Post positive points of Civilization 4 here

[DeepO]

Originally posted by Simplicity
Religion. I can't figure out whether it's understated or overpowerful. And that probably means it's balanced.

best quote I've read on the game so far!

DeepO

[Footie Mad]

It gives an impression of being very well polished with lots of attention to detail and immersion.

There are many different choices but it' still not very confusing so you can learn while you play.

There seems to be an absolutely enormous potential for different strategies and things to consider while playing, for example a multiplayer game where resources are very scarce and someone has two oil spots and others none that would be absolute mayhem. Even if the oil owner was a previously inferior civ he would suddenly be in a very powerful position. The many different factors hopefully makes the game more unpredictable so it's not always the case of the biggest and richest winning.

I have not seen much of this yet but there seems to be distinct differences between the style of the different leaders, different rivals equals more enjoyment. Also the AI is smarter than in any other TBS.

[Byelotsar]

The best part of the game I've encountered so far: Sid himself runs the tutorial! Sure, the voiceovers are of somewhat dubious quality (he's a game designer, not a voice actor), and the tutorial spends way more time discussing stuff which is useful to Civ newbies than Civ 4's variance from older Civ games, but still. Sid!

I eventually resorted to a game on settler so that I could try out all the new junk without worrying about keeping my pathetic civilization from getting crushed to dust, and found the game as a whole to be a perfect blend of the stuff I loved in the older games and more stuff I'm going to love just as soon as I get used to it and start thinking strategically.

And it's so pretty... I listened to the soundtrack at work today, and ran through it three consecutive times. Such a fine job.

So long (again), free time!

[Robert]

I loved it that when the game was being prepared, the civ1 music came in and the voice over: "In the beginning the earth was without form and void, but the sun shone upon the sleeping earth and deep inside......"

Loved that!
I've been reading that text SO OFTENLY in those civ1 days

The configuration thing was ready within 20 seconds, kept looking and listening to it anyway

[James]

It will make Firaxis much $$$

[TheArsenal]

Originally posted by alva

Borders are sacrosanct. And, as of yet, saying “you can’t cross my borders” during diplomacy caused no negative reaction..

Opening borders on the other hand gives a boost to diplomacy with that civ.

Another thing I like: Missionaries and Religion.

What is interesting is even on a Huge map, my rivals do not have large empires. Combine this with the closed borders and I was able to use my first strategy re-think from Civ III to Civ IV. (Disclaimer: I’m giving the game a test run at Warlord, so this may not work as well for me at higher levels). Once my military and economy was reasonable, I built several missionaries and placed them on the border. I then agreed to Open Borders with a single rival and sent my missionaries flooding in to convert all/the majority of thier cites. Rinse and repeat for each border civ. Very successful. After doing this, I have had my rivals either adopt my religion (Hindu in this case) on their own, or convert when asked to do so through diplomacy.

The upside, and another interesting dimension to the game, is it improved my relations by both having the same religion and open borders in one quick swoop. This was particularly important with my border rivals who were growing irate over our previously not sharing the same religion, and our having adjacent cultural borders.

Perhaps another anomaly of lower level play, but even with open borders rivals have not wandered into my territory just for the sake of doing so. The aimless meandering of Settlers so common in Civ III appears to be gone as well.

[Wolfgang76]

Only a few points that I REALLY loved..

1. Spock.
2. Al Gore DID invent the internet!
3. How fast the game plays now. I got in 3 games in 12 hours on normal play.
4. Workers are actually intelegent!

[Gully Foyle]

I'm loving it so far. My biggest happiness so far is that I don't have to scream EVERY TURN at the hordes of other civs' settlers streaming into my borders to get to the various undeveloped areas beyond to plant cities. Now I can build a nice "wall" of cities between other civs and the coast, and develop my little corner of the continent at my own pace.

You want to traipse across my land to set up cities in my back yard? Well, you better bring the pain because you're not crossing my borders without my permission!

[RickJay]

1. Terrific music.

2. Wonder movies!

3. "Great people" is a nice touch.

4. A lot of things, like corruption, are much better handled the Civ 4 way.

5. More worker improvements.

6. Civics are a better system than the old governments.

7. IT's Civ!

[Mojotronica]

Seems like a worthy successor to Civ III -- builds on that model, not an overhaul so much as an extension of it. Looks like it incorporates an Alpha Centauri-like gov't system.

However if you were more of a Civ II fan, you may be dissapointed.

Haven't had the chance to try the modding features, or multi-player.

http://www.playfeed.com/index.php/playfeed/article/sid-meiers-civilization-iv-first-impressions-1027605/

[Gully Foyle]

Originally posted by Mojotronica
Seems like a worthy successor to Civ III -- builds on that model, not an overhaul so much as an extension of it. Looks like it incorporates an Alpha Centauri-like gov't system.

However if you were more of a Civ II fan, you may be dissapointed.

Haven't had the chance to try the modding features, or multi-player.

http://www.playfeed.com/index.php/pl...sions-1027605/

Yes, the "mix n' match" SMAC-style of government building is fantastic.

[atc_chief]

I've been playing Civ since the dawn of Civ time. No doubt this is a DIFFERENT game in the same sense that Windows 95 differed from Windows 3.1. Once I got familiar with Win95 there was no going back to 3.1, and I feel the same about CIV IV.

What's good:
1) Beautiful music and environment
2) Varying Technology paths and unit promotions
3) A new resource model in that you need the proper technology to take advantage of some resource bonuses (i.e., building plantations).
4) Expanded government possibilites, with religion independent of government and a whole concept in and of itself.
5) A rich engrossing game with unlimited ways to play.

I know I'm not saying a heck of a lot more than what you can read off the back of the box, but I wanted to chime in with my 2 cents and stand up as one of the many people who are GREATLY enjoying the game.

[Mace]

Originally posted by CyberShy
I loved it that when the game was being prepared, the civ1 music came in and the voice over: "In the beginning the earth was without form and void, but the sun shone upon the sleeping earth and deep inside......"

Exactly what I was talking about when I said, "It's like Civ1". The old Civ1 intro and the music was great. I'm glad they brought that back.

[alva]

Originally posted by atc_chief
I've been playing Civ since the dawn of Civ time. No doubt this is a DIFFERENT game in the same sense that Windows 95 differed from Windows 3.1. Once I got familiar with Win95 there was no going back to 3.1, and I feel the same about CIV IV.

What's good:
1) Beautiful music and environment
2) Varying Technology paths and unit promotions
3) A new resource model in that you need the proper technology to take advantage of some resource bonuses (i.e., building plantations).
4) Expanded government possibilites, with religion independent of government and a whole concept in and of itself.
5) A rich engrossing game with unlimited ways to play.

I know I'm not saying a heck of a lot more than what you can read off the back of the box, but I wanted to chime in with my 2 cents and stand up as one of the many people who are GREATLY enjoying the game.

It'w worth a lot more hearing that from a paying customer than from some PR man writing it.

[ERLoft]

There's a lot to like, but I'll try stuff that hasn't been mentioned yet...

Being able to right click on a unit and drag to see what the actual combat scores will end up being is beautiful. Knowing exactly where you stand before you send your troops in is nice.

Intelligent barbarians! How about those barb cities!


And some stuff that's already been said...

Great people!
Religon!
Promotions!

A couple of rough edges (see the negatives post for my couple items), and of course the ATI card debacle, but I'm happy with it and forsee losing many hours to Civ4..