PtW as it stands now...

Cookie Monster · May 2, 2003, 10:54

Hi all,

With the recent drop in price for PtW (saw it the other day for 19.99 at Best Buy) is it worth getting.

I only intend to play single player as I have no high speed internet access. With the latest patch is PtW worth getting as an addon to Civ3 single player? Are there any bugs or other issues that still need resolving?

asleepathewheel · May 2, 2003, 11:38

PTW single player is nearly flawless right now. It really makes the game a lot better, due to the new civs, a couple new units and buildings. Better barbarian AI, other upgrades that I can't think of at the moment. If you play Civ3, I would recommend getting PTW.

Spiffor · May 2, 2003, 12:46

Absolutely.

The better AI is worth it, especially since it more often understands the modifications you can do in the beefed-up editor. The SP game is nearly bugless too, and it overall adds to the experience

ChrisiusMaximus · May 2, 2003, 12:58

Yep PTW is a great game, I only play single player and so far only have patch 1.14 but IMO its the best that civ has ever been.

Cookie Monster · May 2, 2003, 13:16

Nearly flawless SP experience? Just what I'm looking for!

Now one more question. Is hotseat play flawless or is it buggy? The reason why I ask is because I enjoy playing against myself and I did this all the time with Civ2 Gold and Civ2 ToT.

alva · May 2, 2003, 13:33

And you could still go for a couple of PBEM games.

Azeem · May 2, 2003, 13:50

There's lots of nice little additions now. New civs and new improvements make single play more interesting.

The editor also has been improved!

3rdTrial · May 2, 2003, 15:47

It is not true that PTW is bugless in hotseat. I play hotseat (with myself - 8 players) quite often and there is ahuge bug on breaking deals in diplomacy.

If you break a deal, you can longer see the active deals with the player you broke. It gives a memory error and the game stops.

The same happens if you declare war to a civ when you have any commercial deal with.

This error have been bugging me for a while and really destroys part of the fun.

Btw, does anyone know how to play more then 8 civ's and would like to play 32 if possible....

Spiffor · May 2, 2003, 16:36

3rd trial :
For now, it is impossible to play in any multiplayer mode with more than 8 civs. You can only play up to 31 civs in pure SP.

gunny123 · May 2, 2003, 16:46

I still can't believe people are so happy with sp PTW. The best part about civ 2 was making and trading your own scenarios. PTW does nothing for you. You still cant make a scenario to save your life with this editor and any hope that they would include some good ones like they did with Civ 2 scenarios is long gone. Who knows maybe they will in the next expansion. More likly is they will tell us they will and charge 29.99 to find out they didnt.

asleepathewheel · May 2, 2003, 17:43

Quote:

Originally posted by gunny123
I still can't believe people are so happy with sp PTW. The best part about civ 2 was making and trading your own scenarios. PTW does nothing for you. You still cant make a scenario to save your life with this editor and any hope that they would include some good ones like they did with Civ 2 scenarios is long gone. Who knows maybe they will in the next expansion. More likly is they will tell us they will and charge 29.99 to find out they didnt.

Today was the day for flames from you, eh gunny123? one here, one in the MoO3 forum?

Why is it suprising that some people could like the game without "real" scenarios? I personally prefer to play the game than tinker around, but thats me. Maybe PTW does nothing for you, but it improves the regular SP game considerably, I'm sorry that its not to your expectations.

Rasbelin · May 3, 2003, 06:18

I'll think about it when it's put in the bargain shelf.

Kuciwalker · May 3, 2003, 08:00

I love tweaking, and I love PtW. I'm pissed that it doesn't have EVENTS though. ME WANT EVENTS!

Harovan · May 4, 2003, 02:21

Single player is very good and highly enjoyable. If you look for a nice SP experience, get it.

Multi player is ... well ... let's say it nice ... it doesn't work. Even PBEM games tend to get unstable and to crash after a while. And since it has the word "Multiplayer" on the box, it is far from being ready.

dexters · May 4, 2003, 02:59

Ditto with Sir Ralph.

I really don'ty care about multiplayer. I bought PTW for the added civs, assorted single player features, new units and the more refined AI.

I have this thing about facing off with the best AI Firaxis can come up with. While A lot of people laugh at it and say this or that about how stupid the AI is, I've come to respect the AI for what it is. A highly impressive set of "if then" statements that is supposed to run on my antiquated PIII 450. And putting up a good challenge at that. It is even more impressive if many of the known HUMAN CHEATS (like reloading from saved games, restarting new games to get optimal starting locations) are not used.

In anycase, since there is at least another patch for PTW, I figure it is worth having it to get the most tweaked AI.

Jonny · May 4, 2003, 11:02

I agree with Sir Ralph.

For $20, I'd buy it.

pedrojedi · May 4, 2003, 15:44

I bought it just for the SP experience. And it's great.

Never tried hotseating with myself, but I shall sometime give it a try, since I loved to do that with War table game.

Inverse Icarus · May 4, 2003, 17:34

i disagree.

i play PTW with a group of close friends (ie, i got go looking for random games), and i havent had one crash since we all got 1.21.

statusperfect · May 4, 2003, 17:50

In single player it IS a masterpiece. Multiplayer sucks if you go for random games over gamespy.

Jon Shafer · May 5, 2003, 04:15

After getting back into playing SP games, I found that the AI was much smarter compared with vanilla Civ 3.

BigFree · May 5, 2003, 04:21

I'm satisfied overall with SP game play; MP needs some work still. Patches are rumored to be on the way to deal with some of the MP issues; we'll see..... :/

Cookie Monster · May 5, 2003, 13:25

Well I picked up the game over lunch. Now it's only 4 more hours to go before I get home and try out PTW.

Thanks to all for your feedback!

pedrojedi · May 5, 2003, 23:02

Have a great time! It was a pleasure helping you make a decision and give Infogreed a little more money.

Theseus · May 7, 2003, 20:29

HD, try SP with the latest version of the AU Mod.

Cookie Monster · May 8, 2003, 08:00

Quote:

Originally posted by Theseus
HD, try SP with the latest version of the AU Mod.

I've heard a lot about the AU Mod. Is it really designed to help one learn to sharpen their skills?

Willem · May 8, 2003, 08:17

Quote:

Originally posted by asleepathewheel
Better barbarian AI, other upgrades that I can't think of at the moment.

Improved stack movement and rally points. Those two are biggies IMO.

PrinceBimz · May 8, 2003, 12:41

From what I have read everyone states its worth it even just for single player. I did not know it was down to $20. I will have to get to the store and get a copy

Arrian · May 8, 2003, 14:16

Quote:

I've heard a lot about the AU Mod. Is it really designed to help one learn to sharpen their skills?

It's about adding more "strategic choice" to the game without making drastic changes.

Off the top of my head (I don't normally use the AU Mod):

Great Wall beefed up: walls to all cities, like in CivII.
Coastal Forts needed to produce veteran ships.
Archer units have zero-range bombard (which simply gives them a free shot when attacked).
Longevity wonder moved to Sanitation to make it worthwhile.
Changes to the tech requirements for a SS launch, don't recall what exactly.
Beefed up Commie a bit, IIRC.
Tax men/Scientists beefed up to +2/turn instead of +1. Tax men moved back to currency... scientists to literature(?) I think.

Stuff like that. Nothing HUGE, but tweaks here and there to make more interesting choices.

Check out the strategy forum for more (there is a long readme, etc).

-Arrian

Cookie Monster · May 8, 2003, 15:42

Quote:

Originally posted by PrinceBimz
From what I have read everyone states its worth it even just for single player. I did not know it was down to $20. I will have to get to the store and get a copy

Yeah, I picked up my copy at Gamestop in the local mall. Best Buy also has PTW for $20. I wouldn't have picked up this game if it didn't drop to $20 but now that I have it I'm glad I did end up buying it.

Now to find the time to play the AU mod's before RoN comes out. That gives me about 2 weeks or so. Whoooppeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Harovan · May 8, 2003, 16:45

Quote:

Originally posted by statusperfect
In single player it IS a masterpiece.

It's a very good game, but for being a masterpiece it lacks real ZoC and a tweaked combat system. Just like CivII, it suffers from the infinite railroad movement. This makes combat less enjoyable, you don't need to locate your troops in a good tactical way. And you can't build a screen along your borders. As soon as you built railroads, just stockpile all units in a huge stack and put them somewhere, location doesn't matter.

Also, the denial to use the roads (not railroads) on enemy territory is very annoying. Unfortunately, these features can't be modded in. It's a good game, I give it 8 out of 10, may be 8.5, but not more. It's not perfect.

Quote:

Multiplayer sucks if you go for random games over gamespy.

That's not the fault of the game. It's your own, if you use gamespy.