[PC] Civilization 5: !#@#!@ Impressions Incoming! Brave New World!

[Sarkus]

It's not Steam exclusive in terms of where you can buy it, so in that sense the new thread title is misleading.  They simply announced today that the game will use Steam, similar to Rome: Total War and other recent titles that you could buy in any number of other places.

[Huw the Poo]

I've done the argument to death many times now.  Suffice to say, Steam falls under my personal definition of malware and thus it will never be installed on my PC.

[Huw the Poo]

Sarkus, you do have a point.  However if you have to install Steam (or any incarnation thereof) to be able to install the game, you may as well call it Steam exclusive.

[Arkon]

Huw/Arkon, how exactly does Steam suck?

For me one of the biggest reasons I dislike steam is that it requires the client to be running and is a pain in the ass to get games working if I am not online.  I have a DSL connection that can be flakey at times.  Give me impulse any day of the week so I can install, authorize/authenticate the game once and then never run Impulse again unless I have a desire to have it running.

[Huw the Poo]

Yeah, I'll buy games on Impulse no problem.  My only concern with Impulse (and this is also one of my many concerns with Steam) is that the pricing is ridiculous.

[jersoc]

I've done the argument to death many times now.  Suffice to say, Steam falls under my personal definition of malware and thus it will never be installed on my PC.

lol what? so any program you use to download and store games is malware now? gtfo with this stupidity.

impulse and steam are the same thing. you're just being ridiculous now.

and is a pain in the ass to get games working if I am not online

yeah, damn you for having to goto menu and selecting offline mode. FUCK THAT IS HARD!!! i mean, why can't steam just use my brain waves and detect this automatically. VALVE FUCKING SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THREEE@@@@)(

[Sarkus]

Yeah, I've never ever had any problems getting Steam titles to run when offline.  When all is said and done the game files are installed on your computer, so even if Steam disappeared some day or your internet went away it's not like you don't have the game files. 

[Razgon]

I've done the argument to death many times now.  Suffice to say, Steam falls under my personal definition of malware and thus it will never be installed on my PC.

lol what? so any program you use to download and store games is malware now? gtfo with this stupidity.

impulse and steam are the same thing. you're just being ridiculous now.

and is a pain in the ass to get games working if I am not online

yeah, damn you for having to goto menu and selecting offline mode. FUCK THAT IS HARD!!! i mean, why can't steam just use my brain waves and detect this automatically. VALVE FUCKING SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THREEE@@@@)(

Are you insane?

[CeeKay]

Is that a rhetorical question?

[Huw the Poo]

Fuck off Jersoc.  I already said I didn't want to get into an argument.  Someone asked for my opinion and I gave it.  I didn't ask you to fucking agree with it, did I?  Dickhead.

[CeeKay]

Any chance we can keep this thread Civilized?

[KePoW]

yeah, damn you for having to goto menu and selecting offline mode. FUCK THAT IS HARD!!!

LOL

Usually I don't really like jersoc or his personality... but the above line seriously cracked me up.

[Arkon]

Perhaps newer versions of steam are better, but last year I purchased a bunch of older titles off of steam during a sale.  If I was not online when launching a game, steam would hang for 10-15 minutes trying to connect and I could not cancel out of it. 

I also had instances where my version of a game wasn't the most recent and Steam kept insisting that the game had to update before I could play it, yet I had no internet connection at the time to complete the update.

I also get crap download speeds from steam, usually topping out at 150k/sec, yet Impulse over the same connection pulls stuff down at roughly 320k/sec

In the end, I much prefer a service like Impulse that doesn't require it's own client be running to run the games I purchased.

[Razgon]

Yeah, steam is a bitch if you'r not online at times, although newer versions are better of course.

Anyways - what I think is an issue here,  is that modding may be severely hampered by it being connected to Steam. Especially since it seems that Babylon is for pre-orders only, then there are files to protect.

I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I know that a lot of people, for instance like Brad Wardell are very disappointed in this move, both because it probably stops modding effectively, but of course it also gives steam a competetive edge with an exclusive none other can/will  sell.

Edit: Nevermind that - my fears have been put to rest :-)

Steam is integral to the entire Civ V experience and is going to help bolster the community rather than detract from it. Both single player and multiplayer modes will benefit from it as well as getting updates and mods that work well with the game. I know that right now there isn't a ton of examples of how Steamworks is going to help you guys out, but honestly this decision was made with guys like you in mind. You are our core audience and the last thing we'd want to do is detract from your community experience.

From 2K elizabeth, the forum/pr rep at 2K

[TiLT]

Don't forget that the game being integrated with Steamworks probably means your saves will be on the Steam Cloud and you'll get achievements.

[MonkeyFinger]

I also had instances where my version of a game wasn't the most recent and Steam kept insisting that the game had to update before I could play it, yet I had no internet connection at the time to complete the update.

Just as an FYI, there is an option in each game's properties 'Updates' tab that defaults to 'Always keep this game up to date'. I'm assuming that switching it to 'Do not automatically update this game' would fix this for you.

[Arkon]

I also had instances where my version of a game wasn't the most recent and Steam kept insisting that the game had to update before I could play it, yet I had no internet connection at the time to complete the update.

Just as an FYI, there is an option in each game's properties 'Updates' tab that defaults to 'Always keep this game up to date'. I'm assuming that switching it to 'Do not automatically update this game' would fix this for you.

Thanks MonkeyFinger, next time I decide to play a steam game I will check for this.

[Blackadar]

Yeah, steam is a bitch if you'r not online at times, although newer versions are better of course.

I played offline for almost 3 months with zero problems while cooped up in a hotel room in Durango, CO. 

[CeeKay]

I also had instances where my version of a game wasn't the most recent and Steam kept insisting that the game had to update before I could play it, yet I had no internet connection at the time to complete the update.

Just as an FYI, there is an option in each game's properties 'Updates' tab that defaults to 'Always keep this game up to date'. I'm assuming that switching it to 'Do not automatically update this game' would fix this for you.

Thanks MonkeyFinger, next time I decide to play a steam game I will check for this.

also under settings is an option to switch which Steam server you're using inc case you're getting bad speeds.  every now and then I'll switch mine to one that seems to be going faster; right now I'm stealing bandwidth from Canada 

[Razgon]

Yeah, steam is a bitch if you'r not online at times, although newer versions are better of course.

I played offline for almost 3 months with zero problems while cooped up in a hotel room in Durango, CO. 

Hiding from the law again? ;-)

[Freezer-TPF-]

I also had instances where my version of a game wasn't the most recent and Steam kept insisting that the game had to update before I could play it, yet I had no internet connection at the time to complete the update.

Just as an FYI, there is an option in each game's properties 'Updates' tab that defaults to 'Always keep this game up to date'. I'm assuming that switching it to 'Do not automatically update this game' would fix this for you.

Thanks MonkeyFinger, next time I decide to play a steam game I will check for this.

also under settings is an option to switch which Steam server you're using inc case you're getting bad speeds.  every now and then I'll switch mine to one that seems to be going faster; right now I'm stealing bandwidth from Canada 

There's also a setting for your speed/type of connection, which could possibly affect your DL speeds but I don't know for sure.

[CeeKay]

I also had instances where my version of a game wasn't the most recent and Steam kept insisting that the game had to update before I could play it, yet I had no internet connection at the time to complete the update.

Just as an FYI, there is an option in each game's properties 'Updates' tab that defaults to 'Always keep this game up to date'. I'm assuming that switching it to 'Do not automatically update this game' would fix this for you.

Thanks MonkeyFinger, next time I decide to play a steam game I will check for this.

also under settings is an option to switch which Steam server you're using inc case you're getting bad speeds.  every now and then I'll switch mine to one that seems to be going faster; right now I'm stealing bandwidth from Canada 

There's also a setting for your speed/type of connection, which could possibly affect your DL speeds but I don't know for sure.

I think that just helps the program estimate the download time that pops up when you select a game to download.  mine was on the lowest one for quite some time but I was still getting 1.5mbps regularly.

[Victoria Raverna]

I also had instances where my version of a game wasn't the most recent and Steam kept insisting that the game had to update before I could play it, yet I had no internet connection at the time to complete the update.

Just as an FYI, there is an option in each game's properties 'Updates' tab that defaults to 'Always keep this game up to date'. I'm assuming that switching it to 'Do not automatically update this game' would fix this for you.

Last time I checked (several years ago back not long after HL2 release back when I didn't have a permanent broadband connection) this feature didn't help you play Steam games when there were new updates. If you disable it, it'll not auto download new patches, but you'll still have to download the new update before you can play.

Not sure if they changed this feature or it is still working like that.

[MonkeyFinger]

I also had instances where my version of a game wasn't the most recent and Steam kept insisting that the game had to update before I could play it, yet I had no internet connection at the time to complete the update.

Just as an FYI, there is an option in each game's properties 'Updates' tab that defaults to 'Always keep this game up to date'. I'm assuming that switching it to 'Do not automatically update this game' would fix this for you.

Last time I checked (several years ago back not long after HL2 release back when I didn't have a permanent broadband connection) this feature didn't help you play Steam games when there were new updates. If you disable it, it'll not auto download new patches, but you'll still have to download the new update before you can play.

Not sure if they changed this feature or it is still working like that.

That would make sense as an issue for multiplayer games.

[Exodor]

Anyways - what I think is an issue here,  is that modding may be severely hampered by it being connected to Steam. Especially since it seems that Babylon is for pre-orders only, then there are files to protect.

How? Why?

When I bought a new laptop a few months back I realized I couldn't find one of my original Civ4 discs so I re-bought the complete package on Steam.  I've played many offline sessions of Civ4 FFH2 on that laptop.

[CeeKay]

more hex pics!

[EddieA]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I'm having a hard time getting excited about this game.  The graphics are just so incredibly bland and lifeless, and the units look worse than Civ 4.  I just hope it plays a lot better than it looks.

[TiLT]

I think the blandness you're talking about comes from the missing GUI in these screenshots. It's hard to judge the overall graphical style without everything in place.

[Blackadar]

I think the blandness you're talking about comes from the missing GUI in these screenshots. It's hard to judge the overall graphical style without everything in place.

Not to mention that I don't play Civ for the graphics...

[CeeKay]

they have a release date:  September 21st.

[marcusjm]

I personally think it looks far far better than Civ4, I am so glad they decided to leave the kiddie style graphics for good. Hopefully this will reflect other remakes as well (if ever get a new Covert Action or RRT). The unit graphics are light years ahead of Civ4 already, let's see what mods can do.

[EddieA]

Gamespot has a new preview of the game from E3, and some screenshots showing off the interface.  It definitely looks better with the interface in place.

[Blackadar]

Gamespot has a new preview of the game from E3, and some screenshots showing off the interface.  It definitely looks better with the interface in place.

*drool*

[Asharak]

Yeah, I'm really liking that UI look.

- Ash

[CeeKay]

more screenshots.  

as for the preview:  wow, the game looks boring in motion.

* CeeKay ducks.

 

[CeeKay]

Civ Anon returns^*




_{* thanks to PR_GMR for pointing this out.}

[raydude]

more screenshots.  

as for the preview:  wow, the game looks boring in motion.

* CeeKay ducks.

 

If you mean it looks a little slow, you're right. And that's a good thing. 

[Hrnac]

Civ Anon returns^*




_{* thanks to PR_GMR for pointing this out.}

That was awesome!

-Hrnac

[CeeKay]

eventually you'll be able to import Civ 4 content into Civ 5.

[CeeKay]

special edition details.