What do you guys think it will be like? More of the same. but prettier? Or are there any major revisions to the gameplay they've been touting?
Brian
Brian
The first thing you need to understand is that Civilization IV is a fundamental reinvention of the franchise. Fans should be assured that all the basic concepts from Civilization are still here, but many of the more obnoxious or troublesome elements have been greatly improved upon. City production, combat, and culture have all been tweaked to allow for more intuitive application within the game. Concepts like civil disorder, predictable tech paths, pollution and the creeping pace of the late game have all benefited from substantial revisions that make them more manageable and enjoyable aspects of your strategy.
Originally posted by: jjungman
I'm surprised so many people hated CivIII. I really liked most of the improvements.
Originally posted by: jjungman
I'm surprised so many people hated CivIII. I really liked most of the improvements.
Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
What's the combat like in Civ4? Just representative armies with autocalculated battles?
Civilization IV has done away with separate attack and defend values for each unit in favor of a single power rating. While that simplifies the combat system a bit, there are plenty of other specializations that come into play that add a lot of variety to the system. Spearman, for instance, gain a substantial bonus against mounted units. Archers gain bonuses when defending hills or cities. Archers also get the First Strike power, giving them a chance to take out enemy units before they take any damage themselves. Mounted units typically have a chance to withdraw from combats if they find themselves on the losing end of the combat.
Each unit that wins a fight earns experience points that can be used to buy promotions. These run the gamut from simple power bonuses against certain types of units, or in certain types of terrain, to more sophisticated bonuses like the ability to heal nearby units or perform amphibious attacks. This system not only encourages greater specialization of your units but also makes you feel more invested in them. Believe me, you'll think twice before you send your amphibious assaulting cavalry who have a 25% bonus against melee units against an enemy's island stronghold. Still, they're the best unit for the job, so...
One of the consequences of this system of unit promotion is that it makes it harder to take cities with a handful of units. Each failed attack just gives the defenders more experience points to spend on promotions. In a strange way, the longer it takes you to capture a city, the harder it can become. The game offers up a few ways to work around this problem, however. First, the experience system rewards attackers more than defenders, so holding off an enemy won't earn you as many promotions as taking the offensive will. Artillery will also help out, not by damaging the defenders inside a city (which it can't do) but by diminishing a city's defense bonus.
Artillery can damage units outside of cities however, and, depending on the right promotions, can even hurt enemies in adjacent squares. The cool thing about catapults this time around is that they attack every single unit in a stack. This discourages players from simply putting all their units right on top of one another and maneuvering en masse. Since artillery can be so devastating to grouped units, you'll find that it makes more sense to spread your forces out.
Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor
What's the combat like in Civ4? Just representative armies with autocalculated battles?