'Civilization: Beyond Earth' announced!

Camikaze

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Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth has been announced by 2K and Firaxis Games. Slated for a fall/autumn release in North America and priced at $49.99, the game is being developed by Firaxis for Windows-based PC, and will be coming to Mac and Linux via Aspyr Media.

Civ: Beyond Earth is billed as a ‘science fiction-themed entry in the award-winning Civilization franchise’, delving into humanity’s future on an alien world. In a press release, Sid Meier is quoted as saying, “We’ve always let our fans create the history of mankind, and Civilization: Beyond Earth will now let them create the future.”

The game features revealed are as follows:
  • Seed the Adventure – Players will establish a cultural identity, select a leader and sponsor an expedition by assembling the spacecraft, cargo and colonists through a series of choices that directly impact starting conditions when arriving on the new alien planet.
  • Alien World – Exploring the benefits and dangers of a new planet filled with dangerous terrain, mystical resources, and hostile lifeforms unlike those of Earth, players will build outposts, unearth ancient alien relics, tame new forms of life, develop flourishing cities and establish trade routes to create prosperity for their people.
  • New Technology Web – Reflecting forward progress in an uncertain future, technology advancement will occur through a series of nonlinear choices that affect the development of mankind. The tech web is organized around three broad themes, each with a distinct victory condition.
  • New Quest System – Quests are infused with fiction about the planet, and will help guide players through a series of side missions that will aid in the collection of resources, upgrading units, and advancing through the game.
  • New Orbital Layer – Players will build and deploy advanced military, economic and scientific satellites that provide strategic offensive, defensive and support capabilities from orbit.
In addition, the press release has stated that Civ: Beyond Earth ‘will be among the first wave of products optimized for the latest in AMD graphics t[echn]ologies, including: the new Mantle graphics API, for enhanced graphics performance; AMD CrossFire™, for UltraHD resolutions and extreme image quality; and AMD Eyefinity, which allows for a panoramic gameplay experience on up to six different HD displays off of a single graphics card.’

Three screenshots of the game in this early stage of development have been released to the press, revealing a strong resemblance to Civ5, with hexagonal tiles and a familiar graphic style, though overlayed with the ‘dangerous terrain’, ‘mystical resources’, and ‘hostile lifeforms’ referred to. However, the 2K press release makes absolutely no mention of Civ5, indicating a desire to develop a complete standalone title. The description of the game and aforementioned features, meanwhile, strongly indicate that Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri has served as inspiration for Civ: Beyond Earth, potentially providing a spiritual successor for fans of the acclaimed 1999 game.

We will shortly be setting up a discussion forum for Civ: Beyond Earth, where you’ll be able to find out all you need to know in the coming months leading up to release.

High quality screenshots:
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Looks cool! I don't think I've been this excited about a Civilization game since 3!
 
The three screenshots.
 

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The concept sounds very promising. If they don't screw this one up.
 
Cristo redentor, the pyramids and the science victory from civilization 5 were all in the video.
 
I love this news, but hopefully this won't be instead of Civ VI.
 
Sounds cool, hopefully they will be able to better manage the screwed up (or sorely lacking) sense of scale the series has been suffering from for a long time now and won't drop the ball like they have with most of their remakes and Civ5.

EDIT: Although those screenshots aren't giving me much hope, for "high quality" screens they sure look fuzzy and unclear as if a filter of drunkenness was laid atop them. It always has bothered me about how fuzzy and undetailed Civ5 is when you zoom in, its ugly and painful to look at.
 
When I first saw the pictures I started to think. Is this a real sequel or more like a CIV4: Colonization semi-sequel/remake? I mean as far I can say it's looks like CIV5 (I'm pretty sure it uses the same engine.) I don't say it will bad (Colonization wasn't bad either) but I don't think we should wait this as a new big civ game.
 
Hype factor over 9000.
 
UI and engine look identical to Civ V; I can't detect any graphical improvements. I hope not, otherwise it's sort of just a really big mod.
 
Looks awesome ! Please don't screw it up, and by 'screw it up' I mean 'make us wait half a year and tons of patches until it becomes good, and three years and two expansions until it becomes awesome'. And please go easy on the DLC.
 
Finally, a much needed update to Alpha Centuari!
 
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