Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

IGN Review

Official Trailer

I've never been so excited for a game to come out. This is going to destroy my income.

It'll probably take me a good 6 hours before I get back into the swing of things, and even more to figure out all the new units & buildings.

It looks like they actually did away with the Attack/Defense ratings, and it's now only a strength rating. That interests me more than the religions, personally.

Does anyone have this preordered yet? When are you expecting it (supposedly going to be in stores tomorrow).

The multiplayer is also supposed to be pretty streamlined (finally) and you can play in a variety of different ways (like by email and [censored], apparently).

Here's a few screenshots



Freakin http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/arti...1033952752.jpg
http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/arti...2104919063.jpg

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

yes this game looks awesome. will destroy my grades and sex life.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

My life is over. I got Age of Empires III this weekend and will be getting Civ 4 tomorrow.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

My income will be cut in half at best.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

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yes this game looks awesome. will destroy my grades and sex life.

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i guarantee it's not because of this game.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

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My income will be cut in half at best.

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That's an expensive game, given your PT screenshots.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

I have it pre-ordered. Of course, my [censored] PC died last night, so will have added time and expense before I can play it. ARRGGH!

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

I'm definitely getting it. The "other" game I play will have to be put on the backburner for awhile. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

Why did you have to remind me this was coming out? [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I would have forgotten.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

Doh, title says review, but there's no review!

Frys Electronics/outpost.com has this on sale for $37.99, I think the ad said.

I'm interested in seeing a real review on it, if anyone wants to do one, when it comes out. I'll go check out the IGN review.

I like the Civ games, but they take too long for my tastes. I'll probably skip this one unless it sounds like it plays shorter than Civ 2.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

Birthday is mid Novemeber. I just told Mrs. StevieG it might make a nice gift.

Her response: "Great. So I'll see you again in the spring."

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

On seeing your post I went to order it from Amazon. They told me that if I liked Civ 4 I might also like:

How to Date a White Woman: A Practical Guide for Asian Men (Paperback)

How odd.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

LOL, you ranked a 11 on their nerd index. Checking out Civ 4 made them think you're not only a garden variety nerd, you must be an ultra-nerd Asian engineering student.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

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Doh, title says review, but there's no review!

Frys Electronics/outpost.com has this on sale for $37.99, I think the ad said.

I'm interested in seeing a real review on it, if anyone wants to do one, when it comes out. I'll go check out the IGN review.

I like the Civ games, but they take too long for my tastes. I'll probably skip this one unless it sounds like it plays shorter than Civ 2.

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If I had it, I'd be WAY too busy to do a review of it...

Freakin

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

I can pwn anyone at this game. My strat of rush researching Divine Right and convert my Babylonian bowmen to Judaism means you are finished. Give it up.

Here's the new tech tree.
Tech tree

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

I preordered it at Gamestop; I get it on Wed.

No pollution anymore; I'm so excited!

Bump
 

Comments from the early-purchasers/uber-nerdy?

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Wow do you play computer games? I was thinking of getting this myself, unless someone can make a convincing case for Quake 4 instead, or something else.

Re: Bump
 

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Wow do you play computer games? I was thinking of getting this myself, unless someone can make a convincing case for Quake 4 instead, or something else.

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Not since Civ2.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

www.planetcivilization.gamespy.com is up. It's got walkthroughs in it that you guys might like, as well as forums, etc.

Re: Bump
 

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Wow do you play computer games? I was thinking of getting this myself, unless someone can make a convincing case for Quake 4 instead, or something else.

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I've only played Q4 singleplayer so far, but it's basically just like HalfLife/HL2. I'm sure the multiplayer is pretty decent.

They could charge $200 for Civ4, and I'd pay it.

If you're only looking to play for 30-40 minutes at a time, this game probably won't be a very good fit for you. If you're looking to really get into a game and spend a while developing your civ, then you'll love it.

Freakin

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Wow do you play computer games? I was thinking of getting this myself, unless someone can make a convincing case for Quake 4 instead, or something else.

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I've read some pretty lukewarm reviews of Quake 4.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

what are the system requirements?

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

I went out of my way today to go to State St. and pick this up, and they DIDN'T [censored] HAVE IT. I guess I'll go back tomorrow [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

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I went out of my way today to go to State St. and pick this up, and they DIDN'T [censored] HAVE IT. I guess I'll go back tomorrow [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

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you guys DO know it's not out until Nov 4th, right?

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

I wouldn't take the minimum ones too seriously. These days even the recommended specs are often well shy of the mark you need to get an enjoyably playable game.

The min specs were like a Pentium 1.8 and 512 megs of memory and a totally garbage vid card, as I recall. The recommended were a P4 2.5 and a gig of memory and a 128 meg card.

I'd be very surprised if a gig of memory and a 128 meg card was enough to avoid notable slowdowns. When I got Civ 2, I had a great system at the time, and a gig of memory, and I had the map catch and hesitate when scrolling all the time. It struck me as a notably unspeedy game for one which had virtually no movement to speak of. Maybe this one uses fewer resources or uses them better, but since it's 3d, I doubt it.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

oh man, I am [censored]. Oh well.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

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I went out of my way today to go to State St. and pick this up, and they DIDN'T [censored] HAVE IT. I guess I'll go back tomorrow [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

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you guys DO know it's not out until Nov 4th, right?

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was supposed to be out Oct 24, yesterday.

EDIT: Nov 4th is the european release date.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

Check this out from a gamespy article.

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After hours of play and several games, we've come to a few conclusions about the next Civilization. Not only is it going to be one of the best PC strategy games of the year ... it's actually in the running to be one of the best Multiplayer PC strategy games of the year.

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This astounds me. The last thing that Civ games seemed to me is less than ridiculous as a multiplayer game. But check this out from the same article:

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In our previous hands-on we talked about how the game plays out faster than the last incarnations of the franchise, even in multiplayer mode. While it's true that it's a much more streamlined game than Civ III, further testing shows that you can easily have a single game stretch on for hours. We played a game on a small ocean map with five civilizations, two of which were controlled by humans, and after about three and a half hours we'd gotten to Napoleonic-era technology. It looked like another two hours or more to finish the game off. Alternatively, if you play on a tiny map with no bodies of water separating the world powers, it looks like you can burn through a game in a couple of hours.

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Civ in a couple of hours??? Now that's more my speed. I'm not a fan of the 50 or 70 hour civ game.

It still sounds like a multiplayer match could be brutally long, i.e, if it takes one guy five hours to play a game, it will probably take two players at least twice that long, stretching a match into a time-intensive two or three day affair. And that might be at the minimum. But it still sounds workable for the real devotees/mental cases a game like this tends to breed. I don't think many people would want to play one multiplayer game after another that way, but of course the real nuts would. At any rate, most anyone who would get the game would definitely fine the occasional ten hour match fun and doable, and probably pretty rewarding. That bit from the article made me reconsider getting Civ 4. A game that could take as little as a night or two sounds much more palatable to me than one that could take two weeks of near non-stop play before you can come up for air.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

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I went out of my way today to go to State St. and pick this up, and they DIDN'T [censored] HAVE IT. I guess I'll go back tomorrow [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

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you guys DO know it's not out until Nov 4th, right?

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was supposed to be out Oct 24, yesterday.

EDIT: Nov 4th is the european release date.

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check gamespot. it says Nov 4th. gamespot is not usually wrong.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

Check this out. Collector's edition at the same price the regular edition is at elsewhere. This is at outpost.com.

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Civilization IV - Collector's Edition
Take 2:
For Windows
Outpost #: 4586387
# Contents of the Civilization IV Collector's Edition Collector's case: Navy blue "leatherette" bookshelf case embossed with the Civilization IV logo.
# CD Soundtrack: Containing original compositions by Christopher Tin (http://christophertin.com/news.html) and Jeffrey Briggs (composer of Civilization II), as well as classical pieces throughout the ages.
# Keyboard template: A die-cut keyboard layout for quick reference to keyboard commands during the game.
# Tech Tree map: A foldout poster that displays the tech tree for ease of reference. A tech tree is a path you need to take with your scientific research in the game in order to reach certain goals. The path you take helps shape the society you create and help shapes you as a leader. Here's an example: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3/techtree/
# Spiral bound manual: The 250pp+ manual is upgraded from the standard perfect bound to a spiral bound version, allowing it to sit flat while open.

Limit 1 per Household.

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The spiral binding sounds handy, but most of all the fold-out tech tree map. I found this invaluable in Civ 2 for laying out the choices in a quick, easy to read format.

Outpost strangely enough has their regular version at the same price, but with free shipping. I've dealt with them before by the way, and they did an excellent and reliable job.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

I mean of course the process isn't short, but one of the multiplayer options is a simultaneous play mode, so each player is taking his turn at the same time. This can cause a couple of problems when people are fighting (one person just waiting for the other to move before moving his own units), but it is well worth it for the amount of time it shaves off the game. Civ 2 multiplayer took such a long time I don't think our games ever even got to gunpowder.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

Simultaneous play? That sounds interesting. I wonder how popular that will become. I'm not sure this would create problems with people choosing not to move till you do, because that's simply a strategy choice, which you can address by moving. Initiative often has just as much or more value than counter-attack.

It does sound like it could make games manageably short, as in perhaps taking a single longish night session of four or five hours.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

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I went out of my way today to go to State St. and pick this up, and they DIDN'T [censored] HAVE IT. I guess I'll go back tomorrow [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

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you guys DO know it's not out until Nov 4th, right?

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was supposed to be out Oct 24, yesterday.

EDIT: Nov 4th is the european release date.

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check gamespot. it says Nov 4th. gamespot is not usually wrong.

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I called Gamestop in Bellevue, WA today, they said it would be on sale tomorrow. All the US preorders supposedly shipped today.

Freakin

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

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I went out of my way today to go to State St. and pick this up, and they DIDN'T [censored] HAVE IT. I guess I'll go back tomorrow [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

[/ QUOTE ]

you guys DO know it's not out until Nov 4th, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

was supposed to be out Oct 24, yesterday.

EDIT: Nov 4th is the european release date.

[/ QUOTE ]

check gamespot. it says Nov 4th. gamespot is not usually wrong.

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gamespot says 10.25 on the front page. scroll down

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

so I have a laptop with 16mb video memory. I know that this is below the minimum so does that mean my computer will be completely unable to run it? Is there any way I can turn down all of the graphics so that it will work? I wish there were USB video cards for laptops :[

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

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so I have a laptop with 16mb video memory. I know that this is below the minimum so does that mean my computer will be completely unable to run it? Is there any way I can turn down all of the graphics so that it will work? I wish there were USB video cards for laptops :[

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I'd say no freakin way you can run it with that setup.

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Some new laptops do come with replaceable video cards. The leap has finally been made.

I think your system would completely choke on Civ 4.

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

It's Civ 1 for you!

Re: Civ4 - Review & Trailer
 

From the official Civ site:

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# New Multiplayer Options

# Variable game speed – hosts can choose quick or epic timescales, depending on the amount of time players can commit to a game.
# Hot join – join a game in progress by taking over an AI opponent.
# Team play – whether playing multiplayer or single player, team play offers a new way of setting locked alliances that result in shared wonder effects, technology, visibility, unit trading and shared territory that delivers a plethora of new strategic and tactical options.
# Simultaneous Turns – speeds up multiplayer games by allowing players to take their turns at the same time, rather than waiting in turn for each player to finish their move.
# Connectivity – LAN, Internet, and Play By Email allow options to suit multiple play styles.



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Team play sounds pretty cool.