I saw it announced elsewhere. It is listed at $4.99 for "48 hours" so probably until sometime tomorrow and then goes to the regular price of $9.99. I went ahead and purchased the game, though I haven't had time to play it yet. The graphics aren't going to be super-exciting, though. I expect about DS version level graphics, but in this kind of game the gameplay is all that really matters anyway. Civ. Revolutions has already been well received on the console and handheld systems, so I suspect the iPhone version will be just as good.
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Civilization Revolutions for iPhone out and on sale
- Thread starter Keleko
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I picked it up and so far I really like it. It gets laggy occasionally on the first gen iPhone, and sometimes the controls are minorly irritating, but I spent several hours playing it today (love vacation time!) and I find it very enjoyable. $5 is a really reasonable price, too. I'd much rather that than pay $30 for the DS version when I know that I won't be playing it for weeks and weeks (because I never do). So right now I'm flipping between this and Zenonia and Castle of Magic (on which I still have one world left).
I like it - pretty much the same as the one I already played on DS. Have had some lag issues, and it crashed on me once ... but I know I'll be back for ... one ... more ... turn. 
I like it - pretty much the same as the one I already played on DS. Have had some lag issues, and it crashed on me once ... but I know I'll be back for ... one ... more ... turn.
So are there major features missing / is it shorter than the DS version? That part I wasn't super clear about. It seems crazy that they'd sell the full thing for $5, but then it certainly seems much deeper than Spore for iPhone turned out to be (where they cut out most of the stages of the game, even compared to DS).
Well, they sold all of Myst for $5 ... so it is possible. Hard to tell - had a nice long game going earlier today!
I don't think they cut anything out of the content of the game for the iPhone version. The only thing that's probably "reduced" is the graphics. They're pretty simple looking, but it doesn't bother me at all. This kind of game doesn't need flashy 3D graphics, though. I like the simple approach. How the game plays is really all that matters in the end, and it seems just right for a "slimmed down" version of the Civilization game series.
Ahh, thanks. TBH this is actually the first time I spent more than 90 seconds exploring the Civilization franchise.
(I've played TBS's before though). It's a great value, still, considering this particular Civ title only came out last year for other consoles (unlike Myst, which I played through when it originally came out, on the Sound Blaster CD kit I added to my 486DX.... ).Yes, it's the full Civ Revolution. The only thing it's missing is a good interface. I haven't had the lag problems people are complaining about because I'm running it on a 2gen Touch, but it's still not a good interface. Also, when you look at what other devs are doing, they *should* be able to easily get much better graphics, even 3D, on there while improving the lag. From what I heard it's because the only thing they changed for the iPhone was the interface, the rest is the same exact code base that would be on the console.
Nate
Nate
I've been playing this on and off for the last few days. It's pretty good although the maps are a bit small. I'm used to playing on HUGE maps from my old Civ III and Civ IV days.
On the same difficulty setting? That seems odd....
Now I am experiencing a fair amount of crashing on the original iPhone -- have to save often. If I have an extended playing spree -- like if I play 2-3 hours, it's typical that it crashes once in that time. It looks like a memory leaking issue -- for instance, frequently the crashes involve it suddenly having trouble generating graphics, like a battle will come up and everything will be white with text over it, instead of graphics, and then the save screen will look like this also, with all the save slots marked "EMPTY," and even if I try to save it will appear successful but not save anything.
Hopefully they can address that somehow (*cough* Just buy me a 3GS and I'll keep my mouth shut
) and also the interface. The interface issue I find the most annoying is that it's always snapping back to some other unit when the current unit has moves left. I don't know if it does this on other devices.Since it's really my first time playing Civilization, my other quips...
- I find the concept generally a lot of fun, but I think a few things are quirky...
- Particularly that troops can continue to exist for 1000s of years without disbanding or upgrading. It's 1990 and I still have horse and sword and archer units wandering around and it periodically wants me to decide what to do with them.
It seems to me it would be better if there was either some kind of automatic upgrade process or they disbanded when not used.- The other thing that seems silly to me is that it can be 2020, you can have advanced technology, and there can still be large unrevealed parts of the map because you've never flown over them. Particularly if you are primarily gunning for an economic or technological win...
Anyways, fun. I think I've already gotten my $4.99 worth.
I wonder if they'll follow suit with the way things are done on the iPhone and try to upgrade it or add content in any way. I'd like them to at least improve the touch interface. I'm guessing all the week-by-week releases of campaigns for it that happened in 2008 on other systems have already been done. Also wonder if there's any chance they will add networking. Didn't the light one have a screen somewhere that suggested there would be future upgrades for the full edition?
I set up the same basic game on the DS I was playing on the iPhone, and found myself struggling more to keep teh population happy on the DS ... I'm not sure if it is the proximity to the English being closer on the DS than the iPhone ... will have to try that. Again it is a qualitative thing, nothing I can really upt a finger on - just a 'feeling'.
Other thoughts:
- Stability: I see loads of lagginess and have crashed only once. Then again, I tend to break up the sessions.
- 'Continue' for me pulled from Save Slot #1 ... not the most recent. When I crashed I thought for a minute I'd lost *loads* of progress ...
- Upgrades: 'real' Civ has upgrades so your early warriors can upgrade as you progress through the eras and end up as modern warriors. This is part of the 'dumbing down' that happened in CivRev.
Other thoughts:
- Stability: I see loads of lagginess and have crashed only once. Then again, I tend to break up the sessions.
- 'Continue' for me pulled from Save Slot #1 ... not the most recent. When I crashed I thought for a minute I'd lost *loads* of progress ...
- Upgrades: 'real' Civ has upgrades so your early warriors can upgrade as you progress through the eras and end up as modern warriors. This is part of the 'dumbing down' that happened in CivRev.
Crashing seems definitely related to the length of play -- the crashes I've experienced were all after marathon sessions (gah, I'm a n00b for having never played this game before, although at least right now I have a month off to screw around
).This behavior seems erratic to me. Sometimes, when it crashes or gets interrupted, it has loaded the same game I was playing (I had several different campaigns saved, but only one save per, if that makes sense -- it always loaded the last campaign I had been playing). Sometimes, however, the continue was even older than the last save point! Just now, someone called while I was playing. Sigh for some games (e.g. Ferrari GT) that can take a call without killing the game; CivRev died, but this time, when it automatically re-launched, the continue put me exactly where I'd been.
Ahh, again my n00bishness. Thanks.
Overall, though, it seems a great fit for the iPhone in terms of the compromises versus the full Civilization games. The fact that the overall campaigns take 2-3 hours to finish makes the pace of the game great for mobile playing. With the continue / save function, it just needs to be better in terms of where continue picks you up -- this is one thing I've always admired about my DS -- games for Nintendo handhelds tend to be extremely well designed for the fact that, when playing handheld, any number of things can interrupt you at any time. The iPhone even adds a new one in the form of phone calls actually happening on the device!Strategy Guide / Manual
Can someone point me to an in depth guide on how to play civilization? I haven't played a civ game in years and there are so many option in the game I feel like I am probably missing some stuff. The tutorial in the game doesn't go very far other than pointing out where buttons are. I'd really like a better explanation of how your production is affected by what your workers are doing and how much gold you have and need. Also, things like how do you build other cities or if you just convert barbarian villages... I would think that those types of things should be in a manual.
Can someone point me to an in depth guide on how to play civilization? I haven't played a civ game in years and there are so many option in the game I feel like I am probably missing some stuff. The tutorial in the game doesn't go very far other than pointing out where buttons are. I'd really like a better explanation of how your production is affected by what your workers are doing and how much gold you have and need. Also, things like how do you build other cities or if you just convert barbarian villages... I would think that those types of things should be in a manual.
Gamefaqs has several... this one is good:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/file/941688/53957
And the others are here. Almost everything from the DS FAQs applies to the iPhone (e.g. excepting that there's lots of info on how to counter human opponents playing other countries, and for now on the iPhone only the AI is an option for competitors).
http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/ds/game/941688.html
Thanks for the quick reply! I had looked at some of these already but they are more strategy rather than a how-to. Do you know of any more beginner guides? Maybe the DS and console versions come with a manual in the box?
I love it. It's fantastic.
Yes, it reminds me more than a little of the original Civ on my 286, but that is a good thing boys and girls - IMHO the sequels were all far too complicated. Good for the fans, not for casual gamers like me and, well, iPhone owners I suppose!
You wont regret buying this game, the controls are implemented very well and you'll easily play until your battery dies without even noticing the hours that have rushed by. Better still, once you're charged up again you simply carry on exactly where you left off
Won my first game through brute force, which was always the easiest way to play Civ IMHO. Trying to be a bit more artful in my second game; Democracy, however, is a total pain in the arse... switching to Monarchy for a bit so I can kick some serious bootay. Hoping I can stop myself before I annihilate everyone as I'd like to win by science this time!
Not tried the scenarios yet.
BUY IT!
Yes, it reminds me more than a little of the original Civ on my 286, but that is a good thing boys and girls - IMHO the sequels were all far too complicated. Good for the fans, not for casual gamers like me and, well, iPhone owners I suppose!
You wont regret buying this game, the controls are implemented very well and you'll easily play until your battery dies without even noticing the hours that have rushed by. Better still, once you're charged up again you simply carry on exactly where you left off
Won my first game through brute force, which was always the easiest way to play Civ IMHO. Trying to be a bit more artful in my second game; Democracy, however, is a total pain in the arse... switching to Monarchy for a bit so I can kick some serious bootay. Hoping I can stop myself before I annihilate everyone as I'd like to win by science this time!
Not tried the scenarios yet.
BUY IT!