Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Platform: PC
Release Date: July 23rd, 2007
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Overview
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is the second expansion pack for the award-winning Civilization IV. The expansion pack was first announced on March 28th, 2007 and is being developed by Firaxis Games. The game will be released in the United States on July 23rd, 2007 and at the end of July internationally.
The expansion will focus on the late-game time periods after the invention of gunpowder and will deliver 12 challenging and decidedly different scenarios created by the development team at Firaxis Games, as well as members of the Civilization Fan Community. Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword will also include ten new civilizations, 16 new leaders, five new wonders, and a variety of new units that will offer even more fun and exciting ways for players to expand their civilization’s power as they strive for world domination. The expansion has been in development since the release of Warlords last summer.
Barry Caudill Executive producerI (Senior producer on Civ IV)
Jesse Smith: Producer
Alex Mantzaris: Lead Designer and Lead Programmer
Jon Shafer: Co-Lead Designer
Article Navigation:
- Key New Features
- Announced Features
- New Civilizations and Leaders
- New Units
- New Promotions
- New Buildings
- New Wonders
- The Scenarios
- Advanced Start
- Colonies
- Corporations
- Espionage
- Random Events
- Space Race
- The Technology Tree
- New Game Options
- Artificial Intelligence
- Multiplayer Features
- Modding
- Revisions
- In Regards to Warlords
- In Regards to Mac
- System Requirements
- Official Articles
- Previews
- Video Previews
- Related Links
- Screen Shots
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Key New Features
- More turns have been added to the game.
- Sid will be the voice for the new technologies.
- Thanks to Gyathaar, the MAF bug has been fixed.
- There are no new UN civic resolutions
- Michael Curran composed the title piece
- Foreign Advisor Screen (F4): is getting an overhaul.
- Graphics are more polished.
- There are on-map ocean trade routes that enhance the importance of your navy. They are invisible, but blocked tiles (where your trade cannot go) are visible.
- There are colonies splitting from their motherland to form new civilizations.
- Addition of 25 new units, 18 new buildings, 16 new leaders, ten new civilizations and eight new wonders.
Announced Features
Here are the key features mentioned in the expansion pack announcement:
- Expanded Epic Game: Firaxis Games delivers a massive increase in new units, buildings, and technologies to the epic game with additional focus on the late-game time periods.
- New Game Scenarios: The expansion will deliver 12 new scenarios custom designed by the team at Firaxis and select members of the Civ Fan Community.
- New Civilizations: The expansion pack includes ten new civilizations, such as Portugal, Babylon and Netherlands and their associated unique units and buildings.
- More Civilization Leaders: Sixteen new leaders including leaders for the ten new civilizations, as well as additional leaders for existing civilizations.
- Corporations: A new gameplay feature that allows players to create corporations and spread them throughout the world. Each corporation provides benefits in exchange for certain resources.
- Espionage: Now available much earlier in the game, this expanded feature offers players many new ways to spy on opponents, stir citizen unrest and defend their government’s secrets.
- Events: New random events such as natural disasters, pleas for help, or demands from their citizens will challenge players to overcome obstacles in order for their civilizations to prosper.
- New Wonders: Five new wonders await discovery including the Statue of Zeus, Cristo Redentor, Shwedagon Paya, the Mausoleum of Maussollos, and the Moai Statues.
- Expanded Space Victory: Winning the race to Alpha Centauri will now require more strategic planning and tactical decision making.
- Apostolic Palace: The United Nations will become available earlier in the game, providing a way for players to win a diplomatic victory earlier. New resolutions will also be added which will expand the available diplomatic options.
- Advanced Starts: A major fan request, this new feature will enable players to “buy” components of a custom-tailored empire and begin play in the later part of the game, allowing them to experience many of the new features of the expansion pack in a shorter amount of time.
- Enhanced AI: The AI has received many enhancements, making it tougher to beat on the higher difficulty levels. The ways in which the AI will attempt to achieve victory have also been expanded.
New Civilizations and Leaders
There are 10 new Civilizations, for a total of 34, and 16 new leaders, for a total of 52. There are no new traits, but nearly all the trait combos are filled now. The new civs and leaders are in bold
The 10 New Civilizations
Babylonian
Leader: Hammurabi - Aggressive, Organized
Starting Techs: Wheel, Agriculture
Unique Unit: Bowman (Archer), grants an additional +50% vs melee units.
Unique Building: Garden (Colosseum), grants an additional health.
Byzantine
Leader: Justinian I - Imperialistic, Spiritual
Starting Techs: Wheel, Mysticism
Unique Unit: Cataphract (Knight), comes with +2 strength but is not immune to first strike.
Unique Building: Hippodrome (Theatre), grants loads of extra happiness, +1 base, +1 more for having access to horses and +1 for every 5% spent on culture (instead of the Theatre's 10%).
Dutch
Leader: Willem van Oranje - Creative, Financial
Starting Techs: Fishing, Agriculture
Unique Unit: East Indiaman (Galleon), +2 strength and one extra cargo space, can also explore rival territory.
Unique Building: Dike (Levee), grants +1 production from all water tiles.
Ethiopian
Leader: Zara Yaqob - Creative, Organized
Starting Techs: Hunting, Mining
Unique Unit: Oromo Warrior (Musketman), has first-level First Strike and is also immune to First Strikes, begins with Drill I and II promotions.
Unique Building: Stele (Monument), grants an additional +25% culture.
Holy Roman Empire
Leader: Charlemagne - Imperialistic, Protective
Starting Techs: Mysticism, Hunting
Unique Unit: Landsknecht (Pikeman), in addition to the existing mounted bonus, it comes with +100% vs. melee units.
Unique Building: Rathaus (Courthouse), lowers maintenance by an additional 25%, only four are needed to build the Forbidden Palace.
Khmer
Leader: Suryavarman - Creative, Expansive
Starting Techs: Hunting, Mining
Unique Unit: Ballista Elephant (War Elephant), when attacking units in stacks outside of city walls, elephants will automatically target mounted units first.
Unique Building: Baray (Aqueduct), grants an additional food.
Mayan
Leader: Pacal II - Expansive, Financial
Starting Techs: Mysticism, Mining
Unique Unit: Holkan (Spearman), immune to First Strike and can be built without copper or iron.
Unique Building: Ball Court (Colosseum), grants +2 happiness.
Native American
Leader: Sitting Bull - Philosophical, Protective
Starting Techs: Fishing, Agriculture
Unique Unit: Dog Soldier (Axeman), has -1 strength but an additional +50% vs. melee units. Also requires no resources to build.
Unique Building: Totem Pole (Monument), all new archery units get +3 experience.
Portuguese
Leader: Joao II - Expansive, Imperialistic
Starting Techs: Fishing, Mining
Unique Unit: Carrack (Caravel), has an additional cargo space, can carry military units, and can explore rival territory.
Unique Building: Feitoria (Customs House), get one additional commerce from all water tiles.
Sumerian
Leader: Gilgamesh - Creative, Protective
Starting Techs: Wheel, Agriculture
Unique Unit: Vulture (Axeman), has +1 strength but suffers a 25% reduction against melee units.
Unique Building: Ziggurat (Courthouse), 20 hammers cheaper than the courthouse, only four are required to build the Forbidden Palace.
New Leaders for Existing Civs
- American: Lincoln - Charismatic, Philosophical
- Celtic: Boudica - Aggressive, Charismatic
- French: De Gaulle - Charismatic, Industrious
- Greek: Pericles - Creative, Philosophical
- Ottoman: Suleiman - Imperialistic, Philosophical
- Persia: Darius I - Financial, Organized
Altered Traits:
- Augustus [Imp/Ind]
New Buildings
Buildings
- Corporation Headquarters
- Corporation
- Custom House [Harbor, Economics]: gain a boost to all foreign trade coming in from overseas.
- Industrial Parks: allows engineers and causes unhealthiness.
- Intelligence Agency: enhances espionage spending
- Levees [Steam Power]:
- +1 hammers on River tiles
- 180 hammers
- Public Transportation:
- +1 health
- +3 health from coal, oil
- 150 hammers
- Security Bureau: makes it harder for foreign spies to perform missions in your cities
New Units
There are several new units that are available:
- Airship: A sub-spotting, navy-busting zeppelin that should definitely help keep your coasts clear.
- Anti-Tank Gun: Is an inexpensive early counter to Tanks. You are no longer helpless if your enemy is first to Industrialism and has access to Oil.
- Anti-Tank Infantry: They start with the Ambush promotion and have a 100% bonus against armored units.
- Attack Submarine: It is ideally suited for combat against other submarines but it can also transport non-combat units pretty much anywhere in the world without being detected.
- Cuirassier: Is a new mounted unit that takes the place of the old Cavalry unit in the technology tree. It eases the transition between Knights and Cavalry.
- The Executive: [Mv 2] Used to spread corporations
- Guided Missile: Can evade interception all together but it lacks the destructive power of the Tactical Nuke or the more intense ICBM.
- Missile Cruiser: Can carry up to four missiles that it can launch at enemies far from your own cities.
- Mobile Artillery: [Str 26, Mv 2]
- Mobile SAM: [Str 22; Mv 2] Serving as a mobile air-defense, this unit can come in very handy for border defense as well as invasion.
- Paratroopers:
- Gunpowder unit, Str 24, Mv 1
- Can perform Paradrops [Range=5]
- 160 hammers
- It can perform jumps onto strategic spots in enemy territory before an invasion, as might be expected from previous incarnations of the series. They can be shot down en route by other anti-air units. The difference is that the AI now knows how to effectively use it.
- Privateers: can blockade ports and plunder trade routes. Since Privateers have no national markings, they can be used by all players without regard for the diplomatic consequences.
- Ship-of-the-Line: provides a version of the Frigate for players who prefer something a little stronger at the cost of a little speed.
- Stealth Destroyer: It is invisible to almost all other units. It has the ability to shoot down enemy aircraft and bombard coastal cities.
- Tactical Nukes: they're like regular nukes, except they're a lot cheaper but they're not as powerful. But they still produce the wonderful mushroom cloud that everybody loves. They have a limited range and can be carried by subs.
New Promotions
There are several new promotions available:
- air unit promotions
- Range: increases how far a unit can operate
- Interception: increases the chance that a unit can catch enemy aircraft as they come into range
- Ace: increases the unit's chance to evade interception
- Woodsman III
- Interception
- Ace
New Wonders
Five new wonders await discovery. They did their best to make sure that all of these are balanced, so there isn't one of these clearly more powerful than the rest.
World Wonders
- Cristo Redentor [Radio]:
- +5 culture, +2 GP (Great Engineer)
- No Anarchy
- No wait between Civics or State Relgion changes
- 1000 hammers
- Eliminates anarchy to the player that builds it. The city in which the Cristo Redentor is located is more likely to generate a Great Engineer. Leaders who have the Spiritual trait construct it twice as quickly.
- Mausoleum of Maussollos [Calendar]: Though it makes its home city more likely to generate Great Artists, its real benefit is its ability to extend a civilization's Golden Age by 50%. Constructed twice as fast with Marble.
- Shwedagon Paya [Meditation, Aesthetics]: Grants access to all religion civics. Its home city is more likely to generate Great Prophets. Constructed twice as quickly with Gold.
- Statue of Zeus [Two Monuments, Aesthetics]:
- +10 Culture, +2 GP (Great Artist)
- Enemies suffer +100% war weariness
- 201 hammers
National Wonders
- Moai Statues: gives you production in all water tiles of that city.
- National Park:
- +3 Culture; +1 GP (Great Scientist)
- Removes access to coal in the city
- No unhealthiness from from population
- +1 free specialist per forest reserve
- 300 hammers
Apostolic Palace +4 +2 (prophet)
The Apostolic Palace becomes available when you have researched Theology. You must have also declared a state religion and it can only be built in a city where your state religion holds sway. Once it is complete, the builder may switch state religions later. The Palace allows a religion to play a major part in international affairs, centuries before the UN makes its appearance.
The most basic feature of the Apostolic Palace is that it triggers elections for the head of the Palace. The owner of the Palace is automatically in the running just the same as with the UN. Their rival is the leader who has the largest population living in cities that share the Palace's religion and acknowledges it as their State Religion. The head of the Palace can then set a voting agenda for a variety of context-based resolutions. The Palace also opens up the option for a victory through a diplomatic vote.
Leaders who share the Palace's religion (or who own the Palace) become full voting members. They also enjoy a production bonus to every building of that religion in their cities. Leaders who don't have that as their state religion, but happen to have cities that share the religion don't get the production bonuses but they still get a vote on all Palace resolutions. A full voting member can have their production bonuses revoked and suffer a happiness penalty if they openly defy a resolution. The only way to regain full membership is to then vote on a later measure that passes. (This same sort of concept of demoted membership also now applies to the UN.)
According to a hands-on preview the AI's tend to convert to the religion of the Palace for the eligiblebility of becoming the head of the Palace. This works to the benefit of the Palace's owner as well, because the faith becomes a sort of alliance that can protect its members from attacks from leaders of other faiths. The Palace does balance itself out, as the more you spread your religion to your neighboring civs, the less weight your own votes carry when trying to pass resolutions.
Some of the options available through the Palace are:
- forces nations to stop trading with a certain civ
- maintain an Open Border's policy
- holy wars
- trade embargos
- peace enforcement (basically say, don't go to war with me)
- assigning cities to their "rightful" owner
- Possible to win an early diplomatic victory
- Is rebuffed by Communism and made obsolete by Mass Media. At this point, the more modern United Nations takes over many of its functions
Some of the new resolutions will also be available with the UN and yes, you can defy them if you choose. The choices available for voting are:
- Yes
- No
- Never (Defy Resolution)
- Abstain