Sid working on Civ5!

[Shabbaman]

I just read this on tweakers.net, so the news is at least a day old. But apparently Civilization 5 is coming. Surprise! Once again this version will include improved diplomacy (for real this time), better graphics (which means I'll be the only one with a computer that can run this game ) and some tweaks to battles. Read more about it on www.civilization5.com.

Oh, the release date is "fall 2010". Any plans for christmas this year?

[socralynnek]

socralynnek working on mastering Civ4!

I am looking forward to it cause then I finally have a reason to buy a better computer ;-)

[Rik Meleet]

Hexacons !

[Beam]

[Shabbaman]

Originally Posted by Rik Meleet

Hexacons !

Yes, the game should look more like Settlers of Catan... In a 3d world hexagons make more sense, but I doubt it'll make a lot of difference gamewise.

I also found this:

•Switch from squares to hexagons changing the way the game plays. More room for maneuvers and more tactical options.
•Changes to combat. More depth in combat, no more stacking of units. This will lead to bigger focus on terrain.
•Inspired by Panzer General.
•Reintroduction of Bombardment, now archers and siege equipment can shoot over melee units.
•Better diplomatic AI.
•More diplomatic options between players.
•Less "cheating" AI.
•Religion is not a factor anymore.
•Resources are not infinite. For example one source of horse only supplies enough horses for 1 unit, but when that horseman dies the horses will respawn as a unit. (this confused me a little, i guess we will have to watch it in action)
•City States as a sort of small countries that never develop beyond their single city. They can provide bonusses if you befriend them, or you can take over their land.
•Civics are out, now there is something called "Social Policies".
•About the same amount of wonders, the tech tree will feel familiar. Great People still in.
•Some victory conditions changed. For example in Conquest you only have to capture all the other capitals. Eliminates boring mop up phase.
•Unique Civ leader bonusses, no more standard "Spiritual" or "Financial".
•DirectX 11 support.
•Built in webbrowser. Sid Meier is also working on a facebook application of Civilization.

Whait, what? No more unit stacking? I think I'm going to miss religion, I thought that was a nice addition to the game. It added a layer of depth. And that might be why it's removed now, to dumb the game down. I'm going to call "hype" on "social policies" and "unique civ leader bonuses", I bet they'll play similarly to civics and the leader traits.

BTW, about that resource limitation, I think I've seen that in a mod or another game. You connect the resource, and it's used as "upkeep" for a certian number of units. I like it to some extent, because this means that resources can be more plentiful and resource screw is less likely. It also adds depth to trading. A major change that I'm already happy about.

[BCLG100]

I do hope there are more changes than them, otherwise it doesn't seem like a whole new change to the game in the same way civ2- 3 or 3-4 was.

I'll miss religion and to an extent the leader bonuses, i feel this will even more heavily weight particular leaders than other leaders. Currently in an MP game everyone wants financial but with this alteration there may only now be a smaller selection to choose from.

It also definitely appears to me as though anyone with less than a nasa computer will be unable to run the game.

[Robi D]

Every civ game and expansion pack that has come out since civ 1 has always been touted as better gameplay, better ai, better diplomacy better blah blah, the problem is there is usually a gap between what is promised and what is delivered, so i'll wait and see how it all turns out before i start jumping for joy.

With the parts they specifically announced, hex tiles make more sense in a 3d world but is no big deal. The return of bombardment is great, it was one of the stupider thing about civ4. Limited resources sounds like a good step forward in realism as are the city states (but then barb cities were suppose be a similar thing in civ4) so it just depends how its implemented. The thing unique leader qualities and social policy just sounds they a putting in a minor tweak and rebranding it as something completely new. I will miss religion, i'm sorry they decided to dump it as it added a bit of flavour, particularly with diplomacy in SP games, but on the other hand they were criticised by just about everyone because it either was too important or not important enough or didn't have an athiest options so they probably figured it easier just not to have it

I am a bit surprised by all this though, last time i heard anything about it they were giving it a rest and working on a facebook civ game. The fact that its due out in 6 months either means they have been BSing and have been working on it for a while or they just decided to do it and it'll be a rush job that will need 3 patches before it works

[akots]

I'll bet on rush job with memory leaks and poor programming. By the time of the second expansion, they'll fix it though eventually so it is playable.

The main advantage of Civ4 is that it is quite an enjoyable game in multiplayer on certain settings. I was unable to grasp the fascination of single player games despite my best efforts of playing a few GOTMs and tourneys at CFR. However, there are a few absolutely outstanding mods which are quite playable and of particular note is FfH even though Kael still cannot stop and continues to release more and more patches. Which screws it up for me unfortunately.

Civ3 for me had the most enjoyable single player experience. Hopefully, Civ5 can be playable. However, at this accelerating edge of internet and various facebooks/twitters/skypes and similar stuff, multiplayer games certainly dominate and these features would be mostly likely emphasized. So, I just hope they will keep PitBoss-type games and/or PBEM there since otherwise, regular multiplayer is too time-consuming for me.

[Robi D]

I think it a rush job too for what its worth. Did take-two record a big profit loss recently by any chance?

I enjoyed the SP mode in general, but at the end of the day i find playing MP games far more fun, simply because its all too easy to out manouver the AI, unless you playing it at very high level where it gets massive help from the game. While the AI was better in civ4 than previous version, it got nowhere near the pre-release hype, something i fully expect to be repeated with civ5.

I also hope they keep (and improve) the pitboss, because its the only practical way to have a full length game with more than 4 people.

[Socrates]

Oooh, Civ5.

Ready at the end of the year ? Something is wrong then, whatever it is.

Hexagons ! This looks like a wargame now. I always wondered what is the best way to draw a map : squares or hexagons or something else. Probably pros ans cons for both. But what's with the "more sense in a 3D world" ?

No more religion ? Pah that sucks.

Builtin web browser ? What does this mean ? Is this related to their (dumbed down) web browser game ?

I also noted : 18 civs in the game.

BTW, I'm also done with the single player game. I just have enough of "AIs".

Lastly : DirectX 11, uh ? Which means I won't play it. So I'm just shaking my popcorn box and am watching as it approaches.