Civilization 4: Beyond the Sword Preview

[Dr.Finger]

Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=76804) had the chance to sit down with Firaxis' Tim McCraken and talk indepth about the new Civ 4 expansion: Beyind the Sword.
Eurogamer: We understand that there's some sort of space mode in this expansion?

Tim McCracken: Oh yeah! The Final Frontier space scenario is almost like an entire remake of the game all over again. There's a brand new tech tree, loads of new units and a brand new terrain! We wanted to show the community who have been great, how crazy you can be with the scenarios. Final Frontier takes place 100 years after earth - after contact was lost with earth... as you play through the scenario, you'll find small clues about what happened to earth. It's a lot different to the base game of Civ. Instead of conquering the world, you're conquering all of space. Instead of building a city, you're colonizing a star system. You can go into each star system and plant buildings on each planet and assign population to them. Then there's Star Bases - they're kind of like satellite cities, they can harvest resources from an asteroid field, spread the influence of your city and they can also defend against attacking units. There's pop up hints which will tell you all about the new units and there's also the Civilopedia with an explanation on the concepts.

Eurogamer: Could you imagine the game appearing on Xbox 360? C&C 3 has, and it's doing well...

Tim McCracken: Possibly. There's nothing set in stone. We're always paying attention to the trends of the industry...

[YoungAlCapone]

Thats a fucking huge expansion.

Will it require that I have the other expansion? as I am really interested in this but never picked up the other expansion.

[Heretic Machine]

This cannot come soon enough.

[Dr.Finger]

Thats a fucking huge expansion.

Will it require that I have the other expansion, as I am really interested in this but never picked up the other expansion.You won't need Warlords to play this, although it won't include the Warlords content either .

[Devilturnip]

This shit is hot.

[YoungAlCapone]

I was never really interested in Warlords, though at this point I cannot remember why, so that doesn't bother me too much.

[Citizen Philip]

I was never really interested in Warlords, though at this point I cannot remember why, so that doesn't bother me too much.

Lots of good stuff in Warlords. Should pick it up. The fact that the content is exclusive, I find a bit annoying: some of the leaders were changed in Warlords (for the better), so removing the adjusted leader perks, is a step back.

Unless of course, they are going to do something about it. That's something else. Looks good, however.

[Devilturnip]

Lots of good stuff in Warlords. Should pick it up. The fact that the content is exclusive, I find a bit annoying: some of the leaders were changed in Warlords (for the better), so removing the adjusted leader perks, is a step back.
I hadn't read that... There's no mode where you can play with the content from both expansions? That's kind of weak... I hope that's not the case.

[Dr.Finger]

I hadn't read that... There's no mode where you can play with the content from both expansions? That's kind of weak... I hope that's not the case.With Civ 3 you could use content from both expansions at once, so I assume the same will hold true for Civ 4. I assume that BtS will tweak the leaders from both the original and Warlords as necessary.

[YoungAlCapone]

Lots of good stuff in Warlords. Should pick it up. The fact that the content is exclusive, I find a bit annoying: some of the leaders were changed in Warlords (for the better), so removing the adjusted leader perks, is a step back.

Unless of course, they are going to do something about it. That's something else. Looks good, however.

Maybe when my computer comes back I will check it out, I haven't played Civ in a couple of months, it should give me a good excuse to restart my addiction before Beyond the Sword comes out.

[Itchyeyes]

Wow, just wow! It's like everything I've always wanted Civ to be. I can't wait for this expansion.

[Stormwatcher]

It's full of stars!

[Citizen Philip]

With Civ 3 you could use content from both expansions at once, so I assume the same will hold true for Civ 4. I assume that BtS will tweak the leaders from both the original and Warlords as necessary.

I hope so, it would be unusual to split the players by expansion.

[Telefrog]

I hope so, it would be unusual to split the players by expansion.

Unusual? Don't most game expansions split the player base?

[walkstheplanes]

The space segment reminds me of GalCiv... I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees that connection...

These games are the ones that prevent me from getting any work or sleep. I probably won't pick this up -- not because I won't enjoy it, but because I enjoy the rest of my life too much.

[YoungAlCapone]

The space segment reminds me of GalCiv... I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees that connection...

It reminded me of GalCiv as well, but I am sure there will be plenty to differentiate the two.

Did I make that word up? Differentiate? I swear I have used it and heard it used a million times, but seeing it written down makes it look all wrong for some reason.

[Itchyeyes]

It reminded me of GalCiv as well, but I am sure there will be plenty to differentiate the two.

Did I make that word up? Differentiate? I swear I have used it and heard it used a million times, but seeing it written down makes it look all wrong for some reason.
Don't worry, it's a real word. I imagine the games would be very different as well. For starters, I doubt Civ will include a ship builder nearly as full featured as GalCiv's, if at all. Developing your worlds/systems should be much different as well. I would consider that a good thing, as that was one of the parts in GalCiv that I didn't much care for.

[Telefrog]

The ship builder in GalCiv2 is like the best thing since sliced Jesus.

[Devilturnip]

Seeing as how GalCiv is a direct descendant of Masters of Orion, which itself was a descendant of the original Civilization.... Shouldn't you be saying that GalCiv reminds you of Civ?

[ezzkmo]

I need this game!

And this is the first time I've seen the word onanism used in a game preview.

[Citizen Philip]

Unusual? Don't most game expansions split the player base?

Sort of. You have the original game and the first expansion: the first expansion included new leaders -and- it changed some of the original leaders and units as well. The second expansion, in theory, is based off the original making all the changes from the first expansion nil: thereby someone owning both expansions would cause a split. I do understand, what you mean though: expansions = more stuff that someone else doesn't get.

[Citizen Philip]

Seeing as how GalCiv is a direct descendant of Masters of Orion, which itself was a descendant of the original Civilization.... Shouldn't you be saying that GalCiv reminds you of Civ?

4x is just.. loverly.