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Map Questions answered!
(19 March 2010, 04:55 | Misc)
Some confusion spread after reading the `map-size remark` in the recent InsideGamer Article.br />
Were Civilization V maps not going to be any larger then 2500 hexes?
A lot of Civ 5 fans became concerned about the possible size of the maps of the next civ release and discussed this at the many fansites.
Apolyton Civilization Site decided to phone Gerard van Nieuwenhuijzen, author of the article, and asked for clarification. He was kind enough to answer our questions.
Maps can certainly be larger then 2500 tiles!
The `2500 tiles` remark was given as an informal adlib by Jon Shafer to show that he was able to give a number in response to even the most detailed questions. This is in line with the informal setting of the article in general. So no reasons for us to panic yet!
Gerard was even able to confirm that maps will at least be the size of the civ4 general maps. At the end of our conversation he pointed us into the direction of another interesting source of information. Keep looking here for more! Thanks a lot to Gerard and InsideGamer.
Discuss this in
our forums - Robert Plomp
Dutch magazine 'InsideGamer' writes about ships and maps sizes.
(18 March 2010, 13:59 | Misc)
The Dutch magazine "InsideGamer" had the opportunity to talk with Jon Shafer, leader designer of Civilization V. The article is written in Dutch. Which is not even a tiny bit of a problem for you native Dutch news editor.
The article is written in an informal mood. And as can be expected from a Dutch interviewer, it quickly moves to the topic of ships. In Civ 5 ships will get a more important role. Two reasons are listed why every player will focus more on their fleet. First of all, all ships will be able to carry units. "This must make it more attractive to aim for a large fleet" Shafer says. Apart from that will ships have a very large reach of bombardment! Up to 5 or 6 hexes!
Some questions are raised about how the game deals with cities that are completely encircled by enemies. Jon Shafer explains that a city has been lost or given up by then already. "At a certain moment you`ll notice that, when you`re about to lose a city, you won`t let yourself be closed in but give up your city and pull your remaining troops back to another city to defend it."
This leaves the original question unanswered; what happens if a city is encircled by enemies and your city produces a new unit?
The article ends with another two new bits of Civilization V information;
Armies will receive reinforcements automatic. This process goes slower outside your territory and maps can contain up to 2500 hexagons. Shafer answer comes with a joke: "You did never expect that, did you, that I would have an answer on that question!"
You can read the article Here (translation) and discuss it in our forums.
- Robert Plomp
No "Road Spaghetti" in civ5
(11 March 2010, 11:25 | Misc)
Yesterday gaming blog Kotaku already wrote a story about the GDC demonstration of Civilization V. Today they continue this story by zooming in on "road spaghetti", or better, the lack of.
Stephen Totilo noticed the lack of many roads on the maps, even in the late game. About the early game Totilo said: "you’d expect to have a single road", but "this type of clean look appeared even in the more evolved communities I was shown."
In turns out that Firaxis is trying to give roads more meaning. "Even a single road will have relevance and feel as special as a key highway does in the real world." Eventhough he did not got many answers, Totilo writes: "they prepared me for a Civ that will not wind up, in its end game, with a spaghetti tangle of roads networking a major nation and its big cities."
Read the article on kotaku.com
Discuss the article
in our forums - Robert Plomp
Some more civ5 details from a VentureBeat preview
(11 March 2010, 08:14 | Misc)
The game section of VentureBeat posted a preview based on the same Firaxis session yesterday on GDC.
They offer some details from the demostration that were unknown so far.
To start with, there are special `flaming arrow` archers, apart from the usual archers. Now the firework we saw in some screenshots makes suddenly sense!
VentureBeat continues to explain that armies are more expensive to build and to maintain, but will also last longer.
Cities will defend themselves on a fixed number of defense points. And most important, territories now have capitols, and if you take them, the entire territory will be yours. It`s unknown yet if this is a different way to phrase the already known way to achieve a domination victory by only capturing the capitals of all civs, or if Civ 5 indeed includes something like state capitals.
Discuss these early preview mysteries in our forums or read the entire article here
- Robert Plomp
Civ5 combat information from The Escapist Magazine`s preview
(11 March 2010, 04:35 | Misc)
Greg Tito from The Escapist Magazine attended the 2K Games presentation of Civ5 at GDC 2010. Since he has played "the crap out of each civilization" since 1991, Greg appears to know what he`s talking about. His main focus is on the new combat system. The most interesting news is that "Units are no longer destroyed if they lose a battle". This seems to go against his later claim from Greg though, about resources that are available only to a limmited amount of units. Greg continues to say: "You can`t make another swordsman unit unless that one died".
Is this a first hint on a more complicated lose and die system where a defeat not autimaticly means the end of an army in all cases? To be continued for sure!
The preview ends with the conclusion that this game will be attractible to all kinds of fans. "Overall, there are enough new features in Civ V to draw new fans to the series who may have only played Revolution or Colonization and enough of that classic Civ gameplay to make even hardcore fans excited for an update."
You can read the entire article right here and discuss it in our forums.
Thanks to Oerdin for the heads up!
- Robert Plomp
Firaxis aims for dual core processors, Kotak previews!
(10 March 2010, 08:35 | Misc)
After predicting a release of civ5 before the end of October (more info), , Kotaku today joins the large group of online magazines to features it`s first Civilization 5 preview.
Like the other previews, Kotaku`s preview has also been based on the early build demonstration Firaxis gave at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Their first impression is that civ V has "been modified to feel more true to life and more rife than ever with strategic potential."
After expressing their happiness about the graphics and the hexes, Kotaku has news about the computer specifications Firaxis is aiming at. "The current minimum spec Firaxis is hoping to accommodate are 256 MB video cards and dual core processors. That target might change."
The small preview ends with a surprise. "the developers said there will be surprises as to how non-military ways of winning the game, the standard cultural and technological victories, for example, will be designed."
Read the entire preview at Kotaku
Discuss the article in our forums
- Robert Plomp
