new patch is on its way: 1.0.1.275, released April, 28th

[Louis XXIV]

If you're going with the logic of patch = hint of what DLC is coming, then I vote Vikings. There's plenty of naval/embarked unit fixes in there, and well.. the zulu aren't known for their navy.

Interesting. As a third option, I'm going to throw out the possibility of a Punic War scenario. If they were to add Carthage and the Celts, there would be a need to fit in naval war along the path from Italy to Tunisia along Sicily. If they were to incorporate the Dunn (UB in past games) as a unique improvement, it would make sense to want to treat it like a Citadel (hence the AI improvements there).

That being said, the Vikings/Norse/Scandinavians make a lot of sense. Citadels would be logical for any Medieval-esque scenario. So I could see either way.

 

[jagdtigerciv]

The entire modern age needs a facelift. You basically get NOTHING except for upgraded military toys in the modern age. Sad, really....


Moderator Action: 6 spam posts got deleted after this one here. Please stay on topic.

Yes. I completely agree. I find the modern age the least boring because there are so few useful buildings and I really don't like the way Nuclear Power, Hydro Power and Solar Power Plants are set up, and apart from that, there's very few buildings that can dramatically effect gameplay.

 

[Drawmeus]

Yes. I completely agree. I find the modern age the least boring because there are so few useful buildings and I really don't like the way Nuclear Power, Hydro Power and Solar Power Plants are set up, and apart from that, there's very few buildings that can dramatically effect gameplay.

Apparently there are two patches in the work - this polish/bugfixing/small AI and UI patch, and a balance patch. Given the focus already given to the early game, I imagine the balance patch will have a mid-to-late game focus. No idea how long til we know for sure what they're planning for it, though.

 

[jjkrause84]

I agree with jjkrause... I really miss my supermarket ! Firaxis, you screwed the poor modern consumner ... please bring it back !

That's what I'm talking about!

I loved my supermarkets....

 

[MqsTout]

There is a non-steam compatible version of Civ5?

I thought you need to go through steam to play.

No, there is not. You are, quite unfortunately, correct.

 

[MadDjinn]

Interesting. As a third option, I'm going to throw out the possibility of a Punic War scenario. If they were to add Carthage and the Celts, there would be a need to fit in naval war along the path from Italy to Tunisia along Sicily. If they were to incorporate the Dunn (UB in past games) as a unique improvement, it would make sense to want to treat it like a Citadel (hence the AI improvements there).

That being said, the Vikings/Norse/Scandinavians make a lot of sense. Citadels would be logical for any Medieval-esque scenario. So I could see either way.

I was just following the logic.

But a Punic war scenario would be nice as well.

The more important question is: one civ or two? I'm trending to a single civ, but it'll depend on what type of scenario comes with the DLC; let alone which region is being boosted by another civ. Hopefully it's one that adds something interesting and not one that's basically the same as another civ. Ie, no huns please.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Occam's Razor says one Civ. Babylon, Mongols, and Polynesia were all singles, suggesting that's the preference. The double pack can be written off as being something promised ahead of time, so they went through with it (although the two Civs logically fit together).

That being said, there was some analysis done of the new achievements that suggest multiple civs could be released.

 

[fat_tonle]

Yeah one civ every two months seems a little light, assuming an expansion is scheduled next fall. That's what, 3 more civs until then? And then expansion civs? Unless the expansion includes 6-8 civs they won't get all those civs in any time soon.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I don't think there's any reason to assume an expansion either. It seems that they keep their artists employed working on DLC and they keep their programmers employed with patches. While they might come out with an expansion, the DLC saps out quite a lot of force of any expansion that would come out).

 

[bruntfca]

I still want to see trading posts fixed up a bit.

I liked how cottages evolved into mini cities outside a city.

Not expecting something similar as the map will look too busy, but the trading posts are fugly.

I don't see that mini cities would be out of place. As is the map seems almost frozen from the middle/ages renaissance onwards. The extant "trading posts" are just laughable and not to mention "fugly" as you put it; they literally make my eyes bleed.

While they're at it, they need to fix the resource icons too; they seem to inhabit the 2D world of sprites while the rest of the game is in 3D - more eye bleeding. Then they can fix the 1920-1930s Soviet/Art Deco UI which ruins any sense of immersion, and finally change the lame looping sound track

 

[fat_tonle]

I don't think there's any reason to assume an expansion either. It seems that they keep their artists employed working on DLC and they keep their programmers employed with patches. While they might come out with an expansion, the DLC saps out quite a lot of force of any expansion that would come out).

Yeah but the game deliberately left out all that content from IV to be "possibly added at a later time". You think there will be espionage and health DLC packs? I don't see patches incorporating all that stuff either unless it is a very minor addition or tweak. Eventually they will need a comprehensive expansion SHOULD they decide they need some of those things (and more) back into the game.

 

[Louis XXIV]

The only one I can see is Espionage. The stated reason for removing religion was because it didn't work in Civ5 (they actually devoted quite a bit of resources towards it before removing it). Corporations and Vassals were added for the first time in Civ5 and never quite worked. Health appears to have been incorporated into the happiness system, since that system includes more vertical and horizontal growth.

Espionage could be DLC, it could also be a patch. Keep in mind that hotseat and PBEM were promised as a patch to the game even though they weren't included in the original game. Same with modding tools. These are features that were released free of charge. Certainly, they aren't something that could sell an expansion pack by themselves.

 

[SRG]

I think if espionage is introduced, it will be in the way of a unique unit spy.

I still hope it is the end game replay and graphs.

 

[MadDjinn]

Yeah one civ every two months seems a little light, assuming an expansion is scheduled next fall. That's what, 3 more civs until then? And then expansion civs? Unless the expansion includes 6-8 civs they won't get all those civs in any time soon.

If there was an expansion coming, then given their DLC strategy for civs, I'd be willing to be it'd just be gameplay/feature addition only. Maybe 1-2 new civs to go with it, but nothing major in the civ department.

 

[Valkrionn]

The only one I can see is Espionage. The stated reason for removing religion was because it didn't work in Civ5 (they actually devoted quite a bit of resources towards it before removing it). Corporations and Vassals were added for the first time in Civ5 and never quite worked. Health appears to have been incorporated into the happiness system, since that system includes more vertical and horizontal growth.

Espionage could be DLC, it could also be a patch. Keep in mind that hotseat and PBEM were promised as a patch to the game even though they weren't included in the original game. Same with modding tools. These are features that were released free of charge. Certainly, they aren't something that could sell an expansion pack by themselves.

Eh; Religion ala Civ4 did not work in Civ5. There is no reason to believe that a wholly different mechanic, simply sharing the same name, could not work.

Same goes for Espionage. Or health.

 

[fat_tonle]

Espionage could obviously keep the point system, I guess they were just refraining from that for purchasable DLC/Exp down the road.

Religion would be a work in progress. I don't think it will happen though outside of Mods.

Health is not gonna work with just fish, sheep, cow, deer, and wheat. Forest could give you bonuses, but you'd need more diversity in resources I would think. Unless those things give you like three times the boost and what not.

As far as buildings and health are concerned, granaries, harbors, and hospitals would have to yield health bonuses instead of food, which makes the re-introduction of health a tad unnecessary, considering buildings just yield a food boost this time around. As far as health penalties, jungle, rivers, buildings, the usual. But if you do that, then Unhappiness needs to be retooled since that already cuts growth. I think Unhappiness should cut hammer and gold (-5 Gold and -1 Hammer (in each city) per citizen per turn) across the board, while health should regulate growth. But then again, does it really make sense for an empire that is revolting against your leadership to grow at a normal pace? Or should Unhappiness cut everything along with unhealthiness cutting food count? And why would you have an extra mechanic that penalizes growth when unhappiness already does that? Outside of creating realism, it doesn't make sense for this game.

 

[Valkrionn]

I vehemently disagree that Espionage could keep the point system; The manner of it's implementation in Civ4 is absolutely repugnant to me. It was done VERY poorly.

I do agree that health is useless, however, and that religion is likely the realm of mods; Unless Firaxis can differentiate the religions in fun ways, there's no point to the mechanic.

 

[fat_tonle]

What the hell do you want them to do? We are already spending culture points... How would you regulate espionage? Spies should act perpetually to damage incrementally or what?

 

[Valkrionn]

Allow me to be more clear; The points themselves aren't the issue.

The fact that using espionage in turn makes you more vulnerable to the actions of others is the issue. When the same exact counter is used both to pay for espionage actions, and to protect against the actions of others, you have a fundamentally broken mechanic that is unfun.

Use a different mechanic to protect against it, or do away with the counter entirely and make it all innate abilities of the unit, or do something completely different; Either way, do not simply reintroduce the BtS mechanic.

 

[fat_tonle]

Well then just spend the points on counter espionage and build more military, and don't allow the mechanic to reveal other players and their builds or research based on who has accrued more points. Not even sure the game needs it, considering how lame it was in IV for the most part. Makes me wonder if we'll ever get of the old mechanics any time soon.