Regarding PC gaming

[tosca1]

I'm so interested to play Sid Mier's Civilization VI..............................that I'm willing to try gaming on the computer.
I'm not into gaming on-line though.


Never done computer gaming, so I'm dumber than dumb.

Aside from buying the game, what else do I need to have to be able to play it?
If I'm going to buy a new computer.......................what kind should I have in order to play PC games??

 

[PoS]

I'm so interested to play Sid Mier's Civilization VI..............................that I'm willing to try gaming on the computer.
I'm not into gaming on-line though.


Never done computer gaming, so I'm dumber than dumb.

Aside from buying the game, what else do I need to have to be able to play it?
If I'm going to buy a new computer.......................what kind should I have in order to play PC games??

Every game has a hardware requirement, just check them out. Civ 6 has been out for a long time now, so almost any PC you buy these days should have the requirements well in hand. Desktops are generally more customizable and have better specs than laptops, so I would go with them.

 

[Infinite Chaos]

Aside from buying the game, what else do I need to have to be able to play it?

Just had a look at their website and Civilisation VI will run on a variety of platforms - possibly including the device you already own and post to this site from.

However if it's specifically PC games you want - go with the advice in post 2

 

[Nomad4Ever]

Every game has a hardware requirement, just check them out. Civ 6 has been out for a long time now, so almost any PC you buy these days should have the requirements well in hand. Desktops are generally more customizable and have better specs than laptops, so I would go with them.

To be fair, for someone who know nothing required specs might as well be written in a cryptic code. I've had friends who didn't even know if their PC had a graphics card in it or not nevermind what model they had.

Though Civ VI has such low specs that basically any computer than can load modern internet sites should be fine.

 

[Nomad4Ever]

@tosca1 what got you interested in Civ VI if you don't mind me asking?

 

[tosca1]

@tosca1 what got you interested in Civ VI if you don't mind me asking?

I like RPG games, especially turn-based that lets you build.
I've been playing Nobunaga's Ambition (PS2) - and so far, it's become my fave.
But, I don't like those that are too complicated to play.

 

[gdgyva]

CIV VI is not an easy game....

i actually enjoy CIV V more and play it more than then its newer counterpart

The learning curve on what the other tribes will and wont do takes a while....

But Sid Meier games are some of my favorites....from Railroad Tycoon to the CIV platforms

 

[beefheart]

I love the Civ series, they keep you up at night. I'm currently in Fallout 76, huge Fallout fan, didn't think I'd go much for 76, but you can play it solo.

I am a big PC gamer, the most important thing to remember is you need a good graphic card, not the one included on cheap PCs you buy at Costco. Ideally, you build your own PC, but not everyone knows how. I have a Nvidia GForce 3070 Ti, pretty strong, not the strongest, but they get expensive. Next, you need a good processor, mine is pretty old, I need an upgrade, I have an I5 8600, its quite old, but still does well, there are many newer faster I5 and I7's out there. Lastly, I have 32 gigs of RAM memory, its the slower DDR4, but 32 gigs is a lot, it helps immensely.

Having a good sized SSD drive that is fast that you can store your game on is very nice as well. And you need to get a Steam account, all the great games are on Steam, and they have frequent sales.

 

[WorldWatcher]

I love the Civ series, they keep you up at night. I'm currently in Fallout 76, huge Fallout fan, didn't think I'd go much for 76, but you can play it solo.

I am a big PC gamer, the most important thing to remember is you need a good graphic card, not the one included on cheap PCs you buy at Costco. Ideally, you build your own PC, but not everyone knows how. I have a Nvidia GForce 3070 Ti, pretty strong, not the strongest, but they get expensive. Next, you need a good processor, mine is pretty old, I need an upgrade, I have an I5 8600, its quite old, but still does well, there are many newer faster I5 and I7's out there. Lastly, I have 32 gigs of RAM memory, its the slower DDR4, but 32 gigs is a lot, it helps immensely.

Having a good sized SSD drive that is fast that you can store your game on is very nice as well. And you need to get a Steam account, all the great games are on Steam, and they have frequent sales.

I think a good discussion really needs to include what is the gaming "profile".

Is Tosca1 really going to need a "gaming rig" with all the bells and whistles that will run over two grand, or might a console (Playstation / XBox) really be a good fit. What type of display will be involved (living room TV or desktop monitor)?

As a geezer gamer I'm chugging along on my 5 year old i7, 16Gb Ram, and GTX1080Ti just fine. These days though SSD is a MUST have. Dark Souls, Fallout series, Metro series, Elden Ring played fine. Current playing Divinity Original Sin 2 and it's a gorgious game. Don't know if I'll be doing BG3 or Starfield next.

I guess what I'm saying is it's really heard to give advice on "what PC to buy" or "what do I play games on" without a better understanding how much a person wants to jump into river. I'm of the opinion that console gaming can be more cost effective for the very casual person to test the waters and see if you even like it. Then a couple of years later maybe pop for a full blown rig.

WW

 

[dmpi]

If you like RPGs I would just stick with the PlayStation line. PS1, PS2, PS3, and PS4. Buying a PlayStation is far cheaper than putting together an equivalent PC. They have all the good RPG titles. I would consider PS3 the pinnacle of RPG titles. And when the games get old they become collectable and valuable. Even the player guides are valuable. My wife's a big RPG fan, especially JRPG. Over the years she has amasses quite a collection.

 

[tosca1]

CIV VI is not an easy game....

That's what I'm worried about.
If it's that complicated.

 

[tosca1]

If you like RPGs I would just stick with the PlayStation line. PS1, PS2, PS3, and PS4. Buying a PlayStation is far cheaper than putting together an equivalent PC. They have all the good RPG titles. I would consider PS3 the pinnacle of RPG titles. And when the games get old they become collectable and valuable. Even the player guides are valuable. My wife's a big RPG fan, especially JRPG. Over the years she has amasses quite a collection.

I was thinking of ps5 - but I saw how complicated setting it up would take! Not to mention the cost!
Thinking of ps4 too.........but am concerned how many good RPG titles it has, and if it's also complicated to set up.

I'm an old gal!
I guess I've become a real dinosaur - got left far behind when I settled comfortably with PS2, and now, can't manage to catch up.
I'm still using my PS2 btw. I've got quite a collection too.

 

[beefheart]

I think a good discussion really needs to include what is the gaming "profile".

Is Tosca1 really going to need a "gaming rig" with all the bells and whistles that will run over two grand, or might a console (Playstation / XBox) really be a good fit. What type of display will be involved (living room TV or desktop monitor)?

As a geezer gamer I'm chugging along on my 5 year old i7, 16Gb Ram, and GTX1080Ti just fine. These days though SSD is a MUST have. Dark Souls, Fallout series, Metro series, Elden Ring played fine. Current playing Divinity Original Sin 2 and it's a gorgious game. Don't know if I'll be doing BG3 or Starfield next.

I guess what I'm saying is it's really heard to give advice on "what PC to buy" or "what do I play games on" without a better understanding how much a person wants to jump into river. I'm of the opinion that console gaming can be more cost effective for the very casual person to test the waters and see if you even like it. Then a couple of years later maybe pop for a full blown rig.

WW

Yeah, I just build my own. I'm gonna upgrade at some point soon, new motherboard and processor, and keep all the drives...but its a PITA to reinstall windows, and verify it and all that. I would probably buy a new bigger ssd and do a fresh install.

I want to build a virtual pinball cabinet using my spare parts. You have to buy a full size cabinet, with a flatscreen TV for the pinball field, and another one for the display panel, and buy a Dot Matrix LED for the display monitor. There are several pinball franchises out there, FX3, etc...that have real classic pins from Williams and Gottlieb, and there are the grey area recreations of many tables out there, and lots of stuff created just for PC or console. Some cool stuff, I'll probably just buy one that is pre-made and sign in to my accounts. You can have a few hundred machines on a virtual pinball machines. The good is that the mechanical parts don't break, the bad is that it still isn't the same, even with solonoids and shakers and all that.

 

[beefheart]

That's what I'm worried about.
If it's that complicated.

You can play it on easy level and then move up. I can never play it too long at any advanced level, but its fun.

 

[gdgyva]

That's what I'm worried about.
If it's that complicated.

not easy, but FUN
i have over 2600 hours of play into CIV V

not bad entertainment dollars for i think about $ 55 game i bought 6-7 years ago? maybe more

takes a while to learn and master, and then the challenges are as you play the harder settings

 

[dmpi]

I was thinking of ps5 - but I saw how complicated setting it up would take! Not to mention the cost!
Thinking of ps4 too.........but am concerned how many good RPG titles it has, and if it's also complicated to set up.

I'm an old gal!
I guess I've become a real dinosaur - got left far behind when I settled comfortably with PS2, and now, can't manage to catch up.
I'm still using my PS2 btw. I've got quite a collection too.

PS2 had many good RPG titles but eventually you'll run out of them and you'll have to upgrade your unit.
We have a PS1, PS2, PS3 & PS4. For the PS4 I had to buy an HDMI adapter because my wife prefers to play on a HD Tube TV. Are you playing on a modern flat screen LCD TV?

PS3: $220 for the unit but you have to buy used.
More RPG games but many are out-of-print and are expensive. But there are still titles available.

PS4: $350 for the unit new. But it won't be long before you can't buy a new unit.
Many RPG games and with PS5 already out for some time this is when PS4 titles gets discounted and then discontinued.

IMHO I would just get a PS4, assuming your TV can hook up to it. I think you're too late to do the PS3 thing but you still can but it'll just cost you more.

 

[ASHES]

Yeah, I just build my own. I'm gonna upgrade at some point soon, new motherboard and processor, and keep all the drives...but its a PITA to reinstall windows, and verify it and all that. I would probably buy a new bigger ssd and do a fresh install.

It's not that difficult any more really. I installed Windows 10 some years ago on my old laptop, and tied the key to my Microsoft account. When my laptop got a sata ssd I just cloned my windows drive to the new one. When I got a new PC, I put the ssd in and it booted right up. Then I upgraded it to W11, and cloned it again onto an nvme ssd.

 

[beefheart]

It's not that difficult any more really. I installed Windows 10 some years ago on my old laptop, and tied the key to my Microsoft account. When my laptop got a sata ssd I just cloned my windows drive to the new one. When I got a new PC, I put the ssd in and it booted right up. Then I upgraded it to W11, and cloned it again onto an nvme ssd.

Its easier than it was, just gotta make sure you have your key. When I upgraded to 11, I didn't have the hardware requirements on my motherboard. So I downloaded the .iso to a USB and found a program that tricked it into installing, surprisingly easy!

 

[Stealers Wheel]

I soured on online FPS (First person shooter) games like Quake or Call to Duty a long time ago when I came to realize that all things being equal (computer processor, modem speed, etc.), low ping always wins.

Ping is the measurement of time (in milliseconds) between when the player inputs and the response from the server is received. This round trip takes time, measurable time. This means that a player who is 200 miles from the server will have a distinct advantage over someone who is 2000 miles from the server. The closer player will "see" things a fraction of a second or more sooner than the further players. In my experience, this can be huge. Now I limit my gaming to "turn-based" games, such as golf, where ping is not a factor.

 

[tosca1]

PS2 had many good RPG titles but eventually you'll run out of them and you'll have to upgrade your unit.
We have a PS1, PS2, PS3 & PS4. For the PS4 I had to buy an HDMI adapter because my wife prefers to play on a HD Tube TV. Are you playing on a modern flat screen LCD TV?

PS3: $220 for the unit but you have to buy used.
More RPG games but many are out-of-print and are expensive. But there are still titles available.

PS4: $350 for the unit new. But it won't be long before you can't buy a new unit.
Many RPG games and with PS5 already out for some time this is when PS4 titles gets discounted and then discontinued.

IMHO I would just get a PS4, assuming your TV can hook up to it. I think you're too late to do the PS3 thing but you still can but it'll just cost you more.

I have a Samsung HD. My PS2 is hooked up to it - we had to use an HDMI adapter. I have tons of PS2 and PS1 RPG games.
The PS1 games aren't read anymore - I guess because they are old and colored discs.

I have a N64 stored away, with a sizeable collection too (before I got into PS2) - but you know N64 - their RPG isn't like PS2.
Haven't played it in years, so I don't know now if it still even works.

 

[Indlib]

I'm so interested to play Sid Mier's Civilization VI..............................that I'm willing to try gaming on the computer.
I'm not into gaming on-line though.


Never done computer gaming, so I'm dumber than dumb.

Aside from buying the game, what else do I need to have to be able to play it?
If I'm going to buy a new computer.......................what kind should I have in order to play PC games??

As others have said you won't need that fancy a computer to play civ 6.

You may want to check into Steam if you haven't already. They periodically put games, Civ 6 for instance, on big sales.

I would be surprised if civ 6 wasn't on sale for 85 percent off (there historic sales price) for their annual winter sale which I believe starts on the 21st this year. I think that prices it at only 8.99.

FYI, if you aren't familiar with Steam it is safe and reliable. You can download whatever games you buy to any computer. You will have to download the client and register but after that it is easy to shop for whatever game you want.

 

[jmotivator]

I'm so interested to play Sid Mier's Civilization VI..............................that I'm willing to try gaming on the computer.
I'm not into gaming on-line though.


Never done computer gaming, so I'm dumber than dumb.

Aside from buying the game, what else do I need to have to be able to play it?
If I'm going to buy a new computer.......................what kind should I have in order to play PC games??

You've come to the right place!

So here's the thing... it's pretty hard to give you advice on the right PC to get for PC gaming only because there is a wide range of PC games with different requirements.

I could give you advice on a system that economically runs CIV6 well, but if you get the PC gaming bug you might soon find that the system you sunk all your money into isn't sufficient to run other games with higher requirements.

For most PC gaming I advise starting with a PC rather than a laptop for this reason. A PC is easier to upgrade if you decide to expand to other, more hardware intensive games.

My first advice is to not buy Alienware PCs. They have proprietary hardware that can be impossible to upgrade. If you have a Micro Center near you I would HIGHLY recom,mend checking out their PowerSpec line of PCs. The PowerSpec line is the MIcro Center brand and is built entirely off of hardware that Micro Center carries on their shelves, and the build quality is good.

Now I will go and read all the replies that already told you all of this stuff. Haha

 

[jmotivator]

I like RPG games, especially turn-based that lets you build.
I've been playing Nobunaga's Ambition (PS2) - and so far, it's become my fave.
But, I don't like those that are too complicated to play.

Oh man, if you are in to turn based RPGs then you are are tapping into an amazing panacea of games with a PC. So, so many amazing RPGs for PC...

 

[Moon]

Yeah, I just build my own. I'm gonna upgrade at some point soon, new motherboard and processor, and keep all the drives...but its a PITA to reinstall windows, and verify it and all that. I would probably buy a new bigger ssd and do a fresh install.

I want to build a virtual pinball cabinet using my spare parts. You have to buy a full size cabinet, with a flatscreen TV for the pinball field, and another one for the display panel, and buy a Dot Matrix LED for the display monitor. There are several pinball franchises out there, FX3, etc...that have real classic pins from Williams and Gottlieb, and there are the grey area recreations of many tables out there, and lots of stuff created just for PC or console. Some cool stuff, I'll probably just buy one that is pre-made and sign in to my accounts. You can have a few hundred machines on a virtual pinball machines. The good is that the mechanical parts don't break, the bad is that it still isn't the same, even with solonoids and shakers and all that.

There’s a program you can use called DiskGenius that will migrate your c: drive to another hard drive. It’s very fast and will even modify your BIOS settings for you. I used it on my recent upgrade and it worked like a champ.

 

[Lutherf]

I didn't find Civ VI to be as engaging as some of the earlier versions of the game. That's probably because my preferred play style is one of military domination and I have very little interest in diplomatic or cultural game play. Civ V is my go to game when everything else feels stale but I have a soft spot for Civ III.