Civilization : Revolutions!!

I haven't played AOE, but I thought it generally got good reviews, except for the bug where your cartridge gets bricked if you have a name that's less than 4 characters? Anyway, if they can really put the essence of Civ on the DS then I think it'll wipe the floor with AOE!
 
oh hell. I can just imagine myself at 4am thinking "just a couple more turns."

I love Advance Wars but Civ, if done right, will blow it away.
 
[quote name='emg28']oh hell. I can just imagine myself at 4am thinking "just a couple more turns."

I love Advance Wars but Civ, if done right, will blow it away.[/QUOTE]

EXACTLY. And imagine it on-the-go!! Me=excited.
 
[quote name='banpeikun']hopefully it makes a much better transition than AOE did[/quote]

ah seriously?

Age of Empires DS is great!

It may not be a RTS true to it's heritage but as far as turn base goes on a portable the game is great. The game's inclusion of hotsheat multiplayer should be in every handheld strategy game. My only complaint with it is that some of the missions can drag on to over 50+ turns and thats just dang too many hours.

This CivRev game and the Populous game coming out has me excited! :bouncy:
 
I'm very excited about this... haven't had a machine capable of running civ since civ III so I'm all kinds of fired up to get back in the saddle
 
[quote name='Pajama_Man']ah seriously?

Age of Empires DS is great!

It may not be a RTS true to it's heritage but as far as turn base goes on a portable the game is great. The game's inclusion of hotsheat multiplayer should be in every handheld strategy game. My only complaint with it is that some of the missions can drag on to over 50+ turns and thats just dang too many hours.

This CivRev game and the Populous game coming out has me excited! :bouncy:[/quote]Really? I totally had the idea in my head that AOE DS wasn't very good. I guess it all stemmed from the cart-bricking problem.
 
[quote name='banpeikun']Really? I totally had the idea in my head that AOE DS wasn't very good. I guess it all stemmed from the cart-bricking problem.[/quote]

The "bricking" thing is really a no issue if you're careful not to use the "quite and save" feature (just save, then quite instead - and even if you fudge up it's a rare instance where it might happen) and having your name longer then 3 characters.

I highly recommended the game if you like the turn based games like Advance Wars or Front Mission (sans customization). The game has streamlined resource collecting where you just place a structure on a resource points (kind of like Dawn of War) and build town hubs which allows you to build other town components around it (siege factory, stable, etc.)

The game should be easy to find now for around $15-20.
 
I'm both intrigued and frightened by the idea that you can play a complete game in one to four hours. They've put a few twists on the basic game that sound really good, especially the special abilities for each civ, and the free download for map/scenario of the week is a great plus. WiFi matches would be great, but even without them it looks like I will be buying another game after Smash Bros.
 
I'm on "vacation" in Florida this week. My wife is spending time with her grandmother (which is fine by me) and the beach is closed due to rdiculous amounts of bacteria, so there's not a lot for me to do. I couldn't find it at the Target or Walmart in town, so I drove 30 minutes to get to a Best Buy. Hey, I've got nothing else to do. :)

I played one full game on the easiest setting yesterday to get a feel for it. (Domination victory, about 2.5 hours.) It's very different, but I like it so far. I don't think it has a lot of customization for the setup, just difficulty level (no map size, or setting the number of computer players). I'll play another game today at a higher level and try to post some more details.

One thing that's interesting is that when you use a great person, they're attached to the city. You can see them in the unit stack, but you can't move them. If you capture a city with a person attached, you gain control of that person. Spies can kidnap great people. you can get one type of victory (cultural? diplomatic? I forget) by getting a total of 20 world wonders and great people.

And the warrior I started the game with got promoted to the "ninja" rank.
 
Whoa...what's this Age of Empires bricking thing? I bought that a few weeks back. Like Age of Empires, and I prefer turn based to real time.
Geez I'm sick of game bugs (and odly I've seen more recently for the GBA/DS than any other platform...I'd think since they're the simplest they'd have the fewest).
 
I bought this yesterday, and have two games under my belt (the second game ended very early when I left my only city unprotected and Queen Elizabeth just waltzed in. Oops). If you've played the 360 or PS3 demo, this is exactly the game in terms of gameplay (but the interface is much different, for obvious reasons). If you're familiar with the PC incarnations of the game, this version is streamlined to play much faster: smaller worlds, quicker interaction with opponents, instant roads, etc).
 
got this the other day, will be playing it at work tonight. looking forward to it as it sounds like its going to be a blast
 
On the plus side:

--Its Civ. It feels, at its heart, like true Civ, but one that you hold in your hand.
--5 (five) save game slots
--crisp graphics and a nice art style; graphics are better than early screen shots and far better than Age of Empires DS.
--Its TBS for DS. I am glad to see decent turn based games for the platform.
--AI seems decent so far (haven't yet tried higher levels).
--Did I mention it has 5 save slots? I love this for a long-haul kind of game, so I can go back to key points and try different strategies.

On the down side:

--The interface annoyances drive me up a wall. For instance, on the city screen, I can't see if I have fortified units in a city. I have to hit build unit option, and then if I see there is the option to activate units, I know that there are some. At that point the top screen will say "We have 3 units stationed in Chittagon." But does it list what units? No. And there's plenty of space on the top screen to say so. The only way to find out WHICH units are fortified there ... is to activate them!

That's just one example of UI problems. Another is the tech tree, which does little to help you plan long-term research. And there's no Civilopedia. So if I, for example, want to build cannons, I have to scroll through a bunch of techs to find the one that yields cannons and then I have to change the tech tree's scroll mode (by holding down the left shoulder button) to trace the precursor techs I need.

And if there was no room on the cart for the Civilopedia, why was there room for photos of the developers in the credits? Yeesh.

IIRC, that Age of Empires DS gave much better stat info. There's no reason they couldn't have done so on the top screen.

Despite all my griping, I will tell you this: after several hours of play you get used to and live with the annoyances. And that leaves just one question: does CivRev DS have the "just one more turn" addictiveness of the PC version?

Yes. I didn't want to shut it down even as my trip came to a close. For me, its a keeper.
 
A comment on the AI: it plays like players in a game, not like actual leaders of Civilization. In other words, when you're getting close to a victory, the other civs will start attacking you (and give that as the reason!)
 
They also know when you're completely surrounded and they all decide to declare war on you. Fortunately there's no happiness levels in your cities, so being stuck in a long war doesn't have a negative side effect, so you can keep cranking out the defensive units and researching without slowing down. In fact, all of the little things that slow you down during the game (unhappiness, revolts, pollution, healthiness, etc) are gone, and it definately helps the game go faster. You don't have to micromanage quite as much.

I've gotten a few games in now. It keeps track of your victories per leader, per level. For example, when starting a new game on "King", when I scroll through the leaders, there are 4 icons at the top of the screen, which show me that I've gotten a diplomatic victory with Alexander and a Domination victory with Shaka. It's a nice pseudo-achievement tracker.

The thing that seems to shock me the most, is that there are so few buildings and units. You'll research a technology and it will only give you access to a world wonder and the next tech on the tree. No other buildings or units. It's nice because if you gain a city later in the game, you don't have to catch up on a lot of building to get it really going. And because there aren't a lot of units, you don't waste as much time building some, only find them obsolete at the next tech.

In the PC games, I don't usually put a lot of effort into a naval force/exploration early in the game, but they really reward you here. If you have a strong naval army, park them next to the coastal city you want to attack, and you'll get a bombardment bonus. They strike first, damaging the enemy at half their strength. And if you don't have a fleet? Then you're on the receiving end, and it's not going to go well.

I really like the hidden "artifacts" on the map. Once you claim them, you get a bonus of some sort. Usually an advanced tech, but I've also gotten gold, a spy, and units. In one game, the Knights Templar gave me a tank. In the 1700s. (Or was it 1500s? I forget now.) And it was awesome. I gave it an Infiltration promotion, so it became my "Ninja Tank." Eventually, you'll find the Lost City of Atlantis, and score about 6+ techs for free. Like I said, exploration is important.

I've started to try for an economic victory, but I haven't quite figured out how to make gold in the city early on. That makes it tough.
 
Anyone else find it frustrating how offense seems to overwhelm defense?
Here's what I mean:

I'll have a Legion Army unit defending a piece of land, and then an enemy Legion will come along and attack. 9 vs 3, should be a snap for my forces right?
NO! Several times today I've watched single legions come along and completely destroy my idling army units and it just makes no sense to me! It's happened even with a Catapult Army (24 ATK) getting destroyed by a single enemy Legion.

Anyone know what's up with this irritating pattern?
 
[quote name='looploop']Anyone know what's up with this irritating pattern?[/quote]

I have seen this too. Not sure what's up with it. My guess would be that the unit is actually being attacked by an army of three units, but we're just not seeing all three represented. Can't imagine what else would account for that.
 
[quote name='tylertoo']I have seen this too. Not sure what's up with it. My guess would be that the unit is actually being attacked by an army of three units, but we're just not seeing all three represented. Can't imagine what else would account for that.[/quote]

I think I've figured out what's going on. Each unit has a separate defense and attack stat.:roll: Legions and catapults both have a defensive stat of 1, so even if there's an army of either, that's still just 3 defense points(assuming that the defense triples). Well within the range of a lone Legion... even if it makes no sense in reality.

All we can do is endeavor to make sure they're the ones doing the attacking or that they have a defensive unit(archer, pikeman, shooter) accompanying them.
 
[quote name='looploop']Anyone else find it frustrating how offense seems to overwhelm defense?
Here's what I mean:

I'll have a Legion Army unit defending a piece of land, and then an enemy Legion will come along and attack. 9 vs 3, should be a snap for my forces right?
NO! Several times today I've watched single legions come along and completely destroy my idling army units and it just makes no sense to me! It's happened even with a Catapult Army (24 ATK) getting destroyed by a single enemy Legion.

Anyone know what's up with this irritating pattern?[/quote]
Thats cuase legions an catapults attack much better than they defend(I think an amry of either defends at 3), Now if you have an army of achers you should be safe from most attacks

As for the game itself its good and I like that it can be played in 2 hours, however it dosen't compare to civ on the PC, I would like to see them bring civ 1 or 2 to the DS
 
It does seem that enemy armies are represented as a single unit. I'm not sure if that's deliberate, or a bug.
 
I just picked this up. I haven't had a chance to sit down with it. Once I've clocked in some time, I'll post up what I think.
 
Okay, so after putting in a lot of time with this game, I can honestly say that I love it. Thus far, easily my hand held goty. The enemy armies are represented as one unit, just like your armies are represented as one unit.

But yeah, here are my over all impressions:
Once I settled into the fact that this isn't Civ4, I was good to go. It took about half an hour for me to get past the fact that it's a different game. But over all, I have no complaints. I like the interactions with the other nations, and how they can threaten you for your technology. I really liked how in one game I played, I had a nuke and the country that decided to go to war with me kept saying that using the nuke would make me unpopular with the other countries.

But over all, this is a great game, and definitely worth checking out. I give it an A.
 
anyone want to play online?
my code is 197719889022 is my code. Really want a four player game. Can only find 1 vs 1 so far
 
[quote name='Ahadi']I like the interactions with the other nations, and how they can threaten you for your technology. I really liked how in one game I played, I had a nuke and the country that decided to go to war with me kept saying that using the nuke would make me unpopular with the other countries.
[/quote]

I wish they'd do something besides threaten me for technology or 2/3 of my war chest. It's always a lose-lose situation: Give them my hard-earned stuff for nothing and begin to lag behind, eventually getting threatened by them again later? Or decline and probably incite a war?:roll:
Granted I usually win the war and conquer them, but I wish they'd leave me alone or propose more fair trades so I wouldn't have so many domination victories.
 
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[quote name='looploop']I wish they'd do something besides threaten me for technology or 2/3 of my war chest. It's always a lose-lose situation: Give them my hard-earned stuff for nothing and begin to lag behind, eventually getting threatened by them again later? Or decline and probably incite a war?:roll:
Granted I usually win the war and conquer them, but I wish they'd leave me alone or propose more fair trades so I wouldn't have so many domination victories.[/QUOTE]

I don't know what your playing style is like, but I try to make a few armies right from the get go. A lot of times the AI doesn't mind taking a counter offer, but war isn't always a bad option. After a skirmish or two you can end the conflict, or sometimes they may do so.

I just upped to the next highest difficulty from easiest, and I'm having a hell of a time winning. I'm not sure why either, I'm not doing anything different...
 
[quote name='Ahadi']
I just upped to the next highest difficulty from easiest, and I'm having a hell of a time winning. I'm not sure why either, I'm not doing anything different...[/quote]
The harder difficulties just means the AI cheats and is more likely to attack you. e.g. when you try to build a wonder the AI happens to build it the turn before you, able to build units way to fast( I have had the computer build an army in one turn), despite higher attack and defense values your units constantly lose anyways.
I would recommend using the Mongols, they have the best starting ability in the game.
 
[quote name='itachiitachi']The harder difficulties just means the AI cheats and is more likely to attack you. e.g. when you try to build a wonder the AI happens to build it the turn before you, able to build units way to fast( I have had the computer build an army in one turn), despite higher attack and defense values your units constantly lose anyways.
I would recommend using the Mongols, they have the best starting ability in the game.[/QUOTE]

Ehh... I'm not doing half bad as America now that I'm forcing myself to stick out the tough games. I just don't get how Pikemen can stand up to a Tank though :lol:

And to me it seems like the outcome of fights is just random. If they aren't, please tell me what the factors are!
 
I've been playing anno 1701 for a while now and enjoy it.

How does that compared to a game like that, I know its now turn based (anno 1701), but I mean the overall playability/quality of Civilization. I haven't played one since way back in the day on my pc.
 
[quote name='Ahadi']

And to me it seems like the outcome of fights is just random. If they aren't, please tell me what the factors are![/quote]
The game list the factors before the fight, unit strength, veteran status, special attack or defense abilities, terrain modifiers, presence of a great general, fortifications, air or naval support, civ bonuses.
But when you get to the harder difficulties (king, deity) the enemy units then to fight 10-50% better than their listed value.
 
So I'm going to go ahead and say it. I'm thinking of trading it in. Or maybe I'm just playing it too much. I think I'll take a week break or so, then decide.

Also, I won my first warlord game. Japanese is the only nation I feel like I'm "good" with.
 
I have this for my 360 and DS and I have to say the DS version is much harder. I just got trampled by all the AI when I was on Kings, yea no real reason to use Diplomacy since they just declare war on you. It'd be nice if they formed alliances and such but nope, you must die.
 
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