Money has been tight lately, as most of you can probably understand in our current economic climate. Having always been a TBS fan, I had to make a decision as to which game I would buy this fall. I've been anticipating Civilization 5 and Elemental for quite some time, but I had to go with the latter, and I still don't regret it.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting pretty tired of the Civilization series. It's starting to remind me of Madden: Release the same game, add a few features, and call it the best thing since sliced bread. I've played every one of them, and every spin off since Civ 1 and the whole tour through history bit is getting a bit long in the tooth for me.
So I'm left with Elemental, which kind of feels like the old pick-up truck your dad gave you. It doesn't exactly run all that great, needs a new set of...well, everything, and doesn't impress your friends all that much. So would I rather take the old pick-up truck that can potentially take me to places I've never been before, or do I stick with Civilization, my shiny ten-speed that's always been safe and reliable my whole life?
I've read all the reviews, seen all the crap hit the fan, and even felt a bit of disappointment in the past few weeks. However, there's something about this game that just gets me excited, something unique, and something I don't feel very often with games. Even with all of the bugs and problems this game has, it has something special that I can't quite explain. With Stardock's commitment to improve things, I am giddy with anticipation as to where we will be led in the next few months and years. It's expecting the unexpected with Elemental that is holding my interest. It's hoping that perhaps one day Elemental will defy it's launch in a way that we have never seen before.
I'm sure that Civilization 5 will get reviewed really well, I'm sure it will be everything that everyone has hoped it would be. I'm sure it will be polished, stable, and relatively bug-free. I'm sure, at the core of it all, it will still feel like the Civilization we've grown to love. Unfortunately, this is where I become bored. I'll take the old pickup-truck, but I'm not sure why.
Perhaps Trinity had the answer: Because you have been down there Neo, you know that road, you know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be.
I am extremely fired up for Civ V. Elemental wasn't what I expected but either way Civ is the real game I'm waiting for.
Well, that is one of my issues with Civilization 5. That, and the Steam requirement to even play the game in single player mode. I actually pre-ordered the boxed special edition of the game because I want the art book and the soundtrack CDs, as well as the packaging. I have all other boxes of the series, including the first (Atari ST). However, the boxed special edition doesn't come with Babylon, and considering it costs 70 Euro I find that a little curious.
I'm in general not a friend of DLC, particularly if, as you called it, it is key components of the game. And yes, a civilization is undoubtedly a key component in a game that is about civilizations. I can't get it at all unless I buy the game twice, it seems, unless they decide to sell it later as DLC. To me, this is stuff for an expansion pack. In fact, I would prefer a yearly expansion pack (a proper one) over having to purchase pieces of the game as DLC.
Oh well, at least I'm a cash cow with awareness.
I disagree with the "key component" argument. It'd be one thing if there were only two civs in the base game in which case I'd consider a third civ to be a pretty big deal, but when the game comes with almost two-dozen out of the box, the argument is less forceful. I will agree that an additional civ is a really nice bonus, but I disagree that it's an essential one.
That said, I dislike the whole notion of exclusive free content based on which retailer you buy the game from. Something about it just doesn't sit well with me.
I think it irks me that they picked one of the "core" civilization for that. Babylon was part of all four Civ games (in Civ4 in the expansion), and now it is for pre-order customers of one specific vendor only. I usually play as Aztec or Babylon, so I'd probably care less if it had been another civilization, but to me it is a core component of the game/series. But anyway, matter of different views. I'm not going to buy the same game twice just to get the box/artbook/DVD/CDs and the civ. I hope they will make it available at a later time.
I agree with your take on special content available through only one vendor. Doesn't help the player/dev relations.
Have to see if its this good in person next week. But PC gamer just gave Civ V a 93% in this months issues review.
I've just been watching that 8 part "long session" 2K did of it on YouTube and it looks absolutely superb....I can't wait!!
I don't care what Civs are included or excluded so long as there's a nice selection to choose from in the beginning and the list appears to be very long!
I am a bad addict of the Civ series. However, I don't think I'll be getting Civ V -- I /might/, but not likely, for one big reason: Steam lock.
I don't like the idea of having to have another program running just to play a game. I want the game and only the game running at the time ... well, kinda eating my words there since I have my graphics support program and Windows task manager running while playing Elemental so I can help see what's going on with them when it crashes. With Civ V, you won't have a choice ... you must get a Steam account and must have the Steam client running to play. I don't like being forced to put up with such inconveniences ... I'm the customer, if you treat me this way then I won't buy your products.
There's a small but loud crowd who have decided to nix Civ V because of steam. I don't know if it'll be enough to get Firaxis to rethink bundle-locking their game with a controversial service that, while a lot of people like just fine, some loyal fans want nothing to do with.
I give Stardock bonus points that make up for some of the bugs because they really seem to be trying to do right by the customers. DRM is anti-customer, and Stardock's take is sensible and sings my tune. GalCiv is still a bit buggy, but I'll put up with it. Civ V I'm sure will be much better polished with all that Firaxis talent.
For all its bugs, though, there is one strong feature I think has been forgotten over the years that Stardock -still- has over Firaxis in its TBSes, even stacked against Civ IV which I find a wonderful game: its clever turn processing that goes on in the background while you (the human) are taking your turn. Even on my decently powerful quad core, Civ IV's turns can take upwards of 20-30 seconds in a long game to process. Not so on GalCiv 2 nor Elemental ... I remember that feature they boasted about when GC2 debuted and I think its overlooked by a lot of folk. I thought it was a nifty gadget they put in that the bigger boys like Firaxis would soon clone ... but they haven't.
Beginning civ was germany, yes the 8 part youtube is the same as the live stream on Monday.
And yes, that gameplay looked silky smooth. Definitely a reason why they've been successful at 4 sequels and counting...
Judging by the amount of people who have already handed over their money to Firaxis before the game's even available, I don't think they'll give a hoot about your little crowd!
The steam cloud 10 slot game saves is definitely helping me out with that decision...
This is an interesting thread, people talking about the various civ games. Personally i still play civ2 more often than civ3 or civ4. Civ 3 has ranged artillery which for me keeps it interesting enough to play over civ 4. Civ4 has the advanced unit experience development which is a brilliant concept but sadly just doesn't work due to unit attrition that even combat odds in the 90 percentile range cannot save you from unless you like frequent reloading!
Sounds good, but so long as Civ5 is imprisoned on Steam, i won't be buying it. I don't like creepy exclusive deals like that - this is what consoles are for, not pc's!
This isn't sarcastic, I truly think I'm just ignorant, but how is elemental different?
Elemental is "imprisoned" on Impulse (theoretically you can run it without Impulse, but to get updates you have to use it). Steam is evil and Impulse is good?
This is a good point... however, Elemental is created by the same company that created Impulse, and their not out hijacking games from other developers like Steam is. It is Steams capacity to hijack that has me scared.... you know it can only lead down a road which is not good for us consumers.
Let's compare:
Steamworks games require Steam for installation, updates, and use. Updates must be installed in order to access the game, and should Steam choose to deactivate your account or game license, you will be unable to play it. Steamworks games will not function if the user uninstalls Steam. In addition, Steam offers an offline mode, but it has a history of issues.
Stardock-published games require Impulse for installation (if purchased via Impulse, otherwise not) and updates. Updates are optional and are not required in order to access the game. Impulse may be uninstalled after installing and/or updating the game, and the game will continue to function. Should your Impulse account or game license be deactivated, installed copies of the game will remain functional. Finally, because Impulse is not required to access games, an offline mode is not necessary, and issues related to an offline mode are avoided.
Impulse::Reactor games are client-free.
Judging from the response to Elemental's release, and the fact the CEO himself wants people to review version 1.05, I don't think many, even the fans, would suggest the updating Elemental from v 1.0 as "optional". Hell, most of the reviewers said they couldnt' even get v 1.0 to run on their machines.
I am certainly no Steam fanatic, and I actually perfer Impulse to Steam, but let's not sugar coat things.
I look at the countdown clock on Steam a few times every day and it's so torturous! I just looked now and it's available to me in 2 days and 23 hours, so I guess that means it's already unlocked for our North American friends? You're so lucky!!
I can't tell you how stoked I am to play. Changes look fantastic.
Sugar coat things? I said that updates are optional. That means that the installation of updates is not compulsory. Is that or is that not true?
If a Steamworks game is updated, you cannot choose to play the old version. You must update the game.
If an Impulse game is updated, you can choose to update the game or play the existing version. If you wish to remove Impulse and have no desire to update the game, you are free to do so.
Free. Not free. There is a difference. There's a Mel-Gibson-screaming-in-a-kilt magnitude of difference.
I choose to get both since they both fill different needs for me.
True, but only if you expect the update in advance and go into offline mode to avoid it. I forgot about that workaround.
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