So how good is it really?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by mikelazenby
There are always going to be tricks and exploits if all you are after is "winning". I used to just enjoy the whole experience of "playing".

Actually, most of the known tricks and exploits have been sealed off in this game. For example, ICS suddenly isn't the killer strategy anymore.

[Quillan]

FYI, farms that are being worked will have lights on in the windows and doors. Unworked farms are dark. I haven't figured out the telling point on cottages et al. yet.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by LordShiva
Was it more fun than spending the winter threadjacking?

No, it was too damn cold but then again I dont consider my comments 'threadjacking'. I've always enjoyed a large degree of latitude here at poly for some reason

[ChaotikVisions]

For cottages just look to see if it says "X turns until it turns into blah". Won't help if its the highest level of cottage but by then its probably being worked anyway and you don't need to check. And yes, the game is good. I just noticed something they added in patch. When you're trading resources it tells you how many of them you have and which one you're trading, (IE, 1 of 2 spices) or something.

[Enigma_Nova]

Originally posted by Solomwi
If it's unimproved, it will have a little tent showing. If it's improved, the improvement will be animated (except cottages and farms, which I believe stick to the "tent" method). For instance, the windmill will be turning, mine producing occasional blasts of flame and smoke and lumbermill will be sawing away. Water tiles with boats are being worked.

Farms grow in size and change color to green.

[mikelazenby]

...of course there are no real minutae to speak of...

[Imran Siddiqui]

THIS is your minutae that makes you "not be bothered"?

These are graphical cues to simply show if the improvement has been improved!

Nice try... doesn't work though.

[Willem]

Originally posted by mikelazenby
...of course there are no real minutae to speak of...

Nothing you really have to worry about to get into the game. Sure there are little things that you pick up as you go along, but that's part of what makes the game interesting. I get bored of games that you can figure out in the first 5 minutes. And none of the "minutae" that you speak of will prevent you from playing the game properly, they're mainly refinements you can apply as you understand the game better.

[MightyTiny]

I agree with Willem, there are lots of little things in the game that are nice to know, often useful to know, but not NECESSARY to know, in order to get into the game and enjoy it.

So you don't have to read up on a multitude of little things before you start playing, but can instead start playing (starting with a tutorial game), and then learn new things at your own pace as you go along.

And that, I think, is how optimally things should be in a strategy game; to keep you interested it must have depth to it, and that requires a little complexity - this is good, as long as you don't have to learn it all in order to play a game, but rather can discover things gradually. And this is how it is in Civ4.

[mikelazenby]

....ouch!

[mikelazenby]

Update

Well, I "upgraded" my graphics card to a Radeon 9550GE....all the cinematics work now and I can see the little coal carts dumping their little loads as they round the little train tracks coming out of the little mines, and the little oil pits blurping and blooping away merrily in surround sound....I'm optimistic that I will finish my first game before too much longer....