8/27/2010 10:54:17 AM
kevin
( Kevin Wood)
Posts: 313
BggId: kvn299
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Well, in less than thirty days, some of us will disappear from the face of the planet while we feed our ever present Civ-addition with the shiny new version. As usual, I had hoped to buy the deluxe edition because I liked having he extra stuff and cool box. However, this time around, it looks like Civilization is going to be integrated with Steam/Steamworks. For those of you who are not familiar with Steam, it is an client/server model for digital delivery of games. This means that even if you buy the DVD from Best Buy and install it, you'll still need to register your copy using Steam, and play it via Steam, and update it using Steam. Furthermore, you no longer will need the original DVD. Once registered to your account, you'll be able to download it and play it where ever. If you've played Half-life 2 or Portal, then you've used Steamworks.
Anyway, I'm not trying to start a flame war over DRM, just trying to set up my justification for buying Civilization digitally. I dislike DRM as much as the next person, but the fact remains that if you want to play Civ V, you'll be dealing with Steam.
So, here's the scoop on CIV V:
There are 3 versions of Civ V available:
- Civilization V Regular edition - available in both DVD and Digital Download versions.
- Civilization V Special edition - available only in DVD version
- Civilization V Deluxe edition - available only as a Digital Download
Yeah, this get's confusing, hence this post. Here are the features of each:
The Special Edition contains the base game on DVD in a luxury box. It also contains a Behind the Scenes DVD, a 2-CD "Epic" Soundtrack, a hardcover art book, and 5 Reaper metal figures of units from the game. Amazon is selling this for $100 (YIKES!).
The Deluxe edition is only available as a download from two sites: Steam and Direct2Drive. It contains the base game, a Behind the Scenes video, the game soundtrack, and an exclusive civilization (Babylon w/ leader Nebuchadnezzar). No information has been released as to whether this civilization will be available at a later date. This version is selling for $60.
The regular edition is available in both DVD and Digital forms, and costs $50.
Now, personally, I love having the paper manual, but by the first expansion, it's usually no longer much good. Anyway, I want that extra Civilization (there never seems to be enough of them and you all know I don't tend to get caught with favorites) so in this case I can give up that paper manual.
Here's one decision tree for figuring out what to buy:
- Do I have to have Civ V when it's released. If no, stop reading, this thread is not for you. Otherwise continue.
- I must have the paper manual. If yes, buy either the Regular or Special DVD edition. Otherwise continue.
- I must have the Babylonians! If yes, buy the Deluxe edition from Steam or D2D. Otherwise continue.
- I don't need all the bells and whistles. Vanilla is fine. If yes, buy the regular edition, DVD or digital.
One of the things I didn't take into consideration here is having to download the digital edition. The main thing I'm concerned about is that it'll take forever to d/l the game on release day. If you purchase this through Steam, I suspect this won't be much of an issue b/c I'm pretty sure Steam will begin pre-downloading the game before the release day. Not too sure about D2D, but I'm hoping they allow you to download it early (remember, it has to be activated via Steam anyway...).
Now, onto the pre-order goodies:
Best by far: D2D includes, in both Regular and Deluxe editions, the first downloadable content release as a pre-order bonuse (which will come out by the end of the year and be available for purchase by everyone). This package will include two additional civs and a map pack. Even better, if you buy now, you can use the code SchoolSucks to get $10 off. (oh and you also get Civ III complete for free, but who cares?).
A lot of other places have map packs available with a pre-order (for both DVD and digital versions). There's a good run-down in this forum post:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=9393360&postcount=6
So that's the scoop so far. If you want more info about the game and versions, check out this thread:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=372188
edited by kevin on 8/27/2010
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9/8/2010 5:33:09 PM
Oboewan
( Oboewan )
Posts: 527
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Joe Casadonte wrote:
I'll have to check out the req'ts for the game, to see if my laptop can hack it. It's the only (real) reason I've kept a Windows partition on there.
I'd hate to have to harm Will to get his shiny new laptop for this.....
Dear god!
Recommended System RequirementsNew
Processor: 1.8 GHz Quad Core CPU
edited by Joe Casadonte on 8/27/2010
And 4GB RAM which means a 64-bit architecture... oh joy!
--
"Who is the more foolish, the fool or the fool who posts after him?"
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