Civilization V Announced!

[choxorn]

Well, most of us get along fine with XML. Frankly, the modding power of civ4 would not be possible if an editor like the one in civ3 were used.

IMO allowing a few extra people to make simple mods is less important than allowing for major mods to be created. Fall From Heaven would not be possible on civ3, for example. But you would have us go without mods like Fall From Heaven, because it would allow a few more people to make the nth mod that adds civ x.

Is there any reason we can't have both an XML for the people who want complex mods and an editor for the newbies?

 

[Silv Something]

Don't know why everyone is even getting so worked up about religions anyways. If it IS truly out, and if the game IS truly as moddable as they say it is, then eventually, they can mod it back in!

And if that's the case, then you can have your Paganism, and even your flying spaghetti monster-ism all you want.

The correct term is Pastafarianism.

 

[deanej]

Is there any reason we can't have both an XML for the people who want complex mods and an editor for the newbies?

Well, then it wouldn't be possible to extend the XML, such as by adding new fields or even new files. There are some approaches that can avoid this, but I don't think those would result in anything less intimidating than editing the files directly (though they can be more convenient).

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Wow, I go AWOL for a *WEEK* & the biggest civ-related announcement in over 4 years just happens to hit the airwaves within that 7-day period . So, now that its announced, where do we sign up for Beta Test duties? I've got experience in that area now !

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Oh, & this seriously puts a bomb under me to get my mods for Civ4 completed !

 

[GreatProfit]

The hex format reminds me somewhat uncomfortably of Wesnoth. I just can't get a positive vibe out of it. I also don't like the archers shooting arrows across a friggin' lake; it just looks weird. Ranged bombardment might have made sense in scifi SMAC, but not historical Civ.

I respect the bold direction they're taking with Civ, but it's simply not my cup of tea. I'll stick with BTS for now.

I wonder if that'll mean *properly* spherical worlds are now in the game.

If you mean something like a soccer (football) ball, then no. You would need a mix of hexagons and pentagons for that.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

I'll tell you-if planet Earth gets hit by an Asteroid between now & September/October, I'm gonna be *sooooo* MAD!!!!

 

[Quasar1011]

Oh, are there asteroids in Civ 5?

 

[kivanc]

Hagia Sofia with minarets, as mentioned above and literally dozens of such small annoying things.

There's also a deeper thing, which has been going on since Civ1 - the supposition that communism has low corruption (up to State Property = no upkeep in civ4). It's really rather hilarious, considering that a) corruption can be said to have been one of the main factors behind the inefficiency and subsequent demise of the communist regime in the Soviet blok and b) it is still a plague in post-soviet countries.

But all these issues are secondary - good gameplay mechanics should take precedence. Still, a historian by trade, I just hope that Firaxis would, for once, hire someone competent for all the historical stuff.

most of your comments are political and/or nationalistic.
hagia sophia is beatiful with or w/o the minarets. but as none of us (including firaxis) saw how it was w/o minarets (they were installed hundreds of years ago), what you say is just nationalistic.
your comments about communism aren't true neither.
many different political views civ fans have, so firaxis cannot satisfy all.
i am a big fan of SP and i like the kind of way they implement SP. still, i would play civ however they implement SP.

 

[chrissifniotis]

Oh, are there asteroids in Civ 5?

Why not? There's an asteroid random event in Civ 4.

 

[kivanc]

as SoD is OUT, i hope we can multi-select units.
i also would like workers removed. call to power kind of terrain working is much better. worker management is only valid for where you apply the hammers from chop and i'm sure there could be other ways to hurry a production.

for them who do not know call to power,
the empire had a total production pool. you click on a tile, spent some hammers from that pool. so each terrain improvement take some turns and some hammers. you don't move any workers on them.

in civ series, roughly 1/4 of our civ playing time is "wasted" for worker movements. and another 1/4 for terrain improvement which should be done anyway.
you have to employ many workers when your territory is large because it takes many turns to move them to otherside of the country. so in order not to do that, not to loose turns while transferring them, you need to have free workers in each region of your country.
when there is nothing to do for them in nearby cities, you just build unnecessary roads. you don't want to send them away because soon you will need them for that city again.

 

[bite]

I'm looking extremely foreword for civ 5 I liked civ 4 but

5.I don't know if I really care about this or if it does need improvement. Character traits I thought some of the leaders traits were quite weird or useless in civ 4

12.Bring back old terrain like marsh,volcano and possibly new ones.

For number five, they've stated that each leader will have their own trait, none of this generic 'industrial, philosophical et al'

For 12, screen-shots have confirmed the presence of Marshes in the game.

 

[tom2050]

From this info:

- Switch from squares to hexagons changing the way the game plays. More room for maneuvers and more tactical options.
- Changes to combat. More depth in combat, no more stacking of units. This will lead to bigger focus on terrain.
- Inspired by Panzer General.
- Reintroduction of Bombardment, now archers and siege equipment can shoot over melee units.
- Better diplomatic AI.
- More diplomatic options between players.
- Less "cheating" AI.
- Religion is not a factor anymore.
- Ressources are not infinite. For example one source of horse only supplies enough horses for 1 unit, but when that horseman dies the horses will respawn as a unit. (this confused me alittle, i guess we will have to watch it in action)
- City States as a sort of small countries that never develop beyond their single city. They can provide bonusses if you befriend them, or you can take over their land.
- Civics are out, now there is something called "Social Policies".
- About the same amount of wonders, the tech tree will feel familiar. Great People still in.
- Some victory conditions changed. For example in Conquest you only have to capture all the other capitals. Eliminates boring mop up phase.
- Unique Civ leader bonusses, no more standard "Spiritual" or "Financial".
- DirectX 11 support.
- Built in webbrowser. Sid Meier is also working on a facebook application of Civilization.

One of the things that caught my eye was the possibility of No Stacking of Units. If this is true than that means:

Small number of individual units on map.
Could have been done to allow largers maps, more cities... is unknown.
Cities might be limited to 1 unit also, but doubtful under the way current civ works (how else would you build units if this was the case).

If they further decrease the number of units, sizes of maps, number of cities in a game than what it is in 4, I see this as bad move. If they use individual units so larger maps, more cities, then it could be okay.

Unless each individual unit can act as an Army or combined force in one way or another, letting you add units to each individual unit somehow, and create a combined arms force, this seems an odd way to go. I can't take this statement's word as completely true without news directly from 2K (unless they did release it somewhere; I may just not know).

Less Cheating AI is a definite good thing everyone can agree on!

Tom

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Sorry, just a lame joke about how angry I'd be if a meteor impact caused me to miss out on playing Civ5 .

 

[HypnosTene]

most of your comments are political and/or nationalistic.
hagia sophia is beatiful with or w/o the minarets. but as none of us (including firaxis) saw how it was w/o minarets (they were installed hundreds of years ago), what you say is just nationalistic.
your comments about communism aren't true neither.
many different political views civ fans have, so firaxis cannot satisfy all.
i am a big fan of SP and i like the kind of way they implement SP. still, i would play civ however they implement SP.

That's quaint. Let's look at this objectively. Nationalism implies some sort of ethnic identification with a state and the belief that one's nation is of special importance. I cannot see how any of my comments about the Hagia Sophia could be deemed so. I am not Greek (they would be the only ones seeing a national problem here, I guess). Moreover, I am neither Christian, nor Muslim. I spent a large part of my life in a Muslim country, and I dearly miss both the mosques and the calls of the muezzins. This does not however change the fact that, built in the times of Justinian, the Hagia Sophia stood for most of its history without the minarets, and it was only after it has fallen to a conqueror that the minarets were installed.

You say that not a living person saw the building without the later additions. True, of course, but it is also true that noone saw the great piramid unaltered, the hanging gardens whatsoever, the Colossus not split into parts and drowned. Should we render the Mausoleum, also within your country's bounds, as it looks now today? Or, indeed, the Temple of Artemis? I think not. Doing so would only serve the Herostratuses of history.

As for communism, I have nothing against your political views, but you should realise, that whatever communism's fortes might have been (say, fast growth of labor-intensive industries), low corruption was very clearly not one of them.

 

[toft]

From this info:

One of the things that caught my eye was the possibility of No Stacking of Units.

I dont know where people get this information, but if it is just because the pictures did not have a way of showing multiple units in one tile because all the UI was left out, then we can expect a lot of things not to be there. The feature list mentions a more spread out battlefield, but that is all. Maybe there a limit to the number of units in one tile, maybe theres direct disadvantages of stacking - we dont know.

Rumors/speculation is not facts.

 

[TylerD]

omg omg omg

 

[Dig-Doug]

I regret, and indeed resent, the change to hexagons, for two reasons. Firstly, it reduces the movement possibilities from 8 directions to six, and secondly I like to draw maps as soon as I know enough about my world; one can get squared paper quite easily, or even draw one's own with a simple DTP program, but hex paper ? Never seen any on sale anywhere, and drawing jiggly lines is a very tedious process to which, I suppose, I must resign myself./

Look no further...
http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/hexagonal/

Google for more...

DD

 

[kivanc]

That's quaint. Let's look at this objectively. Nationalism implies some sort of ethnic identification with a state and the belief that one's nation is of special importance. I cannot see how any of my comments about the Hagia Sophia could be deemed so. I am not Greek (they would be the only ones seeing a national problem here, I guess). Moreover, I am neither Christian, nor Muslim. I spent a large part of my life in a Muslim country, and I dearly miss both the mosques and the calls of the muezzins. This does not however change the fact that, built in the times of Justinian, the Hagia Sophia stood for most of its history without the minarets, and it was only after it has fallen to a conqueror that the minarets were installed.

You say that not a living person saw the building without the later additions. True, of course, but it is also true that noone saw the great piramid unaltered, the hanging gardens whatsoever, the Colossus not split into parts and drowned. Should we render the Mausoleum, also within your country's bounds, as it looks now today? Or, indeed, the Temple of Artemis? I think not. Doing so would only serve the Herostratuses of history.

As for communism, I have nothing against your political views, but you should realise, that whatever communism's fortes might have been (say, fast growth of labor-intensive industries), low corruption was very clearly not one of them.

i am not a religious person neither.
i have mixed feelings about changing the original form of a wonder. it is a political and cultural decision of ottoman emperors. it was transformed into a mosque then back into a church and now it's a museum. it is somekind of showing strength to the world. you have to consider such moves according to their era. i believe such decisions are normal for medieval age. just remember the inquisition period.

on the other hand, such reformations are not good for art and architecture. but i'm sure hagia sophia is not the only one to be changed

i believe it is still an arcitectal beauty. all the tourists visiting Istanbul love it. I consider it a great architectural building with both its minarets and the pictures of Jesus Christ on the walls inside. it is a mixed cultural/historical symbol. it represents Istanbul very well, with all of its history. it really smells history, freshly.

i believe it is not right to ask firaxis to draw it w/o minarets consciously, it would be a political approach which is not proper.

 

[Athmos]

We got it here as a copy/paste from a thread on Apolyton (afair), which itself links back to some thread on Paradox' forums, which I couldn't check, as they required registration. All in all, probably baseless rumours, or something related to the Facebook project. I wouldn't believe it too much.

the Apolyton post is there : http://apolyton.net/forums/showpost.php?p=5753192&postcount=23.

The claim is that it originaly came from a danish game magazine.