Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth

[Dewar]

Hmm, broken in multi-screen is an instant no-buy for me. Thanks, you saved me $40.

[Gwardinen]

I use two monitors and am not having any trouble. What problem are you having with it, exactly?

[Pepyri]

I've gotta say, this is the first time I don't just feel like Firaxis made a less-than-stellar product, but frankly I feel downright ripped off.

 

I've not finished a game yet. I'm about 100-150 turns in a Mercury game. But holy hell, is this a reskin of Civ 5 or something? The technologies are nearly identical. Buildings are nearly identical. Map, vision, and exploration are nearly identical. Resources and how you use them are identical.

 

The graphics are bad- full stop. Models look about on par with Dawn of War 2. Textures are blurry until you zoom in completely(which, I love how they just pop in after a half second, on Ultra, at 60fps). Faction differences as far as I can tell visually are nonexistent, or at the very least are from a cursory glance.

 

The user interface is a whole step backwards from Civ 5's best-in-the-entire-business user interface, by seemingly making outright decisions to have a worse UI-

• The technology scene is a nightmare of issues. It's too busy, it never highlights the truly important information. It has an obsession with showing these individual technology/building icons, that all look barely different from one another, in the process making their differences pointless.
• The Civlopedia has some really boneheaded decisions. Can't full-reset the search box. Searching for text that is in the description of something, but not the title of it, yields no results. If you get something with multiple results, it doesn't show them immediately, it instead pops up a button to the right of the search box, from which you can click and select from the results- which in many cases include extremely similar ideas(since you searched for something at least containing those), so you don't know which you want because they don't have any initial sentence summaries or anything- and if you select one, it then gets rid of the box, so if it's wrong you've gotta go back up, click the search box, hit enter again, hit the box again, and hit a new topic again. Yeah. And why you can be in there and not have an immediate button to re-trigger the tutorial on that one specific topic is beyond me.
• The orbital launch screen goes purple-grey for no reason at all. It doesn't do it to highlight anything- it then colors the deployable areas by coloring the ground pink. Why even make the world purple-grey then? And why is it that after I've deployed, you keep me in this view, with no button onscreen to get rid of it? Far as I can tell, I've gotta select an entire other unit/city/something(which either creates another window to get out of, or turns off that unit's current orders) to make my game look normal again.
• The options screen is lacking some real basics- no master volume, have 1/3rd of the window dedicated to advanced options, which you've gotta click a button to enable(why even have that part of the window there?). And while this isn't UI related, really, no borderless window mode?

 

Furthermore, I'm really forced to wonder why this is sci-fi at all. They don't take advantage of seemingly any of the common conceits of being an advanced civilization- I still have to manually reveal the map, with there being no logical reason I can fathom I don't have one already- I mean, really, no one bothered to take pictures of the planet on the way down? And why am I exploring the world on land? Shouldn't I have some sort of plane or ship for that? I could understand if I needed to be on land to discover special resources, but one can tell whether they're over desert/grassland/marsh/water from the sky.

 

Maybe I'm missing something. I know this post has come off really standoffish, but I'm looking for someone to tell me it gets better once you're further in, and why. But so far I've been completely disappointed.

[Gwardinen]

• The orbital launch screen goes purple-grey for no reason at all. It doesn't do it to highlight anything- it then colors the deployable areas by coloring the ground pink. Why even make the world purple-grey then? And why is it that after I've deployed, you keep me in this view, with no button onscreen to get rid of it? Far as I can tell, I've gotta select an entire other unit/city/something(which either creates another window to get out of, or turns off that unit's current orders) to make my game look normal again.

 

I've not really played enough to give any good response to the rest of your post, but I wanted to point out that there actually is a button to switch between orbital and ground level views in case it helps you. That button is the leftmost of the buttons in the bottom right of the screen.

 

Oh, and yeah, why don't all games have a borderless window mode?

[sclpls]

I kinda worry about all these studios that are under 2K as their publisher are dealing with new undue pressures to get games out the door before they are ready.

 

I am hoping that this is just like Civ 5 which also was in a rough state when it was initially released, but eventually turned into something much better. But so far I haven't heard anything about this game that alleviated my concerns from when the game was first announced.

[Dewar]

*sigh* I'm still very tempted, though I could stand to not spend the money.

[Gormongous]

I kinda worry about all these studios that are under 2K as their publisher are dealing with new undue pressures to get games out the door before they are ready.

 

I am hoping that this is just like Civ 5 which also was in a rough state when it was initially released, but eventually turned into something much better. But so far I haven't heard anything about this game that alleviated my concerns from when the game was first announced.

 

TotalBiscuit's review (the first I've ever watched, still don't see his appeal) and a half-dozen written reviews from people I know and trust have told me that this game is doomed to be a massive disappointment for me. Every single one of them mentions the extreme systemic and mechanical overlap with Civilization V, the lack of any substantive improvements in the presentation or interface, and the incredibly bland nature of the factions and the tech.

 

Possibly owing to his agreement with 2K (okay, that's not fair, but whatever), TB spent a long time pointing out that even if Beyond Earth is only on the level of a Civilization mod, some mods like Fall from Heaven 2 are quite impressive and that's not something to overlook. Sure, that's true, but Fall from Heaven 2 was free and appears to have innovated more than Beyond Earth did. I just can't pay fifty dollars for a reskin of Civilization V that gets rid of all the theme that made me stick with that game even when it was broken as hell, especially if what replaces it is real-world madlibs and empty technobabble. I don't know if I can pay any money for it.

[tberton]

So, I didn't end up buying this, because I got Enemy Within last week and I'm obsessed, but I just wanted to comment that it's really interesting to see the disappointment in this thread, because in the other forum I hang out in, people are loving this game. That's not meant to be a comment on people's feeling here; I think it just goes to show that Civ has an incredibly diverse audience, so much so that what's a terrible experience for one person is great for another.

[bakelite]

It's not a bad game, I just don't care about anything that happens in it. Alpha Centauri had interesting characters and its ideologies were natural continuations of real-world politics, Beyond Earth just has three vague ideologies which seem to have very little impact on the game beyond unit upgrades. Also, no drones. I need them.

[Moosferatu]

Yeah, the game is fine.  It's not a shocking re-imagination of the Civ formula or anything, but it's still fun.  The gameplay is about as different as it is between any of the other Civ games.  I understand why someone would want something different, but I don't see a precedent to expect something different.

 

Also, everyone in this thread keeps on harping on the fact that you have to explore to fill in your map.  Get over it.  It's a game not a simulation.  Was that your main criticism when StarCraft 2 came out too?  Once again StarCraft fails because I'm forced to draw my own damn map.

[cakedotavi]

Hi everyone.

 

I've been a Idle Thumbs listener for a long time, and finally decided to sign up for the forums. Since it's just come out, I thought I'd start by sharing my thoughts on Civ: BE. I'm about 230 turns in to my first real game now, playing as Harmony with an emphasis on science and culture.

Some initial thoughts:

Good:
 

• I really dig the alien AI. It does a decent job of mimicking indigenous life, and so far it behaves fairly believably and seems to respond appropriately to my actions. However, I do wish the aliens were a bit stronger. (Except for the worms, which are just right)
• Explorers and excavation sites make the starting game a bit more interesting; they're a really good addition. 
• Naval and air units now seem much more viable. Partially they seem a bit more powerful, but also they are simply accessible *much* earlier than in previous Civ games thanks to the new setting. I'm looking forward to seeing how this changes the early-mid game. 

Bad:
 

• The UI is, in my opinion, a step backwards from Civ V. I dislike how the edges of the screen seem to be the only place with any UI elements; even tooltips show in the top right of the screen instead of where your cursor is. It puts information into tidy boxes, instead of where they player is actually looking/expecting the information to show up. I find this pretty annoying, and it results in lots of clutter around the edge of the screen.
• They do a poor job of explaining the long term impact of certain decisions, especially affinity. The resource web is really hard to wrap your head around, and having a layer of customization beyond just techs embedded in there is a bit intimidating in its complexity. I'm sure this will go away as we overcome the learning curve, but I feel like they could have tutorialized this stuff a bit better.
• Purity 1 bonus is really overpowered. It prevents aliens from attacking your explorers under any circumstances, so you can just move them into a huge swarm of aliens, wait for them to eventually leave their nest, then roll in to destroy it for free with the explorer that they cannot attack. Hugely overpowered for a single affinity point, I'd say.
• Why did they remove the "just finished" readout from the city screen when you need to assign new production?? That was such a useful feature!

I should clarify that I do quite enjoy this game, despite my "bad" list being longer than my "good" one. There are just some weird decisions that bother me a bit, and I notice those more readily than other changes.

Overall I agree with what others have been saying; it's an enjoyable change from Civ V, but not a radical one and not without its share of issues. 

[Gwardinen]

• Why did they remove the "just finished" readout from the city screen when you need to assign new production?? That was such a useful feature!

 

Yes! This. I had forgotten about this, but it is indeed a weird thing to take out.

 

That said, I find the production list itself a bit more easily readable now, with its bonuses-based icons.

[brkl]

Yeah, the game is fine.  It's not a shocking re-imagination of the Civ formula or anything, but it's still fun.  The gameplay is about as different as it is between any of the other Civ games.  I understand why someone would want something different, but I don't see a precedent to expect something different.

 

Also, everyone in this thread keeps on harping on the fact that you have to explore to fill in your map.  Get over it.  It's a game not a simulation.  Was that your main criticism when StarCraft 2 came out too?  Once again StarCraft fails because I'm forced to draw my own damn map.

 

If Civ had no qualities of a simulation, we couldn't relate it to our experience and sense of history at all. As a simulation, it's rather crude but is pretty adept in presenting its take on how history developed. The black map at the start is simulating how little information cultures used to have of the surrounding world. It's also quite good at presenting the unknown frontier as both something scary and dangerous as well as a potential source of bounty and useful information. Having Beyond Earth begin with a black map fails very badly as a simulation and does not relate the players' experience to the experience of a settler of a new planet at all. 

[Thrik]

The planets' atmospheres are too thick for any kind of photography to be practical when landing, and composed of material that makes heat-based imagery ineffective. Planets are selected for their ability to sustain life, not their geography — being picky is not an option in the advent of humanity's demise, and there hasn't been time for scouting missions. An explanation that allows for mechanics that make the game work as a Civilization title, without compromising an aversion to overlooking gamification of this tale of aliens and Firaxite.

[brkl]

It would be lovely if the fiction supplied by the game supported such an explanation, which could be as simple as thick clouds that carry something that won't let any scans penetrate. They would need to go into how vegetation survives with thick all-year clouds, but that's just spice. Even so, it wouldn't be as exciting as making a change to the formula instead of keeping as much as possible the same.

 

All that mentioned, I'm still very excited about this game. The sole reason I don't own it yet is finances.

[Thrik]

That's true, but I guess it is a Civilization game and it's enough of a jump for many series fans making the theme so different. Not that I would personally oppose it, but I can see why things might be a little conservative.

 

I spend a bit too much time thinking up stupid canonical explanations for things that seem a bit weird in games. I struggle with the whole 'it's just a game' thing.

[Gormongous]

That's true, but I guess it is a Civilization game and it's enough of a jump for many series fans making the theme so different. Not that I would personally oppose it, but I can see why things might be a little conservative.

 

There are a bunch of little failures of imagination in the fiction that come from or lead to things being exactly the same as they were in Civilization V. One that a Steam review pointed out is that the opening movie claims Earth's nations fled societal collapse and chose the best of the available exoplanets upon which to start anew. How incredibly boring is it all the nations of Earth picked up and went to the same exoplanet, but each in their own spaceship, to resume squabbling just like on Earth? How is that an "optimistic" vision of the future at all?

 

I don't know. I'm really frustrated that some of the best sci-fi of a generation was ignored or watered down to make something that is so baldly just Civ in space. Firaxis doesn't have a history of abandoning their games, so it probably will become something interesting someday, although the bland faction leaders and generic fantasy tech is hard to overcome, but the fact that it was compared at any point in its development to such a careful and considered work as Alpha Centauri shows a serious misunderstanding of the latter game.

[sclpls]

So, I didn't end up buying this, because I got Enemy Within last week and I'm obsessed, but I just wanted to comment that it's really interesting to see the disappointment in this thread, because in the other forum I hang out in, people are loving this game. That's not meant to be a comment on people's feeling here; I think it just goes to show that Civ has an incredibly diverse audience, so much so that what's a terrible experience for one person is great for another.

 

Enemy Within is pretty great!

 

I definitely know a lot of people that are really digging Civ: BE. And that's cool! But also, I think for most of the people I know that are enjoying the game share a couple of common traits. 1. They don't play a ton of PC games in general, and 2. The only strategy games they play are the Civilization games, which they love. So for them picking up this game will be the equivalent to people who pick up this year's Madden, or the new CoD game. Again, nothing wrong with that, and more power to them if they are digging the game. For people that have a greater amount of exposure to the strategy game space though, I'm not sure Civ: BE is offering a lot to be excited about. A friend of mine did the Extra Lives charity thing yesterday where he was playing games for 24 hours. He was streaming it, and I watched him play a game of Civ: BE for the first time, and he won without ever receiving any sort of push back or conflict from the other civilizations. The whole thing just felt kinda underwhelming.

[Sorbicol]

After some dithering last week I decided to get Endless Legend and wait for Beyond Earth to get some expansions. Nothing I have read, watched or heard since as convinced me I made the wrong choice unfortunately.

Anyone else holding out, you could do a lot worse that get Endless Legend instead.

[sclpls]

I played a bunch of Endless Legend this weekend, and I have to agree. As far as I'm concerned it is the 4X game to pick up right now.

[brkl]

I can't play the demo because Steam is too busy. Makes me sad

[osmosisch]

I recently read "Hyperion" and "The Fall of Hyperion" by Dan Simmons and they were astonishingly good - epic in scope, a fantastically realized world and multiple characters/plot threads both interesting in themselves and then intricately woven together.

The first two Hyperion books are good but I'd advise not to read any more of Simmons' stuff because I at least found it poor enough that it retroactively tainted my enjoyment of Hyperion. Kind of like the Ender's Game/Scott Card situation.

[brkl]

He gets all kind of right wing crazy. I read one of his later works and it's constantly interrupted by rants about how Obama brought on the Apocalypse.

[dibs]

He gets all kind of right wing crazy. I read one of his later works and it's constantly interrupted by rants about how Obama brought on the Apocalypse.

 

Simmonds or Card?

[clyde]

He gets all kind of right wing crazy. I read one of his later works and it's constantly interrupted by rants about how Obama brought on the Apocalypse.

He must be referring to the Barackolypse. Indeed, it was prophesied in The Dark Crystal. This is the end of an age.