How long should one civ 3 game go for?

[Alex 14]

Civilization 2 had around 450 turns which took about 5 hours to finish. How long should civ 3 go for?

[Adm.Naismith]

It's always a surprise to me how quick some players are at a Civ or SMAC game.
Three hours only for a whole game?

I can't play any game as a stream (not enough free time to spare for game), and this add dead time (every time I restart a game must spend some time to browse map, cities and stats).
Without automatism (AI is not good enough for may taste) a late turn micromgmt can suck me at least 20 minutes or 30, if in main war with some production adjust because of new discovery.

According to an early interview (sorry, I forget the source) Sid considered Civ 2 not intense enough.
It can be a hint he want to reduce number of turns, or add more useful automation, or reduce micomanagement by design, as with trade defined by pact/trade screen, without the need for Camels Caravans.
That said, I don't think Civ 3 will have more turns: I hope will not be more long to play (assuming I'll be able to shift some of game time from unnecessary details to relevant strategic decision).

[Sean]

3 hours is probably a minimum. Longer would be better

Infact, as long as one likes really, as long as it remains interesting, and doesn't become mundane or a 'clickathon' (like a certain ctp civ game ).

[Ecthy]

10 hours are just fine

[Nikolai]

I would say long enough to give you something, and short enough to not be boring .

[SerapisIV]

I haven't played a game in the past year that lasted less then 25 hours. Of course I'm not an expert player, and I playmaybe once a month. My end game turns just last too long

[dainbramaged13]

I would spend like 30 hours on one game (obviously not in one sitting, like many many many sittings) , because I LOVE micromanaging and stuff. To me, it makes the game more interesting. If you want quick action, play starcraft or C&C (I do play those games, but only when I'm in a bad mood)
It makes it much more satisfying to beat the damn game if you spend a lot of time on it, and you can think about it when youre bored...

im with adm here in that i cant beleive it only took u 3 hours to play a civ game. in any case, i think there should be an option as to how many turns you want in a game ( not varying to much, maybe 400-500 or something)

[NakaNaka]

Ya I wanna spend a lot of time on my civ games. I don't care if it takes weeks with lots of sittings as long as its enjoyable. Now something I don't like is in the beginning you only have a couple of cities and sometimes your just like hitting enter like 20 times becuase your building granerys and stuff like that or you only have like 2 troops out exploring your land ..

What about a game play option that let you decide ahead of time roughly how long you wanted a game to be?

Maybe you could decide by allowing more or less control of your day-to-day civ duties to be governed by the AI. The more the AI controls; the shorter the game.

And I'm talking about more control than what is offered in the menus during normal gameplay also.

[Zanzin]

An individual game.....I reckon 40 hours of gameplay is getting your monyies worth.

Maybe thats too long though.....say 30 per game. Games will vary though, depending on map size, no. of civs and all that

I have never been able to play a game in 3 hours. And I play on the easy level.
Are you sure you played in 3 hours? And if you have, tell us how you where able to accomplish this feat.

[Alex 14]

Well it didn't take 3 hours, i just haven't played it for ages and can't remember how long it took, but definantly no more than 8 hours.

I normally take anywhere from 30 to 40 hrs per game.
I guess if you only play with 5 to 10 cities it would not take that long, also no exploring, do not move troops around, no ships to move. I have Civ 2 MPG on the computer now so maybe I will try no more than 10 cities and not explore and see what happen.

[Alex 14]

well i've tried that before, it takes like 1 hour!

Well I started the game last night and played for 1 hr. 30 min. I have 10 cities and just made the year 1100 AD. Wonder Movie, Throne Room and Adviser on. One ship to uncover city sea tile so they can be worked. No exploration. Playing at Warlord level.

Well it took 4 hrs. 40 min. to send the space ship to A.C., with the Russian on by rear end all the way. One thing is for sure, I did not have as much fun. No body to defend against or attack, no diplomatic action at all. I used the World Map Large and selected all Civs.

[Gramphos]

I think that you maybe should be able to set the number of years per turn when setting up the game. This should be done in intervals, as in earlier games.
I.E
4000 BC - 2000 BC
2000 BC - 1000 BC
1000 BC - AD 0
AD 0 - AD 500
AD 500 - AD 1000
AD 1000 - AD 1400
AD 1400 - AD 1700
AD 1700 - AD 1900
AD 1900 - AD 2000
AD 2000 - AD 2020

Of course science should have to be rebalanced for every game, or based on years rather then turns, so that all the knowledges aren't discovered 0 AD. You should be able to set as small steps as 1 month.


This would give you control over the length of your game.