Q&A with Ed Beach at civforum.de

[pthmix]

Hi guys, I just discovered a post from the 13th April at civforum.de (a german forum for civ players). Ed Beach answered some of their questions and I think there are some new things which were not known before. I made a translation for you and hope I did not miss too much.

Edit: see the post of X-Worf for the English original. I translated a translation .


Q: A lot of players are not happy with how the AI performs, for example in the late game the AI is not able to build a good airforce and use it correctly. According to some reports this will be improved. But will the grand strategy of the AI change, for example will the AI really use a technological advantage to achieve a space victory?

A: AI-improvements were a ongoing process during the development of the expansion. Your example is a great example of what we want to improve in Gods + Kings.

Q: Fights are supposed to last longer due to the increase to 100 HP. How high will the percentage of damage be that a unit of equal strength inflicts and how long will fights between equally strong units last (assuming normal conditions)?

A: In Civ 5 one unit could be killed by two equally strong units (4-8 damage per fight). With the new 100 HP system it will take 3-4 fights (23-36 damage per fight).

Q: There will be less religions than civilizations in a game and civs which miss out on a religion can at least get boni via the follower beliefs. Can they conquer other religion by taking over the holy city like in Civ 4?

A: If you are the founder of a religion and lose your holy city you will lose the benefits of the founder belief. The conquerer will not get these boni, they will simply not be in effect until you retake the holy city.

Q: Research agreements will only be possible if you are friends with the partner. Are there other changes to treaties, for example that treaties like alliances and defensive pacts no longer expire after X turns or will there be proper non aggressionpacts?

A: One thing we changed regarding treaties - and we think players will love this - is that players will be able to renew them. If a trade treaty or even a defensive pact comes near to expiring your trade partner will ask you whether you want to renew the treaty to avoid annoying gaps. If they think the treaty needs to be adjusted they may suggest a changed version. Non aggressionpacts will not be part of this expansion, except when establishing an embassy. Instead we put a lot of work in the present diplomatic options.

Q: The screenshot of the spy menu mentioned "Potential". Is that just a number to represent the chance of success that depends on the spy's experience and how much time he has spend in the city? Which things influence the "Potential"?

A: The potential depends on science output (the higher the better) and defensive buildings which will hinder your spy. As soon as you have estabished surveillance in a city the potential will be show to help you make a decision whether to move the spy or not.

Q: Gold will be less efficient when it comes to getting influence with city states. This makes the current patronage policy tree less attractive. Which changes will the patronage policy tree see?

A: We changed a few things in the patronage tree but the policies will remain basically the same. Just one policy has a connection to gold (philantrophy). This policy will remain. Choosing this policy is especially attractive because it increases the influence from gold and the influence you normally get from gold has been reduced.

Q: A lot civ players ask for more details regarding civilizations. Will there be a civ from "black africa" [Note: the parts of africa where the population is truly black is called black africa in german. As an example north africa is not black africa.] or can you give new details to the huns (UA, UU, UB)?

A: The huns have a trait called "Scourge of God" which allows them to raze cities twice as fast. Additionaly they start with animal husbandry and get + 1 production from pastures. More information abount civs will be released in the coming weeks within the framework of PAX.

Q: A lot of players are unsatisfied with endgame balance; they are esecially unsatisfied with atomic bombs. In essence he player who gets to a lot of atomic bombs the quickest wins. Will there be changes in this area of the game?

A: We improved a lot of things in this area. Regarding the AI we added a function that weighs the will for a nuclear first strike depending on the leader. This won't neccessarily prevent a nuclear first strike from happening but a first strike will no longer always happen when war starts. Additionaly we added a new building: the bomb shelter protects most of the population of the city which gets nuked.

Q: Gods + Kings is supposed to bring improvements to multiplayer. Which important changes will happen apart from increased stability due to separate processes for graphics and game mechanics?

A: We added a few things, including the option to change the number of animations in a game, the option to make a private game really private and polished a lot areas. Stability is still our number one priority.

Q: We don't know much about changes to the tech tree. Is there a nice picture with a lot of details regarding the tech tree? Which important changes will happen apart from the new World War 1 era?

A: We will release more information before release. The tech tree is as usual the area which needs the most attention in regard to balance etc. Due to this we cannot release more information. By the way there will be no World War 1 era, we just use this terminology to describe a new class of units. We did add a new era to the tech tree which is supposed to help us expand the post-gunpowder world.

Q: The expansion is called "Gods & Kings". Why isn't it named "Gods & Spies"? Which change makes us to kings?

A: Gods + Spies would cover the basics but the new leaders and civs play a key role. We also added a completly new user interface to give the game more of a renaissance feeling and the most important scenario is focused on the medieval and renaissance eras. All in all we think Gods + Kings is an all-embracing title. In a perfect world we would mention everything new in the title but there is just not enough space on the front of the box.

 

[Beefie]

Great find, thanks!
Good news about being able to renew treaties, makes a lot more sense especially in regards to Open borders. Absolutely side-stepped the sub-saharan Africa question as well, Ed should go into politics

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

Yay, so there IS a new era. I'm happy. That means it's very likely going to be placed between Reinsassance and Industrial Era then.

 

[Cicero63]

Possibly Enlightenment Era?

 

[Zaimejs]

This is a good read. I didn't know about Treaties. I wonder what the interface will look like?

 

[X-Worf]

Hi guys, I just discovered a post from the 13th April at civforum.de (a german forum for civ players). Ed Beach answered some of their questions and I think there are some new things which were not known before. I made a translation for you and hope I did not miss too much.

Now its translated from German to English, from English to German and back again...

Here are the Q&A in English (open the spoiler)

Great find, thanks!
Good news about being able to renew treaties, makes a lot more sense especially in regards to Open borders. Absolutely side-stepped the sub-saharan Africa question as well, Ed should go into politics

No, not really: "or"

 

[MadDjinn]

nice find. It provides good answers to some of the questions anyways.

and of course the tech tree is always last to be shown.

 

[The_J]

tststs, and we're still waiting.




And a @Worf.

 

[pthmix]

Now its translated from German to English, from English to German and back again...

Here are the Q&A in English (open the spoiler)

No, not really: "or"

Well, at least I got a chance to improve my english by translating. Anyways, Danke for the english version. I added a link in the OP.

 

[Kimuyama]

It does say "a new era to expand the post-gunpowder world, does that mean like a future era?

 

[MadDjinn]

It does say "a new era to expand the post-gunpowder world, does that mean like a future era?

it depends on the meaning of 'post-gunpowder'.

If it's 'after the invention of Gunpowder', then that could be anything from after Renaissance to the future.

If it's 'after gunpowder is no longer commonly used', then it's definitely in the future.

 

[Gucumatz]

This is quite informative. Thanks a lot!

 

[Buccaneer]

Very nice, thank you! Interesting about Patronage, as well as the damage reductions.

 

[Pouakai]

I really hope that it's either the Enlightenment or Atomic Era

 

[bonafide11]

I hope it's the Imperial Era.

 

[nokmirt]

Yay, so there IS a new era. I'm happy. That means it's very likely going to be placed between Reinsassance and Industrial Era then.

(post-gunpowder world) I would not doubt that this will be called the Reformation Era. I was hoping for this. I love how the interviewer tried to corner him about "Black Africa". He should have just came out and said, "Hey, sir, are the Zulu's going to be in the game or what? I mean after all they are black and we do need a black civ"

 

[BobDole]

Still wish there were better defenses against nukes but at least bomb shelters are a start...

 

[smallfish]

Still wish there were better defenses against nukes but at least bomb shelters are a start...

Beyond the Spear


Looking at all these from a big picture perspective, I think I can kinda see what the devs are trying to do. We all hate the Hobbesian way diplomacy and general gameplay works in vanilla V, but it seems more like it was structured for a single set of eras (preClassical-early Medieval) even if latter eras were included tech-wise. Now with G&K, they are expanding it to the Renaissance, and it does seem like a Renaissance focus than anything else what with one of the major gameplay mechanics unlocked during that period.

So it's more than likely than the next expack will focus on Industrial/Modern... or hell, even jump way into the atomic-blasted Future and add in supertanks and power armor infantry.

Also, if they can add steampunk "tractor tanks", they could certainly add BOLOs or OGREs. Barring new set of gameplay mechanic changes, it would be appropriate given the way most late-games tend to develop into.

 

[TheMarshmallowBear]

I would love if they add Pre-History and Future ala Cavemen 2 Cosmos mod, just with less useless clutter.

 

[AriochIV]

I love how the interviewer tried to corner him about "Black Africa". He should have just came out and said, "Hey, sir, are the Zulu's going to be in the game or what? I mean after all they are black and we do need a black civ"

Well, it seems from Ed's response that these question were asked before the PAX presentation, before Ethiopia had been announced, so I suspect the questioner meant exactly what he said.