What is the least necessary feature of each Civ game?

[Shogun Gunner]

Disagree...I would zoom up and down in Civ2 constantly

It got to be second nature with the "z" and "x" key as I studied the map and considered strategy. Just awesome, simply awesome.

This is perhaps why I soured so quickly on Civ3 when it came out -- the two level zoom just didn't cut it. I was spoiled by Civ2.

[GeoModder]

Originally posted by aaglo
In smac, the least necessary feature, is propably the altitude-map. It does not add to the gameplay - it only slows older pc's down.

There was this option to let the map appear 'flat'.
But if you mean the altitude itself, it is very usefull for increasing the energy output of landtiles...

[Adagio]

Originally posted by moomin
Really difficult choice. In SMAC, I'd say sea pods, but I know there are people who positively adore them.

And the same goes for ctp1/2, but it's worse in SMAC because they come too early in the game

[Laertes]

Espionage in Civ3 - beyond checking out garrisons before war is declared, I have not tried planting a spy or anything else since early days. Too likely to fail, too expensive.

Civ3 - Levels above Monarch - wasted on me

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by DrSpike


Don't let any of the 2x production 2x movement King level Civ2 MPers hear you say that. It is a very popular unit amongst that crowd.........and sometimes useful in SP.

In Civ3 I totally agree though.

Explorers are good for sending in as Commando units before an invasion. Send them in 5 or so squares behind enemy lines, and then pillage. It prevents reinforcements arriving to the enemy front line. Extremely useful in the age of railway.

[DrSpike]

I posted that pre-conquests.

[Zoid]

It´s always funny how some threads are resurrected and the debate goes on like the previous comment was made yesterday rather than 18 months ago...

[GeoModder]

The best are those from exact a year, and sometimes a month, ago. Even a quick glance won't show the 'gap'.

[Vince278]

It all shows that more units doesn't necessarily make for a better game. They need to concentrate on making the AI smarter and less predictable.

[GePap]

I always plant spies in civ3, because that way I get to know exactly how big the enemy military is, and how much of it is left at any point during the war. This is immensely useful information.

I also like stealing military plans, if you have the money, before attacking an enemy, since you get to see where everything is, including ships out nowhere.

In civ3, I think Coloseums are pretty useless buildings- not worth their cost.

[DrSpike]

Army intelligence is sometimes worth trying, yeah, but even that on the highest levels has too low a chance of success to make it a great tactic. Tech stealing is almost impossible.

Colosseums are a touch pricey yeah, but still usually get built at some stage.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by DrSpike
I posted that pre-conquests.

Did the rule change after Conquests?

[DrSpike]

It's been so long I can't remember exactly what happened, but there was a change in explorers at some point to make them more useful.

[Asmodean]

I never use the zooming in Civ 4. IMHO, all the strategic overview I need is offered by the minimap. And besides looking pretty, the seamless map feature is hogging system resources big time.


Asmodean

[DrSpike]

Hmm.