Whats up with all the other CIV like games?? SO MANY

[CIA_Operative]

really i was lookin around ebx and some other sites and saw other games coming out like civ, ive been a civ fan since 95 but really are these other games such as the settlers series and what about empire earth coming out later this year i mean come on whats up with them can thy be as good as civ or not i know that civ 3 is the most anticipated game of the year but what about these others if anybody could chime in and gimme some inpunt into if i or anybody should buy these games I basically want to know if they could play up to the civ series maybe they're just copies

[Rhysie]

Settlers isn't really a civ-like game... It's kind of real time resource/empire management... I've only really played the first one properly, but it was okay fun.

I don't know about Empire Earth, but if you are a big fan of the civilization series then you'd probably enjoy the other games in the genre, though most of them are not radically different to civilization... Generally they just have different units/techs/buildings, and slightly different ways of handling things... But still enjoyable to civ fans.

Whether you buy them or not depends on how much cash you have floating around, if you have quite a bit to spend you might as well try one or two, but if you'd be scrimping to afford it you'd probably find them too similar to make it worthwhile.

[LaRusso]

Originally posted by CIA_Operative
really i was lookin around ebx and some other sites and saw other games coming out like civ, ive been a civ fan since 95 but really are these other games such as the settlers series and what about empire earth coming out later this year i mean come on whats up with them can thy be as good as civ or not i know that civ 3 is the most anticipated game of the year but what about these others if anybody could chime in and gimme some inpunt into if i or anybody should buy these games I basically want to know if they could play up to the civ series maybe they're just copies

are you sure you are a CIA operative? does cia prohibit interpunction?
looks more like a german secret service...one loooooooong sentence, without a verb at the end, though....

[TechWins]

without a verb at the end

Actually the verb would be are "they're" at the end. Anyways, I think everybody got his point, so it doesn't matter.

SMAC is very cheap and if you are into the sci-fi stuff you would really like SMAC. I thought SMAC was a good game but I just didn't like the Sci-Fi stuff that much. I only played the game a couple of times but it was well worth my $10 (dollar) I spent on it.

My own question. For a person who hates RTS and loves Civ and TBS, would it be worth my money to buy Europa Universalis? I like the info. I've seen about it but with the game being a RTS it scares me off. I've came very close to buying the game. So should I spend my slightly important money (I have plenty of money, I hate to waste money) on the game?

[Grumbold]

EU is "real time" but the time settings range from very slow to very fast, you can set almost any activity to pause the game and you can issue orders while paused. That combination reduces the game to almost a 1 day/turn TBS but any "turn" where no activity takes place which triggers a pause, the game hits "end turn" for you

I usually play on 1 month per minute but with all important movement, combat, diplomatic, technological or random event messages set to pause the game. That is as near to a TBS as makes no difference IMO.

The key thing about EU is that it is historical. If you play the Grand Campaign, Spain is going to kick your butt in the VP race early on because it starts strong. Later it will run into problems and you can overtake. If you don't care about history, or don't want to find yourself geared up for a major offensive just as your warlike king or famous general dies, these sorts of things may be frustrating. You can't conquer the whole world (some parts like central africa you can't even explore). You can't get an unstoppable tech gap. You can get an army wiped out by a seemingly easy enemy who just put a good general in charge. However you can have great fun leading your nation to much greater achievements than it accomplished historically. As Spain I have exclusively colonised the whole of the Americas. As Russia I have crushed the Turks and occupied China. As Scotland I have conquered England and become a colonial power.

If EU is available at discount price, check it out. Otherwise you might want to think about waiting until EU2 is available.

[Steve Clark]

Personally, I prefer Imperialism II because it has a resource/economic model similar to Civ3 where you have to first, find the commodity, exploit it, use it to build units/improvements which allows you to find/conquer more commodities and so on. This, to me, is the essense of Civ-like (or 4X) games which EU does not do (it has a vague Center of Trade concept).

[marcuspeddle]

Originally posted by LaRusso


are you sure you are a CIA operative? does cia prohibit interpunction?
looks more like a german secret service...one loooooooong sentence, without a verb at the end, though....

Ha, ha! Reminds me of when I studied Kant in university. One sentence would go on for pages. I did a fourth year seminar in Kant's ethics and I didn't understand a word the professor said for about three weeks. When I think about the German language I'm reminded of a quote from The Lord of the Rings where one of the hobbits says, "Dwarvish must be a fair jawcracker of a language." Learning Korean is even more difficult because pronouns and subjects are optional in a sentence. Also, the verb comes at the end of the sentence and by the time I get to it I've forgotten what the rest of the sentence was about! Still, a great language (as most languages are) with interesting idioms.

[SerapisIV]

Empire Earth is an RTS. It's got some Civ characteristics, but it's main designer is an Age of Empires alum and the gameplay (from videos) all bears that out. I don't think it really falls into a Civ-style genre

[tniem]

I am going to say a few games that you might have heard were related to Civ and say what I know about them. Others know more, but I guess I get to be the one to express my knowledge of the Civ and civ related genres.

Civ: Call to Power I and II: A lot like Civ, only by Activision. It also goes into the future. Dragon.ca offers the first one for $5 U.S. and if you download all the patches and mods from here on ACS it is worth it.

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri: Created by Brian Renoylds, the man that made Civ II, and started on Civ III before leaving for Big Huge Games, is the unofficial sequal to Civ II. Great TBS game, introduces Social Engineering, Unit Workshop, and other innovations. Many on ACS complain graphics are to dark.

Age of Empires: RTS game that was originally created by a designer of Civ I, Bruce Shelley. Claimed to be a RTS Civ, was not as deep. Although, AoK - the second one is said to be a major benchmark of RTS games by many including yin.

Empire Earth: A new RTS game that will span the entire human history including our future. Being created by Rick Goldman who worked on AoE. Could be a lot of fun.

Sid Meier's Colonization: Created by Sid in the early 90s, was a TBS game of building an empire in the New World. Winning the game meant building a large enough colony to rebel against your European overlords. A lot of fun although the end game suffered from sure repetition.

Imperialism: A TBS game that features diplomacy and trade along with building up your colonies. Quite a bit of fun in my opinion.

Settlers Series: A RTS game that strength is that it adds lots of complexity and decision making in economy and trade. Have not played but according to Underdogs where you can download Settlers II: Gold Edition it is a gem of a game.

Europa Univeralis: A RTS game of Europe during the time between 1450 and 1700 (?) where you can be one of like 80 nations. Many on ACS believe it is one of the best strategy games in a long time. Have not yet played.

Masters of Orion Series: A space based TBS game that for years has been in the Civ series shadow. The first game of the series borrowed heavily from Civ and the sequel was released just after Civ II. Now Civ III and MoO3 are coming out at about the same time again and they both look to be good again. MoO3 is going to feature RT combat in a TBS format. It should be interesting.


There are of course other TBS and RTS games out there, these are just the ones you will hear about most on ACS. And there are also all of the expansions to the original Civ II, Civ II Fantastic Worlds (Scenario Packs), Civ II Multiplayer Gold Edition (allowed Multiplayer), and Civ II: Test of Time (added longer time to the game along with multiple linking maps, improved graphics and some other features.)

Hope this helps.

[Chronus]

For a person who hates RTS and loves Civ and TBS, would it be worth my money to buy Europa Universalis?

Nope.

I'm no RTS expert (I've only played EU, AOK, WarCraft, SimCity and 1602 AD) but I'll tell you this:

AOK is funner. The time scale can sometimes drive me crazy (entire buildings can be erected in a single battle) but the fun factor makes up for it. If you lean towards being a warmonger then get this one.

1602 AD is, IMOHO, the best. It's battle schema is rudimentary (which I like) but its focus on prodution, trade, supply and demand is highly enjoyable.

[Adagio]

To compare Civilization with The Settlers is the same as comparing an Apple with an Orange, they might look a like on the first look, but the only thing those two have in common is strategy and economy.

Where you in Civ games need to take care of making your people happy you shall in The Settlers games make sure you quick get's the different resources. The Settlers is real time Strategy while Civilization is Turn based.

Though in my oppinion is The Settlers series the best real time strategy games ever made (The Settlers II - Veni Vidi Vici is the best of the series), while in Turn based strategy Civilization is the best

---Just needed to say that ---

[Kassiopeia]

Originally posted by Chronus
I'm no RTS expert (I've only played EU, AOK, WarCraft, SimCity and 1602 AD) but I'll tell you this:

I also like very much 1602 AD, but I wouldn't buy it instead of Civ3 but with it.