Civ - Beyond Earth

[SlyAnimal]

So who's looking forward to the new Civ Expansion?

I've been getting back into Civ 5 since I pre-ordered Beyond Earth (BE), as I'd given it a break for the past 6-12 months. Screwed up my bodyclock something chronic over the past 2 weeks, as I always wanted "one... more.... turn...." lol. I've been trying it on immortal difficulty lately, previously I'd usually just played on emperor, which makes for some interesting games (I can win on archipelago and some of the smaller maps, but am yet to win on a huge map). Had a couple of goes at Deity but the computer players' advantages were just too insane.

I really like the cut scene intro to BE too, kinda more of a story than the others, which just gives the game a nice feel to it.

Even the news lately has gotten me thinking about BE lol, as I was reading an article last week about an organisation which was hoping to have one way trips to Mars within the next 10 years (Apparently they calculated that, using existing technology, an expedition would only last 63 days on Mars before the first casualty, but with technological advances they should be able to stretch that out lol).

[NeverSure]

"Even the news lately has gotten me thinking about BE lol, as I was reading an article last week about an organisation which was hoping to have one way trips to Mars within the next 10 years (Apparently they calculated that, using existing technology, an expedition would only last 63 days on Mars before the first casualty, but with technological advances they should be able to stretch that out lol)."

Actually there's nothing revolutionary about that as we have a number of posters on this forum who've made a one way trip from Mars.

[ExpatJ]

I was a big Civ fan up until Civ 5, the last one- i couldnt stand the one unit per hex rule- one step too far in terms of unrealistic game mechanics for me.

Also, the new Civ- in space- fighting aliens (yamn) completely divorces itself from the Civ tradition- i was so sad when i heard about the new space focus. Oh well hopefully Civ 7 goes back and improves the original concept.

In the meantime, Fifa 15 is sucking up all my gaming time in any case:)

[SlyAnimal]

Yeah I was a bit dubious about Civ BE being in space, as one of the things I originally liked about the series, was the history (hehe I think it taught me a lot about the world, as I originally played from when Civ 1 came out when I was a kid, where I'd always play the Earth map and read every new writeup about wonders/technologies etc I discovered).

But the same concept has been played out 5x, just with updates to the game engine/design each time, so I'm sorta ready for a change. I initially didn't like 1 unit per hex, but it grew on me, and a lot of the other changes in 4/5 were pretty cool. I particularly like how cities can defend themselves, rather than always requiring massive garrisons.

[SlyAnimal]

So for those who have been playing it so far, what do you guys think?

I started playing on the easier difficulties + smaller maps so that I could get used to it + get the achievements, and have found the computer players to not be anywhere near as aggressive as they usually are, although this might just be the difficulty settings (As usually my neighbours are as strong/stronger than me, but as I'm currently playing on easy, I'm usually stronger lol).

I've also been finding that internal trade routes are overpowered, although maybe this will change when I ramp up the difficulty settings. In Civ V trade routes were a major part of the game, but as there was a set number for your civilization, you had to use them wisely. In this one, it seems like opponents you're at war with, don't pillage them as often and you can easily have 3 originating from each city, which allows for some massive production in each city.

In my latest game, I decided to go for the Emancipation victory, instead of domination, so that I could get the achievement + see what it's like. Wow it's annoying.... getting the techs etc is relatively easy, as is building the wonder, but then you have to send 1000 combat points worth of units through a portal to earth.... 1 unit per turn. My strongest units are Redeemers (upgrade of combat tanks) and they are 52 str, so it's taking me 20 turns to send them all through the portal (Actually my strongest units are Redeemed Angels, but I don't have the flaxite to build them, guess I spent it all on a building of some description).

But in general, I'm enjoying the game so far. I like and dislike how different it is to the original, as the tech and virtue systems are quite cool, and how the units are different in appearance depending on your affinity are quite cool too. We get so many options on how to modify our buildings too (via completing quests), which is sometimes annoying as it's always popping up, but it's quite cool that you get the option to modify and customize so much. Although the veteran bonuses for units are kinda lame, with only the +10% str or +50hp heal options being available from experience (The other options, when you first upgrade the units, are quite cool though, and part of the customisation which I like within the game).

Edit: Oh and is it just me, or are the maps bigger? I'm playing on small now, yet it feels bigger.

[crabdog]

I started a few days ago and got right into it until I installed Sims4. Now I can't get away from the Sims...flirting and getting job promotions. Sad I know but it's way fun.