Civilization IV News here!

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 11:51 pm

Enjoy:

http://www.civfanatics.com/news2/comments.php?id=204

Grifman

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:48 am

In the course of exploring employment opportunities, I heard that Firaxis did inceed buy the Civ license from Atari. If that's right (as seems likely), they paid $20 million just for the brand. If it costs them $5 million more to develop it, Firaxis needs to really hit this one out of the park to profit nicely. With this financial incentive and Sid Meier's active involvement, Civ4 should be the best Civ ever. (And I write as someone who loves Civ3).

The Preacher · Post by **The Preacher** » Wed Dec 15, 2004 12:24 pm

Ironrod wrote:In the course of exploring employment opportunities

Come to Maryland, IR!

Hunt Valley sucks but Baltimore can be a blast.

SuperHiro · Post by **SuperHiro** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 12:59 pm

Ironrod wrote:In the course of exploring employment opportunities, I heard that Firaxis did inceed buy the Civ license from Atari. If that's right (as seems likely), they paid $20 million just for the brand. If it costs them $5 million more to develop it, Firaxis needs to really hit this one out of the park to profit nicely. With this financial incentive and Sid Meier's active involvement, Civ4 should be the best Civ ever. (And I write as someone who loves Civ3).

Did Sid have an active hand in Civ3? Or Pirates! ?

I think Bill Harris hit on this point before. But the most recent games coming out of Firaxis aren't THAT innovative. I would say the last truly knock-my-socks-off, leave-me-in-the-shower-cleaning-myself awesome game they produced was SMAC. I loved Civ 3 to bits... but I would say it's definitely more of a "excellent in execution" game. Similar to how Blizzard operates.

I don't remember exactly what the article in PC Gamer says... is this going to be another "excellence in execution" type game? I'm not suggesting they tear the whole thing down, but are they going to add some real good, innovative features this time around? Or are they going to sit on the fact that's it's Civ

Edited to add: Read the article. Mod and mp support are awesome. But I still wish for customizable units and social engineering.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 1:56 pm

SuperHiro wrote: I don't remember exactly what the article in PC Gamer says... is this going to be another "excellence in execution" type game? I'm not suggesting they tear the whole thing down, but are they going to add some real good, innovative features this time around? Or are they going to sit on the fact that's it's Civ

.

THe article mentions it's an entirely new engine, so hopefully that will mean new features.

Papa Smurph · Post by **Papa Smurph** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:58 pm

Exodor wrote:THe article mentions it's an entirely new engine, so hopefully that will mean new features.

I was under the impression that Civ 3 had an entirely new engine. Even if not, I don't see how that does or does not translate into new features. They seem like seperate issues to me.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:05 pm

I guess I'm assuming that one wouldn't build an entirely new engine simply to recreate the features from the last release.

I could be wrong!

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:55 pm

The Preacher wrote:
Ironrod wrote:In the course of exploring employment opportunities
Come to Maryland, IR! Hunt Valley sucks but Baltimore can be a blast.

I've been to Baltimore a couple of times. Much as I'd prefer to stay here, it's one of the few areas I'd consider moving to. I'd need a mighty strong incentive to rip up 18 years worth of roots here and endure the commuter marriage schtick again, though. How's your climate down there? How are housing prices? How is traffic? Are you a red state, or a blue state?

I never thought that Sid Meier really got his hands dirty in Civ3. There is an amateurish quality to the design balance (esp. corruption and espionage), and the original game's writing was terrible.

WPD · Post by **WPD** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:46 pm

Exodor wrote:I guess I'm assuming that one wouldn't build an entirely new engine simply to recreate the features from the last release.

I could be wrong!

If the old engine could not easily support adding new features such that building a new engine would take less time, it would make more sense to make the new engine, possibly using the best parts from the previous, discarding the crappy parts.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:39 am

My only command to Sid: Keep it turn-based! Add fancy 3D graphics and animations if you must, but don't futz with the core gameplay.

Beer Goggles · Post by **Beer Goggles** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:49 am

Ironrod wrote:How's your climate down there? How are housing prices? How is traffic? Are you a red state, or a blue state?

Hot and humid in the Summer, and cold in the Winter with chance of snow. One snowflake makes traffic a mess which is not much of a change from most of the time. The three most populated counties are blue the rest of the state is red. Red governor though. Not sure about housing costs.