Civilization 5 Announced

[ThERat]

Been absent for quite a while here as Civ 4 simply didn't capture my attention any longer (maybe it was too difficult for me to comprehend the many features it had).
That said, I am really looking forward to Civ 5. The only real worry I have is the happy cap to expansion. I love to play big maps with many cities. So far, I have not seen any real empires covering the maps, not even clear defined borders, lots of 'empty' spaces...but we have to play the game to see what happens.

I would like to join SGs as this has always been my most fav aspect of playing Civ. (and maybe Civ 5 can be played as AW though it does seem a bit insane given the lurking happy penalties).

Being international, I can only play on 24th though, what a silly marketing strategy

PS:
By the way, have to use this opportunity to advertise a great mod I have been playing for a long time now, it's for C3C (yes, some people still play that) called CCM and created by civinator, it's a great effort. If you want, give it a try.

[SleepingMoogle]

I have Civ 5 pre-ordered and will start pre-loading it over the weekend. A succession game sounds like fun as well. So far I've been hesitant to sign up for them, but with Civ 5 at least I don't have to worry about being a newbie.

[SpazzMaticus]

For me it is an insta-buy. Looks amazing enough on the videos I've seen so far, especially on the one covering 2 hours of gameplay.
It looks and feels fresh, which is just what I needed after playing civ 4 for 5 years.

[TheArchduke]

I have to do some research on the current state of Steam first. It's really hard to get reliable information out of the Steam fanboi vs. hater discussions on the forums. To me, the most critical question is: Does Steam install an application, service or driver on my system that will run in the background all the time (and probably connect to Steam servers), even if I don't play Civ 5? As a malware researcher, I'd get all sorts of nightmares if this is the case...

I admit that unlike some here I actually like Steam it is practical. Play UFO Enemy Unknown without any setup probs? Steam installs an app that you can turn off afaik.

What I fear is that it will go the way of the facebook (like Blizzard tried with the Real-ID..) and lose appeal to me because of that.. Also that we become slaves to one gaming system that is why I actually use Impulse and Gamersgate as well.

[Kylearan]

Does anyone know if Civ 5 will come with multiple languages, as Civ 4 did?

I'm in Germany, but if I get Civ 5, it has to be an English version or I won't buy it. I've been unable to find out if that will be possible - reading about Steam not allowing you to register games bought from other regions and such doesn't sound good. But maybe the version I'm "allowed" to buy here can be switched to English?

[sunrise089]

Does anyone know if Civ 5 will come with multiple languages, as Civ 4 did?

I'm in Germany, but if I get Civ 5, it has to be an English version or I won't buy it. I've been unable to find out if that will be possible - reading about Steam not allowing you to register games bought from other regions and such doesn't sound good. But maybe the version I'm "allowed" to buy here can be switched to English?

If not, I'll mail you a copy from over here if you want.

[TheArchduke]

Does anyone know if Civ 5 will come with multiple languages, as Civ 4 did?

I'm in Germany, but if I get Civ 5, it has to be an English version or I won't buy it. I've been unable to find out if that will be possible - reading about Steam not allowing you to register games bought from other regions and such doesn't sound good. But maybe the version I'm "allowed" to buy here can be switched to English?

I think it was impossible at first, but at least with the 10 games I have it is possible.

[Gold Ergo Sum]

Another short multiplayer preview:

http://kotaku.com/5633827/how-to-beat-th...ultiplayer

[Speaker]

Another short multiplayer preview:

http://kotaku.com/5633827/how-to-beat-th...ultiplayer

This review, like all the others, tells me absolutely nothing about MP, except:

You'll discover a hopefully temporary idiosyncrasy of the in-game text chat option (you don't try the voice one). You can only type in the chat when it's your turn. But another player doesn't have this problem, and you can still chat through Steam. A resolvable bit of weirdness, you hope.

So either the game is still extremely buggy, or you can only type when it's your turn. Neither inspires me.

Don't build Mecca in a desert, no matter how historically accurate that may seem. Primitive, game-starting man can't yet drill for oil, can't build farms yet. He can fish, but boy do those forests just out of reach look good for cutting lumber. Too bad forests aren't in the desert.

Starting spots appear not to be normalized. Why would you ever start in a desert wasteland?

You will not be playing with Civ V's modified multiplayer timer. This new timer, you will be told, gives each player a finite amount of time to take a turn, an amount of time that will lengthen as the game progresses and turns become more complex. This timer, you will learn, keeps the game from halting if one player steps away.

New, lolwhat?

You will have rejoiced in other successful moves. You learned that, while it wasn't your turn, you could queue land purchases — gold spent to hurry city expansion rather than waiting for organic, natural growth.

The only interesting thing I learned in this whole preview. Queuing worker actions in advance made micro a lot easier in Civ4. At least you can do the same with land purchases in Civ5.

The game ends on T72 and the reporter has 3 cities, size 6, 6, and 2. And he won. Sounds like a completely different game to me. And I don't mean that in a good way.

[Kylearan]

If not, I'll mail you a copy from over here if you want.

Thanks a lot for the offer! However, after some more reading it looks like Steam allows you to install any language you want - at least for other games, so i hope it will be the same here.

Oh, and I just gave in and preordered the game. Can't...resist...civ...on hex tiles...