294: One More Turn, Dad

[Michael K Stangeland Jr]

One More Turn, Dad

Michael Stangeland may be all grown up, but his dad is still teaching him a thing or two - one turn at a time.

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[GiantRaven]

This really illustrates why it was so ridiculous that Firaxis removed the hotseat mode from Civ V. I bought the game so that my girlfriend and I had a game that we could play together, as our differing tastes in gaming mean that we don't have many ways to game together. I wonder how many other people bought the game solely (or mostly) for a hotseat mode and were as disappointed as I was?

 

[redisforever]

I agree that there should be an option for an Israeli civilization. I also actually play with my dad, after he bought the game on Steam.

 

[IAmTheVoid]

This is an excellent article- reminded me of my childhood. My Dad shaped a lot of my interests (history among them, as well as strategy games) and our cohabiting gaming relationship cultivated them even more. He's not as interested in games now as he's more involved with his work than ever, but we used to play Rome Total War together- I'd be his 'messenger' and report which flank was getting attacked and what needed his attention the most. Command & Conquer, Age of Empires II... good memories, good memories. It's a shame I don't have that with my Dad anymore.

 

[Cousin_IT]

I imagined this being read out to the class at show & tell.

Also: I think you could play as Israel in one of the Civilization: Call to Power games.

 

[Space Jawa]

This really illustrates why it was so ridiculous that Firaxis removed the hotseat mode from Civ V. I bought the game so that my girlfriend and I had a game that we could play together, as our differing tastes in gaming mean that we don't have many ways to game together. I wonder how many other people bought the game solely (or mostly) for a hotseat mode and were as disappointed as I was?

Really? They cut Hotseat Mode in Civ V, too? I originally choose to not get V and stick with IV for other reasons, but now that I know this, I'm really glad I didn't buy it.

That's a real same.

It's a shame I don't have that with my Dad anymore.

That is it.

I imagined this being read out to the class at show & tell.

Not what I was going for, but I can't say this is a bad thing.

Also: I think you could play as Israel in one of the Civilization: Call to Power games.

And now I know.

 

[lettri]

Wow you guys are noobs. "Prince" is the higher difficulty, lol. Oh I'm just a hardcore civ player, don't mind me.

And yeah, it did sound a bit like a "Why I love my dad and why family matters" type of essay, kind of cheesy. Would've been more interesting if your dad really did play shit games, so that you could argue about it, or at least if you had nuked him in the end. That's how most father-son relationships work anyway hehe.

 

[SIXVI06-M]

I am more disappointed he didn't like Alpha Centauri (just because he didn't find the time to understand it- feh). I loved all the bat-shit insane extreme-ideology factions from Alpha Centauri rather than the generic hodge-podge traits you pick in your leaders in Civ. That and the sci-fi was palatable and had good research done so that it wasn't just a load of: "procure stupidtanium for the masslightwarpwoodgenerator". Instead it was "QUANTUM EVERYTHING FOR THE WIN" (there was way more physics tropes and discoveries than that - but it gets to a point where you have the Quantum era - it's like the sci-fi version of industrialisation).

Such a shame. They also did something in Civ IV to streamline the control of your civ and your unit movement and actions... in a way, dumbing it down. Also a shame.

 

[Waif]

It's nice to see a little credit going to the gaming dad's. I have a Dad that I game with every Saturday. Recently it's been Borderlands, though we have played many games together. Like: Champions of Norath, Secret of Alon D'ar, Dark Kingdom, Sacred 2, and stuff like that ^~^! It's so cool to have a dad that will play video games with you. We even recommend games to each other that we discover on the net. Most recently, the Action RPG Trinity Souls of Zill (or something like that). Thanks for the article, I hope you and your Dad always plays games together.

 

[Supp]

At above: There's a difference between "dumbing something down" and giving players a legitimate decision to make between monotonous optimization and less strong but still good worker automation.

At why Israel isn't in the game: Trust me, I've read the forums, people complain about every single non included civilization.

At the article: Civ is a strange series for a Video Game in that it seems to appeal to a much broader audience than games like Duke Nukem or Bulletstorm that are aimed at the late teens-early twenties crowd. The civ community seems to be made up of a lot more people in their 30s as well as younger people. I think that the age of the series is probably a large factor in this, as many started way back on Civ I

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Also: I think you could play as Israel in one of the Civilization: Call to Power games.

Yes but Call to Power and Call to Power II were Activision abominations not real Civ games. Okay, maybe not abominations... they were feature packed but soulless.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

A touching important story there.

However! You should have rolled over the top of him if you had the military power and he is in all other areas, in front.

I've really enjoyed some good civ games against my friend Jon. We once became involved in this titanic war of medieval Spain (me) against Renaissance Russia (Jon). All the AIs stood back and kept right away. So many units perished, cities, roads and improvements were laid waste. But by the end, the victor had an empire spanning two coasts and across a bleak desert, an obstacle that had previously separated the two ascending empires (an Afghanistan, a centre of conflict perhaps).

Where was I, yes, crush your enemies. If they are builders, if they are quicker or pulling ahead. Emphasise the military and take it all back. There will be less to fear when you hold their cities of wonders and they are shadows of their former selves. Be ready for the abuse though, and allegations of back-stabbing and treachery.

 

[Space Jawa]

I am more disappointed he didn't like Alpha Centauri (just because he didn't find the time to understand it- feh).

Like I said, I had 0 clue what I was doing. Plus, I was still in elementary school at the time. I saw a single unit on this map and was clueless as to why I wasn't able to do very much with it. There weren't any instructions with the demo, so I figured I was better off playing games where I had a better time figuring out how to play (or already knew how to play). What can I say, it was my first experience playing the 4X genre (and I didn't even know what the 4X genre was at the time), it probably would have been the same if I'd been trying Civilization II or any other 4X game in Alpha Centauri's place.

What I do know is that the tutorial with Civilization IV did a huge job in turning my perceptions around, since it actually gave me all the information I needed to play the game. I'd dare say that with as huge as the Civilization games are, it's not exactly something that's easy for anyone to jump into feet first without a clue what they're doing.

If I still had the copy of the demo today, I'd probably be willing to give it a second go around now that I actually understand how games of its type are played.

Thanks for the article, I hope you and your Dad always plays games together.

You're welcome. I hope we manage to maintain the connection, too.

At why Israel isn't in the game: Trust me, I've read the forums, people complain about every single non included civilization.

Understandable.

It's just that with all the civilizations included, some of which I'd probably only have a passing familiarity with at best (I recognize Angor Wat, but the Khmer Civilization? Can't say I'd ever heard of them before I got the Beyond the Sword expansion pack), Israel just happens to be a glaring standout from my perspective.

Oh well.

However! You should have rolled over the top of him if you had the military power and he is in all other areas, in front.

I know. I regretted it about as soon as I recognized I could have taken advantage of the situation. But that wasn't until after the final turn, at which point it was too late.

Plus, there's just something about declaring war on my Dad that puts that little extra bit of hesitation in me. It may be the whole idea of ruling 'the world' together as father and son with him that just gives me a warm, happy feeling inside me.

The fact that if one of us gets wiped out the game basically ends might have something to do with it, too. Though, granted, we could just start up a new one , so it's kind of a silly concern anyway.

However, I've got a feeling that if I ever manage to even up the odds with my Dad again, trying to take a military option against him will definitely be something I'll be much more open to.

 

[zen5887]

Ohh man.

This made me smile so much. My first expose to video games came from watching my Dad play the original Civ. I got Civ: Test of Time for my birthday one year, and we found it it had hotseat. Many, many nights were spent playing that. God damn it was fun.

This read was full of good memories!

 

[Continuity]

Also: I think you could play as Israel in one of the Civilization: Call to Power games.

Yes but Call to Power and Call to Power II were Activision abominations not real Civ games. Okay, maybe not abominations... they were feature packed but soulless.

Agreed, I hated call to power. When you first started playing it seemed like civ but then it degenerated into a poorly balanced and ill thought out mess as you progressed though the ages.

OT: Thanks mr Strangeland! you've got me playing Civ IV again, as if I didn't already have enough half-finished games on my plate.. >.<

 

[Space Jawa]

OT: Thanks mr Strangeland! you've got me playing Civ IV again, as if I didn't already have enough half-finished games on my plate.. >.<

You're welcome.

Though for the record, it's Stangeland.

Don't feel too bad about it, though. You're not the first person to make that mistake, and I have no doubt you'll be the last. It seems like everyone adds an 'r' to my last name for some reason the first time they say it or spell it, though I have absolutely 0 idea why. My best guess at this point is that there's some kind of phantom 'R' haunting me for some reason.

 

[Continuity]

Though for the record, it's Stangeland.

My bad. I guess its because the first time I looked at your name "Dr Strangelove" popped into my head so the "r" got read into your name because of that.

 

[Shade184]

Ohh man.

This made me smile so much. My first expose to video games came from watching my Dad play the original Civ. I got Civ: Test of Time for my birthday one year, and we found it it had hotseat. Many, many nights were spent playing that. God damn it was fun.

This read was full of good memories!

And here I was thinking I was the only person to play the amazing Test of Time. I haven't touched it for nearly ten years... maybe I should go back to it.

 

[SIXVI06-M]

Like I said, I had 0 clue what I was doing. Plus, I was still in elementary school at the time. I saw a single unit on this map and was clueless as to why I wasn't able to do very much with it. There weren't any instructions with the demo, so I figured I was better off playing games where I had a better time figuring out how to play (or already knew how to play). What can I say, it was my first experience playing the 4X genre (and I didn't even know what the 4X genre was at the time), it probably would have been the same if I'd been trying Civilization II or any other 4X game in Alpha Centauri's place.

What I do know is that the tutorial with Civilization IV did a huge job in turning my perceptions around, since it actually gave me all the information I needed to play the game. I'd dare say that with as huge as the Civilization games are, it's not exactly something that's easy for anyone to jump into feet first without a clue what they're doing.

If I still had the copy of the demo today, I'd probably be willing to give it a second go around now that I actually understand how games of its type are played.

Yay, a reply from the writer- I feel strangely honored. Sorry I sounded a bit harsh - I don't see many contributors interacting with their readers, then again I'm kinda new.

Ah, might explain it that you were only in elementary school.

Alpha Centauri still an awesome game and I love the depth of the whole thing - I think the story is fantastic too (and yes, there's a story, so it's not like Civ where you're just re-writing history, I think they even made novels and such- and there is a LOT of decent fanfic on Alpha Centauri), I think it is still available for purchase on Steam? I have an original copy at home- and its good fun to break out at times. Maybe another game to keep you and your dad connected- because Alpha Centauri also supports Play by Email. Please try it, if you love Civ, I doubt Alpha Centauri will disappoint - trust me, it is a clever game with lots of fantastic quotes, philosophies and an enlightening take on the future.

Mind you, Alpha Centauri comes with in-game tutorials anyways, I think they were counting on that rather than a manual.

I know. I regretted it about as soon as I recognized I could have taken advantage of the situation. But that wasn't until after the final turn, at which point it was too late.

Plus, there's just something about declaring war on my Dad that puts that little extra bit of hesitation in me. It may be the whole idea of ruling 'the world' together as father and son with him that just gives me a warm, happy feeling inside me.

The fact that if one of us gets wiped out the game basically ends might have something to do with it, too. Though, granted, we could just start up a new one , so it's kind of a silly concern anyway.

However, I've got a feeling that if I ever manage to even up the odds with my Dad again, trying to take a military option against him will definitely be something I'll be much more open to.

Build nukes while he's not looking -