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New Civilization IV Expansion! (Beyond the Sword)
Ethelred
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I didn't see a thread on this.
So far, it looks like the new civs are Babylon, the Native Americans, Portugal, and the Netherlands. New leaders include Abraham Lincoln, Hammurabi, and Sitting Bull. Looking at the concept art (and the file names), there's a possibility of Charlemagne as a leader (though of what I'm not sure. Franks? France, even? Holy Roman Empire?).
Some concept art:
"Modern Building Set"
"Afterworld Concept Art"
"Charlemagne Mounted Units"
Sitting Bull
History on the new wonders:
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer)
Shwedagon Paya
Mausoleum of Maussollos
Moai Statues
I'm excited. There's also a Eurogamer article here, but they got the name wrong.
Launching July 2007
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is the second expansion pack for Civilization IV - the 2005 PC Game of the Year that has become a world-wide hit. The expansion will focus on the time periods after the invention of gunpowder and will deliver 12 unique and challenging scenarios created by the development team at Firaxis as well as some esteemed members of the Civ Community. Civ IV: Beyond the Sword will also include ten new civilizations, sixteen new leaders, five new wonders, and a variety of new units that will offer even more fun and exciting ways for players to expand their civilization’s power as they strive for world domination.
Expanded Epic Game: We’ve added more new units, buildings, and technologies to the epic game with a tremendous amount of effort focused on the late game.
New Game Scenarios: The expansion will deliver 12 new scenarios custom designed by the team at Firaxis and some members of the Civ Fan Community.
New Civilizations: The pack will provide 10 new civilizations, such as Portugal, Babylonians, and Netherlands and their associated unique units and buildings.
More Civilization Leaders: Sixteen new leaders will be provided. The list will include leaders for the new civilizations as well as additional leaders for existing civilizations. Leaders such as Hammurabi of the Babylonians, Abraham Lincoln of the United States, and Sitting Bull of the Native Americans will provide the player with even more choices on who they want to play.
Corporations: A new gameplay feature similar to religion that allows players to found companies and spread them throughout the world. Each corporation provides benefits in exchange for certain resources.
Espionage: Now available earlier in the game, this feature offers players many new ways to spy on opponents. Each civilization has the opportunity to fund espionage development, which will allow them to gain intelligence, sabotage structures, poison water supplies, cause rebellions, and much more.
Events: New random events challenge players with unique ways of interacting with the world. Players are presented with interesting decisions to make when faced with events such as natural disasters, pleas for help, or demands from their citizens.
New Wonders: There will be five new wonders including the Statue of Zeus, Cristo Redentor, Shwedagon Paya, the Mausoleum of Maussollos, and the Moai Statues.
Expanded Space Victory: Winning a space ship victory will now require more strategic planning and tactical decision making.
Apostolic Palace: The United Nations will become available earlier in the game providing a way for players to win a diplomatic victory earlier. New resolutions will also be added which will expand the available diplomatic options.
Advanced Starts: A major fan request, this new feature will enable players to "buy" components of a custom-tailored empire and begin play in the later part of the game, allowing them to experience many of the new features of the expansion in a shorter amount of time.
Enhanced AI: The AI has received many enhancements making it tougher to beat on the higher difficulty levels. The ways in which the AI will attempt to achieve victory have also been expanded.
So far, it looks like the new civs are Babylon, the Native Americans, Portugal, and the Netherlands. New leaders include Abraham Lincoln, Hammurabi, and Sitting Bull. Looking at the concept art (and the file names), there's a possibility of Charlemagne as a leader (though of what I'm not sure. Franks? France, even? Holy Roman Empire?).
Some concept art:
"Modern Building Set"
"Afterworld Concept Art"
"Charlemagne Mounted Units"
Sitting Bull
History on the new wonders:
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer)
Shwedagon Paya
Mausoleum of Maussollos
Moai Statues
I'm excited. There's also a Eurogamer article here, but they got the name wrong.
Ethelred on
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Posts
I am a freaking nerd.
No new traits though? Tch. Ah well.
mineminemineminemineminemineminemineminemineyes.
Hopefully this will also signal a return to those retardedly late night matches we had going on when Civ 4 first came out, though.
Heh, maybe they should offer the option to play as "less than optimal leaders." They'll have better benefits than normal leaders, but suffer random, horrible consequences.
"President Johnson is drunk! Anarchy for [5] Turns! Oh no, all of your southern cities have fallen behind economically and scientifically due to your shoddy leadership!"
"Fuhrer Hitler is blaming the Jews! 11 Million people have 'mysteriously' died! Your approval rating has plummeted! All other civilizations have declared war on you!"
I imagine it'll just be something closer to the earlier Civs, where if you lost your capital, you lost all progress. Though in this case, probably need to build a launch pad or transfer parts or something along those lines.
Hell, looking at the list of features, this looks much more interesting than Warlords was.
Well, capitalism is the modern-day world religion. :P
Meh, I almost always have 2-3 holy cities, and never have enough random downtime to spread the extra religions around. I don't need/want to be worrying about spreading McDonald's the enemy too.
I usually buy the expansions because the AI gets upgraded and for the new leaders and civs, I almost never play the scenarios.
Ditto, I almost never play the scenarios even in the original versions, I'd rather start a new empire of my own most of the time.
I am a freaking nerd.
Yes. The Epic mode.
IRT OP: Out of the modern concept art, I'm interested to see what the domed cities are for.
Man, I would love an Alpha Centauri 2... I love the Civ series, but I think that alpha centauri is still my favorite Sid game.
I am a freaking nerd.
There's not much of a chance for Alpha Centauri 2 since Alpha Centauri was published under EA, and thus they own the IP.
That is, unless EA decides to make a cash-in sequel. They'd probably add an "urban" faction and then make you pay extra to Ascend to Transcendence.
On another note, I think the domed city might be some sort of city improvement that protects against... you know, something. There may be some new type of end-game weapon we don't know about yet.
One thing I really liked was that a lot of the units were kind of built your own... research yeilded basic frames (infantry, tanks, ect...) and different components. So you could mix and match a lot of your tech to make speciallized units to your liking/needs.
I am a freaking nerd.
One way around that is making a "spiritual successor" the same way SupCom is TA's sequel. Possibly a Sid Meier's Centauri! type title?
You're probably right in assuming the domes are some kind of advanced SDI thing, but my first thought was: Underwater City ala Call to Power, with the second being: Mars City. The version of Civ2 I liked best was Test of Time. Though I think Sid had very little involvement in that, I still think one of the coolest features introduced in that was the parallel map game.
Interesting as the Dome thing is, I still prefer a tech tree that ends with current stuff, or feasible stuff on the drawing board.
I know the feeling but I hope with this they release a gold edition with Civ 4 and both expansions.
oh heeeeeells yes
The last expansion was absolutely fantastic, and it did a great job on the era it focused on. I'm very excited to see what this one brings.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I suspect they'll release a version of Civ IV with Warlords included, and sell this one separately. But it could go either way. Most companies won't bundle package a brand new expansion though, and I've never seen Firaxis/Atari do it either.
Here's a thought though:
Will there be a modern themed third expansion pack? Something that greatly expands upon the post-industrialization era? That'd be pretty sweet. I wouldn't mind that phase lasting an extra 50 or 150 turns, it's frequently my favourite anytime I'm playing a Civ title.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Call To Power was the one that Sid, and anyone associated with any other Civ title, had nothing to do with. I think you're right about Sid not being involved with Test of Time, too. I didn't play either though.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Maybe it just seems that way to me because I'm a bit more familiar with the history where I live.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Yup, it is. But in the other hand, it's would be hard to choose single tribe over others. But in the other hand, press release doesn't say anything about native americans. That was Ethelred's own addition.
fapfapfapfapfapfapfapfapfapfapfapfapfapfap
Uh, no.
EA doesn't automatically own the IP of every game they publish. See: a little game called Half-Life 2.
Especially since EA only published the Windows version of SMAC.