OFFICIAL Civilization: Beyond Earth (Discussion)

[64K]

After putting almost 30 hours into it so far I can safely say it gets MUCH better once you get further into a game. I was pretty bored for the first 100-150 turns.

I haven't played this game yet but for me I like to build up in Civilization games before going to war wherever possible. In fact the building up of my cities is more fun to me than the fighting.

 

[Delta6326]

I haven't played this game yet but for me I like to build up in Civilization games before going to war wherever possible. In fact the building up of my cities is more fun to me than the fighting.

That's how I played, I just like growing and doing trade.

 

[Dos101]

I haven't played this game yet but for me I like to build up in Civilization games before going to war wherever possible. In fact the building up of my cities is more fun to me than the fighting.

I'm the same as well, though you almost kinda have to play like that in Beyond Earth (in the beginning anyways) due to the hostile environment. I've found for the most part other Civs will leave you alone until later in the game when your affinity path is more defined.

 

[Vario]

Have any of the newer Civ players on this forum tried Civ 3? I think its worth a shot if you haven't. I recommend playing with auto end turn disabled.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/3910/

 

[ShiBDiB]

Have any of the newer Civ players on this forum tried Civ 3? I think its worth a shot if you haven't. I recommend playing with auto end turn disabled.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/3910/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CIBCTLC/?tag=tec06d-20

$1.25

 

[yogurt_21]

After putting almost 30 hours into it so far I can safely say it gets MUCH better once you get further into a game. I was pretty bored for the first 100-150 turns.

seems to be common among strategy games. though some have that initial burst of fun it soon changes into select option > wait > select something else > wait > something got built sweet! > select something > wait.

that goes on until you have enough resources to do something fun. Then by the time you've been playing a while resources pour in, you can build all kinds of cool stuff and you have epic units that can pulverize your enemies. The trouble for me in past Civ games is that the end goes way too fast and the beginning way too slow. I want more fun time.

 

[Frick]

After putting almost 30 hours into it so far I can safely say it gets MUCH better once you get further into a game. I was pretty bored for the first 100-150 turns.

How does it stack up to SMAC?

 

[RCoon]

How does it stack up to SMAC?

There's now a shiny "Download Demo" Button on the steam store page for those that want to dabble before they buy. I'm still bashing my head against it, trying to figure out what building increase population health. As it stands I can't build any, and I've got -12 population health and a neighbor who keeps waging war and losing horribly. It's OK though, everytime he loses he offers me about a thousand energy in apologies.

I like the game, but it seems very clunky to me, and the one unit per tile thing makes it impossible to destroy a city without losing most of your units. Also still can't make +health buildings. Send aid.

 

[ne6togadno]

There's now a shiny "Download Demo" Button on the steam store page for those that want to dabble before they buy. I'm still bashing my head against it, trying to figure out what building increase population health. As it stands I can't build any, and I've got -12 population health and a neighbor who keeps waging war and losing horribly. It's OK though, everytime he loses he offers me about a thousand energy in apologies.

I like the game, but it seems very clunky to me, and the one unit per tile thing makes it impossible to destroy a city without losing most of your units. Also still can't make +health buildings. Send aid.

better train with civ 5 first to get familiar with game mechanics.
keep an eye on AI actions. look at how it is deploing units for attack and what is attack order of units. if you have managed to successfully defend yourself so much times then you already got it how to use the units. use this knowledge when you attack
knowing units strenght and weaknesses and proper promotions are also importent.

 

[Dos101]

The trouble for me in past Civ games is that the end goes way too fast and the beginning way too slow. I want more fun time.

I've found that the second half of the game to go slower than Civ V, which isn't a bad thing, but it is somewhat dependent on your play style too.

How does it stack up to SMAC?

It doesn't, sadly. They tried to take a few elements from SMAC but that's pretty much it, there's not much similarity between the two. It's closer to Civ V than anything else. Those looking for a SMAC successor will be disappointed. That doesn't mean it's not a fun game though And as RCoon mentioned, there's now a demo available.

I'm still bashing my head against it, trying to figure out what building increase population health. As it stands I can't build any, and I've got -12 population health and a neighbor who keeps waging war and losing horribly. It's OK though, everytime he loses he offers me about a thousand energy in apologies.

I like the game, but it seems very clunky to me, and the one unit per tile thing makes it impossible to destroy a city without losing most of your units. Also still can't make +health buildings. Send aid.

Any building with the green heartbeat symbol will increase health (most need to be researched in the tech web). There's also some wonders and improvements that will increase health, as well as many virtues. It's not very well implemented though, keeping my civ healthy is something I struggle with every game. That could be by design though. There's some good discussions on /r/civbeyondearth about it http://www.reddit.com/r/civbeyondearth/search?q=health&restrict_sr=on

And I agree, there are parts of the game that feel very clunky and rushed. The removal of unit stacking happened in Civ V, IMHO for the better. You now have to actually strategize your attack, instead of dumping endless numbers of units on one tile.

 

[RCoon]

Any building with the green heartbeat symbol will increase health (most need to be researched in the tech web)

I can't find any, or immediately see any on the tech web. I did once see a biowell building, but forgot where it could be placed and how to build it. I think when upgraded that makes people happier. Beyond that I've got not idea. Struggling to make better military units as it stands, all I have are rangers and missile rovers.

 

[Jack1n]

I love civ5 but i dont like beyond earth,its some thing new but it just has so much less than civ5 (even if you consider civ5 without DLC's).

 

[Dos101]

I can't find any, or immediately see any on the tech web. I did once see a biowell building, but forgot where it could be placed and how to build it. I think when upgraded that makes people happier. Beyond that I've got not idea. Struggling to make better military units as it stands, all I have are rangers and missile rovers.

All the levels of the Genetics branch have health boosting buildings IIRC. There's also many other branches that have a health boosting building or wonder, you just have to mouse over them to see which ones have the green heartbeat symbol.

Your military units get upgraded as you move through the affinity tiers. Once you have enough affinity points you get to choose between two perks to upgrade various military units.

 

[MilkyWay]

I quite like it although i stopped playing Civ V due to burnout so i was just happy to play Civ again. The tech tree is interesting that there are several techs under the one tech so you need to unlock that one first. As long as its connected in the tree you can research anything albeit some of them would take forever. It works for this game but wouldnt work in a historical setting at all, a more linear tech tree works better for that. The satellites are a nice addition. I found myself using trade convoys a lot in this game compared to the others.

Units are the only thing that really bugs me. I do like that you can upgrade units into new more powerful forms and choose their stat buffs, but i also hate that you have to have affinity to do so. I can't work out how to get affinity to upgrade just a specific unit type, its been random for me because of this; for example i want to upgrade my aircraft carriers i can't work out how to do that i just get enough affinity and hope its that unit. Id much rather just research a certain tech and immediately be able to upgrade or be given access to a new unit. More unit customisation would have been preferable, much more unit types would have been great too.

It would be interesting if you could get supplies from old Earth or new asylum seekers arrived, they are playing it as there was only so much room aboard the space crafts and thats your lot just the one lot of humans and supplies. A little bit of variety in the terrain and alien species would be nice, even if it was just different skinned or textured models.

Its very difficult for myself to judge how far along the other Civs are.

Its not like Alpha Centauri imo, its more like they just extended Civ V and made a game out of future techs. The whole "space" and being on another planet hardly comes into play. Alpha Centauri was quite unique imo. Only barbarians are now aliens and theres toxic gas around the map.

I didn't pay full price and im merely satisfied, its like a standalone expansion pack, a good one just nothing revolutionary, nothing like an Alpha Centauri sequel.

 

[Delta6326]

I just played the demo for about 2 hours you get 100turns. Took me awhile to get used to the ui and layout of things, tech tree seemed overwhelming. I haven't really played a civ since civ 3 little bit of 4.

I tried going with a military and got rocked by aliens... worms are killers! I also hate gas... I got 3 cities found 1 other civ, they where nice, but blocked me. I have to admit I did like it enough that I will most likely buy when it first goes on sale.

As of the demo I would give it a 7/10 things need to be better labeled for someone that hasn't played ever or for along time.

EDIT: tried it again, focused on just making workers and 2 big cities I would say yeah once you get to 100 turns the game starts to get fun.

 

[RCoon]

I think as a new player to the franchise you need to have a plan in mind. I've started over three times and this last time I've done things in a really thought out fashion.

I think it's worth looking at the virtues tree and planning your route before you do anything, and looking at the tech tree and decide which parts you're taking and whether you're going supremacy etc.

I get the distinct impression after two failures that you can't just wing it and go for what you want. I've developed a cyborg military for taking the fight to the aliens, but entirely focused on science the whole game. After about 300 turns I feel I've barely searched the surface. If they want to sell civ based on the demo, they need to give new players more turns.

 

[Delta6326]

Just read that there will be a world editor! once that comes out count me in, I love doing things like that!

http://www.civilization.com/en/news/2014-10-beyond-earth-mods/

 

[64K]

Just read that there will be a world editor! once that comes out count me in, I love doing things like that!

http://www.civilization.com/en/news/2014-10-beyond-earth-mods/

That's great news. One of the things that I loved about Civilization III was the map editor. One funny thing you could do was to make a map with nothing but mountains and win the game in one turn because the AI players would just commit suicide iirc.

 

[RCoon]

Review is up!
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/civilization-beyond-earth-review.206905/

 

[Delta6326]

Anyone done much with mods?

Nice review!

 

[Frick]

Just ended the demo, and I like it a lot more than Civ 5. The aliens are everywhere, the miasma is killing you and it generally actually feels like you're on a different world. It does have the UI stuff I don't like from the later Civ iterations though, like the lack of a right click context menu. I keep right clicking on everything and excpecting a menu which takes me to the civilopedia, but there is none. It is also sort of annoying you can't follow links in the civilopedia, just the icons. It would be nice to know exactly what you are choosing at the beginning of the game too, two scientists or two engineers but what do they do? Plus science, and what does that do? You have to start the game before you can find that out sonny.

All in all, the weak things stem from Civ 5 imo.

Running on "low" (1680 x 1050) gives me around 20fps, running on the lowest settings gives me a constant 60fps. I love it when developers thinks about everyone.

 

[rooivalk]

I never like Civilization series much, even worse the BE (because of the city/environment/unit models aren't inspiring tbh), but playing for a while and suddenly it's morning xD, it's true.

soo, customary questions:
- Harmony vs Purity vs Supremacy?
- Any interesting virtue/research/affinity path or combo?

 

[Delta6326]

Game is on sale at GMG $36 Just need a account with them and VIP. I'm still going to wait for steam BlackFriday and hope for more... http://www.greenmangaming.com/vip/

 

[Hilux SSRG]

Game is on sale at GMG $36 Just need a account with them and VIP. I'm still going to wait for steam BlackFriday and hope for more... http://www.greenmangaming.com/vip/

I'm hoping that the upcoming Steam Holiday sale knocks it down to $30. But that's a good deal you posted.

 

[RCoon]

I never like Civilization series much, even worse the BE (because of the city/environment/unit models aren't inspiring tbh), but playing for a while and suddenly it's morning xD, it's true.

soo, customary questions:
- Harmony vs Purity vs Supremacy?
- Any interesting virtue/research/affinity path or combo?

If going for a heavy military play, go straight to the virtue which gives you +0.5 Health for each military unit. It comes in VERY handy. If not, head a way down the prosperity tree for some crazy good Health bonuses. Saves you wasting research on Pharmalabs and nurseries and what not. I've always played supremacy, their Air is terrible, but the ground troops are pretty resilient. The CNDR is very resilient against ground vehicles.

 

[Champ]

Alright. So I DLed the demo. First, I guess it doesn't support crossfire? Second the one card is used was maxed out. 100% usage. Only game to do that so far. Third, I had to uninstall, because this game has a steep learning curve. It runs smooth and beautifully, but very hard to understand. I really believe my IQ will go up if I fully master this game. There any guides for dummies?