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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

#41

Post by thrownaway2424 »

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…

It is remarkable how the win-or-lose outcome of the game changes the player's mindset. In the normal course of real events, I probably would never kill billions of people, but if I have 60% of the world population and I need 64% to win the game, it actually makes perfect sense to just nuke everybody, to bring down the denominator.

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

#42

Post by zem »

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…

not sure if it's just because I'm older and less into gaming, but civ5 seems markedly less fun as a game than civ1 and civ2 were. I just couldn't get into it, and I used to spend entire nights on the older games.

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

#43

Post by ekianjo »

I highly prefer Colonization to all the Civilization episodes I have played. Colonization feels more focused, more tangible, and yet still manages to be a great management game with credible threats with multiple parties: natives trying to fight back for their land, other European powers trying to establish successful colonies on their own, and ultimately the royal power you will fight against to secure your Freedom. The tension gets really high, really quick. And there is no "shortcut" you can take to have a technological advance versus your enemies.

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

#44

Post by lackbeard »

zem wrote: post #42
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…

not sure if it's just because I'm older and less into gaming, but civ5 seems markedly less fun as a game than civ1 and civ2 were. I just couldn't get into it, and I used to spend entire nights on the older games.

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

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

#46

Post by zem »

lackbeard wrote: post #44
zem wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not sure if it's just because I'm older and less into gaming, but civ5 seems markedly less fun as a game than civ1 and civ2 were. I just couldn't get into it, and I used to spend entire nights on the older games.

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

no, missed everything between alpha centauri and civ5. I just picked civ5 up out of nostalgia when the humble bundle ran it.

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

#47

Post by Sven7 »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #14
dcw303 wrote: post #7

I came perilously close to failing several university assignments thanks to an unhealthy obsession with original Civ. And I loved every minute of it. I still play the newer versions now and then, but the original stands out as a paragon of game design. It was grid based, so unit movement was easy with keystrokes. That along with hot keys for everything meant that you could play a complete game without a mouse. This w…

1B hours played. Think about your experience with a couple hundred hours, and then multiply that by a few million similar instances - how much productivity has been lost? Or how much history has been learned, friendships built, and strategy developed? Similarly, how many billions of hours have been spent browsing Facebook, for better or worse? I think one of the most important ethical questions we can ask ourselves i…

Well said.

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

#48

Post by rtpg »

zem wrote: post #42
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…

not sure if it's just because I'm older and less into gaming, but civ5 seems markedly less fun as a game than civ1 and civ2 were. I just couldn't get into it, and I used to spend entire nights on the older games.

there's a lot of streamlining that happened, so it depends on why you played civ

If you played the older civs for the micromanagement aspects, then civ5 probably disappoints. I play Civ for the "macro" (I really enjoy watching my civ grow, and don't really do much in terms of strategising), and I enjoy Civ 5 a lot.

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

#49

Post by vacri »

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 really do not understand the appeal of 5, though clearly it has appeal as it has tons of players active on Steam. 4 was the pinnacle for me - exploring and finding "that amazing city site". 5 for me... all cities are 'balanced' to be identical, and don't even vary that much if you turn them off. Every game kinda plays out the same. I have to uninstall 4 because I see the dawn light appearing through the window. 5 just bores me.

I'm also not usually one to complain about DLC, but 5 also seems particularly grubby in that regard.

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

#50

Post by jhanschoo »

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.
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