Civilization 4 for $15 -- is the AI any good?

Oct 30, 2004
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Circuit City will be selling Civilization 4 for $15 this week, at least that's what it looks like based on this week's (Sept 14's) ad flyer.

Is the AI for Civ 4 intelligent or is it entirely predictable, in which case games becoming repetitive and boring? Are there many worthwhile mods?

What is the online multiplayer aspect like, if any? How long would a game take and could it be played as an RTS?

Is there any annoying copy protection?
 

lozina

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
11,709
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Originally posted by: WhipperSnapper
Circuit City will be selling Civilization 4 for $15 this week, at least that's what it looks like based on this week's (Sept 14's) ad flyer.

Is the AI for Civ 4 intelligent or is it entirely predictable, in which case games becoming repetitive and boring?

Relative to game son the market and previous Civ titles the AI in Civ4 is excellent IMO. It especially makes a difference ramping up the difficulty level to at least Warlord (which I think is the "normal" level i.e. no bonuses for neither you nor the AI) and the AI is very competitive at this level.

Are there many worthwhile mods?

My favorite part of Civ 4 is it's so flexible to modding and there are really great mods out there like Total Realism mod which is my favorite that I have tried.

Is there any annoying copy protection?

nope, just regular cd check afaik. no crazy shit like starforce

 

Schadenfroh

Elite Member
Mar 8, 2003
38,416
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Are there many worthwhile mods?
Yes, it has an extensive modding community:
http://www.civfanatics.com/
How long would a game take
Depends on how big the world is and the victory conditions.
could it be played as an RTS?
I do not think so, but I have never played the multiplayer.
Is there any annoying copy protection?
It uses SafeDisc, IIRC

Be sure to pickup the Beyond the Sword expansion pack, adds many new features and improvements.

 

lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
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If that's just the base game without the expansion, you may want to read up about the BOTS patch. I vaguely remember some talk about problems installing the patch depending on which version of the game you bought.
 

deadseasquirrel

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2001
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I'm a big Civ4 fan... been a fan of the series since Civ1. The problem I have with the AI is the constant contact from them and the penalties you receive for not complying with their demands/requests. For example, several civs will be at war with one other civ. On any given turn, I can count on each one of those civs contacting me to join the war and, upon refusal, suffer rep hit from each of them. Follow that up with the constant demands/requests for technologies, converting to their religions, etc, and I'm at a negative rep with most of the world. BUT, even if the other civ is on "friendly" terms with me, I cannot get them to give me a free tech no matter what. And any demands made for tribute by me *always* results in a refusal and requisite rep hit.

So, what I'm saying is, the computer AI is free to demand anything from me at any time without penalty. *I* am the one that suffers a penalty from their demand/request. And turn-around is not fair play, as it is only I, again, who suffers if I make a demand/request. I feel it needs more balance. This is on Noble difficulty, which, contrary to what is written above, is the true default setting where you don't get any advantages and neither does the AI.
 

Eeezee

Diamond Member
Jul 23, 2005
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There's a fairly big difficulty jump if I remember... most of the settings were way too easy, and then the next difficulty I tried was way too hard :(
 

Martimus

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2007
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Just bought the game last week, and while the AI isn't as good as GC2, it is better than it has been in past releases. I am not disappointed in the game, or the purchase. I actually lost a game 4 turns before I was going to win via a space race, because another Civ won a cultural victory. If there is one complaint, it is that it doesn't seem as flexible as Galactic Civiliations 2, although it does have a lot of options - just not as many.

I agree with previous posteds that Beyond the Sword is a great addition to the game. It really answers some of the issues with the original game.
 

Coldkilla

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2004
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Is there a time limit for this game? Turn limit? I remember a game in the past had one...
 

noto12ious

Golden Member
Aug 24, 2001
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Originally posted by: Coldkilla
Is there a time limit for this game? Turn limit? I remember a game in the past had one...

i believe it varies depending on the difficulty setting. (turn limit)
 

nanobreath

Senior member
May 14, 2008
978
0
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All games technically end by 2020 (Its something like that maybe 2040 I forget off the top of my head.) However, this is only the ending point for the scoring system. You can keep playing a game for as long as you want.

For $15 I'd absolutely recomend buying civ4. Especailly if you enjoyed other civs. Civ 4 was a very good improvement in the game.
 

fivetiger

Member
Feb 19, 2007
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I actually picked it up yesterday. I couldn't resist for only $15.

I was about to patch to v1.74 when I saw that many players recommend staying with the previous patch (1.61?). I'm not sure if this is the current thinking, but it didn't look like it was a necessary patch anyway.

Incidently, I didn't like the background color in the game after I played the demo, so I asked how to change it over at CivFanatics. Here is a link to the response. It looks much more Civ-like now, and I'm happy.


....and yes, I did stay up way too late on my first night.
 
Oct 30, 2004
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Originally posted by: noto12ious
you haven't tried civ4 yet? blasphemy!

I'd been satisfied with Alpha Centauri and now I spend most of my time playing Sins of a Solar Empire in online mulitplayer. I'm not sure if I'm going to get Civ 4 or not; it's not like I'm bored and don't have other games to play (UT99, UT 2004, Sins) but I do love the 4X games and it's now only $15. On the other hand, I'm tempted to want to try Galactic Civilizations II instead since I'm a Stardock fan now.

 

minmaster

Platinum Member
Oct 22, 2006
2,041
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AI will kick your but. you'll never beat it on diety like the older civ games. in fact, even on immortal it's almost impossible. i've only won once on immortal.
 

schneiderguy

Lifer
Jun 26, 2006
10,769
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Originally posted by: lozina

Relative to game son the market and previous Civ titles the AI in Civ4 is excellent IMO. It especially makes a difference ramping up the difficulty level to at least Warlord (which I think is the "normal" level i.e. no bonuses for neither you nor the AI) and the AI is very competitive at this level.

On Noble difficulty the AI and the player get no bonuses
 

Piuc2020

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2005
1,716
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The only crappy thing about the AI is how it seems to be severely staged/scripted at times, aside from the tribute/rep thing (which isn't that big of a problem) the AI will always beat you in important technologies, like one turn shy of discovering theology, the computer will discover it first, the same with wonders, etc.

The only way to subdue the AI and get them to give you tribute is by declaring war on them and going berserk, otherwise, they won't ever spare you a thing.

Civ IV is a pretty good game but I'd definitely recommend the BTS expansion.
 
Oct 30, 2004
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I don't like playing against "unfair" AI that doesn't have to follow the regular rules. How is the AI when it can't cheat?
 

Martimus

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2007
4,488
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The biggest thing is that the AI doesn't always act logically. If you are about to kick it's ass, and ask only a reasonable consession, it will often say "f-you" even long after it is getting beat down. That is one thing that GC2 did well that Civ 4 is lacking, but it is still a difficult game.
 

bullbert

Senior member
May 24, 2004
718
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I bought the retail box version of CivIII for less than $3. I did not see $3 dollars of improvement over CivII. I would probably play the sucker again and buy retail box version of CivIV for $2.20 as well, but judging from the reviewers that actually played CivI and CivII and CivIII, CivIV just seems to indicate the the Civ franchise has copied the Madden NFL marketing model but without the new yearly content updates.
 

deadseasquirrel

Golden Member
Nov 20, 2001
1,736
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Originally posted by: bullbert
CivIV just seems to indicate the the Civ franchise has copied the Madden NFL marketing model but without the new yearly content updates.

Not sure what reviews you're reading (Civ4 is very highly rated and has won several game of the year awards), but Civ has evolved a great deal over the various versions. And, while a new Madden comes out every year, we've only got Civ1-4 in 17 years (granted, with a few small expansions here and there).

The inclusion of Religion in Civ4 is great. Using religion as a strategic tool to gain money, influence others, etc adds a lot of depth to the gameplay... just as culture did with Civ3. The addition of Great People who can be used in various fashions, unit promotions, civics, a more branching tech tree, etc all add to the depth and strategy.

While there has been a lot of debate on particular gameplay changes that people didn't like (such as corruption in Civ3), I personally feel that every change made has aided in making the gameplay both more challenging and more interesting. e.g. in previous Civs when you stopped constructing a certain building, that amount of production was moved to the new item... why? It's completely different. It's MUCH better now that your current production of that building is put on hold and kept, then you switch to the new building and start from scratch, later to pick up the old construction right where you left off.

To each their own, right? I can respect an opinion for not enjoying the game... it's probably not everyone's cup of tea. But to say that each Civ game has just been a rehash of the previous with little change is flat-out incorrect.
 

nanobreath

Senior member
May 14, 2008
978
0
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I actually would rather play civ2 than civ3. Civ4 however was a clear improvement over the previous versions.

My main problem with civ3 was the fact your empires size meant more than anything else. I always prefered to build smaller. Civ4 addressed this. It also made the game a LOT less tedious. The min/maxer can always spend 30 minutes per turn going through and tweaking his cities, but for an average player you don't have to constantly micromanage your empire.

Maybe if all youre doing is trying to get a quick civ fix, all you need is an older version. Civ4 however is really worth it if you play the game more than once per reinstall.
 

Canun

Senior member
Apr 1, 2006
528
4
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I liked Civ 3 for the epic size you could get your country to. It appears I'm the only one that liked Civ 3 better than Civ 4.