Worth playing again?

[MereDiesel]

Hi guys,

I played CIV 5 shortly after it came out and I found the game a little frustrating. The AI would just spam city tiles every two spaces and it was really difficult to get any sort of victory beyond total domination. The economics seemed to get skewed after a certain point to where it was neigh impossible to stay in the black and still keep everything moving.

I'm a busy guy but I'm going to have a few hours here and there in the next few weeks to play around. I don't want to invest my free time into CIV 5 if it still has the same old problems. Is CIV 5 worth coming back to after a year's worth of patches?

[jpbar81]

Lots and lots of improvements compared to the released version! I'd say, it's not only playable now, but it's actually enjoyable too. It's almost there. There's still a bit of frustrating elements within it (Diplomacy and the AI, for example), but hopefully the expansion improves upon them and fleshes other things out more. But again, much, much better than the release which Firaxis didn't have enough time to complete and was a disaster (in my opinion).

I'd say go for it and give it a try if you're a Civ fan. If it's still not to your liking, then just uninstall it again. The most you'll lose is a couple hours.

For example, the proximity and spamming of AI cities that you've mentioned is fixed. Now, you can't settle a city within another city's radius of maximum workable tiles. So, there's at least a distance of 3 tiles between city tiles now.

Here, you can see the changes for yourself: Patch History (The meatier patches are further down the list.)

Also, as I mentioned above, there's a pretty nice expansion on its way in a little over a month if you weren't aware. Here's a compilation of news and features, thanks to zephyrtr: Civ V: Gods & Kings Everything looks pretty amazing (but so did Civ5 vanilla when we were getting teased by it ). I'm hopeful.

Also, since release, there's been a bunch of nice DLC released.

[zephyrtr]

Were I you, I'd wait another month and see the reception for Gods & Kings. Even if you want to wait to buy it, AI and multiplayer fixes are being patched to Vanilla Civ5 as well -- so you'll reap the benefits without having to invest any more money.

If you see the reception of the expansion is good, and you like the fixes they've made to the AI, and maybe you've played another game or two and you liked it -- then pick up the expansion as well. You won't TRULY know how good the game is til then, so put it on a back burner until June.

[Artifex]

Sorry, but no.

I mean yes, there have been changes, powerful and far flung. But the problems you are describing sound like you never tried to learn to play this game. Ultimately it is still the same game. Enemy difficulty is primarily from cheat type bonuses, and you need to manage your economy.

If you want those types of things to change, this isn't the franchise for you.

[Bantams]

Wait for the responces to Gods and Kings as I am not played civ v in over a year now and not missing it either.

[Taciturn Scot]

MereDiesel

At some point, the allowable distance between cities was increased to three hexes which made a difference to gameplay. As for the economy, I think you'll find it a bit easier as there were some new National Wonders introduced in a patch a while ago as well. One of them, the National treasury, makes quite a difference to your economy. However, you won't be sitting on a ton of cash all game long. You still have to manage things a bit.

Hope that helps.

[lietkynes]

Some poor design choices are still there and some bugs are still not fixed, but the game has improved much and it's a lot better than how it was at release.

I suggest playing with Thal's mod, it improves the game a lot for me (http://forums.civfanatics.com/downlo...=file&id=15667)

[jpbar81]

MereDiesel, if you're not just looking to mess around with the game in the next few weeks like you said, then as others have said, it would probably be best to just wait until mid June for the expansion for an even better second impression that will blow you away.

Personally, I find it a little hard to play the original game knowing all the enhancements to come. And it's not as enjoyable for me since things aren't fresh, shiny, and new anymore and they don't distract from the same old frustrations. But for you, you may get a kick out of it for a few weeks.

[ddesart]

MereDiesel, if you're not just looking to mess around with the game in the next few weeks like you said, then as others have said, it would probably be best to just wait until mid June for the expansion for an even better second impression that will blow you away.

Personally, I find it a little hard to play the original game knowing all the enhancements to come. And it's not as enjoyable for me since things aren't fresh, shiny, and new anymore and they don't distract from the same old frustrations. But for you, you may get a kick out of it for a few weeks.

I would have to disagree...although I know that the new religious and espionage system are coming out, I still enjoy the game, and my strategies have vastly improved by playing more...It has really been a long time since I won the game on domination, I usually win by science...If you have any of the scenarios, those are really fun to play as another option...

[CW3SF]

Quick question --- What are the AI improvements with in G&K exp. that are going to be added the Vannila Civ V ( at no cost ) as mentioned by Zephyr? Is there a list? Can we pick and choose from that list?

Thanks