Larsenex
King
I posted this also on the 2K forums. Does anyone think that the powers-that-be, will migrate to 64 bit platform so we can finally have insane/crazy sized maps?
Civ 6 Requirement speculation
- Thread starter Larsenex
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sixty4half
Prince
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They haven't even announced the release of a game called Civilization 6 yet. Anyone saying one way or the other is purely speculation and rumor at this point.
komodowaran
Warlord
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If they come out with it in 2017 we might still see 32 bit but if it is 2019+ then we can be sure it's 64bit
Larsenex
King
Supposedly Civ 6 is to be announced in April.
I am asking about it being 64bit because 32 bit is locked at 4 gigs of ram which caps out the size of maps we can have.
Galactic Civilizations III is 64 bit and the size of maps as compared from GCII is enormous.
Hopefully if they do intend on extending the franchise they migrate to a 64 bit engine.
I am asking about it being 64bit because 32 bit is locked at 4 gigs of ram which caps out the size of maps we can have.
Galactic Civilizations III is 64 bit and the size of maps as compared from GCII is enormous.
Hopefully if they do intend on extending the franchise they migrate to a 64 bit engine.
Hakan-i Cihan
Emperor
I am kind of curious if a new civ is delayed because not everyone has a 64-bit OS yet, to say it very carefully. Because yes I expect a new civ will be 64-bit.
How many modern CPUs (ones that would be required to run a 2016 version of a Civilization game) are even 32bit? It would be silly to limit it to 32bit because of older CPUs
phillipwyllie
Wannabe Deity
If Bethesda can make the transition then so can Firaxis
GalCiv 2 was released in 2006, nine years before the release of GalCiv 3 in 2015. There's a lot more advances in the tech in that game than just a migration to 64-bit.
While compiling against 64-bit does indeed wave the memory restrictions of both virtual address space and the application limit within the space, it doesn't mean that maps automatically get to be larger.
You would also need to heavily rewrite the code to fully take advantage of 64-bit variable types - which is a given for a new game regardless, most of the time - but this doesn't automatically translate into "bigger". Sometimes it just translates into "better". More accurate simulation systems, better precision for operations, and so on.
You also have to bear in mind the target device range for the release. If Firaxis (or 2K, as it's more likely to be their decision) want the game to run on machines with 2GB of RAM, then the game needs to perform at that level of RAM for all options available in the game.
It's not like we're talking about some amateurs modding a game, where if the game crashes on a large map "it's because they're modders". Firaxis have repeatedly come under fire for the stability of their products, and taking advantage of 64-bit may just be to give them the optimisation space they need for that stability (especially in MP) instead of just targeting larger map sizes (which would have a knock-on effect on everything else).
Carl5872
Prince
Biologist
Emperor
It means those of us with 64-bit operating systems (as opposed to 32-bit systems), which is an increasing proportion of users, will actually be able to take full advantage of the enhanced computing power and efficiency of a 64-bit system when playing Civilization.
Hakan-i Cihan
Emperor
Well, first of all if a new Civ came out in 2016 it probably would be at least playable on mid/high-end computers of say 3 years back, so from 2013. That's why there are minimum requirements. The developers don't want to loose out much of there public, because not everyone has a high-performance computer bought in 2016.
Yes, most of the CPUs of these computers will be of 64bit architecture. But it also requires a 64-bit OS to support a 64-bit game/software normally (without the need of emulator). And I expect that even though most computers will have 64 bit CPUs, still a large part of those won't have 64bit OS.
So I am hoping for a release of a 64bit Civ 6 this year. But was kind a wondering if it would be delayed a year because of this and release a second expansion for Beyond Earth instead.
Edit: Looked up for some statistics. Found one of Steam users from march 2016. Roughly 85% of the Steam users has a 64bit OS, so my concern seems not valid for games played through Steam.
http://www.overclock3d.net/articles/gpu_displays/over_34_of_steam_users_are_using_windows_10_64-bit/1
Aaron90495
King
Where do you get the info about the April announcement? I've heard about Brad Wardell saying it'd come out this year, but everyone here throws around the April announcement rumor and I haven't heard any substantiation for it.
Hakan-i Cihan
Emperor
Probably because Civ V and BE had similar trajects with an announcement of 6 months before release.
Aaron90495
King
Yeah, I thought of that, was just wondering if there's any hard evidence or just pattern-based speculation.
Your link proves exactly my point. Firaxis would be silly to produce a 32bit game just to appease 15% of an entire Steam user base. Aside from the enthusiasts that build computers, how many manufacture brand computers come with a 64bit CPU and a 32bit OS? That doesn't make any sense. This isn't Windows XP times, there are no reason to run a 32bit OS on a 64bit CPU, 64bit OS are just too smooth and zero compatibility issues.
32bit is dead - it would be a silly decision to hang on to old technology. Wasn't the last 32bit cpu the pentium 4?
If Civ 6 will launch in 2017 that still leaves another 6 years of expansions & product time before it starts to get stale. So that takes you to 2023.
I'm running an e8500 dual core 2 (the launch year for those was 2008) and that is a 64bit processor. In fact that was the 2nd last dual core 2 processor released by Intel. The last being the e8600 before the new generation i3s/i5s/i7s came out.
I can't imagine too many people now having cpu's much older than that. Part of the reason why I've held onto it for so long is because it was such a good investment for its day - so good that I could skip the next 8 years of processors - essentially I can go straight to a ddr4 system & skip ddr3 entirely. I haven't really been doing high end gaming since then so haven't missed too much.
If Civ 6 will launch in 2017 that still leaves another 6 years of expansions & product time before it starts to get stale. So that takes you to 2023.
I'm running an e8500 dual core 2 (the launch year for those was 2008) and that is a 64bit processor. In fact that was the 2nd last dual core 2 processor released by Intel. The last being the e8600 before the new generation i3s/i5s/i7s came out.
I can't imagine too many people now having cpu's much older than that. Part of the reason why I've held onto it for so long is because it was such a good investment for its day - so good that I could skip the next 8 years of processors - essentially I can go straight to a ddr4 system & skip ddr3 entirely. I haven't really been doing high end gaming since then so haven't missed too much.
Swordsman45
Chieftain
There are two things civ 6 must deliver:
1) A multiplayer engine that works
2) A competent AI for single player
1) A multiplayer engine that works
2) A competent AI for single player
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