Civ 6 or Endless Legends for a noob?

[Fedora Master]

Holy shit, Maxie started posting about video games.
I guess his shoutbox ban was a good idea!

He is extremely protective of his beloved Poland Stronk simulator.

All I can say is: Whatever you do, don't give Firaxis money.

 

[Mazisky]

Probably it is just me but I didn't have this problem with games such as Total Warhammer or Age of Wonders 3.

EL is by far the least visually cluttered of three. I still have no idea how people can distinguish stuff on AoW3 and TWH maps

Maybe I didn't express myself well, apologize.

What I meant is that TW Warhammer or AOE3 look like a real world with lush meadows, tropical beaches, hellish wastedlands, sand deserts, etc. while endless legend seems like some random unidentified biome you may create with legos

Maybe it is due to the random generation i guess


Here an example of Grassland + Wasteland in both games.

Endless Legend environment look more like a toy while WH look more realistic and natural

I would say even CIV 6 with his cartoon-mobile look everyone hate still feels more natural and pleasant

Spoiler

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

Civ 4 : After you master Civ 2, unfortunately it's a bit bloated with too many shallow mechanics on top of solid core gameplay.

How the fuck is vanilla Civ 4 bloated??

Real men play with the Caveman 2 Cosmos mod for proper variety

if only c2c would cut 90% of its buildings and make them into civ-wide boni, it'd be perfect. as is, ai just can't keep up because while it works on 1 building you built the stone tools first and 10 more buildings after them.

Probably it is just me but I didn't have this problem with games such as Total Warhammer or Age of Wonders 3.

EL is by far the least visually cluttered of three. I still have no idea how people can distinguish stuff on AoW3 and TWH maps

Maybe I didn't express myself well, apologize.

What I meant is that TW Warhammer or AOE3 look like a real world with lush meadows, tropical beaches, hellish wastedlands, sand deserts, etc. while endless legend seems like some random unidentified biome you may create with legos

Maybe it is due to the random generation i guess


Here an example of Grassland + Wasteland in both games.

Endless Legend environment look more like a toy while WH look more realistic and natural

I would say even CIV 6 with his cartoon-mobile look everyone hate still feels more natural and pleasant

Spoiler

hand-crafted vs random.
do you are have stupid?

 

[Mazisky]

hand-crafted vs random.
do you are have stupid?

First of all, I am not "have" stupid or whatever random verb you want to put in

Second, the random argument is garbage since Civ 5\6, 40k Gladius, Age of Wonders 3\4, Old world, etc. all look better and more natural, despite being random.

So, do you are have do is am are stupid?

 

[Citizen]

Second, the random argument is garbage since Civ 5\6, 40k Gladius, Age of Wonders 3\4, Old world, etc. all look better and more natural, despite being random.

You play the game with a randomized tile shape setting on and no tile borders. You can literally tick two boxes in settings to make it look clean, sharp and H E X A G O N A L

 

[Mazisky]

Second, the random argument is garbage since Civ 5\6, 40k Gladius, Age of Wonders 3\4, Old world, etc. all look better and more natural, despite being random.

You play the game with a randomized tile shape setting on and no tile borders. You can literally tick two boxes in settings to make it look clean, sharp and H E X A G O N A L

I used the irregular shape because it looks more natural then hexes lol, you keep missing my point!

My problem is that the world look plastic and ugly, I am talking about art-style not hexes or angles. With hexes shape it looks even worse.

 

[Beowulf]

I kinda liked the artstyle in EL. It's leaning on the abstract side, a little cubist, but it's coherent and applies to every element all across the board.
It does look artificial, but it's miles better than candy colours of latest CIVs.

But to each his own - if you think it's ugly, than pick the other option. You'll be looking at those graphics a lot, there is no point in tormenting yourself.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

more natural then hexes

 

[spectre]

Noob that do not play 4x at all, total beginner with the genre.
What would you suggest bewteen those 2 or any other 4x that's not in space?

Look man, there's no easy way to go about it, but we need you stop being a faggot about space and just go play Master of Orion 2 and Alpha Centauri.
As a matter of fact, just go and play AC, it's not really set in space, there's plenty of terra firma to sprawl on.

In a similar vein, if you want something not really in space, very lightweight just to get your feet wet, there's Pandora First Contact.
I think it was one of the simplest 4X game I've played but still had all the trappings.

I think starting off with Civ 6 and EL might leave you with the wrong impression that the genre sucks cocks.
(I actually don't have that strong an opinion on EL, it just felt completely forgettable and never really clicked with me.
Civ 6 on the other hand is just banalshitboring).

If you absolutely and necessarily need to have it set on earth with humen bashing humen, Civ 4 is really where you want to go.
Start with vanilla + expansion, then look up some mods.

 

[Humanophage]

I would suggest starting with Civ 4 and the add-on (BTS). It's very common-sensical and yet quite deep as attested by its autistic multiplayer community, also has a clean if not very pretty design, great UI, and some fun historical bits to read. Notably, many of the so-called 4X are just regular turn-based strategies with a rudimentary development layer. E.g., AoW is a lot closer to HoMM3 than to a 4X game. EL is quite a bit like that too, and it all feels boardgamey with too many abstract mechanics.

Alpha Centauri is also great, but there's a bit too much combat and it's not especially newbie-friendly because of its weirdness. Also the units are fast, so it's a rather offensively minded game. E.g., many of the buildings have completely standard functions like being a granary or a wall, but have some far-fetched sci-fi concept. MoM is combat-focused and the UI is not really convenient. MoO is very spacey, not much geography.

 

[Mazisky]

There is Civ 6 + DLCs bundle at 9€. Is it good for noobs at first experience with the genre?

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

civ noobs have to start from civ4, then add mods when they get experience. in order of raising complexity: realism invictus / a new dawn, dune wars revival, fall from heaven 2, cavemen 2 cosmos.

 

[HeroMarine]

There's no civ game after civ 4. I recommend starting with civ 1 or 2.

 

[Norfleet]

Second, the random argument is garbage since Civ 5\6, 40k Gladius, Age of Wonders 3\4, Old world, etc. all look better and more natural, despite being random.

You play the game with a randomized tile shape setting on and no tile borders. You can literally tick two boxes in settings to make it look clean, sharp and H E X A G O N A L

That's what he doesn't want, though. He wants to hide the hexagonality, and apparently EL lacks the hide-the-hexes option.

 

[TemplarGR]

you were fishing for street cred with this dumb post or what? a casual playing twenty plus year old games, whatever the fuck for?

He is a filthy casul. All these newfags suggesting Civ II because of the prettier graphics, everyone knows Civ II is fucking casual dumbed down for the masses, real gamers play Civ 1, now that is hardcore.

Am i doing it right? Give me your brofists codexers, i pretend to play 30 year old games, i deserve all the brofists!

Now, to answer the OP's question, seriously, i think both kinda suck. Civ VI has many improvements over previous civs but has also backtracked in many areas, and as always, the AI is total trash, so unless you are willing to only play multiplayer versus neckbeards who are gonna fuck your asshole bloody everygame, don't buy it. Endless Legend, i agree it looks like plastic shit and i really, really hate the graphics, they burn my eyes. But its most serious issues are the passive AI (see a trend? all popular 4X games have shitty AI because most people are cretins with an IQ<90), the bugs with the latest versions/dlcs that were never fixed, and the fact that it does not have as much freedom of choice as it firsts appears, every faction needs to be played pretty much in a certain way, get certain techs, etc etc. And its combat is also shit.

If you really want to get a n00b friendly 4X to start your 4X career, while also being a typical example of the genre and not too niche, get Civ V Complete (yes, get both expansions, they improve the game immensely and make it the best Civ ever). It is not the best 4X game, but it is enough for a noob to cut his teeth on. Then you can expand in other games. Plus it is cheap especially during the summer sale.

But, if you are willing to play a better 4X that is focused on things that matter, WAR (because essentially all 4X games are wargames, every aspect of them is just aiding war), get Warhammer Gladius with all dlc, pick Orks, and WAAAAAAAGH!

 

[Brotherman Bill]

Civ 4 is the real answer.

It is a civ that is clearly an evolution upon the previous 3 civs, while keeping to the formula.

Civ 5/6 are popamolified.... things.... That only has the historical theme of civ, and only trappings.

Civ 4 is also quite easy to get into. Easy tooltips, explanations etc. It's also the 4x that has the largest emphasiz on actually building things. All the other mentioned 4x's turn into turn based RTS's at higher difficulties.


If you have to go old school, MoO 2 [edit: I wrote MoM first wtf] is quite good. The UI is dated but very logical once you get to know it, which takes a short game. The thing that is harder to get into is ship design, which takes a while to understand. Still, great game.

Beyond that I think the 4X genre is mostly dead today. The TW:Warhammer games feel more 4x than the newfag CiVs tbh.

 

[zapotec]

I don't like 4X games much but I suggest you to play alpha centauri just for the atmosphere, the game actually sucks after a certain point where you have to handle 10+ cities but it has the best setting created in a videogame ever.

 

[zapotec]

How is Sid Meyer beyond earth whatever btw?

 

[BrotherFrank]

How is Sid Meyer beyond earth whatever btw?

Take alpha centauri and remove every hint of originality and personality and you’ll get beyond earth. It’s a very generic civ game with a sci fi paint job, the only cool thing about it other then a decent ost and is the look of your units and cities change to reflect your idealogy, but that sort of cosmetic detail does not make up for BE being a mediocre 4X.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

How is Sid Meyer beyond earth whatever btw?

shit, one of the worst ever. mysteriously, with the "codex" mod, it becomes a solid decent game. shame the mod hasn't been followed by other modders, it might had become quite good.

 

[oscar]

I remember finding Pandora: First Contact not too shabby if you're looking for a modern take on SMAC. Apparently AI has gotten much much better since release too. Like SMAC it's fast-paced and combat oriented.

Otherwise Civ IV. Realism Invictus once you're tired of vanilla. There's some truly fantastic mods but they tend to advantage the player generally. Vanilla Civ IV AI can kick some serious ass. AI in later Civ games can't fight its way out of a plastic bag.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

EL is a good game (or rather: it is a platform for a great game that was badly mismanaged and not done justice by its developers/publishers) while Civ6 isn't so I hope that settles it? For vanilla 4X experience starting with Civ is the best idea, but play 2 or 4 (1 is a gaming history lesson, 3 and 5 are whatever, 6 is shit).

E.g., AoW is a lot closer to HoMM3 than to a 4X game.

Original AoW was not 4X at all, but it doesn't change the fact that it was obviously more inspired by MoM (AoW1-3) and Warlords (just the first game) than HoMM.