One More Turn! One More Turn! One More Turn!
My apologies for my lack of posting the last couple weeks. Since the plague has passed from under my household life has had a rather constant cycle that leaves little time for writing: get up, go to work, come home, play with the kids until their bedtime, then play Civ4 until I fall over (almost literally).
I had managed to free myself from the clutches of this game in December, but a couple of weeks ago I was home alone with little to do so I fired it up again. Yeah, that was really dumb I know, but for my money this is the single finest strategy game I’ve played. I really don’t get the people who say it’s just a prettier Civ3. Civ3 has serious in the initial version that I played at least, and I thought it was a step back from Civ2. This is just a whole new ballgame and months later I still think it’s mindblowing. There’s nothing about it that’s the same when you start to understand how fundamental issues of culture, combat, trade, etc. work under the hood.
There’s really just one area where I think the game (and the series) continues to fall well short: navies. On continental and archipelago maps navies need to play a huge role. And I suppose on the Archo maps they are important as is, at least as a means to ferry troops around. However, what you can do with navies from a strategic perspective is still far too limited. The primary shortcoming in my mind is the lack of organized blockades. Adding naval blockades or other ways to disrupt foreign trade routes, especially if they can be done without necessarily having to get involved in a shooting war, I think would really ramp up the importance of ships in Civ4.
Here’s an idea of what I mean. In Civ4 cities produce culture that determine a civilization’s borders. One city that has produced a sh#@ ton of culture can control more land than two cities who produce none. I think ships ought to replicate that effect in ways that allow you to control the seas. A mobile border so to speak, but one that isn’t based on culture (which would just be silly), but rather on strength and number of ships. Say you have one frigate off by itself in the year 1600 (making it state of the art). Fine, that ship can control naval passage just for the square its on. Now, say you add two more to it. The increased naval power in that area could then grant you a zone of control over all adjacent squares too. If you have open border agreements with another civ they can pass through. If you don’t, they can’t (at least not without attacking your ships). If a stronger navy moves into that area you have to cede some control over the square where the superior fleet is. If a fleet of equal power moves into that area maybe the zones offset. At that point blockades wouldn’t even have to be centered around stopping traffic into and out of ports. Having control of narrow or limited access seas (like the Mediterranean) could be of crucial strategic value and really make a sound navy a key component for any civ when on a game map that includes any kind of ocean.
Granted, this is a simplified way of looking at it and there would be other problems to address, but the main point is something needs to be done to increase the strategic value of navies in the game. I’d love to see Firaxis play around with this in an expansion. It’s the only part of the game that I consider radically incomplete.
Anyway, after winning a time victory Tuesday night (on an archipelago map, Noble difficulty). I started a new game last night (Continents, still on Noble) and based on this start I think it’s probably time to bump up to the next difficulty level (where the AI is officially given a head start, instead of playing on a level playing field).
Playing as the Egyptians last night I was able to birth Hinduism and Judaism, while also building their core temples (via Great Prophets). I narrowly missed Buddhism and I’ve got a legit shot at Christianity. My capital city of Thebes was able to nab Stonehenge, the Oracle (which allowed me to grab the Metal Casting tech way early), the Pyramids (immediate access to the Representation civic; Woot!), and the Hanging Gardens. And all of these are in my capital city (Thebes), which is becoming a real production and cultural powerhouse. (Part of this was possible because I was able to nab four free techs from the so-called goodie huts, which in my experience is very rare.) I should be able to add the Colossus to another city tonight (about six turns away and looking good) and I think for the first time in my games I’ll be the first civ to nab Music and the free Great Artist that comes with it.
At this rate I could end up cruising from end to end. Again, Noble is a rather pedestrian difficulty setting (though it’s tougher than in past versions) so this is probably no great shakes for a die-hard Civ vet. For me, however? I’m quite proud.
The big difference for my play has been reading some of the narrative threads put together to document games, written by two of the people involved with the making and testing of Civ4 (by Sirian and Sulla), which really provide a ton of insight into how to win. This thread of theirs in particular at CivFanatics, which documents a hotseat game where they both alternate controlling a single civ, (while painfully long) is both wildly informative and at times flat out hysterical. There’s even knock-knock jokes . (Bad ones, but still.)
In any case, my posting may be on the sporadic side so long as Civ4 remains a nightly obsession. Any day now I’m expecting an intervention from the freakazoids at CivAnon.com.