Is this the last expansion for Civilization IV?!?!

[dutchking]

I know it's a bit early to be asking, but is this the last expansion for Civilization IV before Civilization V??!! I really can't even try to picture what Civilization V may look like in a few years! Its kind of scary. I changed the title to Beyond the Bliss just for the hell of it.

 

[bonafide11]

I know it's a bit early to be asking, but is this the last expansion for Civilization IV before Civilization V??!! I really can't even try to picture what Civilization V may look like in a few years! Its kind of scary.

I assume it is the last expansion pack. They really seemed to include everything in BTS, and even Firaxis referred to it as Civ 4.5. I don't know what else they could do for Civ IV. But I have a feeling that before Firaxis makes Civ V, they're going to release Civ IV on a console, possibly Wii or 360. I don't know why I think this, but I just sense that its time for Firaxis to give the console another shot. So I think Civ V is still a few years away.

 

[Virulent]

After BtS I don't think that there will be much to add other than new leaders and Civs. Also two expansions packs for a popular PC title seems the norm these days (with stuff like the Sims being the exception).

 

[ohcrapitsnico]

Hopefully they'll put some scenarios on the forums in the future like what they did with WWI and the futuristic asia scenarios but thats just wishful thinking.

 

[Horizons]

Hopefully they'll put some scenarios on the forums in the future like what they did with WWI and the futuristic asia scenarios but thats just wishful thinking.

I hope they don't do that because those scenarios suffered very badly from being rushed. In particular the WWI scenario would make a great candidate for an XP, polished up a little and given unique, Firaxis-created graphics for all the units.

There is plenty of stuff they could put in another expansion but I agree that this is the last XP we'll see for Civ IV.

 

[RockTheCazbah87]

Probably... they only did two XP's for Civ3... and it looks like their runnin' out of civilizations as well...

 

[ohcrapitsnico]

I hope they don't do that because those scenarios suffered very badly from being rushed. In particular the WWI scenario would make a great candidate for an XP, polished up a little and given unique, Firaxis-created graphics for all the units.

There is plenty of stuff they could put in another expansion but I agree that this is the last XP we'll see for Civ IV.

I'm a person who has always viewed Firaxis scenarios as unfinished, rushed and inaccurate. I do like the scenarios because they are excellent building blocks for my versions of them.

 

[Vrenir]

CivIII was generally thought to be one of the least-successful Civ games; it had two expansions (Play the World and Conquests) and a complete version.

CivI was made without modability or expansion packs, but was popular enough to spawn the later games.

CivII was, until CivIV, far and away the most successful Civ game; it had two major expansions (Conflicts and Fantastic Worlds) and a third lower-profile one (Test of Time) that was overshadowed by the fact that the complete Gold version had preceeded it and the semi-related Call to Power came out only shortly after it.

Since CivIV is more like CivII in popularity and modability than CivIII, I would not be surprised if Firaxis decided to go further than two expansions with it. The key is for somebody at Firaxis to come up with a handful of new ideas to make the game better or to expand it. If they have the ideas and people keep buying and modding CivIV, they will keep producing CivIV until they believe it has reached its potential.

Of course, I don't work for Firaxis, so I don't know.

 

[kniteowl]

I assume it is the last expansion pack. They really seemed to include everything in BTS, and even Firaxis referred to it as Civ 4.5. I don't know what else they could do for Civ IV. But I have a feeling that before Firaxis makes Civ V, they're going to release Civ IV on a console, possibly Wii or 360. I don't know why I think this, but I just sense that its time for Firaxis to give the console another shot. So I think Civ V is still a few years away.

i"d prefer if they release CIv4 on the DS, it'd be easier to play with the pen.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Whilst I would welcome a further expansion, I'm tempted to think that the next release will be a repackaged Civ IV "complete" version with fan-made mods included.

 

[kniteowl]

But the DS has about 4MB of RAM. I wouldn't play civ without 200 times that.

I don't mind if they lowered the graphics to 2D and anything else that is irrelevant to gameplay. As long as it's enjoyable and feels like Civ

 

[Colossian]

Probably... they only did two XP's for Civ3... and it looks like their runnin' out of civilizations as well...

3 XP's for Civ4 as 2 XP's for Civ3. IMO, Civ5 will come out in 2010 with DirextX11. If STARTCRAFT2 is great with DX10, Civ5 will come out soon with DX10.

 

[Commander Bello]

Under the assumption that BtS will be "good" (by what yardstick ever), I see the next evolution step being quantifiable ressources, as the companies seem to indicate this.

However, I think this would require a complete overhaul of the current engine. Next to it, I think an overhaul of the 3D-engine is necessary, as it costs too many ressources for what it offers.

Therefore, I would assume that a Civ5 could be expected for late 2009, maybe Christmas. That wouldn't leave any time nor ressources for a third expansion.

 

[dutchking]

Under the assumption that BtS will be "good" (by what yardstick ever), I see the next evolution step being quantifiable ressources, as the companies seem to indicate this.

However, I think this would require a complete overhaul of the current engine. Next to it, I think an overhaul of the 3D-engine is necessary, as it costs too many ressources for what it offers.

Therefore, I would assume that a Civ5 could be expected for late 2009, maybe Christmas. That wouldn't leave any time nor ressources for a third expansion.

How the hell can you predict when Civ V will come out??!
I want them to make Civ IV compatible with GMA 950 Intel-Integrated Graphics Cards, so I can have the beautiful graphics I have on my iMac with the speed of the Macbook.

 

[TheLastOne36]

i don't know yet. WAY to early to be making predictions. If BtS needs a lot of balancing out then they might add a third expansion.

 

[The Navy Seal]

I'm guessing yes it will be the last.

 

[Commander Bello]

How the hell can you predict when Civ V will come out??![...]

Easy.

First of all, we assume the company is willing to develop a next iteration.

Second, 2007 will be spend just for BtS and one or two patches.

Development of Civ5 then would start in early 2008. As it has to have quite some new features to attract enough customers, this will take some time. 18 months seem to be a good estimation for the timeframe. So, we are at mid 2009. I do not think, however, that such a game would be released in summer, so autumn or early winter (some time before Christmas) seems to be more realistic.

But of course, all of this are just assumptions of mine and most probably will be proven wrong in the future.

 

[Optimizer]

I assume it is the last expansion pack. They really seemed to include everything in BTS, and even Firaxis referred to it as Civ 4.5. I don't know what else they could do for Civ IV.

I get the same feeling - Firaxis tries to squeeze everything but the kitchen sink into BTS.

The good thing is that we will not need to pay (or wait) for a third expansion.

The bad thing is the risk that many of the new features might be poorly designed.

If this expansion had concentrated on new diplomacy, espionage and new civilizations (which seem to be the most requested features), they could have saved the 20th century warfare, the corporations and the science-fiction stuff to a third expansion, possibly called "End of History".

 

[dutchking]

I dunno, I kind of believe this is the last expansion, but I don't really want it to be. I love Civ IV so much, and I don't know if I'll need to get a new computer to be able to play Civ V. This comp is fairly new, but in two years it will be totally out of date. If there is another expansion I don't know what they could possibly include in it. More Civs/Leaders, Techs, Resources? I don't know.

 

[Optimizer]

We must distinguish between new features and new content.

New content (civilizations, units, buildings) can easily be created by fans.

New features (Great Generals, Vassals, Corporations and such) are difficult to create by modding.

Therefore, the new features are the most valuable part of an expansion pack.