Firaxians Joining PolyCast #178 to Celebrate "Brave New World" Release

Have a question, comment or two about the Civilization V expansion pack Brave New World being released this week? Looking to win a copy of this latest Civ series title for yourself or a fellow gamer? Firaxis Games Senior Producer Dennis Shirk and Principal Programmer Ed Beach are to be on-hand for the first hour of the recording of Episode 178 of the PolyCast podcast this Saturday, July 13th starting at 12PM ET (North America).

You can listen in and interact with the representatives from Civ's developer as part of the live audience through the show's chat room or by calling in: five copies of Brave New World, in the form of Steam codes, are to be given away during the recording to those who do so. In addition to Shirk and Beach, three members of Firaxis Frankenstein Test Group -- two of whom are PolyCast regular co-hosts -- are to be present as well as a freelance strategy games writer and aficionado who reviewed BNW for the industry.

If you are unable to make the recording or would otherwise like to make an inquiry in advance, you may do so by completing one of the following:

- Calling the show: (301) 637-7659 (North America), +44 121 288 7659 (Europe);
- Emailing the show (text or MP3 attachment);
- Responding to this forum thread; or
- Tweeting the show.

Currently in its seventh season, PolyCast is an every-other-week audio production in an ongoing effort to give the Civ community an interactive voice on game strategy. You can follow the show on Twitter and tune in to its YouTube channel for caption capability. Sibling show ModCast on Civ modding, RevCast on Civilization: Revolution, SCivCast on Civ social gaming and TurnCast on Civ multiplay.

I really need this expansion. I stay on this forum a lot just trying to get all the little previews of BNW that I possibly can while wishing that I had it. From my 800+ hours in Civ V (with G&K) it's kind of obvious I'm a huge fan.

Unfortunately for me, I cannot receive the latest expansion because my grandmother (she is my sponsor; I'm only fifteen years old after all) refuses to give me my allowance until my debt to her for accidently breaking a window is paid off. This really sucks.

I'll definitely be tuning in. Perhaps this is my chance to get the game!

atknowles said:

I really need this expansion. I stay on this forum a lot just trying to get all the little previews of BNW that I possibly can while wishing that I had it. From my 800+ hours in Civ V (with G&K) it's kind of obvious I'm a huge fan. [..]

I'll definitely be tuning in. Perhaps this is my chance to get the game!

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I'm glad that you'll be able to tune in. In the interim, you can listen into episodes from PolyCast's current season to date if you have yet to do so.

Haven't listened yet but you guys are big time. I'll check out the show tomorrow. First ya got Brad from Stardock and now the two rockstars from Firaxis.

Hey Ed, I promise I'll grab a copy of "Here I Stand" in the next year. Not sure if I get opponents though.

rastak said:

Haven't listened yet but you guys are big time. I'll check out the show tomorrow. First ya got Brad from Stardock and now the two rockstars from Firaxis.

Hey Ed, I promise I'll grab a copy of "Here I Stand" in the next year. Not sure if I get opponents though.

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the show is going to be recorded live this Saturday (July 13th).

Firaxians - I am loving the new expansion pack!!

Polycast team - cant wait to hear the new episode!

MadDjinn said:

the show is going to be recorded live this Saturday (July 13th).

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Ah, guess my reading is beyond sub par....thanks Mad.

rastak said:

... you guys are big time. [..] First ya got Brad from Stardock and now the two rockstars from Firaxis.

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kingchris20 said:

Polycast team - cant wait to hear the new episode!

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Can someone ask about the docile AIs? How did that come about? Was it designed on purpose or an unfortunate accident? I like how hard it is to come by early gold, and enjoy having a chance to interact with AI by other means then war, but this is tooooo much of a good thing. There needs to be a reason to have an early army, and some element of suspense and the way the early and mid game plays out now is just boring. I find myself not really wanting to play another one, and I am a certified CiV addict with over 2400 hours

I do like the way caravans and trade works and the way it adds a lot of strategy and planning to early expansion, and enjoy the new barbs that actually make the early eras a bit challenging. But I think there needs to be some tweak to get AI with strong classical UUs use their abilities and menace their neighbors.

Questions:

Civ V is a game of a lot of firsts, whether in gameplay mechanics, leader choices or civ choices (Polynesia! Huns! Shoshone! Austria!) My question concerns leader choices. What went into choosing Maria I of Portugal, Wu Zetian for China and Queen Dido for Carthage, despite potential controversy over the choices? (Maria I was famously crazy, Wu Zetian is criticized as not being as great as other rulers in Chinese history, and some criticize the choice of Dido as a largely mythical or legendary figure)

Were you tempted to add random events to the game in a manner similar to that used in Beyond the Sword? Was there a plan to implement random events in a different way beyond City State quests?

What is the main menu theme for Brave New World based on? Clearly certain Latin words like "amin," "gloria" and "terra nova" can be heard (Amen, Glory, New World).

Questions from you, Maxym and Morningcalm, noted. Hope you'll be able to join into the show live!

Morningcalm said:

Questions:

Civ V is a game of a lot of firsts, whether in gameplay mechanics, leader choices or civ choices (Polynesia! Huns! Shoshone! Austria!) My question concerns leader choices. What went into choosing Maria I of Portugal, Wu Zetian for China and Queen Dido for Carthage, despite potential controversy over the choices? (Maria I was famously crazy, Wu Zetian is criticized as not being as great as other rulers in Chinese history, and some criticize the choice of Dido as a largely mythical or legendary figure)

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I second a question like this.

Us CivFanatics are the most likely to listen to your podcasts, meaning we also likely have already heard it all - the new concepts, the new rundown, blah blah , etc etc.

That's why it would be really awesome if you could ask more outside of the box type questions. Sort of pick the brains of the devs a little bit. What goes into choosing civilizations (I know they mentioned it in Polygon, but if they have anything to add), and what goes into choosing leaders? And uniques units, buildings, etc?

And also anything at all possibly related to design of gameplay mechanics behind the scenes and that whole process. You know, like the types of balancing considerations into synergizing the new leaders and theirs Uniques, and then of course beyond the leaders as well. I like to hear what they have to say beyond the usual advertising of their own game.

Anyway, whatever you guys talk about it will be great to listen to - it always is!

seancolorado said:

Us CivFanatics are the most likely to listen to your podcasts, meaning we also likely have already heard it all - the new concepts, the new rundown, blah blah , etc etc.

That's why it would be really awesome if you could ask more outside of the box type questions. Sort of pick the brains of the devs a little bit. [..]

I like to hear what they have to say beyond the usual advertising of their own game.

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While I don't foresee the questions for consideration for the Firaxians being limited to those asked in advance, or even during the episode recording, by community members we are definitely looking for them to be the driving force. This is to better represent the inquiring minds of as many Civ players as possible.

Anyway, whatever you guys talk about it will be great to listen to - it always is!

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I signed up for the UStream, but haven't gotten the email about my account yet, nor have I been able to login with the user name and password I had signed up for. How do I fix this?

Edit: Nevermind, signed in with Facebook account, somehow keeping my account name.

On behalf of myself and my fellow panelists, thanks to all who submitted questions in advance and joined us for the live stream of this special episode of PolyCast. While uStream's Metrics report is still being processed, at one point there were 83 audience members which was more than quadruple the show's previous record.

The post-produced version of this episode is to be published on Saturday, July 20th.

I miscalculated and missed the PolyCast :/ When will it get uploaded?

JtW said:

I miscalculated and missed the PolyCast :/ When will it get uploaded?

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It is to be one week from today.

Had just time to listen a few minutes before I had to play another MP-game. Can't wait until next saturday for the upload. It was just great to listen too the little part I had time for. Thanks lads for a marvelous show.

Oh crap, I forgot about this..........Did they say anything about the Venice strategic view bug (being able to annex cities they've puppeted)?

EDIT: definitely about to check out the recording though

Dan (et al), thank you, it was fun! I'll try to make it more often to join the chat.

kingchris20 said:

Oh crap, I forgot about this..........Did they say anything about the Venice strategic view bug (being able to annex cities they've puppeted)?

EDIT: definitely about to check out the recording though

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No, the discussion was more general, focusing on design decisions and implementation. A bug is a bug, what's there to talk about? It'll hopefully get fixed soon.