ninjabiscuit
Bench
My all time favorite computer game still. Won 100s of games and still to this day occasionally fire one up. V was a disappointment comparatively.
Hmm...just talking about it is getting me that itch again. Always had this dream of getting a small continent all to myself as somebody nice and expansionistic, like maybe the Americans. And then without interruption from wars dominating the early game and building nearly all the wonders. But its near impossible not to fall behind in tech out there by yourself. Still, the dream endures.
You have more determination than I do. I literally play for about three or four hours, then save. Next time I play, I always start over, because my favorite part is picking out the city locations, exploring, and securing boundaries. So I have hundreds of saved games that I've never finished.
p.s. I agree with you on Civ5...it's good, but not as good. Religion and culture were done much better in 4, IMO.