New info on XP

[Bushface]

And so off we go again, spewing wishes for our favourites into the void of electronic limbo from which not a whisper is heeded by those to whom those wishes are addressed. Face it, fellow Civ fanatics: what the new civs and scenarios are, what the new buildings and leaders are, and so on, has already been decided by the developers and publishers, and these decisions were made long before any rumours of the expansion were allowed to be leaked. That is, naturally, assuming that the expansion is in fact intended to be released this summer, which means within six months of the present. Remember that programs are not written in a day or so, as I'm sure those who have prepared modded games will testify - and those are, after all, just variations on a highly complex theme.
What I would most like to know is not what will be new in the expansion but rather whether any of the peculiarities in the present incarnation of the game will be fixed.

 

[JuanM]

So, if mods can make available 65 civs for free, why can't Firaxis give us more than a paltry 6 for $40?

Oh that's right, some people will give away their money for very little.

It's time we start demanding some quality.

 

[Minoan]

So, if mods can make available 65 civs for free, why can't Firaxis give us more than a paltry 6 for $40?

Oh that's right, some people will give away their money for very little.

It's time we start demanding some quality.

Does Quality always equal Quanity?

Anyway, the mod with 65 civs is, if I remember, made up of mods made by different people working on thier own. So its not as if a few people made all those civs on thier own.

I really don't mind what civ ends up on the expansion, Carthage is more than enough for me (though the Byzantines would be nice, theres no mod availible here for them currently).

EDIT: and I don't really think New Civs are the selling point here. The new units, scenarios, buildings, wonders and the Vasalage option seem much more compelling than new Civs.

 

[Vael]

So, if mods can make available 65 civs for free, why can't Firaxis give us more than a paltry 6 for $40?

Oh that's right, some people will give away their money for very little.

It's time we start demanding some quality.

Because most mods lack the quality that the official product has? Not to mention the fact that there's, oh, 1000 times as many modders as developers.

Personally I don't care about getting new civs anyways.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Thats absolutely correct. Quantity does NOT equal Quality. So long as the civs and leaders are well done-and make sense-then I will be happier with 6 than 60.

For my part, I am more looking forward to the possibility of improved espionage and diplomacy-along with improvements to this new 'Minor Nation' Concept.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

 

[HourlyDaily]

I've got to say that with the expected advances made to the role of civs eg: Vassal states and the development possibility of Civil Wars and the like combined with an Ancient China scenario and the reinstatement of 3 of my favourite civs Carthage, Vikings and Gaul (soon to be modded to just be Celts!) - I could not be happier.

Hmmm I would like to see a WWI scenario aswell, but you know the problem? CIV! how the hell would you implement trenchwarfare? no-mans land? And then think about the current artillary system. That and there were hardly any fights over cities in ww1, only strategic positions, bunkers and geographical anomolies... how about a napoleon or german/italian unification movements? way easyer to implement, or the opium wars...
cheers
oh PS: I for one feel this WW2 thing has been rehased too often and sets too high a standard. Plus what about religions in this scenario? no no this is a mine field around what is a nice picnick.

I agree with the rehashing. In fact I think in Ronald Reagan and those pushing for WWII, I've found the antithesis of my kind of Civ fans - no offence intended, we are just different. And I expect that becasue WWII and popular conflicts will have fan made content, then it is good to have some more 'obscure' but still interesting points in history represented.

WW2? well the scenario is still possible. For trench warfare and no mans land - you assign certain battle lines as strategically important - ones that open up cities further down the path when won over. I assume that you mod artillery for the scenario where certain tiles have good artillery protection, but middle ground that hasn't had a unit on it digging a trench, is extremely susceptible to artillery fire.
Supply lines are probably also managed by control over certain tiles in certain zones. Individual scenarios can place an importance on positions and remove the effect (or prescence) of religions - for that one scenario only. It wouldn't be perfect, but then you might as well play one of the hundred other games out there that try and replicate it.

Lets face it, as far as scenarios go there are a thousand that would be fun to play, and only so many out there that people can make. I'm grateful for what we'll be getting.

 

[boneys26]

Because most mods lack the quality that the official product has? Not to mention the fact that there's, oh, 1000 times as many modders as developers.

Personally I don't care about getting new civs anyways.

I think your wrong. every mod I've seen downloaded & tested are the same if not better than what fraxis gave us to start with ( although modders have no time limit) just think what the mods will be like when we get our hands on the SDK ( I think thats why fraxis haven't given it us yet)

 

[ComradeDavo]

I'm liking the sound of the expansion pack I'm still very much addicted to Civ4 (been playing a game all this morning) so all these toys to play with make me very happy!

 

[Gumbolt]

2 new traits hmmm. Perhaps a seafaring or agricultural trait?Or even a science trait? Civ gets science bonus? Half price library and university?

You wonder if some of the existing civs will have their traits changed like they did in civ 3 introducing the new traits.

I wonder if the warlords will act like armies?

Looks similar to rehash job done on civ 3 in terms of expansions.

All in all probably worth the £15 for the new features pending what the updates do to standard game. Banning of chopping would be funny.

good 4-6 months to wait and see i guess.

Food for thought.

 

[Gumbolt]

Only six new civilizations?!? How incredibly cheap and lame!!!

Usual trick 6 new civs 10 new leaders. I think if you seperate out all the leaders you have 36 different options with the existing game. Thats more than civ 3 had. i think most people enjoy civs that they know and love. I dont really want nations that i dont really know on civ 4. Would you play them? Stick to Europe, America and other well known major nations or empires.

A lot of people seem to play Romans, English and Russians from what i have read. So it makes sense to add more leaders here as its what people are playing.

I would like to see each new leaders have their own special unit so we get a real difference. English archer one of them? How about the rest

hmmm 36 civs and 45 possible combos of traits if 2 new ones. Another 7 go unmatched Are you going to write and complain or shall i?

 

[GiantRaven]

Well philisophical/industrial will be left for being too powerful. They could be saving some for the next expansion

 

[GIR]

...People are already making their own WW2 scenarios, so there is no need to spend their time and effort on making ANOTHER one.[...]

do you know any ww2 scenarios for civ4? than plz tell (link).
i only know one (and it is far away from a "WOW-mod"...)

 

[ChrTh]

Just caught this from the factsheet:

Civilization Leaders: Ten new leaders will be provided. The list will include leaders for the new civilizations as well as additional leaders for existing civilizations.

If true, we're only getting 4 new leaders at most for the existing Civs.

 

[player1 fanatic]

And 4 of those for existing civs are already known (Stalin, Cherchil, August and some still unnamed Egyptian guy).

So, it's only one leader per new civ.

 

[ChrTh]

The problem is when I think "Gaul" I think of the area we know of as France.

The problem is when most people think "Celt" they think Ireland.

 

[Black Waltz]

Ooooh... New leader for England... If it is another Monarch I will scream and set something on fire.

I was a bit wary when I heard about this. It seems rather... Fast. But then again it has only been relased over in the UK for a few months and I have only just got the chance to play it. So it is probably my perspective. And £15 isn't too bad.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Ooooh... New leader for England... If it is another Monarch I will scream and set something on fire.

It's Churchill

 

[atreas]

A lot of people seem to play Romans, English and Russians from what i have read. So it makes sense to add more leaders here as its what people are playing.

If that's the case (I would say that you are 2/3 correct) then it would seem that this happens because of overpowered (comparatively) abilities - UU and traits. That would be an indication of a need for change of direction to add interest in the gameplay, not encouragement of an existing trend.

It's exactly the OTHER civs that need more leaders, not the already popular ones. But Firaxis thought the easy way. And about the Romans I can understand it (only one leader) - about the other two it is extremely uncomprehensible to me since it seems there is no WWII scenario.

 

[Vael]

I find it funny... there's no way Firaxis can win. If they add obscure leaders then people claim they don't care about what the fans want. If Firaxis add what the fans request then people complain Civ is boring doesn't include enough diversity.

 

[benjamin28]

Do you really think that Firaxis will ruin the surprise by telling us everything will find?
Do you remember the time when we believed there was six traits and was a strange fact not to see Gandhi as "Spiritual"?
Think that there will be 45 combinations of 2 traits (if Mathematics don't fail me) with 10 options! With only 36 leaders, they will left 9 possible combinations and this is a bad number.

The numbers they present are not good enough, and I hope they will add a lot more to the experience.
And I'm expecting they could put in seven more religions, that could appear by chance or maybe be selected or deselected before starting the game.
I suggest: Shinto(Japanese), Ásartu (Viking), Zoroastrianism, Druidism (Celt), Helenism (Greek), American Polytheism and Sikhism.
What do you think??