New Civs Update from IGN

kring · May 24, 2002, 02:02

This just in from post by m0lok0plus:

http://pc.ign.com/articles/360/360642p1.html

Quick overview

Firaxis told us a bit about two of them, the Mongols and the Spanish.

Other new civilizations include the Gauls, the Carthaginians, the Ottomans and the Arabs. We don't have any more details on those yet, but we wouldn't be surprised if the new units include berserkers and a new kind of war elephant.

More info:
May 23, 2002 - Hallelujah! The long-awaited multiplayer expansion is in production and due out this October. That information alone would be worth the price of an update. But since I'm such an overachiever, I'll do you one better. I'll actually tell you about two other big changes due for the game.

But the big news is the addition of multiplayer. The biggest problem of course is the waiting that goes on between turns. Firaxis has offered a simultaneous turn-based mode to ease the down time. The more intriguing alternative is a turnless, ''real-time'' option. An individual turn runs on a real time clock and each individual unit moved must not be moved again until the length of a turn has passed. The length of each turn is proportional to the number of cities and units present in the world. As you advance through time and have more units to manage, you have more time between turns.

But even so, a game of Civ can take a while to complete. Firaxis has added a few new game types to speed up the conflict. We've already heard about the Capture the Flag mode but we heard more details on two more modes that will be included. Elimination is the Civ equivalent of one-shot-one-kill. A player is eliminated if they ever lose a city. Regicide is a bit like chess. Your ruler is represented as a unit on the map. The objective is to capture the other king, thereby eliminating that player from the game.

But wait! That's not all! If you order today you'll also get eight new civilizations. Firaxis told us a bit about two of them, the Mongols and the Spanish. Each new civ has a unique new unit. The Mongol Keshik, Khan's elite guard, shows off some of the new unit art. These guys are in to self-sufficiency and carry everything they need on their horse. Also of interest is the Spanish Conquistador. These units appear as a mounted warrior with a deerhound by his side. (The Spanish used dogs as weapons of terror against the Indians.) The addition of multiple animals in a single unit graphic has also been carried over to the artillery units. Now your cannons will actually have little troops working beside them.

Other new civilizations include the Gauls, the Carthaginians, the Ottomans and the Arabs. We don't have any more details on those yet, but we wouldn't be surprised if the new units include berserkers and a new kind of war elephant.

In addition to the new units, there are also new terrain improvements. Outposts are stationary sentry towers that alert you to enemy movements and eliminate barbarian spawns within their range. Airfields can now be constructed anywhere on the map, ensuring that you can maintain aerial operations (including paradrops) without needing a nearby city. Finally, radar towers built within your city's influence grant combat bonuses to friendly units within the city radius.

Third among the major changes is the addition of a robust editor. Released in June, four months before Play the World reaches shelves, the editor will allow players to create custom scenarios, units and civs. The tools for doing this are relatively simple and should require only a few attempts to gain some proficiency. Firaxis has also responded to community requests for special unit and tile sets. A completely new medieval Japan and Second World War set of units can battle it out on the new Japanese and European terrain sets. Jeff says that the team will likely include a new dinosaur set as well.

A few other improvements have been added as well. Units can now move in stacks (like in the 1.17 patch). Bombardment units can now be set to auto-bombard a specific square every turn. Better cycling through active units and particular cities is also a welcome addition. No more writing down the cities in revolt at the start of your turn.

Naturally, we'll bring you more updates as they arrive.

Steve Butts

ChaotikVisions · May 24, 2002, 02:28

Hmm, so Mongols, Spanish, Gauls, Carthaginians, Ottomans and Arabs, and a probable Vikings. Hmm, I hope they include the Incas, since i'm guessing Korea will just be in midevil Japan set, and not regular Civ.

Edit-And btw, great article kring.

kring · May 24, 2002, 02:40

m0lok0plus posted the original link in another thread. I just posted it in a new thread, spreading the word here as well as CivFanatics, 1BigCommunity, and CGN.

Harlan · May 24, 2002, 02:41

Cool. Ottomans and Arabs are good choices, though the lack of Incas and thus empty South America is glaring. I don't buy the theory that Korea will be part of the Japan set - it is the Japan set, not the Far East set. The Japanese fought all kinds of internal civil wars, and I'm sure that's what that is about, not some kind of Korea invasion. There are whole computer games based on those wars, like Shogun, and they don't include Korea.

Seems like the Carthaginian UU is going to be another elephant, which is a shame. We already have an elephant UU, and the real special unit for them should have been a war galley. The Carthaginians were all about naval power. But since the elephants over the Alps thing has become a sound bite of history, that must be what they're thinking.

I wonder why Gauls and not the Celts. With Celts you cover a larger area, and have a civ that lasts at least 1000 more years, while encompassing the Gauls. So you only gain with the more encompassing name. It wasn't like there was a clear distinction between those Celts and others. Gauls were just the Celts who lived in the geographical area called Gaul, and Celts tended to move around in mass migrations anyways.

I hope they change that, at least.

Releasing the scenario tools in June is a very smart business decision. Have lots of scenarios existing by the time the multiplayer comes out. I like it.

kring · May 24, 2002, 02:47

It could be the Feudal Japan is Shogun Total War type internal game.

notyoueither · May 24, 2002, 02:52

As one who favours Rome, all I can say is Carthago delenda est.

Damn the elephants! Full speed ahead. Did you bring the mice?

kring · May 24, 2002, 02:55

Quote:

Originally posted by notyoueither

Damn the elephants! Full speed ahead. Did you bring the mice?

rotfl

ixnay · May 24, 2002, 02:55

So with this news, the list of civs is probably:

Mongols
Spanish
Gauls
Carthaginians
Ottomans
Arabs
Celts
Vikings

From the info gathered, this seems the most likely. I'm disappointed there's no Incas, as the Gauls seem rather redundant with the French already in.

monkspider · May 24, 2002, 02:57

inca WILL be in, see my thread on why Korea may not be included for details.
I am very disappointed on the choice of both the Arabs and the Turks, certainly very redudant with civs such as Korea and the Arabs not in the game.

Cesa · May 24, 2002, 03:11

Quote:

Originally posted by kring
The Mongol Keshik, Khan's elite guard, shows off some of the new unit art. These guys are in to self-sufficiency and carry everything they need on their horse.

This could mean that the unit will have the same stats as the unit it replaces, but that you don't have to pay support for it. Just a guess though.

The_Aussie_Lurker · May 24, 2002, 03:20

Well, I must say that this is all VERY good news!!!
The only thing which worries me is, will the editor allow you to build Custom Buildings (Improvements, Great and Small Wonders)?
The people behind the editor mentioned in a previous chat that they wanted to place all the flags for buildings into a common pool! This, if it's been done, would go a long way towards customizability! Of course, removing some of the hard-coding for some of the flags would also be nice! As would removing the hard-coding for new techs and land based movement rates (on roads and rail!)
Whilst on the subject, it would also be nice if the editor allowed you to create government and building specific units!
Anyway, so far, so good-lets just hope that there is more good news to come between now and the release of the editor!

Yours,
The_Aussie_Lurker.

Adm.Naismith · May 24, 2002, 04:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Cesa
This could mean that the unit will have the same stats as the unit it replaces, but that you don't have to pay support for it. Just a guess though.

Interesting guess, Cesa

I wonder if this will help AI and human players to build and keep very large horde of Monguls units...

Eli · May 24, 2002, 04:12

Ok then... Firaxis should reduce their estimated profits by 40$.

notyoueither · May 24, 2002, 04:14

You're not going to play MP or WWII Eli?

monkspider · May 24, 2002, 04:14

Don't give up Eli, we may be able to convince them to change their minds. Turks AND Arabs is awfully redundant but there is still lots of time until the game's release.

notyoueither · May 24, 2002, 04:16

Can you not add a civ? I'd say the Hebrews would be a natch for the Apolyton Standard Mod.

monkspider · May 24, 2002, 04:18

But it's just not the same NYE

Many of us try to preserve the original artistic vision for the most part. Besides, we could never do King David as good as Firaxis.

notyoueither · May 24, 2002, 04:23

Have faith in Sn00py, and others.

monkspider · May 24, 2002, 04:23

Grr, I can't believe it, the two civs I wanted most to be in (Hebrews, Koreans) get the cold shoulder.

notyoueither · May 24, 2002, 04:26

It aint done yet monkspider.

sgrig · May 24, 2002, 06:56

I doubt both Celts and Gauls will be in. We thought Celts are in because of the leader name Brennus, but Firaxis probably made him the Gaul leader. So my guess is that Koreans are still in.

Harovan · May 24, 2002, 07:06

Celts and Gauls are the same.

Stuie · May 24, 2002, 07:23

Quote:

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
Celts and Gauls are the same.

Definitely. And I for one am glad they went with "Gauls" as opposed to "Celts". But then I'm a fan of Roman history.

As for Korea, there's no way in hell that they developed a full civ and then stuck it in the Japan unit set without implementing it in the full game. I refuse to believe they would do this. So for my money, it's:

Gauls (Hooray!!)
Carthaginians (Hooray some more)
Mongols
Spanish
Ottomans
Arabs
Vikings
Koreans

Odd that they went with Ottomans and Arabs while giving Africa the cold shoulder. I want my Ethiopians!

SpencerH · May 24, 2002, 07:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Stuie

Odd that they went with Ottomans and Arabs while giving Africa the cold shoulder. I want my Ethiopians!

I may be wrong but I believe that the Ottomans, while moslem, are not arabs.

Alex · May 24, 2002, 08:10

Hmm... this is interesting. Gauls and French are mostly the same, also Arabs and Ottomans (in terms of how the cultural groups are represented). Why they left the Incas out is a mistery to me. It will be interesting to know who you'll put in South America, then.

If the scenario tools are to be released in June, then I hope the XP will have more to it than what was announced. I would not necessarily be willing to pay for multiplayer support only.

We'll see.

FrustratedPoet · May 24, 2002, 08:22

Quote:

Originally posted by Alexnm
If the scenario tools are to be released in June, then I hope the XP will have more to it than what was announced. I would not necessarily be willing to pay for multiplayer support only.

Nor would I ... especially if the scenario tools allowed the members of the mod community to further improve Civ3 in the while we are waiting for the XP. I'd probably rather have a couple of the better mods than the XP anyway ... although I wonder if scenario's created with the new tools will be compatible with the v1.21 Civ3 ... they might be sneaky and make them only work with the XP ... the devious people.

hetairoi22 · May 24, 2002, 08:27

What is meant by: "But wait! That's not all! If you order today you'll also get eight new civilizations. "? Are the units not included in the expansion that will come out in the shops, and where are you supposed to order from to get these civs included?

PS: I'm really happy both the Ottomans and Arabs made it in! They have been my favorite contestors for the XP.

Jethro83 · May 24, 2002, 08:36

GAULS?! YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!

The Gauls, while a significant part of Roman history are made redundant by the French. There's not really any need for them IMO. Still, I could mod the Gauls into the Celts and use Celtic city names, great leaders and UU instead (just import the AOE2 Woad Raider graphics into it).

As for the Arabs/Ottomons, there is enough difference between the two for them to be considered different enough to be separate civs. So I've got no qualms with that.

JtheJackal · May 24, 2002, 09:24

Quote:

Originally posted by hetairoi22
What is meant by: "But wait! That's not all! If you order today you'll also get eight new civilizations. "? Are the units not included in the expansion that will come out in the shops, and where are you supposed to order from to get these civs included?

I think thats the previewers writing style.
I'm still almost comletely sure the Koreans are in, but the lack of Incans or Myans is baffleing.

Hagbart · May 24, 2002, 09:52

Quote:

Originally posted by monkspider
Don't give up Eli, we may be able to convince them to change their minds. Turks AND Arabs is awfully redundant but there is still lots of time until the game's release.

Why shouldn't both the Turks and the Arabs be in the game, it is two different civilizations. They are just as different from each other as England, France, Germany and the US is from each other. But we got them all.

I would like a civ from South America to be in the game more than the Koreans or the Hebrews/Israel.