Pic relevant. I’ve tried playing the new Civ games several times, and quickly end up quitting because I find them too overwhelming and find it hard to want to deal with the learning curve.
It occurred to me that part of the problem might be that I was jumping into a very old franchise that has been getting increasingly complicated over the years. Had a hunch I would have better luck with the original, so I went onto one of those play-dos-in-your-browser sites, dove in, and sure enough I am hooked!
Do I know what I’m doing? Not really, but stuff is happening and my civilization is growing, and it’s a good time.
I’m late to the party, but if you’re new to Civ and looking for which game to start on, ignore the people who say that you need the DLCs for the “complete” experience.
I started on Civ 6, and fell for this, getting a complete edition (at a deep discount). When I tried to play it, I was quickly overwhelmed by the complexity. Now, 80 hours in, I realized I can play with just the base game rules, and that’s what I’ve been doing, and now I yearn for one more turn. I’ll eventually start playing with the DLC rules, but not before I get a good grasp on the base game.
I started the tutorial for Civ 6 recently, will probably play more. Been bouncing between various Civs off and on, and seems I’ve been playing UnCiv the most at this point - considering it’s right there on my phone all the time.
I spent so much time playing this version, loved it but not the 30min+ turns while waiting to do a move in end game. Depending which version you are playing, you can save before entering one of the random village huts and if you get something you don’t like (attacked) you can reload and it will reroll the hut. Not all versions allowed this
I played more Civ 1 than any of the later games. Civ 2 is also great as is 4 (3 is decent, but I wasn’t nearly as enthralled with it). Every game in the series since has had aspects to it that I disliked enough to keep me from continuing to play and I heard enough bad comments about 7 to not both buying it.
I made the mistake of buying 7. “It’s Civ, how bad can it be?” I literally forgot it existed until reading your comment. When I want to play Civ I pull out 6.
ALWAYS play one generation behind with Civ because they don’t actually finish the last game until the new one comes out. Civ 7 will probably be fine, in like a year and a half.
Honestly, one could probably just keep playing Civ 5 without missing much unless there is a specific mechanic in Civ 6 that you enjoy. If you just use it to play risk (i.e. military victories only) Civ IV is probably the best version.
I seem to be this minority. Civ 4 on the Xbox 360 was my first but Civ V was the first on PC and I have wasted away many Saturdays playing.
I almost deleted it from my MacBook before forgetting that I still have a game from a few weeks ago I’m near completing. I branched off to nuke Alexander off the map because he was a dick to everyone but then everyone feared me and I felt bad and haven’t returned.
SMAC (Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri) had some really interesting ideas and mechanics. SMAC is based on “well what happens after you win Civ via space race” and has actual lore, but I didn’t feel it in any way limited the replayability. There is an expansion, Alien Crossfire, that is also included in the pack on Steam. The expansion included new factions, a bunch of different game mechanic tweaks and “secret projects” (aka wonders like in Civ), but you can play them separately and I think I’d encourage you to play the original first as not all of the changes were necessarily better, just different.
It probably won’t matter since you enjoyed Civ 1 just fine, but there are some of the mods out there that can update the graphics and things like that.
I’ve been playing since 1991. My friend had a copy and I was so into it I’d go over to his house to play it when he wasn’t home. Then I got my own copy and I haven’t stopped playing since.
Well, except that one time where I had to have my wife hide the Civ V disc from me because I couldn’t stop myself.
I guess what I’m saying is take breaks and go outside, but I know your life will be “just one more turn…” from here on out.
I actually find the new ones quite good at getting you started, with their dynamic tutorials (I started on 6).
I still missed a lot of stuff that took me several matches to understand, but it explained enough for me to manage the easier difficulties properly and as I learned more about it I started going over to harder challenges.
And even with a thousand hours on Civ6, I ended up having a very similar experience when I started Civ7.
it’s the opposite for me. I can’t get into the old ones. I should be able to though. I think I understand the game, have some hours playing five and six, but my ADHD gets the better of me with these user interfaces
You’ve got a good point there that I am also often making when talking about gaming and maybe also trying to present gaming to non gamers.
There is so much implicit stuff grown over decades that for some series the barrier of entry is almost impossible for newbies. Be it the control scheme of some fifa or the complexity of a strategy game that just has to surpass its predecessor, not many developers consider this. Sometimes it’s even part of a reason for downfall.
Even just resolution has an impact as well. I started playing Alpha Centauri now. I can tell that this game’s visuals are something I would have loved back when my eyes still worked properly and I’d be playing it on a 1024x768 crt monitor. But now on a 1080p laptop display and my poor sight even with glasses, I’m finding it strains my eyes a lot to play.
By contrast the low rez blocky NES-style visuals of civ 1 are much easier on my eyes, making one more reason this game is easier to get into.
Most people don’t know: There’s a multiplayer variant of Civilization 1: CivNet.
Barely playable today, as it’s a Windows 3.1 game.
I loved it till late in the 2000s.
Yup, CivNet seemed the most popular for a while. Somebody also put together a mod archive for WinCiv. I also found there’s an open-source decomp project that is “playable”, but I haven’t looked at how mature that one is.
I’ve been leaning more toward UnCiv and FreeCiv21 with a Civ 1 style tileset. Think I prefer the Civ 2 ruleset though.
I think my favorite Civilization game is actually Civilization Revolution. It is a casualized console release, but I feel it has just the right amount of complexity to be a really fun, chill game. Also, I like going for an economic victory in that game.
Came to advise this. Its like “baby’s first civ”. Which sounds reductive and like I’m trying to be mean, but its not. It gives you a good intro to the core concepts.
I think I would have really enjoyed Civ Revolution had I not already played a ton of Civ 4 on which it was based. I just couldn’t get over what was missing.
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cough heroes of might and magic III cough
Yess, was playing that recently too. Love that game.
yeah me too, love that game to bits
I’m late to the party, but if you’re new to Civ and looking for which game to start on, ignore the people who say that you need the DLCs for the “complete” experience.
I started on Civ 6, and fell for this, getting a complete edition (at a deep discount). When I tried to play it, I was quickly overwhelmed by the complexity. Now, 80 hours in, I realized I can play with just the base game rules, and that’s what I’ve been doing, and now I yearn for one more turn. I’ll eventually start playing with the DLC rules, but not before I get a good grasp on the base game.
I started the tutorial for Civ 6 recently, will probably play more. Been bouncing between various Civs off and on, and seems I’ve been playing UnCiv the most at this point - considering it’s right there on my phone all the time.
I spent so much time playing this version, loved it but not the 30min+ turns while waiting to do a move in end game. Depending which version you are playing, you can save before entering one of the random village huts and if you get something you don’t like (attacked) you can reload and it will reroll the hut. Not all versions allowed this
Turn off display enemy moves and it goes much faster.
I played more Civ 1 than any of the later games. Civ 2 is also great as is 4 (3 is decent, but I wasn’t nearly as enthralled with it). Every game in the series since has had aspects to it that I disliked enough to keep me from continuing to play and I heard enough bad comments about 7 to not both buying it.
I made the mistake of buying 7. “It’s Civ, how bad can it be?” I literally forgot it existed until reading your comment. When I want to play Civ I pull out 6.
ALWAYS play one generation behind with Civ because they don’t actually finish the last game until the new one comes out. Civ 7 will probably be fine, in like a year and a half.
Honestly, one could probably just keep playing Civ 5 without missing much unless there is a specific mechanic in Civ 6 that you enjoy. If you just use it to play risk (i.e. military victories only) Civ IV is probably the best version.
I seem to be this minority. Civ 4 on the Xbox 360 was my first but Civ V was the first on PC and I have wasted away many Saturdays playing.
I almost deleted it from my MacBook before forgetting that I still have a game from a few weeks ago I’m near completing. I branched off to nuke Alexander off the map because he was a dick to everyone but then everyone feared me and I felt bad and haven’t returned.
Thoughts on Alpha Centauri*?
While I loved the premise and lore, I felt a bit overwhelmed.
*The game, but if you wanna share thoughts on the star system, I’m all ears (not literally).
Alpha Centaui is a masterpiece and I feel it is better than any actual Civ game.
Spurred by your comment here, I did a search and Alpha Centauri is presently $2.49 on Steam. Looks like I’ll need to try that now too. 🥳
I hope you enjoy it!
SMAC (Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri) had some really interesting ideas and mechanics. SMAC is based on “well what happens after you win Civ via space race” and has actual lore, but I didn’t feel it in any way limited the replayability. There is an expansion, Alien Crossfire, that is also included in the pack on Steam. The expansion included new factions, a bunch of different game mechanic tweaks and “secret projects” (aka wonders like in Civ), but you can play them separately and I think I’d encourage you to play the original first as not all of the changes were necessarily better, just different.
It probably won’t matter since you enjoyed Civ 1 just fine, but there are some of the mods out there that can update the graphics and things like that.
I’ve been playing since 1991. My friend had a copy and I was so into it I’d go over to his house to play it when he wasn’t home. Then I got my own copy and I haven’t stopped playing since.
Well, except that one time where I had to have my wife hide the Civ V disc from me because I couldn’t stop myself.
I guess what I’m saying is take breaks and go outside, but I know your life will be “just one more turn…” from here on out.
I helped develop Unciv.
Have fun.
You’ve helped me waste dozens of hours I should be giving to the corporation. Thank you for doing your part.
Thank you for your service o7
I actually find the new ones quite good at getting you started, with their dynamic tutorials (I started on 6).
I still missed a lot of stuff that took me several matches to understand, but it explained enough for me to manage the easier difficulties properly and as I learned more about it I started going over to harder challenges.
And even with a thousand hours on Civ6, I ended up having a very similar experience when I started Civ7.
Link?
No, that’s Zelda.
This is where I played. Be sure to use an adblocker.
https://playclassic.games/games/4x-dos-games-online/play-sid-meiers-civilization-online/
it’s the opposite for me. I can’t get into the old ones. I should be able to though. I think I understand the game, have some hours playing five and six, but my ADHD gets the better of me with these user interfaces
I guess Widelands could be to your taste? Also, original SimCity, Micropolis.
I think I downloaded both of these much, but didn’t really get around to playing them. Will have to give them another try.
Civ III was the height of the Civilization franchise.
You’ve got a good point there that I am also often making when talking about gaming and maybe also trying to present gaming to non gamers.
There is so much implicit stuff grown over decades that for some series the barrier of entry is almost impossible for newbies. Be it the control scheme of some fifa or the complexity of a strategy game that just has to surpass its predecessor, not many developers consider this. Sometimes it’s even part of a reason for downfall.
Even just resolution has an impact as well. I started playing Alpha Centauri now. I can tell that this game’s visuals are something I would have loved back when my eyes still worked properly and I’d be playing it on a 1024x768 crt monitor. But now on a 1080p laptop display and my poor sight even with glasses, I’m finding it strains my eyes a lot to play.
By contrast the low rez blocky NES-style visuals of civ 1 are much easier on my eyes, making one more reason this game is easier to get into.
Also adds to this on multiple levels, yes. Eyesight for one but also with lower resolution the developer had to focus on what to display.
Most people don’t know: There’s a multiplayer variant of Civilization 1: CivNet. Barely playable today, as it’s a Windows 3.1 game. I loved it till late in the 2000s.
Yup, CivNet seemed the most popular for a while. Somebody also put together a mod archive for WinCiv. I also found there’s an open-source decomp project that is “playable”, but I haven’t looked at how mature that one is.
I’ve been leaning more toward UnCiv and FreeCiv21 with a Civ 1 style tileset. Think I prefer the Civ 2 ruleset though.
I think my favorite Civilization game is actually Civilization Revolution. It is a casualized console release, but I feel it has just the right amount of complexity to be a really fun, chill game. Also, I like going for an economic victory in that game.
Came to advise this. Its like “baby’s first civ”. Which sounds reductive and like I’m trying to be mean, but its not. It gives you a good intro to the core concepts.
I think I would have really enjoyed Civ Revolution had I not already played a ton of Civ 4 on which it was based. I just couldn’t get over what was missing.
I think the best modern civ is either IV or V depending on how much you just want to do a military conquest victory.
I’d agree, and I prefer 4 to 5 greatly for that very reason.
I have an original Civ2 disk with my CD stacks. Only one remaining cd-rom…
@Tylerdurdon @AnimalsDream Civ 2 was my first ever online purchase!