What is your favorite Civilization game?

[Kekvit Irae]

Post what's your favorite Sid Meier's Civilization incarnation or Civ clone, and why.

To me, it's either a toss-up between CivII: Test of Time, Master of Magic (a delicious cross between Civ and MoO) and Alpha Centauri plus the Alien Crossfire expansion pack. If given the choice, I would choose SMAC, since it's more graphically sound, and you are given a LOT more choices on how to end the game, rather than just kill everyone or get all spells/research. Test of Time gave you scenarios with three worlds to play with rather than one, and the original campaign allowed you to play on Alpha Centauri once you built the spaceship, adding a new world to conquer.

[doc_bean]

I've only played III and IV and not nearly enough to judge them

Why are there so few hours in a day ?

[drone]

The amount of time I wasted playing Master of Magic and Master of Orion 2 boggles the mind, so I would have to select the clones. Never really got into normal Civ for some reason.

[Kekvit Irae]

Yes, MoM is indeed luv

[professorspatula]

The only one I've played (well I've played MoM too) is Call to Power 2, which was out around the time of 'Test of Time' if I recall. It looked and played nice enough, but needed some AI improvements and modding, although to be fair there were a fair few mods for it. My computer couldn't really handle much more than small/medium sized worlds so I never got the best out of it.

I try to avoid Civilisation type games like I do for Football management sims as I'd know I'd never have any kind of life left if I gave into them.


Hang on - I also remember briefly playing Colonization but never really got into it. Shooting a few Apaches never really had that much appeal to me. Master of Orion 2 was a game I played to the death, but don't really class it a proper Civilisation clone .

[Kekvit Irae]

I believe CivII Test of Time came out around the same time as Call of Power (I wish I could edit my poll), I believe. Either way, many people online see Civ: Call to Power a horrible mistake. I, for one, never played it.

[DisruptorX]

Well, I remember absolutely loving 2, but I haven't played it in years. I loved 3, and I like 4, too. I think I like 3 better than 4, though, they don't seem much different besides that 4 seems faster, and that 3 has much better graphics.

I don't really know what to vote, they're all good.

[Avicenna]

Only played four and hated it, frankly.

[Slyspy]

I voted Civ2, but thinking about it I would probably say Colonisation instead.

The series is dead regarding new ideas.

[Ituralde]

Played Civ II to IV and loved every one of them. No matter what people tell about III.
Played MoO II to death also, but really wouldn't compare it with the Civ games that much.

I clearly voted for SMAC though, if that game didn't have the science-fiction story it might be my all-time favourite game ever. It had so many great things, that even now, so many years after it has been published have rarely been reached by any other game, be it a Civ clone or not. The Diplomacy is the best I have ever seen in any game. Cease Attacking that faction was great but somehow never made it into the Civ game, same with the Protectorate things. (Don't know if that was their original name).
And the story was glorious. Although I could not keep myself playing SMAC for very long, because I somehow couldn't relate to the technologies anymore I did anyways just to know what would happen to the Gaians and what they would find out about the Locusts and Mindworms.
Not even mentioning using them in battle.
It was really a great game with unique factions that all played out differently.
Loved it!

[GiantMonkeyMan]

i brought alpha centauri for about £5 three years ago and i still play it occassionally, and i then got civ3 which i loved until i brought civ4 but didn't like since i felt it was pretty much civ3 but with pretty graphics... so i voted civ3 + alpha centauri

[Mount Suribachi]

Yeah, I regularly use SMAC as an example of how diplomacy should be done in the TW series. And like froggy sez, all those different government settings were great.

[Midnight]

SMAC, no contest. Social Engineering was great, diplomacy was great, the factions were well thought out, the setting dripped with atmosphere (a rare quality), and it had, IMO, amazing longevity. I'm still playing PBEMs now!

[Husar]

Civ III, easily.

I think I have that lying around somewhere from a magazine, even played it for quite some time, but I was greatly put off by the AI building roads and railways across the whole map. Units would just beam from anywhere to anywhere else. That ruined the fun for me and apart from that I have only played some demos but never bought a game.

[Abokasee]

i got 2 GalCiv II (love the ship design) and Rise of Nations (Elimate another civ and you can demand quite bit off over players)

[Geoffrey S]

Alpha Centauri. Not only is it brilliant, but those times when I was travelling by train with a laptop it was perfect to play in brief spurts. Every game was different; what I also loved was that although in theory each faction had the same potential buildings and units, each faction distinguished itself not in what it could build but in its own distinct character. I really felt like I was fighting Gaia, the Spartans, or was personally allied with Morgan Industries.

What I'd really like would be to find Alien Crossfire (for mac), though whether that's healthy when I should be studying? Fact is, it is the most addictive game I've played and what I wish modern largescale strategic games would aspire to (listening, CA?).

[Mount Suribachi]

And the results of this poll backs up everything I've heard elsewhere from Civ fans

"WHERE IS AC2??????"

[Geoffrey S]

Seconded. I've played AC more than any other game. Though I would like to see them do a better job on a sequel than Civ 3.