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Action-Heavy Version of Civilization Heading to Consoles
GameDaily is reporting that Take-Two will be publishing a new Civilization title in Spring of 2008, with a twist. Instead of the traditional strategy gameplay Civilizations Revolution will be an 'action-packed' console game, streamlining the experience for different generation of gamers. They also mention they'll be aiming this game at handheld gamers. "The title will include 16 civilizations, numerous historical leaders to play as or compete against, online play with integrated video and voice chat, more accessible maps, a streamlined time scale for quicker games, and more ... 'Civilization is one of the world's top selling PC game series with more than 8 million units sold, and continues to be recognized as one of the greatest franchises ever created,' added Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. 'We are excited to have Sid Meier getting back to his roots as the game's Lead Designer to carry on its legacy with Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution.'" This seems somewhat similar to EA's decision to offer up a streamlined version of SimCity in their next iteration of the series.
I was a big fan of the first two civilization games and the idea of making one that is more action heavy is quite mouth watering. I just hope they don't put too much effort into the action and not enough into the planning and strategy that made the originals so good.
Action heavy, huh? So I guess they're planning on using some of their unused Manhunt 2 code in the game?
This guy's the limit!
the thing about the addictiveness of civilization is that it is so mentally absorbing, all of the little details. i've often thought civilization would be a great test for alzheimers, because you have to remember so many little short term action lists. as an addict, soon you get stuck in the "just one more turn" mode and... blink, look at that, the sun is rising, it's morning... how'd that happen?
i'm sure they'll make a great game and that it will sell well, but it will be absolutely nothing like the real civilization game experience except in name alone
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
This is the worst idea I've heard in my life. I guess people who think are no longer in the video game market, huh? Instead we're stuck with action, action, and participatory anime (RPG's).
In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
Can a video/computer game jump the shark? As a fan of Civilization all the way back to the first I was disappointed in the 3D version of Civilization IV and now this? I still play Civ III all the time. I guess I'm just old school and will hope for mod packs to the old games to keep advancing the game instead of shrink wrapped options.
"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." - Shepard Book Quoting Malcolm Reynolds
I just died a little bit inside when I read this. It's like 'honest politician'--it doesn't work that way!
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
a watershed game, offering players a chance to experience the epic empire-building world of Civilization in an all new accessible, visually immersive, and action-packed world specifically designed for the console and handheld gamer."
Nowhere in the article does it say how it will be different from previous titles. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Who knows, this may be the next revolution in gaming. More likely, however, it will be yet another sequel. Only time and a few trailers and demos will tell. "Civilization Revolution is the game I've always wanted to make!" When has a game maker ever said, "Here is ournew game. It blows, but we made it anyways."
Imagine the outcry if and when this title allows you in first-person gore-mode to hunt down and kill various ethnicities.
This is worse than "Kill all Haitans" in GTA:VC.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
I'm much more interested in the Civ 4 Beyond the Sword expansion pack coming out in July. http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product_id=6470 31
Mmmmm.... Civ the RTS? Although I vaguely recall Microsoft doing that already.
Does this mean that we won't see an open source PC version?
Another example of the "consolification" of once-great PC-game franchises. See also: Deus Ex and Thief. At least Sid Meier is working on it, so it might not completely suck.
Rob
I think my hand would fall off if I needed to use a controller to provide input to a Civ game! My monitor provides more dots than an HD TV and much more sharply at that. I couldn't imagine how cluttered or dumbed-down the UI would need to be on a console.
Maybe I'm wrong. I am a builder more than a war-monger, tho, and I feel this will simply be another turn-based war game.
Blar.
I have played Civ III, and I love that game, it's everything I ever wanted from a strategy game. I play the game because it's mentally involving, it's not a game I can pick up and beat in a week or so, some games can take over a month to complete, and every move has to be planned out accordingly Civ IV I was disappointed with, the graphics were major overkill for a turn based strategy game, the ideas and concepts were phenominal, but those graphics ruined it for me, I dont play civilization to look at a pretty picture, but the game still got my respect because of the amount of new features that were easily and well integrated into the game. But a civ with more action? I'm extremely skeptical, like mentioned above, these games are all about thought and planning, not pew pew shoot em up, I really hope this game turns out well, and if they pull it off, you gain my utmost respect, but I just feel that civilization is not made to be an action-packed game, and that it should play like it has been, an extremely strategic game
Its their loss if they don't think kids can understand this excellently crafted strategy game - but honestly if they're worried about attention span, just make small maps and idiot AI the default options for the console version, and leave it alone. Civ IV is just as intuitive as the original, which plenty of kids played when it came out 15 years ago - and it has pretty graphics to boot - why wouldn't it work on the console?
They are doing the "action-heavy" thing. They may have realised that Civ, as it is done on the computer, wouldn't work so well on teh console and thus are using it as a starting point, but changing the gameplay. Sounds like they aren't going for a perfect copy since they know that won't work, and aren't just going to water it down, but rather change it to be suited to the new environment. It'll be interesting to see how well it works.
Have you tried Fallen from Heaven mod? Those guys are doing a scenario is BTS but the mod is just amazing. Crashes like all hell, and you still come back for more.
it's on the DS. Oh man, that would be addictive - portable civ. It'd be a great deal for Firaxis and Nintendo.
Does anyone remember the absolutely horrible Heroes of Might and Magic:Quest for the DragonBane Staff game that came out on the playstation 2? It removed all the "complicated" mechanics that made the game what it was, even going so far as to restrict the user to a single castle-type. I bought the system specifically so I could play that game, but after an hour of playing I punched my television.
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I've heard good things about that mod, but I'm waiting for a QA'ed/stable version to come with the expansion. Right now I've just been doing Warlords, with random map generator (continents, islands, fractals, terra), large maps, low oceans, random leader, and regular length. Good fun - and I love the fact that the maps feel "real", but I'm deep into the game before I figure out what kind of map it is - so I still can do exploring without feeling like I know where everything has to be.
It's the end of Civilization as we know it!
I haven't played Civ IV yet (waiting for it to hit the bottom of the bargain bin, I'm cheap) but I have to say that I've probably spent more hours playing Alpha Centauri than any other game. It's still the most compelling title in my collection. So yeah, I'm solidly in the "who cares" camp myself. Not to mention that the Free/free games are coming along... they're way behind, but they'll catch up eventually - probably before civ V would have come out anyway. But maybe not :)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
If you liked the structure of AC, then you'll like the structure of Civ 4. Its got the diplomatic options, it has the mix-and-match civics - the only thing its really missing is the build your own unit options, which it kind of replaces with promotions. Plus it has religion and resources - so its has added gameplay components...
The question is, will Nimoy be voicing new technology advances?
i hadnt really touched civ in a few months but this week i started readin up on BTS and i'm so damn excited!...i'm anxiously awaiting july 24th(or the probably later date it'll ship here in canada). it's also motivated be to finally learn python =)
Total war blends civilization with an RTS - but of course doesn't have the scope of Civ.
Giving Civilization Total War's 2 modes would be sweet - the normal tile-based strategy game is the main part, but when you have combat, you control your armies like you do in Total War.
Great. Just what the Civ series needs. Civilization V: Attention Deficit Disorder Edition.
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Could you streamline the summary please? I didn't have the attention span to read it all.
-Styopa