As a veteran player who has played various TBS games such as Civ1/Civ2/Colonization/Freeciv, I can say that the opening (sometimes middle) game is the most fun, exciting and dynamic. This is where each move could be critical and the way the game will turn out is largely unknown at that point. There is still a good deal of interaction amongst all Civs and lots of little battles and events become very crucial to that game's development.
However, the endgame is the most uninteresting, boring and tedious part of the game. In fact I almost never play Civ to the very. Unfortunately the endgame (if played out to the end) could be anywhere from 33% to 50% of the total game time!
The reasons for this are obvious to veteran expert players:
1. AI weakness: Unless the AI is significantly more powerful, the AI simply cannot challenge you in the endgame. The endgame situation is typically very complex with lots of cities, units, etc. The AI simply cannot handle this complexity competently. (Nor is this even realistically possible.)
2. Known outcome - At the beginning of the endgame, even though I have not even begun my war of conquest or spaceship building, as a veteran player it is always clear to me that the game is really over. Therefore the endgame is nothing more than a "cleanup" operation. Once I have exceeded a certain production capacity threshold it is clear I will be able to build enough units to overwhelm the opponent. (Once the threshold is achieved, it does not even matter if the AI Civs are larger than I am because at that point I
have sufficient resources and capability to carry out the endgame if I so choose. I have never experienced anything resembling pivotal events in the endgame. Not so in the opening game.)
3. Massive Micromanagement - self explanatory
4. Lack of interesting goals - In both Civ1/Civ2 there are two possible goals, either build spaceship or conquer world. But are these goals really that different? Are these goals even remotely interesting? In Civ1/Civ2 the answer is a resounding NO. To achieve either goal, all you do is achieve sufficient science, max out your production capacity (build factories, mines, RRs, offshore platforms, power plants, etc.) and just mass produce units (whether spaceship modules or military units).
5. Insufficient game concepts - Civ1/Civ2 simply do not implement sufficient game concepts to make the endgame exciting or interesting. You can't really participate in anything remotely resembling a world war with various factions. There are no end of conflict treaty negotiations such as exists in Europa Universalis. There is no "Vietnam War" type conflict you might engage in. There are no "Cold War". No trade conflicts. No "war sentiment" concept so that your population can react to huge losses. Admittedly some of these concepts are not practical but the point is that in the endgame there is absolutely nothing to look forward to and nothing interesting to do!
The bottom line is that Civ as currently implemented in Civ1/Civ2/CTP1/CTP2 is really a very shallow game especially the endgame. You build up your productive capacity, mass produce units, flood enemy cities with these masses of units, then you mass attack an enemy city and repeat until all enemy cities are taken.
Will Civ3's endgame really be any more interesting or different than what I'm already experienced in Civ1/Civ???
However, the endgame is the most uninteresting, boring and tedious part of the game. In fact I almost never play Civ to the very. Unfortunately the endgame (if played out to the end) could be anywhere from 33% to 50% of the total game time!
The reasons for this are obvious to veteran expert players:
1. AI weakness: Unless the AI is significantly more powerful, the AI simply cannot challenge you in the endgame. The endgame situation is typically very complex with lots of cities, units, etc. The AI simply cannot handle this complexity competently. (Nor is this even realistically possible.)
2. Known outcome - At the beginning of the endgame, even though I have not even begun my war of conquest or spaceship building, as a veteran player it is always clear to me that the game is really over. Therefore the endgame is nothing more than a "cleanup" operation. Once I have exceeded a certain production capacity threshold it is clear I will be able to build enough units to overwhelm the opponent. (Once the threshold is achieved, it does not even matter if the AI Civs are larger than I am because at that point I
have sufficient resources and capability to carry out the endgame if I so choose. I have never experienced anything resembling pivotal events in the endgame. Not so in the opening game.)
3. Massive Micromanagement - self explanatory
4. Lack of interesting goals - In both Civ1/Civ2 there are two possible goals, either build spaceship or conquer world. But are these goals really that different? Are these goals even remotely interesting? In Civ1/Civ2 the answer is a resounding NO. To achieve either goal, all you do is achieve sufficient science, max out your production capacity (build factories, mines, RRs, offshore platforms, power plants, etc.) and just mass produce units (whether spaceship modules or military units).
5. Insufficient game concepts - Civ1/Civ2 simply do not implement sufficient game concepts to make the endgame exciting or interesting. You can't really participate in anything remotely resembling a world war with various factions. There are no end of conflict treaty negotiations such as exists in Europa Universalis. There is no "Vietnam War" type conflict you might engage in. There are no "Cold War". No trade conflicts. No "war sentiment" concept so that your population can react to huge losses. Admittedly some of these concepts are not practical but the point is that in the endgame there is absolutely nothing to look forward to and nothing interesting to do!
The bottom line is that Civ as currently implemented in Civ1/Civ2/CTP1/CTP2 is really a very shallow game especially the endgame. You build up your productive capacity, mass produce units, flood enemy cities with these masses of units, then you mass attack an enemy city and repeat until all enemy cities are taken.
Will Civ3's endgame really be any more interesting or different than what I'm already experienced in Civ1/Civ???
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