Civ 3 Better than Call to Power 2 (With Mods)?

[Aaaragorn]

Can any of you expert Civ games players let me know in which ways Civ 3 is better than Call to Power 2 (With Mods)
Is it a significant step forward?
Thanks.

[General Ludd]

Don't put CTP in the same category as a real civ game .

[orange]

Isn't this in the wrong forum?

[DarkCloud]

not realy orange- the apolyton forum is frequently used for comparisons between civ and CTP- especially nonbiased comparisons such as this one.

[Sarxis]

CivIII does need patching. CTP2 also still needs patching.

I bet you can guess which one will actually get more patching!

[Immortal Wombat]

From the thread of the same name in the Civ3 forum:

Posted By DeathRay
Civ 3 is a lot less bugged than people say it is.

So is CtP2, especially after patching.

Posted By MrWhereItsAt
BUT ppl seem to like CTP2 if they got it and dislike CTP if they had only that. I wonder, is there anyone who got CTp and STILL bought CTP2 after and enjoyed it? Or did the original spoil CTP2 for everyone like it did for me?

CtP2 has a much-enhanced diplomacy system too, and it is slightly easier to mod the AI files. The SLIC v2 is possibly slightly easier to get used to. er... Better graphics?

Anunikoba, rest assured that when we're through with CtP2, it will have had almost as much 'patched' as Civ3, because we can get into the game mechanics, and fiddle with everything which is a claim no other Civ game can make AFAIK.

[Sarxis]

The whole unfortunate matter of CTP2 is that the official support fell off so quickly. I bought the game right after release, and Activision gave the axe to support about a month or two later. WTH?

Now, the fact remains that no matter how much unofficial patching you guys do (which is a highly commendable feat, btw), the public at large doesn't, and won't, know about it. So for the gaming community at large, CTP2 is a dead stick.

Granted, I agree that Firaxis is slitting their throats with the lack of customization for CivIII. But their official support of the game is just starting. CivIII will get at least one patch- a patch that has been in the works for several weeks now- and probably a few more afterwards.

So we have yet to see what the final product will be, whereas we already pretty much know what CTP2 is.

[WesW]

Which one is better?

Well, as someone who does have a lot of experience with both Civ 1 and 2, and Ctp 1 and 2, and who has been playing Civ III much more than I should be in exam season, let me say....
It probably depends upon which areas of gameplay appeal most to you. If you like combat more, I would definitely say the Ctp series. If you like diplomacy and trade, Civ III.
The Civ series has more "warmth" with its smiley faces and busy workers, while Ctp is geared more toward the analytical "engineer" type more concerned with click efficiency (PW and unit stacks) and getting on with the important aspects of growth.
In my games, you spend a much larger percent of your time on big decisions with Ctp, while you spend most of your time moving workers around in the last half of the game with the Civ games. I think that Ctp2 would have been better if the games were a couple hundred turns shorter.

Myself, I have enjoyed playing both games. I think that many here are completely shocked that Civ III is not perfect, in addition to the points Yin and Locutus have made about announced features of Civ III not being included. I kept running into this mentality when people complained about the Ctp series over the last two years, when they would say things like "It just doesn't 'feel right'", with the definition of "right" being Civ 2, or "It's buggy," like all the civ games are flawless, or simply "It seems unbalanced" (which is was), with the insinuation that Civ III will be so perfect that no one will ever think about modding it, but only about making scenarios. (Btw, I don't mess with scenarios because there has never been an AI that can handle the different situations found in a scenario. The only scenarios worth playing in the Conflicts in Civ add-on were the fan-created ones, and those I only played a time or two.)

Bottom line- If you like the new resource and diplomacy model in Civ III, which I love for several reasons, then I would not give up on Civ III until at least the first patch comes out, and we see what the mod-makers here can do with any remaining balance issues.

If, OTOH, you cannot get over the combat inaccuracies and the hassel of moving around dozens of workers, get Ctp 1 or 2 cheap, get the Apolyton Pack for it, or another modpack if you so desire , and try it out. These games have their flaws and limitations, but as Civ III has shown, all games do.