I was about to buy Civ IV (I know shocking I don't own it already) but its now cheap at Play.com, I thought I'ld check out the trailer

Anyone else seen it?

Can a PC game be too addictive?

I love "Edna N" for Civilisation IV Anonymous comment on spliting the atom.

Unless you can handle the game possibly not working, and the company not giving a fuck, don't get it.

I bought two copies when it first came out so my wife and I could play together.

I have 2 $60 paperweights.

I enjoy the game, but I did have to exchange it twice before I got one with a good disc 2 in it.  Never had any problems exchanging it though.  Its not radically different from any other civ game though.  I enjoy it more than civ III but its not a "new" game.  If you have played any of the others you will quickly be playing at whatever level you played before.  There are important differences you will have to learn, but they only take a game or 2 to pick up.

Best Game Ever! Just be sure to get the latest patch before starting up your first game.

Excellent game. Should Firaxis release Alpha Centauri 2, I'd be willing to give money for a Sid Meier bronze statue.

Has anyone tried the multiplayer mode? How is it?

Have you checked the mod community for Civ 4 AC 2 would be easy to mod and Civ 4 is written with extensive modding promoted.

I'm still going through the basics of Civ 4, barely even tried a few mods. Still getting used to the differences between it and Civ 3.

Civ 4's unique units are cool, though I wish they lasted a bit longer. Redcoats are awesome, but 2 techs later you're already churning out infantry, for example.

Navy SEALS rock, by the way. Praetorians are also awesome.

I have to agree on SEALS and preatorians.

If you play the game on Epic or Maraton they last MUCH longer since everything is MUCH slower.

I've seen that it gives you more turns, but do they extend the research and unit build times too?

Quote from: JongWKI've seen that it gives you more turns, but do they extend the research and unit build times too?

yes.

They extend research, and build times. They also increase the amount of culture it takes to expand the borders around a city, and the amount of culture it takes to win a culture victory.

Interesting. So, while it allows players to actually use their units, it also makes them far more valuable (you lose them faster than you can replace them normally).

Quote from: JongWKInteresting. So, while it allows players to actually use their units, it also makes them far more valuable (you lose them faster than you can replace them normally).

Yeah, but since everything is slowed down there's little functional difference.

On different speeds, it would still take you 6 units to conquer city X. It's just it takes you longer to produce those six units.

The main problem I found with Marathon setting is that it ended up being almost exactly the same, except with more dead time. Imagine a normal game, and then divide up each turn into 4 separate turns. Except, during those 4 turns, you can't accomplish more than you would in the 1 turn. You just have to "end turn" three times before you can do it.

That's not a perfect analogy, though, since the one area that ISN'T slowed down is unit movement. It's quite possible to, say, scout the entire contentent before you ever manage to finish the first settler, whereas in slower speeds, the settler would pop out before you finished.

But once you have troops you now have 4 seaons to fight with them. So yes it takes longer to build but not to move or fight.

If you build your cities up right then you can still crank out a big army and you get a 100 turns to use it rather than 25.

Quote from: BolverkBut once you have troops you now have 4 seaons to fight with them. So yes it takes longer to build but not to move or fight.

If you build your cities up right then you can still crank out a big army and you get a 100 turns to use it rather than 25.

That's right, but you end up with 1/4 as many troops. And once they reach the city they're assaulting, it all comes down to one or two turns, just like regular speeds. They're slower to build, but die just as quickly.

Terrain improvements also take longer to make. This is important strategically, because once you devote 20 turns of a worker's life to a project, you'll be damned if somebody's unit is going to raze it and make you start all over again.

If you develop your cities correctly there isn't much of a build lag for troops.