New to Civ saga

[Qwertqwert]

Civ 4 if far superior to the others. Now I've only played FreeCiv, 3, and 4, but even if I played 1 and 2 I don't think I'd change my mind.

One of the best things about Civ4 is the number of mods out there for it, you can change gameplay so much, and you can even make your own simple mods without coding knoledge.

[Sabre2th]

In fairness, Civ2 was very easy to mod as well.

The advisers and throne room will be missed, but I can't find fault with Firaxis for not including them. They were fun and helped with immersion in the game, but they didn't do much for the gameplay, which was obviously their focus this time around.

[Virdrago]

I played 'em all, I liked 'em all, but...

Go with Civ 4. You'll be glad you did.

And welcome.

[Shrapnel12]

I really miss Master of Magic. Did it really suck so bad that I've never even heard it mentioned again until now? We probably never will see a Master of Magic II. I'd love to see a Master of Magic mod in Civ 4!

[Patroklos]

Civ 4 is great for gameplay features and modability, but it looks like crap.

It has 3D graphics on the level of Rebellion. Yes, THAT bad.

And it doesn't feel like a board game anymore either, so if thats what your looking for go III or ealier.

[BigFree]

Civ4 is a great game; those who whine about it just miss some elements of the previous versions. To me, the game just got better overall.

[Patroklos]

I agree that some of the revised gameplay and modibility (Civ3's main flaw) are improvements, but that hardly makes up for the cartoony look of the whole thing. People used to say Civ3 was cartoony, you think they would have learned from that.

It is just one of those instances where 3d was added when it does nothing for gameplay. It just the cool new thing, lets tac it on for sales. Games that do this invariably end up looking like crap, as it is not natural to the look/gameplay.

[eris]

Originally posted by Patroklos
I agree that some of the revised gameplay and modibility (Civ3's main flaw) are improvements, but that hardly makes up for the cartoony look of the whole thing. People used to say Civ3 was cartoony, you think they would have learned from that.

It is just one of those instances where 3d was added when it does nothing for gameplay. It just the cool new thing, lets tac it on for sales. Games that do this invariably end up looking like crap, as it is not natural to the look/gameplay.

I have to disagree with you. I hope that can be done without my being considered stupid. I like the look. I like the cartoonishness. I don't need realism and gore or whatever it may be that you are looking for. The little pieces on the board move around and animate, cool. Not pertinent to gameplay, but cool. The units are bigger than the city (something that loads of people complain about) but that means I can find those units. How thoughtful of Firaxis. The "board" has been morphed into a landscape. No problem. I can still see where the squares are, even if I occasionally turn on the grid to do so.

It is all subjective. In my opinion, it is not crap. In fact, it is very pleasing and seemingly well thought out, although I do admit a preference for the Blue Marble terrain. Please note that I did not impugn your opinion. Please allow room for other opinions. Therefore.....

To the OP, do the Civ4 thing. Come on in, the water's fine!

[BigFree]

Nice post eris.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Patroklos
It is just one of those instances where 3d was added when it does nothing for gameplay. It just the cool new thing, lets tac it on for sales. Games that do this invariably end up looking like crap, as it is not natural to the look/gameplay.

3D was added because it is cheaper to produce a game that way. Which is why it has become an industry standard. Seen any new 2D games lately? As for looking like crap, you obviously haven't played Oblivion yet. Just because a game is made in 3D doesn't mean it has to look cartoonish, that's simply a design decision. Which means that Civ4 would have looked the same whether it was made in 3D or 2D.

[Kuciwalker]

Cartoonish makes it easier to see details, which is far more important than pretty graphics.

[Targonis]

While I played and loved Civ 1, and 2, looking back at them today makes them look ugly. It's really hard to go back to just about any game that came out before 16 bit color in my opinion.

The 3D look of Civ 4 may not seem like it's that great, but it does allow us to see what we have in our cities from the world map. That is something that really makes it hard to play the previous games.

When I first saw screen shots of Civ 4 before release, I too thought it looked weird/stupid to have these huge units compared to the other elements in the game, but since we are talking strategy, it's the only way to let us SEE the units, and even then you can sometimes miss units(especially enemy units).

The features and gameplay of Civilization 4 make it well worth the price. Some people don't care for Warlords, but it's also worth having(it adds a bit to the game, but isn't fantastic). Vassal states do add an element to the game that I like.

When Beyond the Sword comes out, that will take the game to the next level. So, get the game now, and if money isn't a huge issue, get Warlords as well just so you are familiar with the game mechanics before Beyond the Sword is released.

[Provost Harrison]

Yeah, civ 4 is the most evolved and up to date of the series taking what has been done well (including from SMAC, which hasn't had mention here) and rejecting that which doesn't work. So yeah, go for civ 4, although in terms of expansion packs, it may be worth waiting for BtS rather than going for Warlords.

[Robert]

Welcome to the civ community
Take civ4 (as everybody suggested here) and wait with buying an XP till BtS has been released.

But if you're totally new to the series, just plain vanilla civ4 will keep you busy for the coming months/years already
I advise you to read the manual!
The game has many mechanics, it's good to read about them before starting to play.

One tip: mouse-over everything, that gives valuable information!!!

[dregor]

The art style is clean and easy to make out. I fear if it was more "realistic" it would get very busy and muddy. That being said, there's always mods :P