Civ4 : info & screenshots !
 

Going to CFC before going to bed, and BADAM ! The frontpage has a message from TF with info and screenshots from Civ4 !!! It is from a PC magazine in the US, not released yet. Here is some important stuff :

- Development is being headed by creator Sid Meier himself.

- Civ IV has been written entirely from scratch.

- The 3D engine will allow you to zoom smoothly from a global view all the way down to a single city.

- Individual units will gain experience and acquire new upgrades such as bonuses against specific enemy types and the ability to use enemy roads.

- No more spearmen defeating tanks.

- Besides incorporating new technologies, the tech tree has been changed to allow radically different research paths to the same high-level technologies. Now you won’t have to follow a strict research path to be competitive later in the game – a design that opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

- Civilization IV has been designed to fully support the mod community. The game is written using flexible XML data files and the Python scripting language so that modders will have no trouble at all creating their own personalized worlds, units, technologies, and historical events. Advanced modders will even be able to control the AI.

- Civ4 has been designed from the outset to include the multiplayer mode. You will be able to team up in co-op mode against the AI or other teams of players, and a random-map generator ensures an equal start.

And there are 2 scans with rather... odd graphics, even if it's way too early to have a real opinion.

CDZers want to talk about it, without the CFC general mess ? ;)


EDIT : Here are the 2 pics in full size. No word from either anarres or ProPain, and I see other sites hosting them or giving a link to them.

http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/up..._Civ4-pic1.jpg
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http://www.civ3duelzone.com/forum/up..._Civ4-pic2.jpg
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1: Cool!
2: Great!
3: Cute... Although it can become quite silly: the fact that Civ3's world is flat will only show more clear.
4: Can't tell how that will work out.
5: Important!
6: Best news I've heard so far! [goodjob]
7: I hope there will still be possibilities for amateur mods, like me. I've seen it happen so often in games that the more complicated the program becomes, the more complicated it becomes to make your own levels. Best example is Doom and it's successors.
8: Equal start: good.

About the screenshots: the only thing I say is that it's good you can see the squares again.

Strange pics.. Looks like they're implementing the group units mod somehow. Still lots of work to do, but always good to have a taste [happy]

i dont like the look of the graphics..but my guess is that will be modable.

EDIT - infact looking at the graphics again..they are so bad that i now relise that this is somehthing the art department probably whipped up just for a basic system. I am sure that the final will look far better.

Bear in mind also that the pics look to have been scanned from a PC Magazine article thus lowering the quality further ;)

Melifluous

The resemblence with the engine used for RTW is striking IMO

Didnt even want to comment on it @ CFC, since that forum is overspammed with n00bs as it is :(

First reaction to the screenshots: "OMFG it's Captain Butt Ugly!"

http://www.civfanatics.com/images/ci...an05_scan1.jpg

The units look as butt ugly as the land battle screen in Pirates 2. I bet it's comparatively unplayable.

http://www.civfanatics.com/images/ci...an05_scan2.jpg

My guess is that the windmill is a form of terrain improvement, like mines. Cute, but probably nothing fancy.

(btw, bandwith theft from CFC is some good ;) )

"Civ IV has been written entirely from scratch.": which is the only way to make sure you don't have to be afraid of copyright infringment. Captain Obvious to the rescue!

"The 3D engine will allow you to zoom smoothly from a global view all the way down to a single city.": so it has built in save your eyesight mod. Wow.

"Individual units will gain experience and acquire new upgrades such as bonuses against specific enemy types and the ability to use enemy roads.": hey, they played R:TW as well!

"No more spearmen defeating tanks.": so either no more RNG, or obsolete units are worthless.

"Now you won’t have to follow a strict research path to be competitive later in the game – a design that opens up a whole new world of possibilities.": so they're changing one of the defining aspects of civ.

"Advanced modders will even be able to control the AI.": interesting!

"Civ4 has been designed from the outset to include the multiplayer mode." So no follow up to PTW? Do they really want to make a decent game this time?

BTW, if this game really comes with the kind of editor and moddability they're talking about, it might be so that there's not even a need for expansions. Look at Battlefield:1942 for example, where the desert combat mod is received better than Battlefield:Vietnam.

another interesting note from Soren on Apolyton in regards to gameplay ("unfun" elements)

Indeed. This is decisive. CFC is not my home anymore. [cry]

Right now we are at about exactly the same time as when I registered at CFC: a year before a Civ-version is presented. I registered there to talk about Civ3, and then it was just as cool as it is here now.

Welcome home, Matrix !!! [cry] [cry] [cry] I'm so... joy-sad ! :) You will see, CDZ is a bit small, but it is dense and joyful. LOL. It's "good" to see you say that, sorry if it reminds you of the good 'ol days at CFC in a way. But wait, we might have a better surprise for you, but it's just not the right time now. Maybe after Christmas ? Or later ? [hmm] Stay tuned !