What Civ 1 was Like! - Endless Ancient Wars in CIVILIZATION 1

[@GamerZakh]

Back into the original Civilization! Many things hold up, some not so much, and more is on the way. If you want to buy any old game and support the channel, use this GOG referral link: af.gog.com/?as=1715648857 Thank you!

[@fcuk_x]

Catapults to siege cities, 'cause of high attack. Knights to accompany them on flanks. You need about 10 units to capture walled city "safely".

[@gebus5633]

It does not look terrible! Grrr. I played this when it was current. It was awesome! Just wait until a militia slaps your nuke out of the air with a pitchfork!

[@karlheisenberg2857]

Civ1 is and will forever be the game with the best fun per byte rating.

[@GamerZakh]

@@karlheisenberg2857 Fun per byte is a rating I've not considered before, that's a cool thought.

[@TheAurgelmir]

Another thing I really liked in Civ1 that never really came back: You could see your city when in the city menu - every building was present. Bring that back too!

[@xanukraine]

There is a similar function in Civ3, (as long as you don’t play a custom scenario) you just need your press “Eye” button. In the newer CIVs, new buildings are drawn directly on map in 3d, if you look closely enough, but even in Civ 5 they are super small and blurry, though.

[@davidfaske788]

I spent many hours in Civ 1 on an Amiga 1000. And Civ 2. And Alpha Centauri. Good times.

[@gbbarn]

I used to watch my cousins play Alpha centauri for hours, I was really young so of course I didn't understand anything, but for me it was amazing. And since it was so complicated, to my kid's eyes they were super smart.

[@guilhermebencke8525]

Spent my childhood playing this, I remember well, I started in the easter of 1992, and kept playing the series. My all time favorite is still Civ 4 and is the first game I always install in a new computer

[@SBPoLeshiFt]

Civ 4 with Realism Invictus mod is godlike

[@PuntinoNero]

When I was a young child I played this with my dad so many times over the years. This is probably the game I have the most hours played in ❤. And I have played every civilization game that came out afterwards.

[@GamerZakh]

For me my dad got into Civ 2, so similar experience.

[@damianolin3320]

well i for example played only civilzation 1 i kinda dont like others but still playing sometimes this version

[@kevnar]

I love how gamers on KZbin can get away with phrases that would be flagged as hate speech in any other context. "I think I need to wipe out the Germans..." 😆😂

[@Craah74]

Ah yes, those historically innocent Germans... 🤭

[@BeanOfBean]

@@Craah74History innocent compared to..?

[@Cenot4ph]

That brings back memories, liked that the used to have that palace building

[@anglosaxon5874]

I've been playing this and especially Civ 2 recently myself too! lol I always play as the Americans [in Civ 1 using the 'Earth'] as very few civs spawn there [I send a warrior down to Mexico in case the Aztecs are there and rake them over early] and you have both continents pretty much to yourself. I set tax to 0% so research is fast. To get the most out of the tiles, you should 'M' glasslands [without O - shield resource] to forrest and then 'I' to convert it to plains then 'I' again to irrigate and always put roads/railway in them for trade [and hence research/gold/luxury]. Always [early on] use the tiles with food + shields and not the 'fish' to get improvements/units faster.

[@rounz1]

"Yes. We will be friends forever" Zakh: Wonder if I can just kill them🤣🤣

[@kevnar]

Sid Meier gave a talk about the RNG in early Civ games. It was purely based on RNG. Even if you have 8 to 1 odds of winning, there was still that small chance a tank could be taken out by a militia. Most people would consider that ridiculous, and in later games, they actually massaged the numbers in the background to make it less ridiculous.

[@GamerZakh]

Yeah I think it's is better that at some point there is just no chance. I will always remember settlers killing tanks in Civ 2 lol

[@kevnar]

@@GamerZakh "I had two-to-one odds! Two is a bigger number than one! I should have won that!" - Sid Meier

[@GamerZakh]

@@kevnar Two to one for me is okay to go either way. It's just RNG in computers isn't 'true' randomisation either and when it's 99 to 1 odds and the 1 repeatedly wins it starts to feel very unrealistic haha. Besides realism, when things are that RNG it just becomes difficult to plan and strategies because you can just have that terrible run of dice rolls. They sorted it in later games by just changing things like settlers to have no combat abilities, which makes sense and feels good.

[@kevnar]

@@GamerZakh Yeah. That was the point he was making in his talk. Programmers and mathematicians understand probability. But ordinary gamers feel cheated when a militia beats a tank. At first, they massaged the RNG to cheat in the player's favor. Then they just removed combat abilities from settler units altogether.

[@3dmaster205]

@@kevnar Except the problem is that he programmed two to one odds, or even 1 in 8 or even 1 in a hundred, a tank versus a musket man, let alone a militia is a 1 in billion odds; as in, the musket man manages to shoot the bullet right down the barrel, right as the tank fires and the impact of the bullet in the middle of the firing grenade still in the barrel detonates the grenade. That is the only way a musket man takes down a tank. A militia man; are you kidding me? That militia man could be hacking away at a tank for a thousand years and the majority of the damage done to the tank will be rust, if the militia man manages to get in, it's because the rusted metal crumbles away, not because he manages to do any damage beyond some scratches. The changes here are 1 in a trillion trillion of him managing to stop a tank, and most of that will be the stupidity of the tank crew opening the canopy and he managing to get in and killing the crew, also by luck because the crew is armed with better weapons for close quarters fighting. See if throughout playing Civ 1, all of us, across the decades, one or two militia man managed to kill a tank, everyone would be celebrating them as the great hero of whatever civ who managed to crawl into a tank and kill the occupants; there would be animated memes of him doing it. But if militia man just takes down one tank after another, where you are literally losing more tanks to militia men than the enemy loses militia men, I've seen it happen, that is ridiculous. Gamers understand chance just fine, Sid Meier doesn't seem to understand the vast unbridgeable chasm between a tank and a militia man, and just how low his chances are.

[@Centurian128]

Oh I love that beginning compilation, it brings back so many happy memories XD Civ1 was probably my first proper video game and I still love every bit of it XD

[@GamerZakh]

I'm glad you enjoyed that! Thought I'd give a strong taste of the experience up front.

[@fireice3820]

I love seeing you play a Civilization game again:)

[@GamerZakh]

Glad you're enjoying it!

[@Shenanirats]

I still play this, and always get quite amused at the AI shenanigans. I even have a settler tattooed on my arm. Also, because I mention this everytime the topic pops up, I'm still incredibly salty about how in ye ole '92, in the first game, a Greek trireme literally sank my battleship. It was hanging around my coast, stuck I think, I thought it was ugly and bringing down property values, so I sailed my battleship over there to take care of it. Nope.

[@MrTiti]

they sat there so long, the captian of the battleship thought they are fully inapt. so he granted em a tour on his battleship and eventually they treid the red buttons whilst the hatches were closed. Boom. sank it.

[@bolangjalan-jalan]

It was one of my first game on 286 when I was 8 years old. As an Indonesian, I always change the city name to actual Indonesian name. Until the middle age, the game is fun. But when I entered the industrial era, it can be boring, especially when I selected easy level. However, the Prince level is already difficult for me....

[@GamerZakh]

Yeah Prince is pretty challenging! I think I'm doing okay though. I actually find Civ 3 to be the hardest, so not sure if I can do Prince on that one.

[@dertabletierer7802]

The title music still gives me goosebumps after 30 years.

[@markrudd2536]

The simplicity of this first in the series is what makes it. Same as the old Championship manager around the same time. Both games have gotten way overcomplicated decades on.

[@CantoraMask]

I remember printing out the "cheat" instructions on how to use DOS to hex edit. I remember we (my dad as well) made the Roman military guy have something like 30 movement and 50 damage... I felt like a god. Lol😮

[@chrislyne377]

I used to play this for aeons on my dad's IBM 286. What a wonderful childhood

[@roberttaylor3594]

I bought this in the local computer store, loaded the floppy disk into my 386 computer, and played for 23 hrs straight!! that was some time ago...

[@anglosaxon5874]

My build plan is: Found city/defence unit/2X settlers [first one to found a new city and second to develope home city]/wonder/settler [to either help develope home city or to found another city/wonder/temple/city walls/cav defence unit etc. Edit: Don't forget to change the 'home city' of your units otherwise it can take up slots in the city where it came from.

[@AnthonyStatera]

I loved this game, I bought it day of release and had only owned my 286 Pc for a year. I went from scoring 90% in my Electronic Technician exams to 55% because I just stopped sleeping, I always had one more turn to do.

[@ianrandall482]

We called it the divorce game, for all the breakups it caused. "Just one more turn dear"

[@yorgle11]

I never minded the dice rolls that so many people complain about in this game. Guaranteed outcomes would be boring, instead you just have to understand how the probability works, weigh the risks and plan for contingencies. The danger of an unexpected loss makes things more interesting. It's not unlike 90% of board games. People don't win at board games because they're good at rolling the dice. They win because they understand the odds of everything and have developed a good sense for risk vs reward in the game. This gives them a lot of control over their own "luck".

[@StyxAnnihilator]

A matter of expectations. Roughly 40 years ago I got me a ZX Spectrum 48K, not sure why did not get a Commodore, but later on swapped to Amiga 2000. Enjoyed playing games and learned to code. There were some game consoles around, but very few had a computer at all, with no internet. Some servers popped up, where could use a phone line to call in. Such games as Civ 1 felt as good games then, because were nothing else better. Today my demands have shifted, rarely play games that do not have good graphics and so on.

[@hummingbir6]

Interesting history, what games do you play presently?

[@hummingbir6]

@@alexwalters35the problem with modern games is that they tend to go in the direction of cartoony/childish graphics and have next to easy gameplay-lacking in both departments.

[@GamerZakh]

@@alexwalters35 Just keep in mind, quite often devs use old school graphics today because of budget reasons. Games in the 90s that look like this were big budget blockbusters. Games that look like this today are made by one person paying everything out of pocket or have like a 50K Kickstarter. For reference for some games, Frogger's marketing budget alone was 4 million dollars. Baldur's Gate is an 8 million dollar game. Final Fantasy 7, total budget was 80 million dollars.

[@StyxAnnihilator]

​@@hummingbir6Varies, currently on a vacation from most games. I rarely buy games at full price so have many on my wish list. Most games on the list are Early Access now a days, so can wait. Main types games I like are survival builders (strategy), like; Empyrion GS, Space Engineers, 7D2D, Stranded Deep, Subsistence, Survive the Aftermath, Frostpunk, Raft, Planet Crafter, Far Cry.

[@TheGhostman132]

The memories. Tank vs. militia and tank lost. What times...

[@RemusKingOfRome]

I remember that so well, A time sink hole for sure :D

[@SAS1122334455]

so nostalgic, thank you! pls do more retro stuff like this!

[@strategon28]

Civ 1 is still the best part of the series, it will ever be.

[@kluafoz]

Geezus i loved the palaces from civ 1 and 2

[@jordancaleb5790]

I remember playing this oh man the mercanarys reactions during diplomacy are hilarious, such a great series looking forward to Civ 7! Probably doing civ 6 on the switch

[@grantwithers]

Bro if memory serves, when you attack a phalanx that is fortified then they have 2 defense multiplied by an extra half, so ends up 3 (or else double and it ends up 4) their normal defense. So a chariot, which has like 4 attack, is only going to win 50% of the time. If you want to take cities with good probability against fortified phalanxes you gotta go catapult and even they aren't that good. Best way is to try to lure out the phalanx (hard to do on high difficulty).

[@XVRMEDIA]

Or prepare a proper attack with 7-8 catapults and 5-6 phalanxes to fortify them next to the opponent’s city and blockade. Or send diplomats to sabotage the walls and then attack.

[@joshuajayne8926]

Wow, that was BRUTAL.

[@jaybea365]

I always sucked at the castle building feature of this game, however, my proudest moment was me, as the Mongols at 1560 AD with nukes, while the AI opponents tried to back their threats with 'Iron weapons' or 'gun powder'. Yeah I stopped playing after that.

[@P9HL2BETA]

" *The world is the problem; the atomic bomb is the answer.* " - _Gandhi_

[@duskfall_777]

Great stream, I love these retro gaming streams.

[@Mintcar923]

Although i had an Amiga at the time for whatever reason I never got this.. My friend demonstrated it once on his pc but even tho I was a huge fan of Pirates it just didn’t captivate me.. Picked up Civ 2 on a whim when it came out and i guess I needed to play it myself for it to become my GOAT game.. I still hold true it is the best game ever made.. I’m just undecided on which overall version I prefer.. Perhaps the 4th or 5th installment

[@sockhal4595]

At the time when I was playing the game, I always thought that the settler unit icon was some kind of weird big face, with the wheels being eyes.

[@GamerZakh]

It definitely looks like a face.

[@Flight_of_Icarus]

The first Civilization game I ever played, I shit you not, was Civilization Revolution on the Nintendo DS! It was actually pretty ok, and I liked it enough to pick up Civs 5 and 6 later

[@oetgaol]

I loved this game when I was young. I had no idea what I was doing as I couldn't even speak English at the time. (Too young). Btw after a little diving into the rabbit hole Ceasar Zakh would also be good. The name Ceasar was just trown in there somewhere. I thought of Ceasar Augustus first but it was a mess for instance Titus Ceasar Vespanicus Augustus having it in the middle somewhere and some omitting it all together like Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

[@dfcx1]

My parents made me translate all the text in this game when I was a wee li'l kiddo, taught me more English than all the classes at school ever would.

[@ehaitem]

Your parents were way ahead of their time.

[@mrgndx]

Thank for the heads up about caduceus! Didn’t know the difference

[@GamerZakh]

Haha it's just something I'm particular with, but I get that the two symbols are mixed together now.

[@123Dunebuggy]

Simpler times, love it.

[@Glibbers]

Despite the jank and age, this game still makes me want to play Civilization (maybe just not the first one). Great video! PS.: Still waiting for you to play the ultimate German jank game "Diggles" (it's on Steam)

[@Diogo_CF]

21:25 I mean, it's a literal depiction of the Ford T, the exponent of the early automobile era, manufactured by the Ford Company, from which modern corporations (with division of labor and management) come from.

[@GamerZakh]

This is a game where a phalanx with a spear can sink a modern battleship. Also you can build powerplants without discovering electricity. Nothing is a given, especially the name of things.

[@Diogo_CF]

@@GamerZakh point taken!

[@Apophis324]

Ahh, the original Civilization. My brother and I played a lot of CivNet in my childhood, which was slightly better than this. Still love the artstyle ^ -^

[@KingOskar4]

Thank you for the video! Another channel, simply called "Civilization" also just started a series of playing All Civ games in chronological order... Now, Zakh Caesar, will you play Civilization II Multiplayer Gold Edition next? You can name yourself there, AND change the name of your tribe, from "Roman" to "Zakholyte" for instance. In my playtrough, I wanted my tribe to be "SCUBA CULT" but it barely fit in, so I ended with "SCUBA" and Leader was "Oskar".

[@GamerZakh]

I have already set up Civ 2 MGE! Even a jank workaround to get music running. Thinking I'll do real start and Roman for every game, then can really compare.

[@vincewilson1]

You are lucky to have Civ I. It's getting hard to find. The company that had the rights to Civ I is gone and nobody can make it anymore so any legal copies are collector's items. Hang on to that disk as it is money! Civ II - VI and soon Civ VII, still make money. Even Civ V still makes enough to support a Linux version. I wish Civ IV had a Linux version but I don't expect it to happen. I hope Civ Vii has a Linux version at launch but at least Civ II-IV works well via Proton on Linux. Great to see someone can still play Civ I. Great to see the gameplay. I wish I could play Civ I. At least I have II-VI.

[@GamerZakh]

You can play it in-browser now, here's my new guide: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4PLY4GoiN10idE

[@projektkobra2247]

Loved this game!!

[@projektkobra2247]

I forgot how frustrating this game is....taking centuries trying to conquer my enemies hemming me in, while my cities all stagnate making units when they could be improving...

[@xanukraine]

CivNet (a Windows re-release with multiplayer) is way more friendly, and surprisingly scales even for HD monitors 😮 DOS version may be considered a bit more authentic in n regards how most people experienced the game 😊

[@edm192]

lmfao looks like a good time! ive never seen the first civ, only the 2nd one, i own 3 5 and 6

[@tl1758]

Loved this game. Spent hours and hours playing it. It was funny, that any unit had the chance the other, like a militia killing an ironclad... I mean how? how could they fight back at all :))))

[@mrgndx]

The best intro ever xD

[@brinaldi81]

The music.. man it hits hard! !!

[@rickycarlsen6210]

Love this game played on my 286

[@yoramkotzer6012]

The first game I got hooked on - Because of It didn't slept at night :)

[@GamerZakh]

Ahh I remember those days. I have missed a day of work because I gamed till 5am ones lol

[@bleahster6335]

Are you going to do a part 2? Babylon needs to be taught a lesson!

[@GamerZakh]

Yes part 2 has been recorded! Part 3 to finish the game.

[@elgeneral5279]

I would juat put the tax rate to absolute zero at the beginning. You don't have any improvements to maintain so you won't lose money, get the most advanced technology and a better form of government. That's how I spend the early game. I usually have gunpowder and cannons by 1000 AD.

[@brinaldi81]

I remember 2 this day losing my Zulu Battleship to Roman Settler lol

[@TheAurgelmir]

I actually thought Civ1 had only one tile out from the city that was processable - but I might be confusing it with colonization?

[@Atrahasis7]

Its a shame we never got another sid meyers pirates. It still my favourite game from his series. But truth be told , this is still a fun game today, you could make a series out of it still.

[@jordanbrown3660]

Honestly, after the 2004 version of Pirates!, I don't think they could do much to improve on the formula. I remember I got Pirates! (2004) from a Scholastic fair or somesuch when I was in 4th or 5th grade, and I spent probably upwards of 200 hours in my first save lol. My mom struggled to get me to go to bed and stop playing!

[@mrscruffy8045]

@@jordanbrown3660 Hmmm... well, i have always been thinking that it could have used an expansion that would allow for a "darker" career.

[@pa5287]

Omg omg now i feel very old ...is 60 old lol memorys😎👍

[@mauriegiustini7081]

I started with Civ II, so it's wild to see the first game. It's even more primitive looking, but it's really charming! So cool! And is that opening text the same one Leonard Nimoy reads in Civ IV (if you don't click on anything and just let it load, haha)?

[@GamerZakh]

Yeah I started with Civ II as well, going back is cool and weird, you can see where a lot of Civ II came from and how it developed from this.

[@mrscruffy8045]

Yes, pretty sure it is the same text.

[@Alianger]

13:55 If you were researching something (not necessarily the same thing) and you find it/exchange for it or something else, are those research points wasted?

[@GamerZakh]

From what I remember from Civ 2, yes it's wasted.

[@ekscalybur]

Rome builds new city, Carthage. wut??? :P

[@Zyzyx442]

Thanks for upload, loved this game so much. Civ2 still one of my favorite games, but so sad can't play it on modern windows and there is no remaster. The "remakes" are just not as good imo, and just makes one want to play civ2 imo.

[@GamerZakh]

Glad you enjoyed it! There is a way to play Civ 2 on modern windows but I can't tell you here because KZbin now gives community guideline strikes for any instructions about 'abandonware'. I even have a guide video but deleted it off KZbin because of that. You can ask me elsewhere.

[@jonathancornelius]

Civ 1 on snes is my fave civ

[@ipercalisse579]

I remember this game as a kid... makes me super old?? Lol

[@GamerZakh]

Haha we're about the same age then.

[@OhNotThat]

59:00 Builds the Pyramids and yet doesn't use the entire purpose of the Pyramid to change out of Despotism....

[@GamerZakh]

@@OhNotThat Well first I build them at 42:30 and I built them because I thought it'd give a granary in every city, not unlock governments. I didn't even know what the governments did in this game, so I just focused on other things. I didn't want to unlock governments, I wanted free granaries.

[@russellg3775]

this is the best version of the game

[@mamt0m]

you said there is no music - in that case did you provide the music in this playthrough? please let me know the artist if so, i'm working on a civlike of my own :)

[@Samski1987]

Civ 1-3 are so great. 4th was very different, but with time it also won me over. 5th is great. 6th however is where my love for the series started to dwindle…either i grew out of it, or the gameplay is just meh. Looking forward to civ7 tho)

[@diejuse]

It had better AI than newer Civs (like Revolution ones).

[@alextorres5490]

nostalgic i play that but i cant survive because of too hard even u have many cities

[@GamerZakh]

Yeah these old games can get very unfair

[@dannyhartwig7595]

good old memorys

[@benjaminbritsch1749]

the picture shows are car... of course it's automobile and what ever it says additionally...

[@Bertie_Ahern]

If you're the most powerful civilization after 0AD on higher difficulty levels, ALL AI players will declare war on you continuously ("vendetta") until you're no longer the strongest (or until you defeat them all OR until you possess 2 nuclear weapons). This means they will break peace treaties, settle on your land, and even nuke you without remorse.

[@GamerZakh]

I just find it funny that while they are attacking me, they ask me to declare war on their other enemies.

[@turquoisemanturk]

What about playing something new like old world or ozymandias ?

[@GamerZakh]

I have videos on both those games.

[@Niscimble]

Are you gonna check out civ 2?

[@GamerZakh]

Yeah I got it running already and have a weird workaround to get music too.

[@easterbunny3850]

Where i can download it?

[@GamerZakh]

My guide video on how to play will go up tomorrow. There's a few ways.

[@easterbunny3850]

@@GamerZakh oh, okay

[@projektkobra2247]

Doesnt The Great Wall provide all cities with City Walls?

[@GamerZakh]

Not in this game, here it forces enemies to declare peace when you talk to them.

[@projektkobra2247]

@@GamerZakh For all the good THAT does!!

[@GamerZakh]

@@projektkobra2247 The Civ 2 change makes peace way better haha. I think peace needs to be a minimum of 10 turns and other governments like Republic can stop you from declaring war too.

[@KitaRisti]

Why you didn't name Ceasaria Zahkharia?

[@easterbunny3850]

Can someone give link to it?

[@chargagal220]

Oh my eyes!!!!!!!!!!

[@GamerZakh]

We stared at this in the 90s and we liked it!

[@komicsreviewer8505]

My eyes hurt.

[@GamerZakh]

Yeah it would help if this could run in a higher resolution.

[@TheNoldaz]

They arent wizards they are elvis

[@gwydion2418]

And still better than Civ VI.

[@nathangamble125]

It's just not Civ without the aesthetic nonsense!

[@alfiecollins5617]

14:30

[@alfiecollins5617]

30:00

[@pLANerrTAIS]

в детстве наиграл много часов в эту хорошую игру.