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400 Turns of Civilization V

Wes found a preview of one of the most anticipated upcoming releases by the inhabitants of my office: Civ V. It starts "This preview of Civilization V is incomplete. It takes more than nine Earth hours, you see, for the great Arabian empire — land of Mecca, Rio De Janeiro and Beijing — to assume dominance of the globe."

62 of 320 comments (clear)

  1. Just one question: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    > It takes more than nine Earth hours, you see, for the great Arabian empire — land of Mecca, Rio De Janeiro and Beijing — to assume dominance of the globe.

    Why do you hate the USA?

    1. Re:Just one question: by someone1234 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Most people doesn't hate the USA. Except some (or rather, many) things they do.
      It is not specific to the USA, if China would do the same, it would be China's deeds that people hate.
      And there ARE deeds of China that are hated.
      So, nah, it is not about the USA, it is about deeds.

      --
      Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
  2. CIVV or CIV or CiV or Civ V by demonbug · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Stupid Roman numerals.

    1. Re:CIVV or CIV or CiV or Civ V by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      CIV

      So this is the 104th game?

    2. Re:CIVV or CIV or CiV or Civ V by rrhal · · Score: 2, Funny

      Civ CIV - I wonder if they'll keep Sid Meier's frozen head around long enough to see that?

      --
      All generalizations are false, including this one. Mark Twain
  3. Civ V almost here. by riskeetee · · Score: 5, Funny

    Time to say goodbye to the wife and kids...

    1. Re:Civ V almost here. by capo_dei_capi · · Score: 3, Funny

      Of course you have to play it with your "wife", at least until they develop a hands-free computer interface.

    2. Re:Civ V almost here. by TheLink · · Score: 3, Funny

      > ditch the kids though, especially if their too young.

      Too young? Don't worry, time passes swiftly when you play Civ.

      --
  4. I can't wait...... by drc003 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...to tell my wife: "Just one more turn" 15 or 20 times in a row before...


    ...she just gives up and falls asleep.

    1. Re:I can't wait...... by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...to tell my wife: "Just one more turn" 15 or 20 times in a row before... ...she just gives up and falls asleep.

      You stud you. 3-4 more turns is good but 15-20 more. Wow!

      Wait you mean a game. Carry on.

  5. No comments yet? by AvitarX · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is everyone RTFA?

    --
    Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    1. Re:No comments yet? by tool462 · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, we just all spawned in our mom's basements and it's going to take at least 20 turns to find another civilization to communicate with.

    2. Re:No comments yet? by True+Vox · · Score: 2, Funny

      Would that I had a mod point. Hell, I'd trade one of my smaller, crappier towns AND a tech for a mod point!

      --
      "Gratuitous complexity is akin to chaos" - True Vox
  6. Civ V: Off The Grid! by InfinityWpi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm actually looking forward to some of these changes now... paying upkeep for roads makes sense to me. They're more like interstate highways now, not the roads that go every-which-way. The new way to expand your cities and develop culture sound good, too.

    Well, there goes part of my 2010 and all of my 2011... just need to get a machine that can handle 3D graphics to play it, now...

    1. Re:Civ V: Off The Grid! by N0Man74 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I had one of those cards when Civ4 came out 5 years ago... and it was awful even way back then. I bet you could find a much better card for less than $30 now.

  7. meh by Black+Parrot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I had a long hiatus from Civ II to Civ IV, and when I finally tried the latter I found it dull. The updates don't seem to add anything interesting, and haven't been any more fun than the original, or FreeCiv.

    Is there some reason we should expect more from V?

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:meh by jmizrahi · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is obviously a personal preference thing, but I had the opposite experience. I played Civ II for many years, then had a long break, and years later tried Civ IV. I found it to be better than Civ II in a lot of ways. There were all sorts of annoying things in Civ II, like losing whole stacks of units when one gets attacked, or the ability to deposit entire armies outside your opponents city and then declare war, during which you could use his railroads. Civ IV has numerous small improvements, which for me added up to make a big difference. The basic gameplay, of course, is the same.

    2. Re:meh by raddan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I haven't played Civ IV myself, having found Civ III to be a nice improvement over Civ II (man, can we just get a new Alpha Centauri already?!), but I think the consensus was that Civ IV was a flop. The game got rid of some nice gameplay elements and expanded on others (diplomacy). That may be your kind of game-- after all, I loved the original Railroad Tycoon and intensely disliked the follow-up, but my opinion runs contrary to the masses there. But hopefully they've learned from their mistakes in Civ IV.

      Anyway, the way is see it is: Sid Meier is a fucking genius. I will buy anything he makes. If that makes me a Sid Meier fanboy, so be it. He's the only game maker who has consistently kept my attention over the years (Pirates!, Civ series, F119/F117A Stealth Fighter, Railroad Tycoon series, and so on). His games have HUGE replay value.

    3. Re:meh by Feyshtey · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I actually found CivIII to be the most annoying of the franchise. I just couldn't get into it at all. Civ II and IV, while having some failing points, are superior to III IMO.

      --
      "But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,..." - Nancy Pelosi
    4. Re:meh by Mongoose+Disciple · · Score: 5, Insightful

      but I think the consensus was that Civ IV was a flop

      Source?

      Anecdotal, obviously, but I don't know anyone who doesn't think 4 is the best one. I'm still playing it regularly (some single player, some multi with wife + friends) and if 5 isn't great I probably won't stop.

    5. Re:meh by a_ghostwheel · · Score: 3, Informative

      GalCiv 2 is there to satisfy "Masters of Orion" hunger - not Civilization :).

  8. The Tags are getting more absurd each day by Lars+T. · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "alternatehistory" - really?

    --

    Lars T.

    To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  9. I liked to conquer the Chinese by tempest69 · · Score: 4, Funny

    But I always felt the need to conquer them two hours later.

    1. Re:I liked to conquer the Chinese by CraftyJack · · Score: 2, Funny

      You can spend up to four hour conquering the Chinese, then you go home now.

  10. Great... by DarthBling · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... another installment of Civilazation. I already know I have the leadership skills of Dan Quayle. Do I have to be reminded again?

    1. Re:Great... by ch-chuck · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Good idea tho, actually, if we put politicians through a civ test or *something* we the voting electorate might be able to tell the actual skilled legislators from the big mouthed wannabees.

      --
      try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
    2. Re:Great... by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 4, Funny

      ... another installment of Civilazation. I already know I have the leadership skills of Dan Quayle. Do I have to be reminded again?

      Props for mis-spelling a random word in a Dan Quayle joke.

    3. Re:Great... by need4mospd · · Score: 2, Funny

      Props for inappropriately using a hyphen in a post calling out another person's misspelling.

    4. Re:Great... by cashman73 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Don't feel too bad. Sarah Palin can't even score that high! She'd quit the game before getting the score!

  11. Time to repeat the brief love affair. by Seumas · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I love Civilization, but I always find that the "one true way" to play starts to bum me out and I end up not playing beyond the first couple of weeks. There's a great excitement in the discovery and exploration and surprise when you can meander through a game against real people. It's not quite the same when -- as is the case with Civilization -- the game becomes nothing but a competition to see who can speed through the spreadsheet containing the "one true path to victory" the fastest. The graphics become irrelevant and you may as well be sitting down to a multi-player spreadsheet.

    I'll buy it. I'll enjoy it. I just won't enjoy it for months or years like so many of the hard core do. I wish someone would figure out the special key to keeping the excitement and exploration part of the game long into the game's cycle.

    1. Re:Time to repeat the brief love affair. by quantumplacet · · Score: 4, Informative

      Did you play Civ IV? There absolutely was no "one true path" in that game. Particularly with all the expansions and on the hardest difficulty, you absolutely had to play to your particular civs strength, and trying to get different victory conditions with each of the different civs was always a challenge. On top of that, playing the same civ with a different leader could be a very different experience.

    2. Re:Time to repeat the brief love affair. by Rhys · · Score: 2, Informative

      Mods. Try "Fall from Heaven 2" -- for Civ4/BtS/Warlords. It was on huge discount when Civ V got announced on Steam, but it looks regular price now.

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      Slashdot Patriotism: We Support our Dupes!
  12. Not sure about the new look by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The nice thing about Civ4 and earlier was that the appearance of the land quickly and clearly conveyed information about what was there and its role in game terms. In an effort to make the landscape look more natural, I worry that this information might be more hidden. If so, that would be a bad decision.

  13. It's true, I'm perverted by dziban303 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I want to have sex with this game.

    I want it to bear my kittens.

  14. Hex! by Saysys · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "The biggest change in Civ V is that the Civilization world is no longer sliced into squares. It is composed of hexagons."

    This change is about 15 years late... but most welcome

    1. Re:Hex! by cowscows · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm about to blow your mind. In the previous versions, if you can figure out how to use the number pad (or mouse) instead of your arrow keys, you can move diagonally. Woah.

      --

      One time I threw a brick at a duck.

  15. Re:Only Nine Hours? by mooingyak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    He did say it was a small map on standard w/ Chieftain difficulty, and he was probably rushing so he could write up a review.

    --
    William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
  16. Re:Civilization by dkleinsc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You had completely the wrong solution to this situation: Better would be to sell your Civ game to a jerk with higher grades than you for $45. Still cheaper than the full $50 for him, recovers your grades, ruins his, and means you only lost $5.

    Oh, and if you play real life like you would Civ, then club him over the head and take the game back, then repeat the process with another person you don't like.

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  17. Re:I can't wait... by nacturation · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wow, that was just like the comment you made on your last turn.

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    Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  18. Re:Only Nine Hours? by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 2, Informative

    And that he didn't actually finish in that time.

    --
    'Sensible' is a curse word.
  19. Ya the rest of my year is shot for sure by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not only Civ V, but there's also Elemental War of Magic. I've been beta testing and it is great. So I'll have not one but TWO epic TBS games. I'll be lucky if I keep my job :D.

  20. Re:C64 by Zedrick · · Score: 3, Informative

    Huh? Civilization was never released on the C64. Perhaps you're confusing it with the Amiga version.

  21. Re:Peeking down the Casual Gamer avenue. by Delusion_ · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't necessarily disagree. But if the choice is between animated, flowing wheat fields in the farming squares, or a bigger game, I want the bigger game.

    This is another case of not having to choose; let me play the big game, and if that becomes a five, ten minute turn compute-fest, let me turn off features I value less, such as terrain animation, in order to make that more practical.

  22. Re:Linux? by canajin56 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Windows only at launch, OS X version may eventually be released at some point in the future. No Linux version mentioned.

    --
    ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI
  23. Pet Peeve by Daetrin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why do so many people insist on using the roman numerals in casual conversation? The creators use them in the official titles for media because it looks "prettier" on a box or a poster or a movie screen, but roman numerals are unarguably inferior for actual communication. There's a reason we ditched that system for general use and went with arabic numerals a long time ago.

    What's especially vexing is people who abbreviate the title but still insist on using the roman numerals. FF XIII, DQ IX, Civ V. If you're _already_ trying to simplify the name then using arabic numerals will always be more clear and will often save space/characters as well. FF 13, DQ 9, Civ 5.

    Making things more difficult for yourself and for everyone else reading whatever you have to say in the name of a cheap marketing gimmick is just dumb!

    --
    This Space Intentionally Left Blank
    1. Re:Pet Peeve by osu-neko · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Positional notation is unarguably better for doing mathematics, particularly on paper. For communications purposes, however, any arbitrary system for representing numbers is fine, and there is no advantage of one over the other for communication purposes save familiarity with the system by the intended reader. It is often assumed that any reasonably literate person can at least read from I to XII as easily in roman numerals as in arabic numerals, as these are the twelve numbers you see written on a clock face. It's also assumed that people can read clocks. I know in modern times there are a lot of particularly dull people who can't do either, but that's another issue entirely. In any case, I object to the notion that communications should always be dumbed-down for the sake of the semi-literate.

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
    2. Re:Pet Peeve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      hehe - you missed the best part, limit as ten goes to zero? that makes no sense at all...

    3. Re:Pet Peeve by atrain728 · · Score: 3, Funny

      MMVII and MMVIII would like to have a word with you.

  24. if I had mod points... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I would mod you +IV Interesting.

    1. Re:if I had mod points... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Let's change the slashdot moderation system to use roman numerals just to piss off Daetrin.

    2. Re:if I had mod points... by Mongoose+Disciple · · Score: 5, Funny

      Pfffft. You're just hoping for a +V Funny.

  25. Re:No not again... by truthsearch · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wow, you've even lost a vowel.

  26. Life, sleep, work got in the way? by DaveGod · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Forgive the Kotaku previewer, will you? Life, sleep, work got in the way, despite the best efforts of the people at Firaxis who made this pleasure trap of a game. Thankfully, nine hours allowed for plenty of time to learn about the game.

    A good Civ game gets in the way of life, sleep and work, not the other way around. A good session of Civ finishes with the guilty realisation that the sun isn't setting, it's rising.

    And 9 hours is plenty of time to scratch the surface of a good Civ game, unless you spent it reading the manual (being the rare game where the manual is good reference, well written, and the size of a decent novel). Even a hardcore Civ player should be reading the pages where they explain what's new to the series.

  27. Re:Peeking down the Casual Gamer avenue. by ultranova · · Score: 2, Informative

    But if the choice is between animated, flowing wheat fields in the farming squares, or a bigger game, I want the bigger game.

    It isn't. The GPU draws the wheat field, the CPU handles AI and such.

    Anyway, I suspect that the 5000x3000 squares map you wanted would require making the game 64-bit. That's 15,000,000 squares; if you store just 287 bytes of info per square, you exhaust the memory space of 32-bit applications - and even that would require running on a 64-bit machine and having the proper executable flags set.

    Once you have reasonably spaced cities, military units, resources, improvements, borders etc. on the map, that 287 bytes per square starts looking pretty small...

    This is another case of not having to choose; let me play the big game, and if that becomes a five, ten minute turn compute-fest, let me turn off features I value less, such as terrain animation, in order to make that more practical.

    I remember each turn taking 15+ minutes with SimLife :). Someone really should make a modern version.

    --

    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  28. Re:Yay, FireAxis by edjs · · Score: 3, Informative

    Per the CivIV Complete box: 1.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon or equivalent, 512 MB RAM, 3.8 GB hard drive space, and DirectX 9.0c compatible 64 MB video card with Shader 1.1 support or better.

  29. Re:Yay, FireAxis by daveime · · Score: 2, Funny

    That would be Firefox.

  30. Steam only by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You have to have a steam account to install it on your computer. Major turn off.

  31. Re:Yay, FireAxis by daveime · · Score: 2, Informative

    The funny thing is, most malware these days is designed to be stealthy. It mustn't slow down the system, or consume too many resources, otherwise it gets noticed too quickly and becomes useless after the next antivirus and antimalware definitions are released.

    I'd like to bet most malware these days is a hell of a lot better designed than Firefox, in terms of CPU and memory usage. You might not like what they do, but you have to give the malware writers some credit for coding skills.

  32. Re:Yay, FireAxis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Civ 4 does too. Not until you've been playing a while it says 'Out of Memory' and dies.

    Never happened to me. I play way too much and always on the Huge map size. And what's more its the OSX port, which you would have assumed would be buggier ... Hmm

  33. DRM by strikethree · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What kind of DRM does it come with? I just don't buy games any more because of the hardcore DRM that messes with my computer. Furthermore, constant online checks are right out too as I do not have regular internet access. Further-furthermore, any DRM that says I can only install X number of times is so much not a consideration that I will forever blacklist any publisher or game series that has ever used it (Bye bye Rockstar and Grand Theft Auto, I used to love you.).

    strike

    --
    "Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
  34. Re:Yay, FireAxis by DavidTC · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Same here. Civ 4, biggest sized maps, often run it 6+ hours. On 2gig 32bit Vista.

    I've had it crash once or twice, but never with it claiming it was running out of memory. I think all crashes have been me trying to Alt-Tab out and back in, in fact.

    --
    If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
  35. Heh Civ Heh! by DarthVain · · Score: 2, Funny

    Reminds me of college.

    One night I played Civ for like 9 hours while my neighbor got stoned on weed and watched...

    You never saw someone more excited to watch someone else play Civ.

    "WHOA! You like, totally kicked those Roman's asses!"