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By Thunderfall at 2010-03-08 19:26
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 IGN just published a new Civilization V preview with some new details from a hands-on playtest of the game! The 3-page article goes into the core game mechanics in more depth than any other preview so far, and notes the diligence Firaxis has put towards this game: "It sounds kind of insane, but Firaxis is constantly running AI games in a test environment to get a better sense of the relationships between all these systems."
Here are a few excerpts that should help Civ4 veterans get a sense of what's different:
Strategic resources are handled differently. There the quantity is very important. One iron deposit, for instance, will only grant you the right to build and maintain, say, five iron-based units. You can't build any more than that until one of those units dies (or is disbanded) or you get access to more iron. You will be allowed to keep those units in the field if your resource is pillaged, but there's an additional maintenance burden and you won't be able to replace them if they're lost.
Borders are also handled a bit differently. Instead of just dropping a big culture bomb at certain thresholds, a city's territory will keep better pace with population and grow one tile at a time. Now when you get a new tile, you'll probably have no other choice but to work it. It's still based on culture, and you can drop some cash to speed things up, but culture growth will be more relevant over the long term in Civ V. You also won't pick the tiles individually. Instead the game will weight growth towards "good" tiles like grassland or wheat and away from "bad" tiles like forests and mountains. It makes sense that culture would tend to spread quickest where people can settle and make a living, but we're not sure yet what impact this has on production-focused cities that need lots of mines and forests. You can discuss the preview here on our Civ5 General Discussion forums.
Thanks to the author Steve Butts (aka mrbee) for posting about it on the forums!
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By Ginger_Ale at 2010-03-07 21:12
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A few days ago, IGN published an early preview of Civ5 in which they discuss some of the influences of the current build, including Civilization Revolution and Panzer General. We also get a sense of lead designer Jon Shafer's impact in shaping the game.
Here is an excerpt, focusing on diplomacy and moddability: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. [...]
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.
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By civ_steve at 2010-03-06 03:19
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 It's been over 8 years in the making - the 100th Civ3 GOTM is underway! The game has been moderately modified and commemorates the players, staff and GOTM experience; you play as "CivFanatic", leader of the Human Players and you play against a set of AI civilizations that recall many of the top players from the GOTM. If you play only 1 Civ3 game this year, you'll want to play this one and be a part of this milestone game! But hurry up - submittals will only be accepted to the end of March. You will need to play in Civ3 PTW with the last patch (1.27), but no other mods are required.
Civilization: Human Players
Rivals: 13 pre-selected.
Barbarians: Raging
Difficulty: Emperor
Land Form: Archipelago, 60% ocean, Large map.
Geology:5 billion years old, Normal and Normal.
>> Visit the pre-game discussion thread
>> Go download the starting saves
>> Visit the Civ3 GOTM Forum
Check out the latest Games, Results and Player Standings at the GOTM Main Page.
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By Ginger_Ale at 2010-03-03 16:43
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Over the past few days, a number of gaming magazines have published previews of Civ5 in their print versions. A couple of forum members have been kind enough to summarize what these articles contain, so if you haven't been scanning the Civ5 forums recently, here is some of what you missed. 
Swedish PC Gamer, as reported by Danielos:About 50 persons are currently working on the game, which has been in development for over two years, but is now reaching the final phases.
City states:
These are small, AI-controlled civilizations. They never grow big and doesn´t desire to win. The player must choose if he is to be friendly, indifferent or hostile towards a city state. The attitude you has towards a particular city state will have a big effect on diplomacy. If for example your units is approaching a city state that have friendly relations with another civilization, he will warn you, and if you ignore them, there will be consequences.
Barbarians:
The barbarians originate from a barbarian city and will get more advanced units later in the game. You need to wipe out all barbarian cities to get rid of the barbarian hordes.
City expansion:
Borders does no longer expand in large areas, but one hex at a time. Remote hexes like marshes, forests and mountains will be harder to acquire.
Economy:
You can invest money in your neighboring hexagons, for example trying to acquire an important resource before your opponent.
Research:
You can also sign a research-deal with another civilization. This way, both civs will cooperate to reach the new technology and both will gain it when the discovery is made. This was included to encourage cooperation between civilizations.
Diplomacy:
The civilizations will have an all-new advanced AI. All opponents will have fixed characteristics. Based on this unique personality, every AI-player will have their own agenda, which the AI will use to plan how to best play to win the game. But there will also be a certain randomness to avoid having the AI be too easy to predict. Computer Bild Spiele, as reported by Civinator:Tech trading is abolished.
Alliances give special boni (per example the possibility for a quicker research of a technology)
Cut-out of religions as known in Civ 4 confirmed
Cities can grow bigger than in former versions of the civ series as they there are 3 tiles for a city in every direction to be worked on.
New troops must leave a city at once, as there is only one unit per tile
Distance fighters (archers, artillery and so on) can shoot over the front units, lakes and other tiles
One philosophy is to form front lines for battles far away from the cities. GamePro, as reported by dc82:Leaders/Civs
German leader: Otto von Bismark
China leader: Wu Zeitein/Zetein
American leader: Washington
Japanese leader: Oba Nobunaga
Arabian leader: Harun al-Rashid
Other confirmed leaders mentioned in the article (Genghis Khan, Caesar, Napoleon, Gandhi)
Units
Basic military units move two tiles in combat instead of one. Be sure to read the rest of those threads as there is lots of new info!
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By Blue Monkey at 2010-03-01 23:10
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March brings some early signs what has been germinating in the minds of the Civ 3 modders. And there are sure to be other creative schemes that have yet to bear fruit.
SCENARIOS & MODS
UNITS
TERRAIN GRAPHICS
CITY GRAPHICS
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By Magic_gorter at 2010-03-01 10:26
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This month a special one. I've called it "Grand Canyon". As the title tells we will play on a map with a lot of mountains and rivers. I removed all huts too. I hope it is a nice challenge. Have fun.
To download the game, visit this page.
And of course, a screenshot of the starting location:
Have fun playing.
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By Ginger_Ale at 2010-02-25 19:48
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Gaming site IGN published an announcement trailer for Civ5 earlier today. While the 90 second video contains no in-game footage, it sets the stage for what will hopefully be more videos to come.
In the trailer, numerous quotations are heard, narrating a sequence of still images and video scenes: Vikings at sea, the city of Constantinople, and exploring the New World, to name a few. The clip has the feel of an intro video for a game, and so any insight is pretty limited.
Thanks to Newcomer24 for the news tip.
>> Watch the trailer at IGN
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By Denniz at 2010-02-25 18:15
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 The Civilization IV Hall of Fame has been updated. 143 games were accepted since the previous update.
Congratulations to WastinTime for the highest score of the update with a Small Deity Space Colony game for 353,306 points.
babaBrian was the most active player during this update, submitting 12 games.
Only 8 players were brave enough to take on Deity this update bestje submitted a 1997 AD Standard Deity Conquest game for 16061 points
killercane submitted a 1956 AD Standard Deity Conquest game for 16945 points
kittenOFchaos submitted a 1917 AD Duel Deity Cultural game for 53588 points
Misotu submitted a Jan 2050 AD Small Deity Time game for 86340 points
ozbenno submitted a 1988 AD Standard Deity Conquest game for 21029 points
shulec submitted a 1985 AD Standard Deity Conquest game for 18080 points, a 1985 AD Standard Deity Conquest game for 17576 points and a 1980 AD Standard Deity Conquest game for 18882 points
Sun Tzu Wu submitted a 225 BC Huge Deity Religious game for 45742 points, a 275 BC Huge Deity Religious game for 39681 points, a 550 BC Duel Deity Religious game for 32303 points, a 1450 BC Duel Deity Religious game for 28491 points, a 1000 BC Duel Deity Religious game for 29470 points and a 675 BC Huge Deity Religious game for 48254 points
WastinTime submitted a 1390 AD Small Deity Space Colony game for 353306 points Gauntlet Info:
G-Major 68 - Domination, Immortal, Standard, Epic on Continents with Charlemange
1st The-Hawk 920 AD
2nd adrianj 1882 AD
G-Minor 90 - Diplomatic, Warlord, Small, Epic
1st WastinTime 160 AD
2nd Sir Drake 775 AD
3rd Infantry#14 805 AD
** New Gauntlets Starting **
G-Minor 91 - Cultural, Prince, Standard - any Speed
G-Major 70 - Cultural, Monarch, Standard, Normal - Industrial Era Start
>> Civ IV HOF
>> Full Update Details
>> Discussion Thread
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By Ginger_Ale at 2010-02-25 07:39
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In the upcoming Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Firaxis, 2K Games, and Intel will be making a joint presentation on the workings behind Civ5's game engine, as reported by Gamasutra.
According to the GDC 2010 website, Dan Baker will be speaking on behalf of Firaxis during the 60 minute talk. Here is the official presentation description:
Firaxis, 2K Games, and Intel are pleased to present the world premiere game engine and technology sneak peek of Civilization V, launching this fall! You'll learn how Firaxis developers have used the newly released GPA 3.0 PC platform tools and Threading Building Blocks to offer Civ V playability on a myriad of systems; from the rapidly expanding mainstream mobile gaming market, all the way up to the multi-core high-end enthusiast demographic. Millions of Intel(R) Core i3, i5, and i7-based systems are ready to play - will your title scale? This sounds like good news for essentially everyone, as it shows Firaxis' commitment to making sure the game is playable for a wide range of people. Thanks to CanuckSoldier and V. Soma on the forums for the news tip.
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By Thunderfall at 2010-02-18 13:12
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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.
Nine new screenshots are available in our new Civ5 gallery!
  
For more information, check out the official Civ V website.
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By Tone at 2010-02-18 02:39
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 The Civilization III Hall of Fame has been updated. 21 games were accepted since the previous update.
Congratulations to templar_x for the highest Firaxis score of the update with a Standard Deity Conquest game for 17192 points.
Spoonwood was the most active player during this update, submitting 9 games. This included the only Sid level submission.
A number of players gained number one positions on harder difficulty levels:
Spoonwood with a 620 AD Standard Sid Conquest game for 15574 points.
templar_x with a 210 BC Standard Deity Conquest game for 17192 points.
Spoonwood with a 1495 AD Small Demigod Cultural 20k game for 4942 points.
Spoonwood with a 1375 AD Standard Emperor Cultural 20k game for 6027 points.
The settings for the new gauntlet are Large Monarch 20K.
Congratulations to del62 for becoming a Quartermaster and to Spoonwood for taking over the top spot in that competition.
>> Civ III HOF
>> Full Update Details
>> Discussion Thread
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By Ginger_Ale at 2010-02-14 20:04
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 Our February update of Civ4 files is a lot more balanced than in previous months: a good variety of units, leaderheads, and modpacks highlight the list. Thanks to all the creators!
UNITS
GRAPHICS
AUDIO/VIDEO
NEW CIVILIZATIONS
MODPACKS
MODMODS
HYBRID MOD COMPONENTS
SDK MODCOMP
MAPS/SCENARIOS/MAP SCRIPTS
>> Announce your files for future posts
>> View all files in the Downloads Database
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By Denniz at 2010-02-10 20:12
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The Civilization IV Hall of Fame has been updated. 157 games were accepted since the previous update.
Congratulations to boogaboo for the highest score of the update with a Standard Warlord Space Colony game for 349268 points.
babaBrian was the most active player during this update, submitting 13 games.
Only 5 players were brave enough to take on Deity this update AutomatedTeller submitted a 1983 AD Standard Deity Conquest game for 18305 points
Misotu submitted a Jan 2050 AD Small Deity Time game for 96704 points
playshogi submitted a 1980 AD Standard Deity Conquest game for 18867 points
shulec submitted a 1986 AD Standard Deity Conquest game for 15833 points and a 1803 AD Small Deity Space Colony game for 96533 points
Sun Tzu Wu submitted a 470 AD Large Deity Religious game for 40503 points, a 375 AD Huge Deity Religious game for 39817 points, a 160 AD Large Deity Religious game for 26173 points and a 120 BC Large Deity Religious game for 43544 points Gauntlet Info:
G-Major 67 - Space Colony, Emperor, Standard, Quick on Boreal with Zara Yaqob (Barbs, Agg AI)
1st Sir Drake 1910 AD
2nd ozbenno 1938 AD (23407 pts)
3rd shulec 1938 AD (12107 pts)
G-Minor 89 - Domination, Noble, Large, Epic
1st The-Hawk 725 BC
2nd KingMorgan 95 BC
3rd cabert 535 AD
** New Gauntlets Starting **
G-Minor 90 - Diplomatic, Warlord, Small, Epic
G-Major 69 - Religious, Monarch, Huge, Normal on Archipelago with Charlemange (Agg AI; Barbs On; See Opponents)
>> Civ IV HOF
>> Full Update Details
>> Discussion Thread
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By Blue Monkey at 2010-02-09 15:25
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 The C&C forum is like a box of chocolates. Each new creation anticipated yet unexpected, each one with itÂ's own unique flavour. WhatÂ's in this monthÂ's package? 3 new scenarios/mods, some very unique units, plenty of choices for your maps & city improvements, and a buffet of interfaces. Enjoy!
SCENARIOS & MODS- The Gaia War by The Omega
- Flavors of Civilization Modpack v. 2.0 by iron0037, with 66 more flavor units, revised unit lines, horse archer unit, rules tweaks
- CCM Epic Mod (Betatest) by Civinator/Blue Lion. See the CCM thread for a description of the many cganges this mod introduces.
UNITSTERRAIN GRAPHICSRESOURCE GRAPHICSCITY GRAPHICSBUILDINGS & IMPROVEMENTSINTERFACE GRAPHICS
>>> Announce your new Civ 3 creations
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By Ginger_Ale at 2010-02-03 21:22
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One of the most frequently asked questions in the strategy forums is if there are any videos of individuals playing Civ4. After all, it's one thing to read about strategy and a whole different experience to see it in action.
Last summer, I came across a video walkthrough of a full game by forum member TheMeInTeam, complete with commentary and explanation. Since then, TheMeInTeam has published numerous other walkthroughs, all available on YouTube -- including one released just today.
If you are interested in getting started with Civ4, or looking to move up in difficulty level, I highly recommend checking out some of these videos:If you would like to follow along, the first two games have links to the starting save in their first video. Even though TMIT plays fairly quickly, the games do take a few hours to play out, so sit back and relax!
To view all of these such videos in one place, be sure to check out this YouTube channel. It's only fair for TheMeInTeam to get the credit he deserves. 
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By Ozbenno at 2010-02-01 19:48
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 We are now one month (of four in total) into the first Hall of Fame Challenge Series. Eighteen brave souls have been brave enough to play at least one of the ten games on offer.
Currently no-one has completed all ten games but all games have been successfully completed by at least one person.
The progressive standings after one month are:
1. Shulec 69 (9 games completed)
2. Fluroscent 55 (6 games completed)
3. playshogi 39.5 (6 games completed)
4. TheMeInTeam 39.5 (7 games completed)
5. Ozbenno 36 (5 games completed)
Well done to all and good luck to those taking part over the next three months.
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By Magic_gorter at 2010-02-01 05:57
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A new month so time to start a new game. This Game of the Month is a conquest game on a small map.
To download the game, visit this page.
And of course, a screenshot of the starting location:
Have fun playing.
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By civ_steve at 2010-01-30 04:03
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We're a bit over a week into the latest Civ3 and Civ4 GOTM competitions - plenty of time left to participate! Check out the latest Games, Results and Player Standings at the GOTM Main Page.
 For Civ3 GOTM99 you will lead the Arabs against 7 AI on a Emperor level continents map. The starting location looks pretty nice! You will need to play in Civ3 PTW with the last patch (1.27), but no other mods are required.
Civilization: Arabia
Rivals: 7 pre-selected.
Barbarians: Roaming
Difficulty: Emperor
Land Form: Continents, 70% ocean, Standard map.
Geology:5 billion years old, Arid and Warm.
>> Visit the pre-game discussion thread
>> Go download the starting saves
>> Visit the Civ3 GOTM Forum
The latest Civ4 competition, BOTM26, is brought to you by Niklas. You will play as Sitting Bull the leader of the Native Americans. You must play in CIV BTS patched to version 3.19 with HOF mod 3.19.001 installed.
 Game settings:
Civilization: Native America (Leader: Sitting Bull; Traits: Philosophical, Protective)
Rivals: 6
Difficulty: Emperor
Map: Continents
World wrap: Cylindrical
Mapsize: Standard
Climate: Temperate
Water level: Medium
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: No Tribal Villages, No Random Events
Victory Conditions: all enabled
>> Read the pre-game strategy discussion
>> Go download the starting saves
>> Visit the CIV GOTM Forum
There is also a Civ3 Conquests Warlord level game (Babylon) with just under a week left to play and a Vanilla Civ4 Noble level game (Aztec) with 1 week left for the competition. Finally, a Civ4 Warlords Noble level game (America) is active with just under 2 weeks left to play.
Special Note: The 100th Civ3 GOTM will be next month!   It starts on February 15th, we're doing a 'few' mods to make the game a little more fun and special, so dust off your Civ3 PTW disk and play a couple practice games!
Good luck everyone!
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