Which Civilization is the least dumbed-down?

[Gangrelrumbler]

When Civilization VI was first released many people claimed that it's just a dumbed-down Civilization V. However people also say that V is just a dumbed-down IV due to things like global happiness and lack of corruption. On the other hand some people claim that IV was already needlessly simplified, and some people consider introduction of political borders in III to be a decline.

So which Civilization actually is the most complex and least dumbed-down entry?

 

[Malakal]

Fairly sure that IV peaked if we count the number of features, including religion, civics, espionage and culture things. It did cut on number of cities though and some people hate that.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

freeciv

 

[dehimos]

Civ IV with Fall from heaven 2.

I need more time with freeciv to know if I like it.

 

[Hellraiser]

and some people consider introduction of political borders in III to be a decline.

Who are these people and why are they not kept in a zoo?

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

and some people consider introduction of political borders in III to be a decline.

Who are these people and why are they not kept in a zoo?

Polish game reviewers from the early 00's.

 

[Fedora Master]

There are no Civs past 4.

 

[ValeVelKal]

Civilization III and IV are the best. FreeCiv has some pretty unique features like unit research that really puts it apart.

I barely played Civ V, but I found Civ VI pulled down by the religion gameplay which, in a nutshell, sucks.

 

[L'ennui]

By definition, the original can't be a "dumbed-down" version since there was no prior game to dumb down.

Anyways Civ IV or Civ Vi with all expansions have the most interlocking systems and attempt to model more facets of.... erm... civilization.

 

[Space Satan]

Civilization V 0 vote(s)
Imma proud of you, boys

 

[Endemic]

Civ IV Complete. Freeciv is pretty good too though.

 

[Joggerino]

Voted for Civ 6. I wish it was more dumbed down, maybe then it wouldn't suck so much.

 

[Galdred]

I don't think complexity matters that much in Civ games, given how the AI is usually unable to perform the simplest of tasks:
The 1UPT combat is much more complex than stack vs stack combat, but the result was just a meme level AI needing even more bonuses than before to compete.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

vanilla? civ3. with expansions and mods and shit? civ4.

 

[Nutria]

I'd say that most of the features added after Civ2 just detract from it. There's some big exceptions to that, like borders, but Civ2 is where they got just about the right level of complexity. Civ4 is a good game but a lot of fat could be cut out of it, like religion. And the Civ4 expansion packs added more systems like corporations that I just don't feel add anything to the experience.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

freeciv is basically an amalgamation of the older civs(civ 2 especially) except still regularly updated and has a lot of mods, you guys should give it a try
there's a web browser version: https://www.freecivweb.org/?2021

freeciv itself has various other frontends, but it's the same underlying game

 

[dehimos]

freeciv itself has various other frontends, but it's the same underlying game

Clients:
Web: good, simple and easy.
GTK: civ2, true rpgcodexers play with this.
SDL: similar to web, but the icons are translucent blue and large.
Qt: similar to the web, but you need to know commands to configure the game.

 

[catfood]

freeciv itself has various other frontends, but it's the same underlying game

Clients:
Web: good, simple and easy.
GTK: civ2, true rpgcodexers play with this.
SDL: similar to web, but the icons are translucent blue and large.
Qt: similar to the web, but you need to know commands to configure the game.

Did they finally add a zoom function for GTK?

 

[dehimos]

Did they finally add a zoom function for GTK?

No

 

[catfood]

Did they finally add a zoom function for GTK?

No

Web client it is then.

 

[RhodokMasterRaceOfficial]

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (kingcomrade)

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

I was kinda surpsised that Civ II and III received so few votes, I expected them to do a bit better considering the fact that there's a thread called "Civilization II is the best strategy and might be the best game of all time" right next to this one. Oh well.

Tried Freeciv for a bit. Feels pretty barebones to be honest without unique units and traits for each nations, but it's not like you can't live without them. What actually surprised me is that you can chose between square and hexagonal grid, so it's the only option available to play something similar to classic civs on hex grid.

 

[JarlFrank]

Caveman 2 Cosmos.

 

[dacencora]

Most important question: Does FreeCiv have the FMV advisors, and if not, is there a mod to add them?

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

Caveman 2 Cosmos.

can today's computer take a game to the end? can today's people endure the constant barrage of +1 buildings?