# Civilization V - Has it gotten significantly better since release?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [February 1, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459 "2012-02-01T20:59:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/1 "2012-02-01T20:59:11Z")
After Civ V was out for a while, it seemed that everyone was complaining about how the AI was god-awful and that in most ways, it’s an inferior game to Civ IV: Beyond the Sword.
Has the game improved much since then? I know that Beyond the Sword was a glorious addition to Civ IV that included a lot of re-balancing and tweaking to a lot of the core content. I’ve heard many people declare that all of the post-release updates culminating in BtS was what pushed Civ IV into becoming a legitimately great game.
Has Civ V received a similar treatment? If not, is there something on the horizon that has the potential to be its version of BtS?
I’d love to get into Civ V, but I’m honestly still happy with Civ IV whenever I need the epic strategy fix, so I’m in no rush. I’d rather wait when Civ V has matured to its full potential first.
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### Author:  [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/2 "2012-02-01T21:45:18Z")
The Nights mod for Civ 5 is a modest improvement on the standard game, but it isn’t BtS level. It helps with the fighting-against-yourself happiness aspect of expanding in the standard game. I don’t think Firaxis has anything on the horizon, since they’re doing XCOM now. The only big thing I know of is the Pitboss patch (that’s like two years too late.)
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/3 "2012-02-02T02:03:52Z")
They are probably best seen as two different games the dynamics are so far apart. Yes, the basic premise remains (build a Civ) but the means of achieving it are so different.
Civ V is still buggy, but very playable. I now enjoy it - as long as I am using a Mod pack and have the DLC’s, but I wouldn’t say it has the same level of decision making.
Each has good and bad points- it is a shame so many of the good ideas of BTS have been abandoned.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/4 "2012-02-02T11:57:49Z")
At first I assumed that people were being too harsh on Civ 5 in the beginning by comparing it to a Civ 4 with several expansions and tweaking over years. I figured by the time Civ 5 got to several expansions, it would surpass Civ 4 in all aspects.
Except they never made those expansions. They decided to go the way of all the other shitty game companies these days and just nickel and dime you with little DLCs that don’t really add anything substantial.
So… dissapointed there. I still prefer Civ 5 because it’s really hard to go back to stocks of doom and squares after playing civ 5, but they missed the boat entirely by failing to release expansions like previous civ games.
It’s better than when it started in terms of patching but not hugely so. If you didn’t like it then, you won’t like it now.
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### Author:  [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/5 "2012-02-02T12:33:21Z")
I agree with Senor Beef, and getting off topic a bit- I wonder what market research Firaxis does to determine what clients want?
They so often seem to throw out good strategies/ concepts for no reason other than to sdopt something new.
It seems as though there are no new ideas other than to milk every dollar out od the customer by saying things are “different”.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/6 "2012-02-02T17:38:36Z")
I have a copy of Civ V that my daughter bought when it first came out. It needs Steam, of course, and my daughter decided that she didn’t want to mess with it. And at the time, I didn’t have Steam either.
Is it worth digging out that copy and installing, updating, and patching it? I am currently enjoying Civ III, and I also enjoyed Civ IV.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/7 "2012-02-03T01:34:19Z")
> [@Shooby](#):
>
> Has the game improved much since then?
If I can’t buy it without a Steam requirement, then it has not.
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### Author:  [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/8 "2012-02-09T22:50:30Z")
The game appears to have improved in the last month so much that my computer, which was just barely sufficient in the first place, no longer can handle running it. I’m a little irked; I had a pretty good one going.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/9 "2012-02-09T23:14:58Z")
There haven’t been any changes that I recall in a month - perhaps your computer can handle the small start of the game with relatively few cities and unit and comes to a crawl with the way larger games developer with more cities, units, etc. Make sure you have your options set to low.
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### Author:  [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2012, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/10 "2012-02-09T23:50:57Z")
> [@Frank](#):
>
> If I can’t buy it without a Steam requirement, then it has not.
I can understand why people are reluctant to install Steam in order to play a game, but personally I love it. I don’t have to keep track of discs or packaging in case I ever need the security codes. That alone would be worth it for me, since I play a lot of games and it would be a major hassle to organize my games otherwise. Another big improvement Steam offers over the way I played games in high school is that it automatically keeps your games updated with the most current versions, and handles the system compatibility problems behind the scenes. If I get a new computer with a new operating system, my old games from Steam still work without me having to do anything special.
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### Author:  [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/11 "2012-02-10T00:27:27Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> There haven’t been any changes that I recall in a month - perhaps your computer can handle the small start of the game with relatively few cities and unit and comes to a crawl with the way larger games developer with more cities, units, etc. Make sure you have your options set to low.
I could have sworn that I typed “month or two.” It was early December the last time I played. Weird. Anyway, it’s not that it’s crashing out on me – it’s refusing to boot the game entirely. And that Can You Run It website, which had previously given me a clean bill of health as far as running the game, now gives me a failing grade. The game appears to have upgraded its graphics requirements past the point that my humble little setup can handle.
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### Author:  [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/12 "2012-02-11T05:03:42Z")
> [@Mosier](#):
>
> I can understand why people are reluctant to install Steam in order to play a game, but personally I love it.
Ever been without internet service? Ever waited for six months while Steam gets off its ass to update a game? Ever found yourself waiting for two days while Steam decides to install something when it feels like it?
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/13 "2012-02-11T05:15:48Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#):
>
> Ever been without internet service? Ever waited for six months while Steam gets off its ass to update a game? Ever found yourself waiting for two days while Steam decides to install something when it feels like it?
You dont need internet access after you have installed Steam and any games. Just put Steam in offline mode.
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### Author:  [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/14 "2012-02-11T06:47:19Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#):
>
> Ever waited for six months while Steam gets off its ass to update a game?
Has a game developer ever made a patch that Steam didn’t immediately apply? What were the circumstances that you’re referring to with that comment?
And no, I’ve never had any of those things happen to me. I have lost security codes, or had them smudged or scratched to be unreadable. I’ve also had game CDs scratched or damaged or lost. I’ve had compatibility errors with games that took hours to resolve. Never had any of that happen with Steam, though.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2012, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/15 "2012-02-11T07:10:51Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#):
>
> Ever been without internet service? Ever waited for six months while Steam gets off its ass to update a game? Ever found yourself waiting for two days while Steam decides to install something when it feels like it?
> [@Mosier](#):
>
> Has a game developer ever made a patch that Steam didn’t immediately apply? What were the circumstances that you’re referring to with that comment?
>
> And no, I’ve never had any of those things happen to me. I have lost security codes, or had them smudged or scratched to be unreadable. I’ve also had game CDs scratched or damaged or lost. I’ve had compatibility errors with games that took hours to resolve. Never had any of that happen with Steam, though.
The internet service problem is the prime reason I was so resistant to getting Steam. I’ve never had a problem with waiting for Steam to install something, but those downloads seem to take forever.
And I am currently having compatibility problems, Fallout and Fallout 2 don’t want to play nicely with Win 7, even from Steam. When I got this new computer, I tried loading those games from my old discs, but there are problems. I bought the games from Steam and installed them, and still have the same issues (basically, that the money amounts are impossible to read).
Now, I’m happy to be able to play Civ IV again, and to play Portal for the first time, but Steam is not perfect.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/16 "2012-02-11T14:29:05Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I’ve never had a problem with waiting for Steam to install something
And I should clarify, by “something” I mean an update. I HAVE waited quite a while for Steam to install a new-to-me game.
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### Author:  [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/17 "2012-02-16T13:55:28Z")
Well, here’s an expansion after all:
[http://www.2kgames.com/blog/civilization-v-expansion-pack-announced](http://www.2kgames.com/blog/civilization-v-expansion-pack-announced)
Religion, espionage and stuff.
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### Author:  [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/18 "2012-02-16T15:18:59Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#):
>
> Well, here’s an expansion after all:
>
> [http://www.2kgames.com/blog/civilization-v-expansion-pack-announced](http://www.2kgames.com/blog/civilization-v-expansion-pack-announced)
>
> Religion, espionage and stuff.
Sweet. That may actually bring me back for a bit.
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### Author:  [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/19 "2012-02-16T16:13:39Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#):
>
> Well, here’s an expansion after all:
>
> [http://www.2kgames.com/blog/civilization-v-expansion-pack-announced](http://www.2kgames.com/blog/civilization-v-expansion-pack-announced)
>
> Religion, espionage and stuff.
Love to hear what people think of it.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [February 16, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civilization-v-has-it-gotten-significantly-better-since-release/611459/20 "2012-02-16T16:17:50Z")
That’s huge. I was sure they’d expand it like previous games, and then no announcement for over a year made me think that the dinky little civ DLC was it. Great news - the civ games usually only become great after they’ve run through their expansion cycle.
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