I did the save/reload/redo thing all the time in Civ 2 and Civ 3. (Even though it really wasn’t effective in Civ 3.) I finally bought Civ 4 in June and have been playing it non-stop for a month, and I haven’t done it once.
That’s not to say I don’t reload earlier saves on occasion. If my settler gets taken out by a barbarian I didn’t see, or if an entire stack of units gets unlucky rolls and crashes against a city’s walls like so much flotsam, I’ll reload the last autosave, but I don’t just try the same moves again and expect different results anymore.
Also just yesterday I was building the Three Gorges Dam and had 2 turns left until completion when the Indians built it out from under me. Since I’d had enough money to rush completion, I reloaded an earlier turn and did so. Up yours, Gandhi.
I think reloading kills some of our best gaming opportunities. The best stories we have to tell after playing a game are when we come back from huge odds
“I declared war on china and marched my stack into their lands only to find tons of knights waiting for me. Afetr chinas turn my stack was gone and the chinese knights were coming for me…”
If you can recover that game then you have a story to tell. You have a unique game experience. To often reloading ruins that.
I don’t know what it is about tbs games that makes losing feel so personal. I think its because we get a plan in our mind and when it falls apart we feel like the game is gone. If we would react and come up with a new plan it may be more fun.
For me, it was tied into my concept of what “should” happen. My Swordsman “should” beat the defending Archer. My Spearman “should” kill an attacking War Chariot. I “should” be able to chop the Oracle out before Mali can. Because much of Civ (in particular, Civ IV) is about achieving goals while spending the fewest possible resources on it, I would feel cheated if I stepped across that line and failed.
The lesson, which my reading of all kinds of articles and threads on CivFanatics taught me, is that (to be unbearably trite about it) you need to think more like Sun Tzu. Victorious warriors win before entering battle. It’s so true. Stop hoping that your axe can roll its 80% chance to kill an enemy sword, and start bringing another axe to finish the job when it inevitable goes south. Simple in concept, but I had to overcome a lot of bad play habits to really grok it.
I had one kind of like this last night, though it wasn’t coming from behind so much as successfully overcoming a scary situation. I started a new game as Pericles (Creative, Philosophical) after finishing off the previous one, and I started out sharing a continent with both Shaka and Montezuma. That’s a serious oh shit situation. To make matters worse, I found Hinduism and Monty founds Buddhism, so I’ve now got a warmonger who hates me living right down the street.
My salvation comes when Hinduism spreads to Shaka, and I do my best to make him absolutely love me. Then I use him as my own personal attack dog, siccing him on Monty whenever possible, and using the Sumerians, (also Hindu) as backup. End of story, Shaka still loves me, and he has both Ramses and Monty as vassals. I’m still ahead of him in score but he’s WAY more powerful than I am militarily. Once I’m able to sign a defensive pact with him, I’m gold to push for my cultural victory.
You are absolutely right about reloading, coming from behind generates the best stories but it doesn’t stop me form doing it. I play most of Civfanatics Civ 4 BTS game of the months, where can’t reload and I am a
ashamed to admit that most of the time I can’t stop myself from reloading. Of course I have some honor and don’t submit the games where I cheat.
I have started playing Civ 4 again while stuck at home. Does anyone remember in a Custom Game using Advanced Start? I thought we could purchase units to start playing with but I cannot remember how to do it. I lick on a worker but the interface does not let me purchase one (I can purchase tech with gold).
