Gaming Blog 1

This week I’ve been playing Civ 5 as The United States. The map I started on was comprised of only small to medium sized islands. I was put on a relatively small island however it was located near many other islands. I started playing this particular game 2 weeks ago and just finished a few days ago. I usually pick the marathon game speed because i really enjoy playing the same game for days sometimes weeks at a time. I lost to Saladin, he won a time victory meaning he won based on his game score when the game reached the year 2050. However the game was close and to give myself some satisfaction I’ve continued past 2050 and begun playing to see if I can manage surpassing the 2 nations more successful than mine, the Iroquois and Arabs. So far it’s not going well, Saladin just became the world leader, which means he would’ve won a diplomatic victory if it was before 2050. However I already control 3 former capitals and will attempt to take over using military forces, which would’ve given me a domination victory before 2050. I spent the game observing the many different systems that dictate gameplay. The main ones are the victory conditions. Culture, Science, Domination, and Diplomatic. Culture and Science not only can lead you directly to victory but they will be necessary, along with a sufficient military and a decent economy, to merely survive. This is a fantastic way to simulate how nations struggle to juggle all the necessities of a good civilization throughout history. The reason I focus on culture and science as vitally important to success in the game because the production of culture and science must be tended to throughout the entire game in order to survive. They also have direct effects on all of the other important systems in the game. For example culture production allows you to adopt social policies which have massive economic, technological, religious, agricultural, and diplomatic effects. Another example is; if a civ neglects its science production, it will not only not have a chance at a science victory but it will fall behind militarily. Advanced technology greatly enhances military power. Other nations will take advantage of this and the civ will be doomed. This is a fantastic way the game systems simulate actual historical systems. No matter the century, new technologies dictate the outcome of most military conflicts.