What should I buy Codex, Civ III or IV?

[Gold]

The best game is actually Alpha Centauri.

Yup, though if you can buy a copy of civ6 and share. We might change our opinions.

 

[Seboss]

I voted Civ IV, but I can't quite remember how it plays without the extensions.
If you happen to get Civ IV + Beyond the Sword, you *have* to try the Fall from Heaven mod.

 

[ricolikesrice]

If you happen to get Civ IV + Beyond the Sword, you *have* to try the Fall from Heaven mod.

this and this

The best game is actually Alpha Centauri.

if you havent played neither FFH2 nor AC, i envy you - those games can entertain you for a very, very LONG time so the lack of decent games comming out in 2009 is a non-issue.

 

[Panthera]

Wow, 30 to 1 for Civ VI (and theoretically IV) and I can't disagree. Civ III isn't bad, but it's just dull in comparison. The most fun I had with it was in the Conquests expansion scenarios.

Alpha Centauri was unspeakably brilliant.

 

[Serus]

Alpha Centauri was unspeakably brilliant.

Sorry for off topic but i have to ask, why ? Why many people think AC is so good ?

I am the only one to thinks Civ II is the best Civ game, not the IV or AC ?

 

[bonch]

Is there being a lot less units in IV then III a big problem?

It makes it more fun and easier to manage. Cities are more important and have specialized roles. In Civ II and Civ III, I usually spammed settlers to achieve victory.

 

[NOVD]

Alpha Centauri was great since it had an interesting setting, interesting civilizations, an interesting unit creation system, interesting techs, etc. Now, if they just had a patch toning down jets and crawlers, it'd be all set.

Otherwise, Civ III is Civ II with better graphics and some bad gameplay tweaks. Civ IV is different and in many ways better than Civ II.

 

[Elhoim]

As a matter of fact, turns run faster on Civ IV than Civ III.

 

[Elric]

The consensus seems to be that Civ III has better combat, is easier run (2D graphics) but corruption is annoying. Civ IV it's much more viable to be a peaceful civilization and religion, great people etc are all good features. But the wtf?? 3D graphics make large maps sluggish and religion is done really PC.

Who told you Civ III had better combat? The combat system in Civ III is horribly flawed, IMO, given how easy it is to run into ridiculous situations where low-tech units beat a horde of high-tech units (e.g. a single spearman holding back a stack of tanks).

I am the only one to thinks Civ II is the best Civ game, not the IV or AC ?

I'm sort of on the fence about whether Civ IV is better than AC or not.

Civ II got incredibly boring in the later stages, because terraforming made managing the terrain around your city incredibly silly.

 

[Angthoron]

So following the suggestions to try FFH2 here, I went and got it, and had it installed (First the mediapack, then the "q" patch, whatever it is, anyway). The damned thing keeps crashing while trying to load the mod though, so I'm wondering, did any of you guys get this at any point, and if so, how'd you get around it?

And yesh, it's a copy that's not physically removed from inventory, at the 3.1.7.0 version.

 

[trais]

The best game is actually Alpha Centauri.

 

[someone else]

The best game is actually Alpha Centauri.

AI is pretty hopeless in Alpha C. Have to handicap yourself.

 

[sheek]

To play FFH:

-BTS latest version (3.17?)
-Use mod installer, default options/install path
-Try without patch first
-Load Civ 4 normal
-Advanced, "load mod"
-Wait for Civ4 to reload
-To start a new game after changing versions, first just do "play now" (random game) - this is so all options are reset, save, reload then create your custom game
-Turn off unit animations

Haven't tried patch q for v40, I think it was patch b, but the scenarios were tricky to get working. Had to copy them into "public_maps" and load them as custom game maps that way.

For a first game I would suggest choose Erebus, Medium world, normal Speed, no Tech Brokering, no AI unit limits, the double AC changes one. Suggest Kuriotates, with about 6 other civs, Calabim, Sheiam, Balseraphs, Khazad, Hippus and Bannor. (the more developed civs, some were still buggy last I played, eg Illians)

You could also play the intro scenario for FFH1, "Age of Ice" which is a bit different but interesting too (especially like the moving blizzards)

Get the PDF strategy guide which you'll find linked on the mod Civfanatics forums.

 

[RK47]

So following the suggestions to try FFH2 here, I went and got it, and had it installed (First the mediapack, then the "q" patch, whatever it is, anyway). The damned thing keeps crashing while trying to load the mod though, so I'm wondering, did any of you guys get this at any point, and if so, how'd you get around it?

And yesh, it's a copy that's not physically removed from inventory, at the 3.1.7.0 version.

you did not download the full mod.
You are supposed to download THREE Things:
Main Mod Pack itself.
The latest patch.
The media patch (optional)

For fun I decided to play on real Earth with Erebus tileset and civs populating it. It was fun seeing them go at each other across Europe and Asia before finally settling down with a UN style council to cross defensive pact each other. The mad aggressive landgrab was littered with no less than 6 war declarations and one loss of civ. As well as the near wiping out of one. The AI can handle land maps well, but the moment America & Africa came into play, they just start to fall apart with the naval logistics and warfare. I think I played several maps with lots of waters and they couldn't muster an invasion when they declared war from across the seas. Quite funny really.

 

[Elwro]

IV is better even without expansions, but remember to patch it. For starters, the patches fix some really bad memory leaks and make the game perform a lot better during the last stages.

 

[oscar]

Dosen't Beyond the Sword come with FFH? And all the things from Warlords.

I brought it the other day. Played a couple of games on cheiftan and got up to the medieval ages and my empire was doing pretty mediocre.

Started a game on Earth 18 as British and it's so nice having that island protecting you. Does make expansion kind of tricky but means you don't really have to build a military at all. I'm well ahead of others in tech and preparing my red coats for a invasion of German owned Scandinavia (I'm on good terms with France, Russia, Italy, and Spain should I wipe Germany of the map by forcing a 5 front war on them?). Due to my absolute lead in technology should I go for sending the settlers to Alpha Centurai?

It is kind of strange playing it after I'd been playing Hearts of Iron for the past 5 months.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Dosen't Beyond the Sword come with FFH? And all the things from Warlords.

BTS comes with a mini-mod that deals with the backstory (Age of Ice) of FFH.

Warlords is a separate expansion. Complete pack comes with both.

 

[OSK]

I just started playing FFH2.

I didn't realize the patch had to be downloaded separately. I figured they'd incorporate it into the main download, and that the patches were only for those who didn't want to re-download the whole thing. I was in the middle of an awesome game, but after a while I kept getting CTDs. Installed the patch, and now it won't load my save game.

I started a new game, and at least I haven't had any crashes since.

That annoying shit aside, the game itself is great. I'm loving it.

Dosen't Beyond the Sword come with FFH? And all the things from Warlords.

BtS has everything Warlords has except for the scenarios. And it doesn't come with FFH2.

 

[Cassidy]

The best game is actually Alpha Centauri.

AI is pretty hopeless in Alpha C. Have to handicap yourself.

Or use the scenario editor in mid-game to assume control of the losing and weakest faction.

But I believe people still play it in Multiplayer, as games like it were meant to be.

 

[TheWesDude]

all this talk about civ got me hankering for some age of empires 3..

installed it, and after a few hrs im starting to remember why i stopped playing it.

i pretty much play RTS only SP not MP, and it seems to be how i remmeber it...

tech up, built some gun soldiers, build up some artillery, and then slowly advance to the enemy and take em down.

ugh... may go ahead and install civ 4, but from waht i remember, those games take a LONG time to play. i think i spent like 12-13 hrs on just 1 game.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Civ VI is going to be awesome I'm sure. Wait until it comes out and then get that.

Until then though, it's either Civ 2 or Civ IV. Civ III is a meh inbetween step. Civ IV added resources which is like "Now I have a reason to invade somewhere because I need Iron!" rather than the usual "Kill nearest civilization".

 

[TheWesDude]

all this talk about civ got me hankering for some age of empires 3..

installed it, and after a few hrs im starting to remember why i stopped playing it.

i pretty much play RTS only SP not MP, and it seems to be how i remmeber it...

tech up, built some gun soldiers, build up some artillery, and then slowly advance to the enemy and take em down.

ugh... may go ahead and install civ 4, but from waht i remember, those games take a LONG time to play. i think i spent like 12-13 hrs on just 1 game.

 

[Elwro]

If you use the "Quick" option, you may be able to fit one playthrough in 6 hours. If you try really hard. Big playthroughs may take weeks.

 

[Angthoron]

Thanks for the suggestions, I think I'm on my way to actually solving the problem now. Still not sure what's the matter though, going to dig through the FFH2 forums later. FFH IA was rather fun so I'm having high hopes for this one.

And for the OP - definitely Civ IV, Civ III was almost broke my jaw with all the yawning it made me do. As others already said, there's a lot going on to keep you interested without ever going to war. BtS makes it even better though, adding things to do in the Modern Age.

 

[Lyric Suite]

all this talk about civ got me hankering for some age of empires 3.

See, this is your problem right here. You should have been hankering about Rise of Nations.