Ahovking
Cyber Nations
Moderator Action: originally posted by Solver at WPC
Civilization V Info
General info
Sid Meier's Civilization V is the next game in the Civilization franchise, a sequel to the multi-award winning Civilization IV. Civ 5 was announced on February 18, 2010 and is scheduled for a Fall 2010 release. The game is being developed by Firaxis Games and will be published by 2K Games. The game's official site is at http://www.civilization5.com
The lead designer for Civ 5 is Jon Shafer, aka Trip, who should be well known to many Civ fans. Jon is a modder initially, has worked on Civ 4 as a designer/programmer. He was the co-designer for Civ 4: Beyond the Sword and the creator of the popular Final Frontier mod for that game. The game has been in development for over two years as of early 2010, so development probably started in late 2007. The development team consists of some 50 people.
Release date and availability
The official release date is, at this point, "Fall 2010". Civ 5 will be available on Steam though, according to the Steam Store, where the availability date is cited as the 1st of September. The date hasn't been confirmed by 2K or Firaxis yet, so we can't be certain if it's correct. As such, it's best to treat this date as a probable guess at this point.
Civ 5 will only be available for the PC (Microsoft Windows) platform.
Major features
* For the first time in the Civilization series, the map will be hexagon-based instead of square-based.
* The game will use a new engine
* Leaderheads will be full-screen, speaking the native language of their civilization
* Resources are quantifiable now, with each source only providing enough of a resource for a certain number of units
* Units are limited to only one per tile, no more stacks
Removed features from Civ4
* Religion has been removed. Jon Shafer didn't like the way religions dictated alliances in Civ4, giving them little meaning beyond the religious blocs.
* Civics - replaced by Social Policies.
* Tech trading. The intent is not to allow backward civilizations to catch up in military just by making a good trade
* Leader traits removed in favour of giving each civilization an unique bonus
* Espionage
Graphics and Sound
A new engine is being used for the graphics, which are overall done in Art Deco style. Russel Vaccaro is the graphics designer. Terrain animation, such as forests and oceans, is included.
Civ5 features a longer soundtrack than Civ4, also ambient sounds change depending on what terrain (forest, hills, etc.) you're looking at.
Civilizations
Civ 5 will feature 18 different civilizations. No official specifics on civs and leaders are currently available. However, some renderings of leaders have been posted by Firaxis, so it's pretty safe to assume that the following civs/leaders are in:
# Civilization Leader Picture Historical summary In-game info
1 America Washington b. 1732, d. 1799 - first President of the United States, commander of the American Continental Army Unknown
2 Arabia Harun al-Rashid Unavailable b. 763, d. 809 - the fifth Abbasid Caliph under whom a cultural golden age took place with advancements in arts and culture. Founded the House of Wisdom, an intellectual hub of contemporary Islamic culture Unknown
3 China Wu Zetian Unavailable b. 625, d. 705 - only female Emperor of China, founder of the Zhou dinasty Unknown
4 England Elizabeth Unavailable b. 1533, d. 1603 - Queen of England, last ruler of the Tudor dynasty. Her rule saw the defeat of the Spanish armada and the rise of Elizabethian artists This AI will favour things related to seafaring
5 France Napoleon Bonaparte Unavailable b. 1769, d. 1821 - Emperor of France, known for his many conquests in Europe and domestic innovations including a civil code known as the Napoleonic Code Unknown
6 Germany Bismarck b. 1815, d. 1898 - first Chancellor of Germany, known for the 1871 unification of Germany and his diplomatic efforts. Unknown
7 Inca Unknown Unavailable Unknown Unknown
8 India Gandhi Unavailable b. 1869, d. 1948 - a political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement, known for his philosophy of nonviolence and resistance through mass disobedience Unknown
9 Japan Oda Nobunaga Unavailable b. 1534, d. 1582 - initiator of the Japanese unification that eventually led to the Tokugawa Shogunate, came up with significant innovations in the area of military tactics Unknown
10 Mongolia Genghis Khan Unavailable b. circa 1162, d. 1227 - founder and Emperor of the Mongol Empire which became, under his rule, the largest contiguous empire in history. Among his many military campaigns, launched a successful invasion of China Unknown
11 Rome Julius Caesar (?) Unavailable b. 100 BC, d. 44 BC - Dictator of the Roman Republic who led Rome to military victories including the annexation of Gaul and launching an invasion of Britain Unknown
Every Civ has a unique bonus now as opposed to combinations of traits like in Civ4.
Wonders
Wonders make an expected return in Civ5. The only known Wonder currently is:
* Hanging Gardens - increases happiness
Combat
Combat is significantly different, mainly because stacking is not allowed - only one unit can occupy a tile now. As such, newly produced units should leave the city so that other units can be built there.
Most basic combat units now have two moves instead of one.
Ranged bombardment has returned, as in units being able to do damage from a distance.
Terrain plays a bigger role in combat. Regular units standing on hills will gain sight range and defensive bonuses, ranged units get a bonus when fighting from elevated positions. The use of combined arms will be very important for success in combat.
Some mechanism of upgrading older units to newer ones does exist, though the specifics are unclear.
All in all, combat in Civ5 will be more centered on front line fighting, not just fighting for cities. Breaking through enemy lines will be an important step in your advance.
Trade and Diplomacy
* It will be possible to trade "items and land" with other civs.
* AI leaders have their own agendas and an overall plan for winning the game
* City States are being introduced as minor powers of sorts. It's currently unclear how exactly they act in the game. They are essentially minor civs that never develop beyond one city and can provide bonuses if you befriend them.
* Befriending City States is going to be more beneficial than conquering them outright. You can choose to be friendly, hostile or neutral towards a city state.
* If you approach a City State with military units and some major civ likes that City State, they will warn you. Ignoring warnings regarding city states can lead to serious consequences.
* Diplomacy is going to often give better results than conquest
* Allied civs benefit your research even if you are researching different techs
Map and Resources
* Borders do not extend more than 1 tile into water, based on current screenshots
* Borders expand 1 tile at a time, not in rings. Tiles with harsh terrain - marshes, forests, mountains - will take longer to acquire. Gold can be used in this process somehow, it's unclear if it accelerates tile acquisition or purchases the tile outright
* Instead of 2 tiles, cities can extend their borders up to 3 tiles in every direction now
* Resources no longer come in infinite quantities, now every source of a resource only provides you with a certain amount of that resource
* On-map resources are seen in screenshots, similar to Civ4. The following resources are probably in the game
Known resources:
* Horses
* Cows
* Deer / game
* Wheat
Social Policies
Social policies replace the Civ4 civic system. There's a "civilization policy tree" now similar to the tech tree. It's divided into branches, each containing numerous policies that give different bonuses. You can focus on one branch or try to go for several. The only currently known branch is called "Traditional"
Multiplayer
* Civ 5 supports multiplayer over the Internet, PBEM, Hotseat and LAN games.
* The game will feature access to some community features from within the game itself, such as the "ability to share scenarios, compare scores, brag about achievements and visit one of the thriving Civ fansites without leaving the game"
Modding
* Modding tools have been promised but there are currently no details available on them
* It's said that the game will be even more moddable than Civ4 was
Miscellaneous
* Game design is inspired by Panzer General
* Great People are still in
* Some victory conditions changed. For example in Conquest you only have to capture all the other capitals. Eliminates boring mop up phase.
* To stop Barbarian hordes, you need to destroy nearby Barbarian cities. Barbs will also get stronger units later in the game.
Civilization V Info
General info
Sid Meier's Civilization V is the next game in the Civilization franchise, a sequel to the multi-award winning Civilization IV. Civ 5 was announced on February 18, 2010 and is scheduled for a Fall 2010 release. The game is being developed by Firaxis Games and will be published by 2K Games. The game's official site is at http://www.civilization5.com
The lead designer for Civ 5 is Jon Shafer, aka Trip, who should be well known to many Civ fans. Jon is a modder initially, has worked on Civ 4 as a designer/programmer. He was the co-designer for Civ 4: Beyond the Sword and the creator of the popular Final Frontier mod for that game. The game has been in development for over two years as of early 2010, so development probably started in late 2007. The development team consists of some 50 people.
Release date and availability
The official release date is, at this point, "Fall 2010". Civ 5 will be available on Steam though, according to the Steam Store, where the availability date is cited as the 1st of September. The date hasn't been confirmed by 2K or Firaxis yet, so we can't be certain if it's correct. As such, it's best to treat this date as a probable guess at this point.
Civ 5 will only be available for the PC (Microsoft Windows) platform.
Major features
* For the first time in the Civilization series, the map will be hexagon-based instead of square-based.
* The game will use a new engine
* Leaderheads will be full-screen, speaking the native language of their civilization
* Resources are quantifiable now, with each source only providing enough of a resource for a certain number of units
* Units are limited to only one per tile, no more stacks
Removed features from Civ4
* Religion has been removed. Jon Shafer didn't like the way religions dictated alliances in Civ4, giving them little meaning beyond the religious blocs.
* Civics - replaced by Social Policies.
* Tech trading. The intent is not to allow backward civilizations to catch up in military just by making a good trade
* Leader traits removed in favour of giving each civilization an unique bonus
* Espionage
Graphics and Sound
A new engine is being used for the graphics, which are overall done in Art Deco style. Russel Vaccaro is the graphics designer. Terrain animation, such as forests and oceans, is included.
Civ5 features a longer soundtrack than Civ4, also ambient sounds change depending on what terrain (forest, hills, etc.) you're looking at.
Civilizations
Civ 5 will feature 18 different civilizations. No official specifics on civs and leaders are currently available. However, some renderings of leaders have been posted by Firaxis, so it's pretty safe to assume that the following civs/leaders are in:
# Civilization Leader Picture Historical summary In-game info
1 America Washington b. 1732, d. 1799 - first President of the United States, commander of the American Continental Army Unknown
2 Arabia Harun al-Rashid Unavailable b. 763, d. 809 - the fifth Abbasid Caliph under whom a cultural golden age took place with advancements in arts and culture. Founded the House of Wisdom, an intellectual hub of contemporary Islamic culture Unknown
3 China Wu Zetian Unavailable b. 625, d. 705 - only female Emperor of China, founder of the Zhou dinasty Unknown
4 England Elizabeth Unavailable b. 1533, d. 1603 - Queen of England, last ruler of the Tudor dynasty. Her rule saw the defeat of the Spanish armada and the rise of Elizabethian artists This AI will favour things related to seafaring
5 France Napoleon Bonaparte Unavailable b. 1769, d. 1821 - Emperor of France, known for his many conquests in Europe and domestic innovations including a civil code known as the Napoleonic Code Unknown
6 Germany Bismarck b. 1815, d. 1898 - first Chancellor of Germany, known for the 1871 unification of Germany and his diplomatic efforts. Unknown
7 Inca Unknown Unavailable Unknown Unknown
8 India Gandhi Unavailable b. 1869, d. 1948 - a political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement, known for his philosophy of nonviolence and resistance through mass disobedience Unknown
9 Japan Oda Nobunaga Unavailable b. 1534, d. 1582 - initiator of the Japanese unification that eventually led to the Tokugawa Shogunate, came up with significant innovations in the area of military tactics Unknown
10 Mongolia Genghis Khan Unavailable b. circa 1162, d. 1227 - founder and Emperor of the Mongol Empire which became, under his rule, the largest contiguous empire in history. Among his many military campaigns, launched a successful invasion of China Unknown
11 Rome Julius Caesar (?) Unavailable b. 100 BC, d. 44 BC - Dictator of the Roman Republic who led Rome to military victories including the annexation of Gaul and launching an invasion of Britain Unknown
Every Civ has a unique bonus now as opposed to combinations of traits like in Civ4.
Wonders
Wonders make an expected return in Civ5. The only known Wonder currently is:
* Hanging Gardens - increases happiness
Combat
Combat is significantly different, mainly because stacking is not allowed - only one unit can occupy a tile now. As such, newly produced units should leave the city so that other units can be built there.
Most basic combat units now have two moves instead of one.
Ranged bombardment has returned, as in units being able to do damage from a distance.
Terrain plays a bigger role in combat. Regular units standing on hills will gain sight range and defensive bonuses, ranged units get a bonus when fighting from elevated positions. The use of combined arms will be very important for success in combat.
Some mechanism of upgrading older units to newer ones does exist, though the specifics are unclear.
All in all, combat in Civ5 will be more centered on front line fighting, not just fighting for cities. Breaking through enemy lines will be an important step in your advance.
Trade and Diplomacy
* It will be possible to trade "items and land" with other civs.
* AI leaders have their own agendas and an overall plan for winning the game
* City States are being introduced as minor powers of sorts. It's currently unclear how exactly they act in the game. They are essentially minor civs that never develop beyond one city and can provide bonuses if you befriend them.
* Befriending City States is going to be more beneficial than conquering them outright. You can choose to be friendly, hostile or neutral towards a city state.
* If you approach a City State with military units and some major civ likes that City State, they will warn you. Ignoring warnings regarding city states can lead to serious consequences.
* Diplomacy is going to often give better results than conquest
* Allied civs benefit your research even if you are researching different techs
Map and Resources
* Borders do not extend more than 1 tile into water, based on current screenshots
* Borders expand 1 tile at a time, not in rings. Tiles with harsh terrain - marshes, forests, mountains - will take longer to acquire. Gold can be used in this process somehow, it's unclear if it accelerates tile acquisition or purchases the tile outright
* Instead of 2 tiles, cities can extend their borders up to 3 tiles in every direction now
* Resources no longer come in infinite quantities, now every source of a resource only provides you with a certain amount of that resource
* On-map resources are seen in screenshots, similar to Civ4. The following resources are probably in the game
Known resources:
* Horses
* Cows
* Deer / game
* Wheat
Social Policies
Social policies replace the Civ4 civic system. There's a "civilization policy tree" now similar to the tech tree. It's divided into branches, each containing numerous policies that give different bonuses. You can focus on one branch or try to go for several. The only currently known branch is called "Traditional"
Multiplayer
* Civ 5 supports multiplayer over the Internet, PBEM, Hotseat and LAN games.
* The game will feature access to some community features from within the game itself, such as the "ability to share scenarios, compare scores, brag about achievements and visit one of the thriving Civ fansites without leaving the game"
Modding
* Modding tools have been promised but there are currently no details available on them
* It's said that the game will be even more moddable than Civ4 was
Miscellaneous
* Game design is inspired by Panzer General
* Great People are still in
* Some victory conditions changed. For example in Conquest you only have to capture all the other capitals. Eliminates boring mop up phase.
* To stop Barbarian hordes, you need to destroy nearby Barbarian cities. Barbs will also get stronger units later in the game.
