, and 66 versions

#150

Post by goda90 »

jcadam wrote: post #19

Played the original Civilization on an Amiga and have played every release since (including CivNet). Civilization II was easily the best game in the series. It's sad that Civ V, as pretty as it is, is so freaking horrible.

Civ V with all the DLC is actually quite well rounded in my opinion. If you haven't tried the Complete version, give it a shot. It's not the same for sure, especially the combat. Maybe I'm just used to variation because the first Civ game I really got into was Call to Power, then followed by III and IV.
Post reply on HN