By Jim Rossignol on July 7th, 2011 at 12:48 pm.
The Firaxis team are taking a few pages from Sid Meier’s great gaming history and placing then in the Facebook. The “social” – or maybe “casual”, I don’t really know – version of Civ, named CivWorld, went into an opne beta today, and it actually looks pretty good. I am basing that on having kicked off a game myself after watching the video which I’ve embedded below. If there’s a problem I can report on up front, well, it keeps timing out, and is maddeningly laggy. Still, it is just a beta, and one that is too popular for its own good, I suppose. Anyway, I am sure we’ll be hearing more about this soon.
07/07/2011 at 12:53 poop says:
play now, my lord
07/07/2011 at 12:58 jon_hill987 says:
Yeah, I thought of
boobsEvony Online when I read this as well.07/07/2011 at 14:43 Fierce says:
Mmmm,
BoobsOnline…07/07/2011 at 16:41 fionny says:
+1 Interwebs for the
BoobsEvony Online comment.07/07/2011 at 17:16 ColOfNature says:
LOL
boobsEvony Online.07/07/2011 at 12:57 Dawngreeter says:
I express my discomfort and resentment for this bastardization of a beloved franchise, conveniently avoiding to note that I will probably play it at some point.
07/07/2011 at 13:01 chiroben says:
This.
07/07/2011 at 13:53 LionsPhil says:
I express my apathy given the best Civ game (IV) has already been made and still exists, abeit with mild interest on if they did anything interesting to boil down the game’s long, complex nature to something “casual”, since I still rate Sid very highly as a game designer.
07/07/2011 at 14:11 rocketman71 says:
I express my discomfort and resentment for this bastardization of a beloved franchise, noting that I’ll never ever play the POS.
And that goes for Age of Farmpires Online too.
07/07/2011 at 15:33 jon_hill987 says:
relpy fail
07/07/2011 at 12:59 Mirqy says:
Reactionary comment about how all facebook games are rubbish – so now you don’t have to.
07/07/2011 at 13:06 Gnoupi says:
Reactionary comment about how the author of the previous comment should open his mind to the world and try by himself before forging an idea, with colorful language.
07/07/2011 at 13:22 simonh says:
Phrase from Deus Ex.
07/07/2011 at 13:25 thegooseking says:
Other phrase from Deus Ex having nothing to do with the original point of the thread, in a desperate bid to repeat the epic Deus Ex quotes comment thread.
07/07/2011 at 13:29 c-Row says:
Clever internet meme.
07/07/2011 at 13:31 Hoaxfish says:
nitpicking about the difference between meta-comments and memes
07/07/2011 at 13:33 Malawi Frontier Guard says:
That indeed poem.
07/07/2011 at 13:35 Dawngreeter says:
Noting that Hoaxfish’s comment in fact comments on the meta notation rather than the content, which makes it a meta-meta argument. Which has no place in any decent meta conversation.
07/07/2011 at 13:50 Sigh says:
Inappropriate and off-topic comment regarding the new Call of Duty being self-destructively derivative and repetitive.
Something something hats!
[Insert appropriate cause] is why I am depressed to be a PC gamer.
07/07/2011 at 13:51 jon_hill987 says:
Something about old men despite the fact we have moved on from Deus Ex.
07/07/2011 at 13:51 Rossi says:
Comment about clever use of narrative comments instead of informative and well formed discussion
07/07/2011 at 13:55 LionsPhil says:
Quote from a Monty Python sketch, due to being hideously behind the curve.
07/07/2011 at 13:59 Chris D says:
Offer of shoes at reasonable prices.
07/07/2011 at 14:00 GCU Speak Softly says:
I’m So Meta, Even This Acronym…
with apologies to xkcd
07/07/2011 at 14:01 c-Row says:
Awarding of all internets.
07/07/2011 at 14:14 MonkeyMonster says:
I 2nd the awarding of triffle for shoes gag :D
07/07/2011 at 14:34 JFS says:
+1-ing
07/07/2011 at 14:48 Stuart Walton says:
A Godwin for the sake of Godwinning.
07/07/2011 at 15:03 somini says:
What a shame…
07/07/2011 at 15:16 neolith says:
Link to Rick Astley song
07/07/2011 at 15:33 jon_hill987 says:
Post that subtly suggests somini does not get it.
07/07/2011 at 16:27 jonfitt says:
Post raging against microtransactions.
07/07/2011 at 16:28 Mehall says:
Comment centering on russian reversal of this meta-commenting
07/07/2011 at 17:01 pepper says:
We have been here, we have done this, and a few of us got a t-shirt, quite a fancy one.
07/07/2011 at 20:12 BitLooter says:
Apology for failing to reply properly
07/07/2011 at 21:29 Gassalasca says:
A comment expressing sadness for coming late to the party, infused with an appropriate dose of wistful nostalgia.
07/07/2011 at 21:41 Damien Stark says:
Comment endorsing a specific previous comment by stating that its author wins the thread.
08/07/2011 at 02:29 potat0man says:
Poorly worded comment with an included apology for double-posting
08/07/2011 at 02:29 potat0man says:
Poorly worded comment with an included apology for double-posting
08/07/2011 at 03:18 Shodex says:
Quote from Laurel & Hardy.
08/07/2011 at 05:11 outoffeelinsobad says:
Deliberate confusion of a former games journalist with a certain television actress.
08/07/2011 at 07:43 P7uen says:
A note that the previous commenter’s experience also happened within the game world in which he neglected to specify he was playing, as he assumed it was heavily implied by the context of the thread.
07/07/2011 at 13:00 Mark says:
I played some of this during the closed beta. First thing you should know: it shares the Civ name but is completely different in gameplay, even from Civ Rev, and much closer to a Zynga game like Axis and Allies.
07/07/2011 at 13:29 Mark says:
I do indeed mean that thing wot you just pointed out.
07/07/2011 at 14:12 LionsPhil says:
I do like how what is supposedly a “walkthrough” video covers bugger-all gameplay, spending its time instead talking about how it’s a full of new genre-redefining groundbreaking collaborative paradigm shifts.
07/07/2011 at 15:25 Enikuo says:
I’m tired of genres getting redefined and paradigms shifting.
07/07/2011 at 16:00 Bantu says:
agreed.. back in my day paradigms knew their place.
07/07/2011 at 13:03 Branthog says:
Such awesome talent making flash games on a social network. Kind of sad. It’s like Spielberg wasting all of his resources producing a film in mono audio and 320×200 resolution. I guess the only positive part of this is that at least some of those idiots spamming each other on social networks with “come join my mafia/farm/whatever” bullshit will finally be exposed to something that is almost somewhat sort of like a real (microtransaction) game.
07/07/2011 at 14:14 LionsPhil says:
I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if, after spending two decades iterating on the same design, Sid enjoyed actually having the goalposts and constraints to work within moved a bit.
07/07/2011 at 13:08 KGB says:
To me this seems to be almost, but not quite, entirely unlike Civilization. Actually looks a lot more like Settlers.
07/07/2011 at 13:11 RF says:
You mistyped them and open. :p
07/07/2011 at 13:21 cpy says:
CivWorld if F F F FAIL AIL Ail ail ail…
Just try any wars, combat mechanics is just pure nonsence.
07/07/2011 at 13:37 djbriandamage says:
I hate nonsense.
07/07/2011 at 15:32 Redcoat-Mic says:
Combat mechanics making no sense? So… Like Civ then? Count me in!
07/07/2011 at 13:22 taytaytaytayacceptable says:
*Braces for horrible Alpha Centauri remake where you buy mindworm samples for 28p each and can only end your turn if you sign up seven friends.* :(
07/07/2011 at 14:15 LionsPhil says:
Silly taytay.
Alpha Centauri will never have a sequel or remake. It was too beautiful for this world.
07/07/2011 at 13:23 Hoaxfish says:
Okay, maybe I’d enjoy Facebook games more IF I was willing to invite my friends to join in with this sort of rubbish. However, I don’t really like bothering people with this sort of stuff, especially when it makes me feel like an advertiser’s shill.
07/07/2011 at 15:35 jon_hill987 says:
Agreed. As someone often on the receiving end I am glad to hear you say that. I have lost count of the number of times I have blocked applications because I am fed up with people gifting me sheep of whatever.
07/07/2011 at 16:28 jonfitt says:
Do you have to invite people or engage your Facebook friends in anyway to play this game?
08/07/2011 at 00:00 itsallcrap says:
Nope, though you can if you want to.
Once you’ve got your city (you only really control the one) up and running in the most minor way possible, you can then just pick a civ to join.
I dunno if this is just because it’s still Beta, but there was no forced balancing of numbers. We had one civ with over a hundred players and then the other five just had a handful each.
Not really sure there’d be any point playing to the end of that one…
07/07/2011 at 13:23 Super Bladesman says:
I’m not too impressed so far, but then I’ve barely been able to get on…
07/07/2011 at 13:25 Tei says:
I have “played” this for a few weeks, and I still have no idea where is the game in this.
Other than the puzzles. Playing a puzzle game in real time, against other people, is kind of fun. I like the puzzles.
In a scale of 0 to 10. This game gets a 0. But considering the puzzle part, I raise this to 6.
07/07/2011 at 13:28 Lobotomist says:
To manage anything in the game you will need to pay money. That how it works. And we seen it many times allready
07/07/2011 at 14:00 bglamb says:
Interestingly, they’ve put a cap of around 50p a day on spending. So it will even out to just another standard subscription cost that you pay for as you use it.
07/07/2011 at 13:46 bglamb says:
Oooh, I really am having fun. Feels good.
Abandoning Japan to flee to Rome, to be the littlest fish in the biggest pond.
Pushing food production just so I can flog it for inflated prices on the market, to buy two great generals. Then striving for a culture medal to become the culture minister so I can add both generals to the “revolution!” wonder.
Then flipping the entire ranking to become King of Rome!
FUCK YEAH! — This is what Civ always was to me. Great stories.
07/07/2011 at 14:02 N says:
Uh, I can’t join a nation lol. Is it broken or wtf?
07/07/2011 at 14:06 Handsome Dead says:
i got bored after 5 minutes
it’s no bejeweled that’s for sure
07/07/2011 at 15:40 JonClaw says:
What a buggy POS. It has potential though…
07/07/2011 at 16:23 Lagwolf says:
Its boring, buggy and the worst of both the Civ & FB game worlds. It has promise but the fact its in Open Beta does not bode well for it improving.
07/07/2011 at 17:35 bookwormat says:
Great that this is finally released. I’m looking forward to try this out.
07/07/2011 at 23:53 itsallcrap says:
Heyyyyyyyyyyy I finally got on.
Yeah, ‘salright.
TBH though I’d far rather they had just got CIV2 running in Flash and spent all that development time working out how to deal with the turns system in an online, persistent environment.
07/07/2011 at 23:54 Lazaruso says:
Now they can get on with making Alpha Centauri 2, right?
Right?
*weeps*
08/07/2011 at 00:03 TillEulenspiegel says:
Brian Reynolds has been at Zynga for a while now.
So no. Very no.
11/07/2011 at 13:57 Ciber says:
This even less Civ than Civ V. Clearly not for the likes of me.
29/06/2012 at 18:48 zaphod2003 says:
I played this pile of pants for about a week. It’s garbage, nothing like the CIV games. You spend most of the game watching your workers running around and making stupid comments (which you cant switch off) and ocassionally get to (wait for it), click on an icon on the screen. The laughable sub games are a complete waste of time.
Thats if and when you can ever get the game to load. OOh they say, upgrade Flash, Browser etc, I have news for you guys. EVERYTHING else works.
What I really HATE is the fact that to get anywhere you have to spend money [real money] to get advancements unless you want to wait 300,000 years for anything to happen, since the game only appears to progress when you are on line. If I go off line and return 10 hours later the game is as I left it. Doh!
Whoever created this ditribe should be forced to play it. Constantly. I for one will never play this pile of poo again. In fact most if note all of the games on Facebook are rank. All they want is to screw as much money out of you as possible, constantly require you to spam your friends and spend hours and hours watching pointless screens.
If anyone suggests a Zynga or Facebook game to me again I will insert a housebrick in them.