On Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:38:36 -0600, Zaghadka <zaghadka@hotmail.com>
wrote:
...I'm beginning to think I'll stick with IV, V and VI.
You're not the only one.
Apparently fewer people are playing "Civilization VII" than are
playing "Civilization 5" right now (and it's about half of those
playing "Civilization VI").* It's not a good sign when a game released
one month ago is being trounced by a game released a decade-and-a-half earlier.** And the publisher's intent to push monetizations hasn't
made users any happier.
* that's what they say! https://www.pcgamesn.com/civilization-vii/steam-player-count
** looking at SteamDB.info myself, as of this writing Civ7 is actually /slightly/ ahead of Civ5 right now, but only just (16685 users to
Civ5's 16218. But Civ6 has over twice that amount --42778 users-- so
the original article isn't really inaccurate (the numbers change over
time) and regardless, it doesn't show Civilization 7 in a healthy
place
On Sat, 22 Mar 2025 08:55:58 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
On 19/03/2025 18:52, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
...I'm beginning to think I'll stick with IV, V and VI.You're not the only one.
Apparently fewer people are playing "Civilization VII" than are
playing "Civilization 5" right now (and it's about half of those
playing "Civilization VI").* It's not a good sign when a game released
one month ago is being trounced by a game released a decade-and-a-half
earlier.** And the publisher's intent to push monetizations hasn't
made users any happier.
You have to be a special kinda dev. to muck up the release of a Civ game.
The problem is, I think, that "Civilization" is essentially, mature
software. Not the 4X genre, but the style of 4X that the
"Civilization" games offer. Sure, you can upscale the visuals a bit
but the formula is solved. If you muck around with it too much, then
it stops being a Civilization game, but if you don't much around with
it, then you give people no reason buy your newer version.
There are still a lot of things you can do with the 4X genre, but
if you try to wedge those ideas into the Civilization framework,
you're going to have problems. This is an issue the franchise has had
since its inception, and its been struggling with it with every
iteration. Sometimes they manage to make it work, but it's added
overhead to every release.
Not every franchise needs to be extended infinitely, despite what the marketeers say.
On 22/03/2025 14:17, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Sat, 22 Mar 2025 08:55:58 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
On 19/03/2025 18:52, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:The problem is, I think, that "Civilization" is essentially, mature
...I'm beginning to think I'll stick with IV, V and VI.You're not the only one.
Apparently fewer people are playing "Civilization VII" than are
playing "Civilization 5" right now (and it's about half of those
playing "Civilization VI").* It's not a good sign when a game released >>>> one month ago is being trounced by a game released a decade-and-a-half >>>> earlier.** And the publisher's intent to push monetizations hasn't
made users any happier.
You have to be a special kinda dev. to muck up the release of a Civ game. >>
software. Not the 4X genre, but the style of 4X that the
"Civilization" games offer. Sure, you can upscale the visuals a bit
but the formula is solved. If you muck around with it too much, then
it stops being a Civilization game, but if you don't much around with
it, then you give people no reason buy your newer version.
There are still a lot of things you can do with the 4X genre, but
if you try to wedge those ideas into the Civilization framework,
you're going to have problems. This is an issue the franchise has had
since its inception, and its been struggling with it with every
iteration. Sometimes they manage to make it work, but it's added
overhead to every release.
Not every franchise needs to be extended infinitely, despite what the
marketeers say.
It also add that unlike quite a few other IP's it doesn't have the
option of keeping all the basic mechanics, making a new setting, add in
some weapons (all based on the same archetypes) and finally tacking on
what passes for a plot in these type of games. You can move Civ to space >(Beyond Earth) but that's about it.
Well, it's not that I disagree with your premise but I feel obligated
to point a finger at "Alpha Centauri". Although that does actually
support your argument, since it different enough that the developers
felt obligated to give it an entirely new title. So point to you 😉
On 24/03/2025 14:15, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
Well, it's not that I disagree with your premise but I feel obligated
to point a finger at "Alpha Centauri". Although that does actually
support your argument, since it different enough that the developers
felt obligated to give it an entirely new title. So point to you ?
Well I did mention Beyond Earth ;-)
On Mon, 24 Mar 2025 18:21:09 +0000, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action, JAB wrote:
On 24/03/2025 14:15, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
Well, it's not that I disagree with your premise but I feel obligated
to point a finger at "Alpha Centauri". Although that does actually
support your argument, since it different enough that the developers
felt obligated to give it an entirely new title. So point to you ?
Well I did mention Beyond Earth ;-)
You did indeed. Only way to change it is to put it in space.
I found that "Beyond Earth" was uninteresting for me because the
advancements in the technology tree were fiction and without meaning.
Alpha Centauri felt the same way. The logic behind tech progression needs
to be accessible to the player.
On Sat, 22 Mar 2025 08:55:58 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
On 19/03/2025 18:52, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
...I'm beginning to think I'll stick with IV, V and VI.You're not the only one.
Apparently fewer people are playing "Civilization VII" than are
playing "Civilization 5" right now (and it's about half of those
playing "Civilization VI").* It's not a good sign when a game released
one month ago is being trounced by a game released a decade-and-a-half
earlier.** And the publisher's intent to push monetizations hasn't
made users any happier.
You have to be a special kinda dev. to muck up the release of a Civ game.
The problem is, I think, that "Civilization" is essentially, mature
software. Not the 4X genre, but the style of 4X that the
"Civilization" games offer. Sure, you can upscale the visuals a bit
but the formula is solved. If you muck around with it too much, then
it stops being a Civilization game, but if you don't much around with
it, then you give people no reason buy your newer version.
There are still a lot of things you can do with the 4X genre, but
if you try to wedge those ideas into the Civilization framework,
you're going to have problems. This is an issue the franchise has had
since its inception, and its been struggling with it with every
iteration. Sometimes they manage to make it work, but it's added
overhead to every release.
On Sat, 22 Mar 2025 10:17:42 -0400, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
On Sat, 22 Mar 2025 08:55:58 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
...I'm beginning to think I'll stick with IV, V and VI.You're not the only one.
Apparently fewer people are playing "Civilization VII" than are
playing "Civilization 5" right now (and it's about half of those
playing "Civilization VI").* It's not a good sign when a game released >>>> one month ago is being trounced by a game released a decade-and-a-half >>>> earlier.** And the publisher's intent to push monetizations hasn't
made users any happier.
Just discovered I have Civ 1 for Windows 3.11 and it works perfectly in >DosBox!
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