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

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

#31

Post by bryanlarsen »

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.

Let me guess, II was the first you played? Everybody has a special attachment to the first one they got addicted too.

In my opinion II was the worst of the five. It was basically the same as the first with more of everything. More techs, more unit types et cetera. Didn't really add anything to the game except make it longer. It meant you couldn't finish a game in a single sitting which really lessened the appeal to me.

Starting with III they started added more dimensions like religion and culture. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't but I appreciated exploring how strategies changed.

Edit: did a really poor job of reading your post or else you edited it. Oh well, just pretend my comment stands alone, please.

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

#32

Post by endgame »

minikites wrote: post #13

Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri are still the best balance of simplicity vs fussiness in my opinion. I like Civ 5 quite a lot but there's a lot of fussing about with the resources like horses or oil and there are a lot of edge-case city improvements.

Given the amount of fussing required to get the most of Supply Crawlers in SMAC, I'm surprised to hear that viewpoint.

Nevertheless, the scope of SMAC's vision continues to inspire: https://paeantosmac.wordpress.com/ is analysing the canon and implications from the various quotes and project videos.

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

#33

Post by marak830 »

Gods the amount of time i spent on civ.

But didnt that article seem to stop all of a sudden? I checked twice on my phone to see if i missed a more button.

Didnt civ 4 get an award for audio?(and i loved the music on 4, was so disappointed with 5s audio), the article left me with a , meh, what about. . . ! for so many things.

Being only 32 i would imagine a great article to show me things i didnt know.

Sigh. The temptation to play more right now is strong, but i need to get this work done :-)

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

#34

Post by mattzito »

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 weirdly haven't even tried BE. It's like I'm worried I'm going to break the spell.

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

#35

Post by mattzito »

mercutio2 wrote: post #28
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…

Are you my twin? Playing my pirated copy of Civ 1 in the basement at 12 or so most have occupied hundreds of hours of my childhood. These days Civ 5 on the Mac almost brings me back.

I didn't have a computer that could play civ 1, so I had to go to a friendly family's house who kindly allowed me to come over and play because the dad was equally addicted to Civilization. Whole saturday afternoons would pass this way.

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

#36

Post by phillco »

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 the early naughts). I wonder why; as a player, the Civ model seems preferable (you always have modern versions and new, but not heretical, variety).

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

#37

Post by chadzawistowski »

brandnewlow wrote: post #16

I've played 1-5 extensively and Civ III is the most fun by far. Anyone know how I can get Civ III on a Mac? It's been "not available" here forever: http://www.aspyr.com/games/sid-meiers-civilization-iii-compl... I've tried playing the Windows version via Parallels but it fails out during load.

I have gotten it to run in Wine before, after struggles with `lsans.fot`.

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

#38

Post by foobarian »

eru wrote: post #18
pella wrote: post #10

free & opensource version: http://www.freeciv.org/ web version: https://play.freeciv.org/

You should also check out the first Master of Orion. The origin of the 4X name, and still one of the best examples of the genre. (There are fan-made patches available. Make sure to get them.)

Also worth mentioning Master of Magic. It's Civilization I with spells.

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

#39

Post by kinghajj »

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, while I'm in the modern era, and they have luxuries I need. Let's send a few battleships over there."

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