Civilization V Update's

[Ahovking]

Here is the announcement many of you have been waiting for!

2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc, today announced that Sid Meier's Civilization V, the newest entry from the genre-defining strategy-based franchise, is currently in development at Firaxis Games for PC. Civilization V reinvigorates the classic turn-based strategy genre with an astonishing new engine built from the ground-up for this flagship edition of the Civilization franchise. Players are introduced to an entirely new combat system, deeper diplomatic interactions and a cavalcade of expanded features that deliver a fully immersive experience providing hours of entertainment as players build and defend their empire on their quest to become the greatest ruler the world has ever known.

Civilization V takes this definitive strategy game series in new directions with the introduction of hexagon tiles allowing for deeper strategy, more realistic gameplay and stunning organic landscapes for players to explore as they expand their empire. The brand new engine orchestrates a spectacular visual experience that brings players closer to the Civ experience than ever, featuring fully animated leaders interacting with players from a screen-filling diplomatic scene and speaking in their native language for the first time. Wars between empires feel massive as armies dominate the landscape, and combat is more exciting and intense than ever before. The addition of ranged bombardment allows players to fire weapons from behind the front lines, challenging players to develop clever new strategies to guarantee victory on the battlefield. In addition to the new gameplay features debuting in Civilization V, an extensive suite of community, modding and multiplayer elements will also make an appearance.

"Sid Meier's Civilization franchise has been recognized as one of the greatest PC game franchises of all time with millions of units sold worldwide," said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. "Civilization V takes the franchise further by offering players a more immersive experience with deeper strategies; heightened tactical combat; vast, realistic landscapes to explore, battle over and claim as their own; and an in-game community hub where Civ fans can share content and compete against each other without leaving the game. This marks a new era that will forever change the franchise responsible for sleep deprivation and reduced productivity for nearly two decades."

"Each new version of Civilization presents exciting challenges for our team," said Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games. "Thankfully, ideas on how to bring new and fun experiences to Civ players never seem to stop flowing. From fully animated leaders and realistic landscapes, new combat tactics, expanded diplomacy and shared mods, we're excited for players to see the new vision our team at Firaxis has brought to the series."

In addition to Civilization V, Firaxis Games is also currently developing Sid Meier's Civilization Network, a Civ game for Facebook. With Sid Meier leading design, Civilization Network will offer yet another option for world domination to both the casual gamer and the biggest fans of the series. It's another way to access the famously addictive world of Civilization.


For more information, check out the official Civ V website.
http://www.civilization5.com/

 

[Ahovking]

Civ update 2

The next game in the highly successful Civilization franchise from Firaxis and 2K Games has been announced this morning. Exclusive details and interviews with Sid Meier, Jon Shafer, and other Civilization alumni will appear in the next issue of GamePro. And yes, the game is hex-based this time.
Civilization V announced, on next <em>GamePro</em> cover

Following the news that Sid Meier's Facebook game, Civilization Network, will move into a Beta phase this June, 2K Games and Firaxis has confirmed rumors and announced the next "full" sequel in the Civilization franchise. Civilization V has been designed to reinvigorate the classic turn-based strategy genre with a brand new engine built that includes an entirely new combat system, and deeper diplomatic interactions. Beyond the official announcement, further details on the game, including interviews with Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games, and Civ V project lead Jon Shafer will appear in the April issue of GamePro. The magazine begins shipping to subscribers this week, and will be on U.S. newsstands on March 9. The cover image, seen here, is an original rendering of George Washington, who appears in the game along with an assortment of new world leaders that have not appeared in the franchise before.

From the press release:

Civilization V takes this definitive strategy game series in new directions with the introduction of hexagon tiles allowing for deeper strategy, more realistic gameplay and stunning organic landscapes for players to explore as they expand their empire. The brand new engine orchestrates a spectacular visual experience that brings players closer to the Civ experience than ever, featuring fully animated leaders interacting with players from a screen-filling diplomatic scene and speaking in their native language for the first time. Wars between empires feel massive as armies dominate the landscape, and combat is more exciting and intense than ever before. The addition of ranged bombardment allows players to fire weapons from behind the front lines, challenging players to develop clever new strategies to guarantee victory on the battlefield. In addition to the new gameplay features debuting in Civilization V, an extensive suite of community, modding and multiplayer elements will also make an appearance.

&#8220;Each new version of Civilization presents exciting challenges for our team,&#8221; said Sid Meier, director of creative development at Firaxis Games. &#8220;Thankfully, ideas on how to bring new and fun experiences to Civ players never seem to stop flowing. From fully animated leaders and realistic landscapes, new combat tactics, expanded diplomacy and shared mods, we&#8217;re excited for players to see the new vision our team at Firaxis has brought to the series.&#8221;

No release date has been announced yet beyond "Fall 2010."

 

[Ahovking]

CivV Update 3

-http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/107/1074732p1.html

US, March 5, 2010 - Earlier this week we had the chance to visit Firaxis to get a look at the newest version of Civilization. We'll be talking a lot about the specific features of the game next week, but today we're taking a look at some of the inspirations behind the sequel and how lead designer Jon Shafer and producer Dennis Shirk are hoping to change or reclaim some key franchise concepts. Jon's previous experience as a modder in the Civilization community has given him a healthy sense of what's possible in the world of Civilization, while his work at Firaxis on Civilization IV and its expansions have helped him keep his innovations consistent with the overall franchise.

The most obvious change is the move to a hex-based map. While it was initially a bit jarring to jettison the age-old square tiles, the new format makes for maps that look much more natural. Rather than having lots of awkward right angles and confusion about whether water tiles joined only at the corner are passable, the new hexes make movement much clearer and remove the chance for diagonal movement exploits. The move to hexes was prompted by Jon's love of the old SSI classic, Panzer General. Like that game, the new Civilization will only allow one military unit per hex, which eliminates the stacks of doom that have been such a franchise fixture. And since that means only one unit can garrison a city, combat has moved away from city sieges and instead focuses on movement and position outside of the cities.

Naturally, it's not all about making war, so diplomacy has been overhauled as well. Diplomacy has a wider focus but has also been streamlined a bit. In terms of focus, the team wanted to create a game where the player's main interactions weren't always driven purely by competition. The inclusion of unaligned city states that can be used as leverage against larger powers helps move diplomacy in a new direction. By removing the religion and espionage systems, Firaxis hopes to focus diplomacy more on specific strategic situations and less on the exploitation of more arbitrary game elements.

Jon Shafer is the new face of Civilization.
The game has obviously also been influenced by Civilization Revolution for the consoles, particularly in terms of the overall interface. While the new game still maintains a level of complexity that's appropriate for the series and the PC platform, the interface elements have been folded back to reveal more of the playing area. Likewise, the game will help players focus on the information they need to see. Small icons will appear along the edge of the screen to give players notifications of important events or opportunities, and you can instantly snap to any of the relevant locations to get your own appraisal of the situation.

It's all an attempt to make the game more accessible without compromising on the depth or details. It's also a great way to communicate information to the players without drawing them out of the game world or completely stalling the game's progress. Additionally, if you haven't set a research priority or a production order for one of your cities, the end turn button will instead take you to those screens.

Of course, not all of Civilization's PC fans had a positive view of the broad style or humor of Revolution, so they'll be happy to know that the designers are moving away from the silliness of the console game to create a more somber PC sequel. The game will still have the trademark Civilization personality, but it won't be as exaggerated as in previous installments. The advisors are making a comeback, for instance, but won't be pushing each other aside or shouting over each other.

It's not surprising given Jon's background that the new version of Civilization will be even more moddable than Civ IV. All the tools have been taken to a whole new level, so the more you know about XML and programmable DLL, the more you'll be able to achieve with the game. More importantly, the game itself will contain a browser for full community interaction, so you can search for, discuss, install and rate mods all from within the game shell. Firaxis will maintain a small bit of control over this and will rely on player flags to evaluate objectionable content.

Be sure to check back with IGN next week as we reveal exclusive new details on the game design and overall content of the new game.