oh sid meier, you magnificent bastard

[spatch]

Oh, and lest I forget: The opening menu music for Civilization 4 is very beautiful, in that inspirational chanting Circle of Life kind of way. Watching the menu animation under the music is also beautiful. And the lyrics? It's the Lord's Prayer in Swahili.

The game itself, of course, is another great reason to stay up all night. Even if it does need one little patch or five. Oh, and Leonard Nimoy narrates the Civilopedia and opening narration!

"Leonard Nimoy?!" I said out loud. "Why'd they get him?"

"Probably because he grew up a few blocks from here," Leonard chuckled in my ear, and all was well.

(the sad part is that Leonard Nimoy's West End neighborhood, as well as his little Omni Theater spiel, no longer exist.)

Comments

[piemancer]

No Vikings again? I'm too cheap for expansion packs! Man, what's up with throwing all the cool cultures by the wayside?

But c'mon, man, whassit like, whassit like?

[spatch]

No Vikings, no, but you can be Mongol hordes like always. Oops, wait, did I say that? Sometimes I play Spain too.

Right now I'm still too entrenched in the "ooh, shiny, ooh, I like how the music themes change with advancement and zoom levels" bells-n-whistles gaga to talk about the gameplay, other than the fact that I rather like the way religion is handled (it starts in one city, then spreads via both culture and missionaries) and I enjoy the zoom levels and the terrain improvements, such as windmills on hills and pastures for animals and plantations for luxury goods. Trade routes seem to be automatic, which makes me sad because I always used caravans to explore the map a little and then make some money.

[piemancer]

I think i'd really groove on watching the spread of religion. And the... what ya call 'em... Great People- Great Philosophers, Scientists, Artists. I mean, i love ruling my world with an iron fist, but having little pretend faces on my world seems like great fun.

Except for the spontaneous rebooting.

[spatch]

What's best about the spread of religion is the twinge of pride you feel when another civ's leader converts to one of yours. (You also get a diplomacy bonus too.)

The Great People are a wonderful idea, kinda like heroes in other turn-based games, but unfortunately they don't do anything until you sacrifice 'em. They can add a permanent bonus to a city, f'rinstance, or instantly finish research or building, or a group of them can initiate a Golden Age, but once you use 'em for something, they're gone. I'm sure there's a metaphor for human achievement in there somewhere, but I'd have preferred perhaps roaming bonuses. Have a city lacking in culture? Send over Michelangelo for a while, he'll help, then move on...

[violacat.livejournal.com]

Dvorak did that!

Someone in New York hired him to come over here for a couple years to help develop an American national style of art music, hence his "American" string quartet and the New World Symphony.

Yes, I have done two or three papers/presentations on Dvorak, why?