I've only had a little time to play this, but so far it's wicked awesome.

Seriously close to being an entirely new game, they closed so many gaps in it, added so much functional possibility both early and late game. New units and civs aren't all just fluff, new buildings don't blow.

The late game stuff is awesome, although its probably going to take me another year of playing to figure out decent strategies.

7/26/2007 9:12:20 PM

I may have to get this. I loved the Warlords expansion.

7/27/2007 1:10:47 PM

was going to get it yesterday

but didn't

probably will get it soon

7/27/2007 1:14:55 PM

Much better than Warlords, adds tons of stuff to the game. imho one of the best features is the advanced start. I don't really like the choices for some of the new Civs though.

7/27/2007 2:15:20 PM

a couple of the senarioes are just amazing artistically

afterworld (tatical game) and final frontier (space game)

they really treat CIV 4 more like a engine than a game

just fantastic

7/29/2007 2:30:38 PM

I just acquired this a couple days ago along with a few other titles, and even with the likes of Railroads!, Star Wars RTS game, Galactic Civilizations II Gold, its still been getting the majority of my time.

I started one on the continents style large random map. I ran into the Mayans within a dozen turns and immediately sent my one warrior who had received the city attack bonus and captured their capital, wiping out all of their warriors that were exploring the continent. Since then I have grown in some amount of peace, aside from the damn barbarians who are finally gone as of last night (finished building out the continent), and I am LOVING the new techs and shit. I did have to do some major backpedalling though because I outgrew my economy and lost my ass.

Picked up C&C3 today though, so I may take a little break from BtS for that.

[Edited on July 31, 2007 at 5:02 PM. Reason : ]

7/31/2007 4:55:02 PM

one time i played a total realism with the aztecs and took over all of north and south america with jaguar warriors early going up against like swordsmen but they are the special unit and can move twice and i was making 1 every turn with like 8 different cities so i took out the more advanced natives and mayans but soon after I WAS BEING BOMBED BY AFRICA. Europeans invaded and took over all my islands but nobody ever took my mainland because i had like 10,000 jaguar warriors and ended up trading my way to catch up and take over africa then the game went bad.

[Edited on July 31, 2007 at 5:08 PM. Reason : the file currupted]

7/31/2007 5:07:15 PM

i may have to buy this....

7/31/2007 6:51:41 PM

I've been playing this waay too much now

They added tech's to balance the tech tree (like adding the Aesthetics tech before you can get Literature and Drama) keeps people from culture bombing quite so fast.

Also the addition of the Apostolic Palace absolutely changes the game early. I can't tell you how many games I've been DOMINATING, withing 5-10 turns of a domination victory early, and the AI will call a world vote for diplomatic victory and BAM i lose.

The new espionage system is awesome, especially for human multiplayer. The corporations are great for late game strategies. This really is like a new game.

Also the computer AI has gotten MUCH MUCH better. I'm playing all my games at Noble, but notch it to Monarch and I get wiped quickly.


If anyone wants to play, shoot me an IM/PM. I'd really like to try a small map game against someone. My best win score is like 66,000 but most are in the mid 25,000 range.

8/1/2007 12:26:52 AM

Noen, how is the space scenario?

8/1/2007 12:39:51 AM

It's a completely different game. I couldn't really get too far into it, but it seems a little too simplified for me in comparison to the BTS game. It's definitely a FULL mod, it could easily have sold separately for 10-15 bucks.

Also the afterworld mod/scenario is pretty sick, x-com style squad based game.

8/1/2007 1:58:45 AM

The other scenarios are pretty damn good. Mainly played the space one. Yea I am really loving that Apostolic Palace thing Noen. I've been kicking ass, spreading my religions, etc. and just got a notice that Hammurabi had called a vote. I'm already in free religion, so I have no state religion to match to Hammurabis, and he's the only one with Judaism as the state religion. Will be interesting to see what he throws up there for votes. I can at least vote, even if I can't hold the palace, and I have the biggest population, but I think my best bet is to just build the damn UN and run that bitch instead, making the Apostolic Palace basically obsolete.

8/1/2007 7:27:58 AM

i think i'll pick this up today so i have something to play on the plane ride overseas tomorrow. Hopefully it will run smoothly on Vista on Mac

8/1/2007 10:34:51 AM

Aw, crap.

I'm going to fall off the Civ wagon.

I've been clean for over a year.

8/1/2007 11:17:26 AM

^^ If you have a MacBook with integrated graphics, it might not like it.

8/1/2007 11:52:15 AM

pretty sure he's got the Pro.

And if you don't turn up the eye-candy, the civ engine will run on damn near anything.

Hell it runs decently on my ooooollld celeron 1.5ghz ATI radeon mobile 16mb laptop. Granted that's at 640*480 and everything off, but damn man.

8/1/2007 12:59:26 PM

ive never played one of these games actually..they sound really interesting..might have to check it out

8/1/2007 1:28:42 PM

They are definitely teh wins.

8/1/2007 1:44:16 PM

They're like crack, though.

8/1/2007 2:00:36 PM

:/

8/1/2007 2:01:31 PM

I think Civ defined the "just one more turn" concept. I can't count how many "one more turns" I've had playing that game until the wee hours.

I finally tired of Civ 4 but this new expansion sounds very tempting. During my last game I was the French and leading the world with large cities. The Arabs were to my east and the only real peer I had left in the world. Eventually I started launching massive salvos of nukes at them and it turns out they had a missile defense system in place. I rolled in with some tanks and attack choppers and it ended up being a very drawn out war. We both lost a lot of cities but in the end I took over their capital and forced my culture upon their other cities. By that time I had built a space station though and won the game that way.

8/1/2007 4:05:59 PM

yeah, like noen said, its a Macbook pro. I went to pick it up today at bestbuy and circuit shitty but neither had it. I'll have to try EBgames. I picked up flight Sim X Deluxe though on sale

8/1/2007 4:06:45 PM

BTW I noticed that the AI is much better in battles than before. They finally use coordinated attacks and run naval landings much more efficiently.

New unitwise, I like the fact they have finally made an anti-tank unit, mobile artillery, attack subs to haul units for covert action, airships, privateers and brought back the paratrooper. For a better list of improvements follow the link:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=222075

8/1/2007 4:35:56 PM

can sea units attack the coast? or at least bombard land and units? this has been the biggest thing left out since civ 2.

[Edited on August 1, 2007 at 4:38 PM. Reason : o and cruise missiles]

8/1/2007 4:38:11 PM

^^dang man I forgot to even mention all the new units.

Dear God it's amazing how much better balanced late game is now too.

^no, naval units cannot attack land units. They can now barracade trade routes, which is cool. The reason that feature has been missing since civ2 is that it's crazy broken. Especially on a naval map, it would crush land units and would require more new units to counteract naval power.

Do you guys go random or favor certain Civs/Leaders?

I go random everytime, but I find myself liking a few guys much more than others. Still play out the game regardless, but I definitely have to change strategy based on the leader im given.

Also, do yall have pretty standard opening sequences? Like first 15-20 turns, I've gotten to the point of having a scripted set of moves. I really want to start playing other people, because it made me switch up in the past (aka when I try to fast expand, someone hawks my city with a damn warrior)

8/1/2007 4:58:08 PM

Don't forget that now naval units can also blockade a city too.

I usually go for a similar style of leader/civ, but I might switch it up some more now with some of these new units and tweaks in the leaders.

I usually did do the same or a very similar set of initial steps. BUT this last game I through that out the fucking window when I went and blew up the Mayans spot, so I may start doing that more often in the initial game if I can pull it off. What a better way to start the game than by destroying your nearest opponent and taking over his stuff.

BTW, have you done the whole colonies thing yet Noen? I haven't gotten around to that. I am building a minature colony right now that was a little spot covered by a barbarian city that I took over and built another city nearby. It was sitting on 5-6 dye spots and a couple other special land squares, so I ate that shit up, but I am really hesitant about the colony thing. How do you get that option, does it have to be a certain population, # of cities or what?

8/1/2007 5:08:39 PM

Im pretty sure that once you settle a city in a new continent, it becomes an option. You just have to go to the domestic advisor screen and split them off.

However I've never had the need to do this. I don't play large maps anymore, just because it take exponentially longer to play. But in the past, once I landed on a new continent, I'd wipe whoever was there and then in the most central city, build the Forbidden palace. it essentially nullifies the distance penalty.

If you do this in the farthest city from your original palace, you can generally build around the world without suffering the upkeep penalties to the point of negative income. Unless you are playing a large or huge map, then yea you are going to have to split off eventually.


The other strategy I used on huge maps in the past was the money continent. Basically build a continent up, then set the entire continent to wealth. Plop a bunch of destroyers and battleships to protect from invasion and keep moving. It nets you a + for money, plus all the resources and inherent culture/research. Definitely have to be careful doing this, because its REALLY easy to go broke and crush your cities while trying to pull it off.

8/1/2007 5:51:29 PM

I'm gonna get this game, I love civ 4

8/1/2007 5:55:06 PM

I think they messed up the Cuirassier unit, I usually get it at the same time I get Cavalry... They have the same requirements except for Rifling, and it makes more sense to go for Rifling before Military Tradition. Ah well.

8/1/2007 6:34:59 PM

just picked it up! EBgames had 1 in stock.

8/1/2007 6:54:33 PM

^^They put them in to prevent the cavalry rush.

Basically they added a bunch of interim and counter units, along with interim technologies to prevent tech and war rushes.

If you get horses, previously you could rush to cavalry long before your opponent had anything to handle them. I can't tell you how many games in the original civ4 I won with just rushing like 8 cavalry and a couple of catapults.

8/1/2007 8:10:21 PM

I just got the cuirassier units and have been kicking major ass. I was gonna use it a galley full to capture the last barbarian stronghold, but fucking Khan got greedy and tried to swipe my outpost on his continent that I claimed from other barbarians. He came at Visigoth with longbowmen, axemen, catapults, etc. and my musketeers mowed them down. Then I landed my cuirassiers from the galley and more that my 3 towns I had turne out and have used them to steamroll Khan back across the continent. So far he's been taking it on the nose. He has had two seperate major assaults turned back, I have rolled up three of his cities, and am marching on the 4th and 5th now. Next up is Kharakorum, and then maybe after generously handing me over a few more cities, he'll want some peace. Otherwise I am just going to annhiliate him. BTW, during all of this I have just wrapped up Military Tradition and am a couple of turns from having rifling. Then he's going to be facing 8-10 very well experienced cavalry that will be rapidly upgraded from the cuirassiers.

8/4/2007 10:52:55 AM

I'm afraid to start playing Civ again.

8/4/2007 11:13:16 AM

Seriously, it is a fucking blast. Even though I just got STALKER, Galactic Civs I & II, Lego Star Wars I & II (for my son), Far Cry, UFO: Aftermath, Aftershock, & Afterlight, C&C3, Heroes V + Exp, and that Star Wars RTS in the last couple weeks (some advantages to selling your money pit car) BTS has eaten away my time.

8/4/2007 11:19:51 AM

My computer won't even run Civ IV (not above 5FPS anyway)

8/4/2007 1:59:10 PM

^did you try turning off EVERYTHING? If you turn off all the extras and drop the resolution to the lowest possible, i've found it will run on damn near anything.

And yes, this game EATS time like no other. Hence why I only play tiny maps now.

I decided after reading all of your comments in here, to try a normal map.

9 hours later I was like *$&%(#*$& when I lost.

Seriously though, someone want to play a match? Just put in like an hour or two a day, we can play by email. It takes a couple of months, but it will keep my addiction to a minimum.

Plus we could get a bunch of people in here all in on single game, could be fun, I've never played against more than one human opponent at a time.

8/5/2007 1:39:16 AM

i think defense is my favorite mod so far.

im trying to span each mod out for about a week so i can get a good feel for all of them

8/9/2007 11:38:05 AM

Quote :

"I think Civ defined the "just one more turn" concept"

hahahaha, yeah, 10 o'clock has turned into 11 o'clock has turn into 2 o'clock with the "just one more turn" concept

8/9/2007 3:27:20 PM

I'm down with getting a game going Tyler. Send me a pm, would be fun to have a bunch of us playing

8/16/2007 5:27:18 PM

Oh Fuck yes.

Sign me up for a multiplayer civ IV game.

8/16/2007 5:35:14 PM

ahhh this week its crossroads of the world

8/16/2007 8:13:15 PM

bttt, im going to setup a gmail group for everyone who wants in, post your email (preferably) gmail account here or PM it to me and ill add you to the group

8/16/2007 11:35:10 PM

PM sent

8/16/2007 11:41:49 PM

this sounds pretty badass

8/16/2007 11:44:29 PM

damnit noen, i used to play civ2 and civ3 all the time (and alpha centauri, another Sid Meier game). haven't played in like a year and now i will probably get this game. they seriously are like crack

8/16/2007 11:53:20 PM

ive played every civ since the first one that came on 7 floppies along with colonization that also came on 7 floppies. Been hooked non stop ever since LOL. Never got into alpha centurai or whatever its called.

8/17/2007 10:51:10 AM

I fucking hated Civ IV, never could get into it, I would play 5 minutes and hate it... CIV III is probably my favorite game of all time but I just did not like IV at all

8/17/2007 10:59:43 AM

Plz to explain how e-mail game works? I would love to do a massive fucking game of this. Obviously I know you take turns, but what is the frequency of your turns (daily?) and how many turns do you do in this time etc? Do you get to try it a couple times before you e-mail it back or what? Just curious as I might fucking LOVE to do this shit.

8/17/2007 11:26:18 AM

so actually after reading some more about it, I think we'll do a PitBoss game. Should go much faster than PBEM (play by email).

PitBoss works with me setting up a game, and ill send out my direct IP to the listserv. Everyone connects, picks a player slot and civ and starts the game. Dont have to do this all at once, though it would be nice if we could all kickoff at the same time.

PitBoss allows for fractured games. So I'll set a 24 hour turn timer, and each player can login at any time during the day to make their move. You can also queue up moves if you are going to miss a future turn (vacation etc). If everyone is logged in at the same time, it basically works just like a normal multiplayer game. Otherwise you wait until everyone has made their move and the turn timer restarts.

For instance: If the turn timer starts at noon everyday, but everyone takes their turn by 2pm, you can go again but the timer wont reset until noon the next day (aka you can make as many moves in a day as people will be there to play, but the standard 1 day timer still resets at the same time)

8/17/2007 11:43:14 AM

So after reading this entire thread, I'm going to buy this game. I've never played any civ game before so we'll see how it goes

8/17/2007 12:54:13 PM