Civilization 5. Yes, that's a five.

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), 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.

?Each new version of Civilization presents exciting challenges for our team?
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.

http://civilization5.com/


Settlers of catanCivilization 5 will be using a hexgrid.

[orinrin]

Another game added to my wishlist. 

[Widermelonz]

Oh man, I remember I used to skip sleeping because I was playing Civ II into the night. I did the same thing with Civ III too. As for Civ IV, I didn't really enjoy it that much. I don't know, it just doesn't seem as good as number two or three. But it did look nicer though.

And woah, hexgrid. I'll have to get used to that.

[Ghaleon]

Oh man, I remember I used to skip sleeping because I was playing Civ II into the night. I did the same thing with Civ III too. As for Civ IV, I didn't really enjoy it that much. I don't know, it just doesn't seem as good as number two or three. But it did look nicer though.

And woah, hexgrid. I'll have to get used to that.

I really enjoyed 2, absolutely hated 3, and enjoyed 4.Clearly my opinion is correct and yours is weird! >=P

[Widermelonz]

I really enjoyed 2, absolutely hated 3, and enjoyed 4.Clearly my opinion is correct and yours is weird! >=P

Oh woops, looks like I left out some details. As I said, I did pull an all-nighter playing Civ III, but that's when I first got it. Eventually, I became frustrated with the game because of how insanely buggy it was. Also, combat was crap, but luckily I don't do much combat for Civ games. It was pretty bad, but I wouldn't say I hated it. I dropped the game for awhile until the Conquest expansion came out, and I found out that they've patched several bugs too. For some reason, I really enjoyed the expansion. That's what prevented me from hating it. And it had some pretty good mods later on.

As for Civ IV, it was okay. It's a little bit lower than III on my scale, but still fun. I don't know, but maybe it's because I got Civ III + Conquest as a present, and I paid $50 for Civ IV.

But it's pretty agreeable that Civ II tops both of them. I've probably spent 300+ hours on Civ II and another hundred more on Test of Time. I've only spent about 50 or so hours on Civ III Conquest, partially due to the fact that I got into StarCraft around that time.

Anyways, Civ V's screenshots right now look REALLY nice. I'll probably end up getting this when it releases.

[AM]

Oh my god it's full of hexes.
I used to play quite a lot of original Civ and Civ4 and the only thing I didn't liked was the squared tiles (all the serious turn based strategy games used hexes). And now they fixed it. I hope they haven't changed the economics and battle system too much from Civ4.

[Ghaleon]

I personally hated how the AI always had these anti-aggression pacts against me in civ 3. I mean by turn 10, practically every AI opponent had some pact where if I was at war with any of them, they *ALL* declare war on me, and only me, even if I wasn't the one who started the war, it was pure bullshit. I had that shit happen to me *EVERY* game, I just stopped playing after a certain point.

I also hated how you discovered resources, and were unable to build any advanced units or buildings without having access to the said resources, which never ever spawned anywhere near my territory, it would be in an enemy's territory. No big deal right, just conquer them or trade with them. OH WAIT! If I try and conquer them i got a 10v1 situation on my hands. And if I try to trade with them, they ask for 5X more stuff in return, or I'll get a 10v1 situation on my hands again.

Not everyone experienced this I understand, but I honestly did, and it really made me hate the game. Otherwise it looked fun.

Civ 4 had none of those problems, it had the random spawning rsources sure, but you wouldn't be *NEARLY* as gimp without them as you would be in 3 (I mean in 3 I'd discover how to build jet planes, but yet the most advanced unit I could build would be something like an effing pikeman because I lacked certain key resources). There would ALWAYS be a semi-decent unit, and a decent amount of buildings to build, no matter how shafted you were with those rare resources.

In addition, the cpus never made bs "gang up on the human" pacts (it's not like I was playing on deity or anything). Plus it had leonard Neymoy, I mean that's a win right there (I'm going to miss him in 5, I doubt they'll manage to get him to narrate again, if they do that'd be super cool).

Civ 4 did have one fatal flaw though...Town sieging was bs. My own towns would have certain defenses, and I'd make sure enemy siege engines wouldn't bombard it down, even if I had to sacrifice a few units to get them down. However, and in return, I'd have a unit with a defense level of say 8, hiding behind a town with +100% defense fend off like 2-3 attackers with a defense of 10, seemed about right.

But the CPU towns were bs. I'd make sure to siege their towns until their fortification bonus was 0%. But somehow, simple longbowmen were fucking ninja gods at defending that town. One time I even cheated, and sent 4 helicopter gunships to attack a town beind defended by a buncha longbowmen, in a town with NO fortification. EACH longbowman was able to take out 1 or more helicopters. wtf!

I mean civ 4 is a game with enough difficulty settings that the computer shouldn't have to blatently cheat in battle to provide challenge. On the harder settings it already cheats by paying less tax, having less unhappiness, making more gold, researching faster, etc, etc. WTF do their units have to get this magical +1000% bonus when hiding behind a town (it was only when defending a town, combat was relatively fair otherwise).

gahhh.

[LiteYear]

Well, Longbowmen are the city defenders of the middle game.  They can easily be over double their listed strength in cities, and they get 1 first strike.   Plus, strengths in this game are relative; a 2 strength unit attacking a 1 strength unit has the same chance as a 40 strength unit attacking a 20 strength one (66%).  I can't remember the exact specifics of combat, but I think it's far to say that they odds would be about 60-40 for the gunships, who get no bonuses (I think the game gives the exact odds)

[Seventh Holy Scripture]

EACH longbowman was able to take out 1 or more helicopters. wtf!

Didn't you watch Avatar?

Anyway, hexes own. Looking forward to this, hopefully it won't rape my computer (even Civ4 can be brutal with gigantic maps and many AIs / inefficient mods.)

[Ghaleon]

Well, Longbowmen are the city defenders of the middle game.  They can easily be over double their listed strength in cities, and they get 1 first strike.   Plus, strengths in this game are relative; a 2 strength unit attacking a 1 strength unit has the same chance as a 40 strength unit attacking a 20 strength one (66%).  I can't remember the exact specifics of combat, but I think it's far to say that they odds would be about 60-40 for the gunships, who get no bonuses (I think the game gives the exact odds)

I understand this, I did say or more. and I never had a gunship take on a longbowman that wasn't weakened from previous ones.
Last, as I said, my own bowmen (who are better suited to defending towns btw, I would make sure they had like city defender IV or whatever) would often croak to 2 samurais. 3 if I was lucky.

Longbowmen have 6 strength, gunships have 24. Even if they have city defender III, they wont double their strength in a city that has no fortification bonus. Computer just plain cheats at defending cities >=P. It's not impossible no, but the statistics side of my grain cant help but throw a big "wtf" in the game's direction, especially since Civ2 didn't have this problem.

Didn't you watch Avatar?

Nope. I got no time to watch movies, must play every videogame on the planet! it's a big list you know.

[LiteYear]

Well, maybe "easily" double strength was an exaggeration, but they do get +50% strength pretty much automatically: +25% for being fortified 5 or more turns, and +25% for their innate ability in cities.  Walls might give their +50% bonus as well, as I don't think Gunships are classified as Gunpowder units.  But even if Walls don't apply, the terrain bonus and levels in City Garrison can improve that to over a combined +100%, even without a city fortification bonus.

That said, it wouldn't surprise me that the CPU does get a bonus depending on the difficulty.

[Yamachanadu]

This man speaks truths, Longbowmen are BS.

And add me to the "DO WANT" list.

[orinrin]

Never build units that don't receive defense bonuses.  _{Stupid modern armor spam...}

[shinyjam]

Hope the Touhou Epic would also move to Civ 5 in the future.