From what I read, this update is ONE gigabyte. WTF?! Gameday release patch at 1 gig?

Anyone know what this patch does?

just played the demo and intial impressions are good, not vastly different to 4 but a few notable changes already well documented.

I like it! the music is excellent, the unit graphics and animations are great.

Tehe, I like using cheat tools for not really cheating. The whole continent is mine! ^_^

After playing it for a few hours I have to say I am impressed, and while there are some issues that I don't like I hope they will be fixed eventually.

The 2 issues that got annoying for me were:
Purchasing tiles, I really like this concept but after spending 300 gold trying to get an iron tile I think they should have some way of highlighting what tiles you are purchasing. After I purchase a tile it shows me where it is on the 'purchase tile' screen, but is there any way to undo this?

Saving the game: While I am assuming this was a bug it only let me save the game with my custom name once, and then it forced me to use the Steam cloud to save any more games, it would let me overwrite other files (Quick save and the save I made before) but it for whatever reason did not let me type my own name again.


Does anyone know what you got for pre-ordering, I pre-ordered and have no idea what it is or where to find it.

The game looks and sounds awesome. Ultimately, it will once again be far beyond my understanding like all of the Civ games to date

That's actually good, that alleviates one of my biggest concerns. They gave 2 MP and the ability to pass through. I still think it leaves a bit too much unit micromanaging, which is weird because it looks like they're trying to reduce all that and it's like they went from civ and city micromanaging to unit micromanaging?



I'm still afraid of this. In about a week or so we will be getting good reviews from seasoned Civ players on how 5 is and how it compares to earlier titles. I've never thought Civ 4 was too complicated (in fact it's what I like the most about it), but apparently from business perspective it's not wise to appeal to that much smaller audience and instead try to simplify things.

I have to wait a while and read some good thorough reviews and comparisons to previous titles. Not like I have a choice, my comp would fry trying to run Civ 5.

EDIT: I need to ask, and this is very important to me, what exactly do you need Steam for? All I hear is that you need it to play, but I can't imagine you need it to play single player? I'm thinking it's for multiplayer which doesn't interest me.

If I need Steam or an active internet connection to even play single player, I'm never buying it even if I do upgrade this old computer. I doubt that's the case but it's happened before so I'm not ruling it out.

I always get Civ games, I picked up Civ V and at least in my opinion it doesn't disappoint. It's just as complex in my opinion, they just removed some clutter.

Steam is required to for both multiplayer and signle player, but you can put Steam in offline mode if you don't want to use an internet connection.

So far I am dissapointed with the demo. Yes even though I have minimum systems, the game is ugly. This is even worse than Civ IV with minimum settings. I am afraid I will not be able to play only on small maps. This will be a big disapointment. Guess i have to wait for more users comments.

But so far, this is not a good demo at all. Now I remember why I buy console games, playing mods is not worth this hassel at all. So far Civ Rev is so much better than this demo crap they put out.

Honestly, Steam is absolutely awesome. I hated it at first when I got Half-Life 2 and was made to install it, but now I love it.

The demo was pretty nice. Reminded me of the old Rise of Nations game i played a long time ago; 100 turns just flew by, didn't even get to fight anything but barbarians. Not sure if this warrant's a full price purchase, though i have the urge ro play another 100 turns

I really like it, but I can't stand how ugly my empires always look. I kinda wish the old cultural borders were back. I mean, by 1850, shouldn't all the land inside the perimeters of my empire be mine? It just looks so ugly. Also, turns are starting to take 15-20 second in between turns. That time really piles up. Maybe 12 civs with a large map was a bit much.

So then you don't really need it? I don't even want to install it. If I have to install it, I will not be interested in the game until that requirement is removed.

Shows what I know :shrug:

Any game that ships with Steamworks (which includes Civ5) requires that the Steam client be installed and running in order for the game to be played. It also typically requires an active internet connection to connect to the Steam servers every time the game is started; there is an "Offline Mode", although whether this actually works or not seems to depend on the phase of the moon and what kind of mood the Steam client is in.

Steamworks manages the distribution of patches and DLC and the multiplayer. Especially the last is hard to replace, would require further investment in separate servers and completely new mechanics to be programmed, and thus is the most likely reason Steam will not be abandoned. Ever. By this game.
Ending as I usually say: Face it and don't keep up false hope.

Face what? That game publishers are using more and more authoritarian methods to fight "software pirates" (who I believe are actually the mythical "boogey man" due to the fact that none of them have ever been arrested and charged)?

Why should we, the consumers who are paying for the service, have to deal with this DRM rubbish when pirates, who get their games for free, get to play DRM-free versions of the same games?

What we really need is a gamer's revolution... If we gamers united and refused to buy ANY game that had DRM attached, the publishers would be forced to capitulate.

What's so bad about Steam, really? Not DRM in general, just Steam specifically. Because I hardly consider Steam "authoritarian" in the same way that other methods of DRM have been.

The fact is that companies have to do something to protect their hard work from unlawful distribution, and Steam is easily the most refined and least intrusive method available, with the added benefit of bonus features - like multiplayer matchmaking - which for most developers would simply cost too much time and money to implement themselves (or at least implement them well - most attempts to reinvent the wheel are a waste of time.)

I was initially hesitant to use Steam when I first installed Half-Life 2, as was everyone else I'm sure, but it's not the year 2004 anymore. Steam has proven to be one of the most effective forms of copy-protection, provides countless developers with tools to enhance their games and bring them to the public, and has also become a deft platform for bringing gamers together (I don't even use other forms of personal messaging anymore, where I once used ICQ exclusively.) As long as peer-to-peer filesharing exists there will always be the risk of piracy, and for most companies doing nothing about it is just not acceptable. Would you leave the keys to your car in the ignition, and simply hope that no one takes it for a ride?

So as long as we have to put up with DRM, it might as well be one created by a developer who actually gives a damn about their customers.

Forced to stop selling more like. We'll see less PC releases, and more console exclusives.

Meanwhile, regarding the game... :hehe:

Played another 100 rounds, and i think i may have to buy this. Can it be preloaded from Steam? (as it isn't released until friday in europe). If not, might aswell go buy one from town friday, would be quicker than downloading and there's no price difference, after all :shrug:

I decided to finally try on a Civilization game and downloaded the demo...

... and there's no tutorial...

Guess I'll just have to wait for the reviews. Just a shame I won't even know if I like the style of gameplay <.<

The tutorial is kind of worked into the gameplay itself. It should guide you through everything you need to know as you play.

Steam has many nice features added in to soften the blow, but that is like saying "here, take these cakes, cookies, and ice cream and eat them while we slowly murder your best friend in front of your eyes". Some people will eat the desserts and forget all about their friend. Others (like myself) will not care about the desserts because our friend is being killed!

The fact that many games do not include any data on the CD means that you have to have a high speed internet connection in order to play the game this century (a game that you already paid for). Additionally, even in "Offline mode" you are unable to play your game after a specific time period as it will do a forced check and update. This means that while those of you in the 15% of the world with access to reliable high speed internet may not mind, the remaining 85% of the world is given a giant middle finger (in addition to having to watch our friend die). Additionally, if you are an intelligent computer user, then you are doing a complete resintall of your OS every 2-3 years. This means that you have to deal a slow download every 2-3 years.

Finally, the entire concept of DRM is one born of authoritarian control. When your method of protecting your product only inconveniences your paying customers and does nothing to prevent piracy, then it has failed. To continue to employ a failed method suggests that either every single publishing company is run by morons, or that the entire program was designed and continues to achieve some ulterior motive that the consumer is unaware of (and the the publishers have no intention of disclosing).

The saddest part is that will stop killing our friend if we tell them to, but we all seem to think that our only option is to eat the desserts so we should pick the murderer who offers the best flavors.

............................. :rofl:

That has got to be the biggest strawman I have ever seen. I tip my hat to you, sir; you truly are a master of hyperbole.


Anyhooooo, I downloaded the demo and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. It is the first Civilization since Call to Power that I thought was actually a step forward. Sieging cities is actually fun now! I didn't get into the diplomacy much, but there looked like deep amounts of strategy there, as well. I also enjoyed the policy trees as a means of shaping my empire. I am definitely going to be buying this at some point.

I think calling DRM "murder" is a bit much, even for a metaphor - it's not like it's killing the game outright! Except in a few extreme cases, it's still perfectly possible to play the games, even though it has become ridiculously more complicated. But remember that we're talking about Steam here, not other forms of DRM which have been less successful at 1) stopping piracy and 2) hamstringing our favorite games (I'm looking at YOU, Ubisoft! :flame:) In half a decade of use I have yet to encounter any problems with using Steam, never once had it refuse to let me play a game when I wanted, although I will concede that I am indeed one of the 15% with reliable high-speed internet (although I believe this figure, if true, is climbing rapidly.)

Yes, DRM takes away some of the control of the game licenses that we have purchased, but we were never in full control of the product in the first place. It's certainly a two-way relationship, that it's in developers' best interests to heed the complaints and desires of their potential customers, but they are the ones doing the hard work, so to me it seems fair enough that they should dictate the terms of the relationship. Some developers go too far, which is why I'm no longer a customer of Ubisoft games, and in those cases I fully agree that some forms of DRM are worse than doing nothing by inconveniencing their paying customers, but I don't see this in Steam.

You can think of it as softening the blow, but I prefer to think of it as meeting gamers half-way.