What are you playing? (Redux)

[KRonn]

Playing some more Civ IV. I like the idea of Civ and it's a nice polished product. We shall see...

AI tends to build a lot of military. And when the AI players invade, I find they can hit pretty hard, lots of ships and units. 

The newer tech units always have a clear advantage I'd say, even if they may get worn down by too many attacks by lesser tech units.

which level is best to start if you are an old Civ head? Civ 2

I would say Prince level at most for a new player to it. That should give you a good challenged, and likely more.

[Tamas]

Noble. The Prince AI is the first which cheats heavily IIRC.

[sbr]

I tried Civ IV again last night and just couldn't get into it.    Not sure why, I don't hate the game it just doesn't interest me enough to play more than an hour (1000 years in game) 

[The Brain]

I finished my recent Civ IV game. Was just playing to get into the game, no hardcore strategy at all. I lost the space race to the Sumerians but at least I immediately LeMayed the fuckers successfully before quitting. He only had 2 ICBM's left after my first strike (in spite of his SDI) which my own SDI easily defeated. Sumeria = irradiated wasteland. Feels strangely relevant to today's world situation.

[Syt]

I once had the Carthagenians as neighbours. We were about on par in military, but they still started a surprise attack, nuking the shit out of my cities (I didn't have missile defence yet) with two dozen of warheads.

[The Brain]

Tried the Juarez demo. God I don't like that kind of NPC buddy games. Deleted.

[Syt]

Currently in spring training with the 1970 Pirates (started a new game in OOTP). Dock Ellis just started a game the worst way possible. First batter: Double. Second batter: hit by ball. Third batter: bases on balls. Then two singles for single RBIs. Then a 4 run homer. Finally, he manages to strike out one, and the field players take care of two more outs.

[Martinus]

Noble is fine to start imo. It will offer you a challenge without being overwhelming.

For me the biggest challenge/mind switch when playing Civ4 (compared to earlier Civs) was the fact that you need to specialize cities. I had a tendency to build everything I could in each city, which often meant that the AI would overwhelm me with superior military forces.

[Zoupa]

Noble is fine to start imo. It will offer you a challenge without being overwhelming.

For me the biggest challenge/mind switch when playing Civ4 (compared to earlier Civs) was the fact that you need to specialize cities. I had a tendency to build everything I could in each city, which often meant that the AI would overwhelm me with superior military forces.

Very true. As you get to noble or higher difficulty, you'd be very lucky to win the game without specializing your cities. In a way it creates more micromanagement, which could be good or bad.

[The Brain]

Played Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan. Had never played Carcassonne before (but I have been there) and Settlers only once when it was new. I am not a huge Eurogame fan but they were definitely allright. Their success seems to be well deserved.

[derspiess]

Beatles Rock Band 

Need to play that Sturmovik demo on 360.  Looks like there's another console WWII flight game out as well.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Thinking of getting Serious Sam 2. Played the demo last night, and enjoyed the old school FPS, run-and-gun goodness. Reminds me of Marathon, but much more technologically advance.

Plus, sometimes you just need to mow down some goddamn aliens/monsters/etc.

[katmai]

Beatles Rock Band 

how is it? been real tempted to purchase it

[The Brain]

Played a bit of the Mini Ninjas demo. Love the humor and graphics style.

[Josephus]

Played Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan. Had never played Carcassonne before (but I have been there) and Settlers only once when it was new. I am not a huge Eurogame fan but they were definitely allright. Their success seems to be well deserved.

Never played Carcassonne, but SoC is a lot of fun. A simple game, but fun. I think there's an online version somewhere.