CIVILIZATION V

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Personally, I think that making the series becoming more sober is a fairly respectable new direction. The Sims would be a game that would lose much if we took humor away. Civilization... not so much.

 

Leaders loking more like real people and less like their caricature would also be helpful.

[Te Darasuum Mandalor]

what is everybody's fav/best civ in the previous games?

 

For me, its gotta be either Germany or Rome.

[Sabretooth]

I've only played Civilization IV and all the civs were fairly equal in it. If anything, India - part patriotism, part logic - they have the only unique unit that lasts the entire game.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

what is everybody's fav/best civ in the previous games?

 

For me, its gotta be either Germany or Rome.

Well, on CivIV, the civilization that best adapted to my needs was Egypt, attribute-wise. Germany not far behind.

 

Although if we ignore this and go only for the coolness aspects, then Rome hands down. I'm a great fan of their faction.

 

I've only played Civilization IV and all the civs were fairly equal in it. If anything, India - part patriotism, part logic - they have the only unique unit that lasts the entire game.

Yes, though on the previous instalments, it wasn't quite like that. On CIVIII for instance, the Americans were the only Expansionistic/Industrious civ of the game. By far the best combo.

[ForeverNight]

Civ IV? Japan was fun, but I just couldn't get into it.

 

Civ III? Persia

 

As an avid Civ 3 player, I'm dubious but hopeful about this... anxious as hell though.

 

Edit: What the **** do you mean only 18 civs?! 36 on Extra Large real World Map fools. Where is it?!

[Sabretooth]

We finally have our first look at the interface, courtesy a picture by Eurogamer.

 

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My analysis:

- Research at the top-left, a simple counter instead of a whole progress bar - conserves space, looks slick.

 

- Overall Happiness now displayed, and is possibly an important factor as opposed to city-wise happiness

 

- I can't tell the counter beside it, looks like a coin, but why would the treasury be capped? Maybe it advances in a manner similar to culture, as the culture counter also has a cap.

 

- Large, accessible buttons on top-right. Strangely enough, there seem to be only three. Assuming the last is selected and is diplomacy, the second-last may be like the Home Advisor. Can't tell the first.

 

- Advisors look like they will be a condensed version of the hint system in Civ IV. I like it, succint and well, she's sexy.

 

- Function buttons to the left - this will be weird to get used to. It looks like they are: Build City, Move, Skip Turn and Sleep. It seems strange that there is a skip turn button here as well as an easy button to the far right. Maybe the icon stands for something else then.

 

- Secondary options truncated into a different menu. I'm not so sure about this, but what the hell.

 

- A glorious big illustration? I'll take it.

 

- A flag icon. This can be anything, but I don't think it will be a unit locator, as this the illustration should be clickable.

 

- Unit, with quick arrows to shift between units - nifty. Unit details below and a curious watermark insignia. It would sound most logical to have the nation's emblem here, but I don't recognise that one. Maybe it's just a placeholder?

 

- I wonder what the ring around the illustration does. It isn't like Firaxis to waste interface space.

 

- Mysterious empty box to the far right.

 

MORE UPDATE

 

IGN's place has been updated with some concept art and screenshots, presenting to us the concept for who I believe is Elizabeth.

 

http://media.pc.ign.com/media/062/062125/imgs_1.html

 

I wonder how accurate it will be though. Bismarck's concept art looked rather... well, Stalin-like. The finished product looks much better.

 

An Asian civilization with a green/yellow border? I'm tempted to think it's Mongolia.

 

Eurogamer's Preview

 

While it has nothing particularly new, it's well-written and keeps Civilization IV in mind.

[stoffe]

- Mysterious empty box to the far right.

 

Probably the minimap/worldmap, looking empty since it's mostly filled with black fog-of-war at the start of the game, I'd guess.

[mur'phon]

Looks promising, but I haven't really touched a civ game in a while because, they feel, eh, wrong after Alpha Centauri.

 

what is everybody's fav/best civ in the previous games?

 

University of planet, fast research but no defence against having said tech stolen made for an interesting combo. Also the horror of being so good at resarch, as you ended up deserving the nickname "the unethical".

Yes I know it's Alpha Centauri, but for all intents and purposes, it's a civ game.

[Sabretooth]

New GDC Preview by Gamespot

 

Notable Stuff:

 

- From a technical perspective, Civ V's overland maps look better than they ever have and feature realistic-looking forests, mountain ranges, and flowing water in the form of inland rivers and sparkling oceans.

 

- While you're gazing from sea to shining sea, you won't have to stare at piles and piles of numbers and icons--instead, while you'll still be able to access menus like your city's build menu, the scientific technology tree, and your diplomacy standings with other nations, they'll all be nested in menus that can be quickly and easily closed up.

 

- To make sure you don't forget what you were going to do next, the game will instead offer an enhanced notification system that will alert you to pretty much all happenings in the game, from completed scientific research to finished construction in your cities to discovering ruins (which appear to be the new game's version of goodie huts), and clicking on the notification will always open up the relevant menu and let you do whatever you need. In addition, Civilization III's advisors return in Civ V and will, as usual, offer you helpful tips on the next move you might want to make.

 

- The demonstration we watched showed an early starting game for Greece with a troop of settlers (which act as the single settlers unit from previous games) and a troop of warriors (which act as a single warrior unit from previous games). The settlers immediately started a new city, while the warriors headed out into the wilderness to find a neighboring city-state, one of Civ V's new features. City-states are basically neutral cities of varying specializations (such as a militaristic city-state) that can be conquered if you prefer, though you can leave them neutral and form treaties with them, or take missions from them. Forming a strong relationship with a neutral city-state can be very beneficial--becoming buddies with the militaristic city-state in our demonstration meant that the neutral burg would send us free warriors every few turns--but it can also upset nearby civilizations who would prefer to have that city-state's services for themselves.

 

- Expansion will still be crucial to your success in Civ V, and the amount of "culture" your nation produces will still be the determining factor in how often your cities expand, but this time around, cities will not automatically expand outward in giant concentric circles. Instead, your holdings will expand one hex at a time and will tend to automatically grow toward specific nearby areas that your current civilization needs--for instance, if you've been developing your agricultural base, your nation will automatically tend to expand toward that nearby wheat-growing plain. While you can still use the old trick of annexing nearby resources by just sending out a settler to build an adjoining city nearby, there will apparently be game-specific disadvantages to having two cities too close to each other. Instead, Civ V will offer you a new alternative to send settlers to a desired area and plunk down a huge sum of gold to simply annex that zone and its resources.

 

- After observing the early ages, we skipped ahead to a more-developed version of Greece that lay near holdings from Germany and the good old U. S. of A. Our first encounter with Germany came in the form of greeting a German settler, which brought us an audience with Chancellor Bismarck in his private chambers. Meeting with world leaders will look and sound different in Civ V, since the game will switch to a full-screen view of that leader in his or her current environment (whether that be in a home office or out at war, for instance), which shows more or less a full-body view of the leader as he or she paces about the room, smiling (or frowning), gesticulating, and speaking his or her native language.

 

- Chancellor Bismarck will speak full-on German, while General Washington will speak perfect English.

 

- units will take longer to produce and will eventually come to have upkeep costs associated with them--however, they will also have veterancy along the lines of what was introduced in Civ IV. That is, units that survive various skirmishes will eventually grow in power and may be able to select various bonuses to increase their usefulness and survivability. The Firaxis team, led by designer Jon Schafer, envisions more-intimate, tactical battles in Civ V (based on Schafer's fondness for the classic Panzer General)--generally speaking, you and your neighbors will have fewer military units in play than you might have had in previous games in the series, and they'll last longer and be more valuable.

 

- The combat demonstration we watched showed a land invasion of America along two fronts, with enemy spearmen guarding General Washington's town on both sides. Our ranks consisted mainly of warriors, spearmen, and a few archers, and though our relatively weaker warriors unfortunately started on the front lines ahead of our spearmen, we were able to use Civ V's new switch move order to have the two units swap positions, and then we pit our spearmen against theirs.

 

- Washington had built his empire around a one-hex-wide choke point in the mountains and blocked it off with spearmen backed up by archers. Because only one unit can occupy any one hex at any given time, there was no way to pass through the mountains without going through the enemy spearmen--cases like these will require your own archers (and other ranged units) to soften up the front lines. However, archers themselves will be extremely fragile and can be easily decimated if they're engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

 

- And as it happens, in Civ V, units may no longer be garrisoned inside your cities, so defending your holdings will have two aspects. One--all cities will automatically defend themselves based on their current growth level and any defensive structures you may have built inside. Two--you'll want to make sure you defend your key cities with army units, possibly building fort structures nearby to enhance your defenses. This task may or may not be as impossible as it sounds since Civ V's "conquest" victory condition has been tweaked to require you to capture all enemy capital cities, as opposed to capturing every single city on the map. Again, these are big changes and are really pretty bold--but they seem like they could add real depth and exciting new direction to the series.

 

- Oh, and one last note--although Civ IV's religion system (which was met with mixed reactions) won't be making a comeback, we're assured by Firaxis that the feature wasn't simply cut without any plans for other new features to replace it. There are definitely more changes afoot for Civ V, and we can't wait to find out more.

[Litofsky]

Thanks, Sabre.

 

After reading, I think my biggest anticipations are the lack of garrisoning in cities, the full-language videos of foreign leaders, and city-states.

 

With the lack of garrisoning in cities, it becomes crucial to control the environment; I can see the 'fronts' of war developing in a manner very similar to that of World War I. *prepares plans for fallback trenches, and the like*

 

With city-states, though, it seems like they'll be able to function in manners similar to a real-life protectorate. Though you won't control their actions directly, a nation wil probably be able to exert a great deal of influence on a friendly city-state. Proxy war, anyone?

[Ctrl Alt Del]

After reading, I think my biggest anticipations are the lack of garrisoning in cities, the full-language videos of foreign leaders, and city-states.

Yeah, and regarding no garrisoning it's certainly something that'll make the player think more about the terrain use than ever before. I don't remember ever building - and using in the seldom cases I do - a fort on the previous game. But we may now end up having to build numerous fortifications at the expense of an otherwise prolific hexagon.

 

In the description, the war seems to develop in a very exciting manner. But let's see if the AI does actually offer some interesting challenges.

[Litofsky]

I don't remember ever building - and using in the seldom cases I do - a fort on the previous game.

 

Actually, I found forts mostly useful as air bases. When my cities were nearing maximum capacity, I'd start to store up my fighters (the ones not in carriers, that is) and bombers in spare forts. Though, with only one unit per hexagon, now...

[Totenkopf]

I've used forts in Civ either at choke points or to surround key cities and garrison troops as a barrier to barbarians or enemy forces (though they are usually uselss vs some non-military units).

[Sabretooth]

This thread is doing a fantastic job of keeping a list of everything confirmed in the game.

 

I'm just going to copy/paste it now with some extra info gleaned here:

 

CIV's/Leaders/Flavors 17 of 18 Civilizations confirmed

 

America/Washington

Germany/Bismark

Aztec/Montezuma

Inca(Confirmed in Swedish PC Gamer through the use of the Quechua Language)

Japan/Oda Nobunaga

China/Wu Zeitein

Arabia/Harun al-Rashid

Mongolia/Genghis Khan

Rome/Caeser

France/Napolean

India/Gandhi/City Growth Orientated

England/Elizabeth/Naval Power Orientated

Songhai/Askia/Conquest orientated

Russia/Katherine/City Expansion orientated

Ottomans/Suleiman

Egypt/Ramesses

Greece/Alexander the Great

 

Wonders

 

Hagia Sofia of Constantinople/Istanbul

The Pyramids and/or The Sphinx of Giza (Shown in trailer at time code 00:16)

Hanging Gardens

The Oracle

Shakespeare's Amphitheater (The Globe Theater) (not known yet if this has been upgraded to a full wonder or is still a national wonder)

 

Buildings

 

City Walls - Gives Defense bonus as well as allowing a ranged attack Shacknews New

 

Unit Behavior

 

Now only one each type of unit (Millitary/Air/Economic)hex, this includes cities

Units move 2 Hexs during combat as a base GamerPro

Ranged bombardment

You will be able to swap a unit out with one next to it during battle IGN

Units will take longer to produce than previous civilizations and as well as this they will eventually come to have upkeep costs associated with them potentially reducing the number of units you can maintain at one time. Gamespot

veterancy from Civ4 will be in Civ5 Gamespot

Units are no longer destroyed if they lose a battle The Escapist New

 

Unit Types

Archers

Warriors/Mace-men

Spear-men

Catapults

Jaguar Warriors (only concept art, no ingame confirmation)

Settlers

 

Terrain Types

 

Grassland/Marsh/Plains/Desert

Snow, Tundra

Mountains/Hills, Hills provide more Defence

Several types of Forest/Jungle representing the four major land masses of Europe, Asia, Africa & America, wounded units can hide and recover in trees/forests.

Coast/Ocean/Lakes/Rivers Rivers affect those attacking across it.

 

Luxury Resources

 

One Luxury Resources is enough for your entire Empire IGN

Ivory/Elephants

Marble

Dye

Spices

Silk

 

Strategic Resources

 

One strategic resources will only allow you to build a limited supply of units that require that resource i.e. one Iron will allow about 5 units bases on Iron IGN

Horses

Iron

 

Other Resources

 

Cattle

Deer

Wheat (2 tiles above the catapults)

Cotton

 

Map Improvements

 

Farms (can now be built on hills)

Pastures

Roads

Camps

Forts

 

Technologies/Research

With a gold down-payment two nations can create a joint research project Computer Bild Spiele

Writing- Unlocks research pacts

Calendar- Needed to see Cotton

Masonry - Allows construction of Walls Gamereactor (time index 2:35)

Cities

 

Cities spread 3 tiles out instead of two

Boarders now only expand at one hex at a time and more difficult terrain will take more time to claim Swedish PC Gamer thought there may be away to use your economy to speed the process up and get a hex before your rivals.

Culturally different City designs Arabic/Asian/African/European Confirmed

There will be "game-specific disadvantages" in having two cities too close togetherGamespot

 

City States

Provides diplomatic and economic bonuses if pursued correctly, potentially more than what you could get if you took over the city. IGN

Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, Budapest, Florence, Venice, Sidon confirmed. Updated

The cities states will not grow large nor will they compete to win the game like regular civs.Swedish PC Gamer

The player must choose if he is to be friendly, indifferent or hostile towards a city state. Swedish PC Gamer

Gity States can have different mentalities, for instance a militaristic bent, and thus give different bonuses if you befriend them, like warriors.Gamespot

City States also have their own tech tree's 1Up

 

Barbarians

 

Will have their own Tech Tree's at least up until the 20th Century era1Up

Have their own Home City that you must destroy to stop them1Up

 

Interface

 

Civ 5 Will have a more streamlined interface on the main screen IGN

This will be augmented by an in game notification system that directs you to important issues on the map Gamespot

 

AI

 

AI now works on four levels, Tactical (unit battles), Operational (The entire War Front), Strategic (Manages the entire empire) and the Grand Strategic (how to win the game) IGN

Once the Grand Strategic AI determines how they want to win the game, each of the other AI levels work in tandem to reach that end goal. This also allows for the most flexibility when dealing with the changing game.

 

Victory Types

 

Conquest - You must conquer a certain amount of your enemies Capital Cities IGN

 

Other Stuff

 

Trading items and land

New "Civilisation tree" with three different paths that give special bonuses (more concrete information needed) Computer Bild Spiele

Barbarians will continue to expand and advance untill all of their cites are destroyed Swedish PC Gamer

Civ 5 more moddable than Civ 4 IGN

Advisors make their return to Civ 5 IGN

Golden Ages are confirmed

Culture still plays a part in the game

There will be Fog of War Gamereactor (time index 3:40)New

 

Changes and/or Omissions from Previous Games

 

No Technology Trading Computer Bild Spiele

Religion and espionage have been removed

[Sabretooth]

Bumping this thread with a curious new bit of info, all taken from the above-linked thread.

 

'Cities now defend themselves with a set of 'Hitpoints' that need to be taken down to zero before a city can be captured. Units can still help defend cities but instead of just garrisoning inside the city as in previous games, they merge with the city and 'boost' the cities hitpoints.'

 

This is better than the Civ IV model, where taking a city was an uphill task and if the city was on a hill... I can't think up a pun now.

 

This looks like they're trying to counter unit-spamming again, because you could essentially throw thirty units into a city to make it invincible. Now you'll have a hitpoint bar to maintain, which will make city defense and attack more balanced for both sides.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Funnily, I've gotten back to play Civ IV continuously since V was announced. I've been trying some top mods out there. Anyone ever played the Age of Discoveries one?

'Cities now defend themselves with a set of 'Hitpoints' that need to be taken down to zero before a city can be captured. Units can still help defend cities but instead of just garrisoning inside the city as in previous games, they merge with the city and 'boost' the cities hitpoints.'

 

Hmm, so if I read right this means that if a unit merges with a city then it's lost for good? Like Civ IV's specialists, except they're turned into hit points in a bizarre morphing fest.

[Sabretooth]

Actually, I imagine that mechanic as working like this:

 

Cities have base hitpoints, which are upgraded with walls and other buildings.

Units can be "garrisoned" inside the city, which further adds to the cities hit points. They can also be "ungarrisoned", which accordingly reduces the hitpoints and stations the unit outside the city.

 

Though it would make sense if the unit is lost for good too, that would make for lesser micromanagement - mass-produce units, add to city, get over with it.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

All this talk about no city garrison has stirred a thought about a simple traditional mechanic. If units spawn on the city square (or hexagon), where are military units popping up now that they can't be on a city tile anymore? That's an assumption, but a fair a deduction since being on a city would equal to a garrison.

[Sabretooth]

Full Civ Roster and Leader Greetings Up on Official Site

[JediAthos]

I tried recently to get Civ 4 to work on Windows 7 and had absolutely no luck so I am looking forward to the release of this game.

 

*On a side note: If anyone knows any tricks to get Civ 4 to work on Win 7 please let me know.

[Jeff]

I tried recently to get Civ 4 to work on Windows 7 and had absolutely no luck so I am looking forward to the release of this game.

 

*On a side note: If anyone knows any tricks to get Civ 4 to work on Win 7 please let me know.

I have the Steam version of Civ 4 and it runs perfectly on my Win7 machine, so it must be something other than just Win7 by itself.

[JediAthos]

Interesting...maybe it's something to do with the disks then. I dunno.

[urluckyday]

I have Civ 3 and never really got into it...it's so difficult. Maybe I'll give Civ V a shot, though!

[Sabretooth]

I'm going to start dumping what Civ V info we have from E3 now.

 

CivAnon - Epic Lulzworthy

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Screenshots - 56k Genocide

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Credit for Images below goes to Ahriman from Civ Fanatics Forums

They come from the faux-documentary that I've YouTubed below.

 

Videos

 

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[Litofsky]

Beautiful screens- the ones showing units seemed most interesting, in that

 

1) Great Generals now have an affect in nearby combat,

 

2) Nearby units might be able to 'assist' in combat,

 

3) Tanks and Helicopters now have equivalent power (that is to say, awesome).

 

The graphics, though, seem to have grown a bit more futuristic/childish. Maybe just my interpretation, but some of the pictures for the units/cities are a wee bit cheesy.