Second Expansion for CivIV announced

[ISiddiqui]

And it'll be called... "Beyond the Sword", highlighting that it will focus on the gunpowder era to the present, which has been a cause of complaint for many (the end game slowdown).

http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/beyondthesword/

Press Release:

2K Announces Summer Release of Beyond the Sword, the Latest Expansion Pack for Sid Meier's Civilization IV Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword marks the series biggest expansion ever

New York, NY - March 2007 - 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., announced today that Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword, the latest expansion pack for the critically acclaimed Civilization IV series, is set for release in July 2007. Developed for the PC by the company's world-renowned development studio Firaxis Games, Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword ushers in the largest amount of expansion content in the history of the Civilization franchise.

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is the second expansion pack for Civilization IV - the 2005 PC Game of the Year and major commercial success. The expansion will focus on the late-game time periods after the invention of gunpowder and will deliver 12 challenging and decidedly different scenarios created by the development team at Firaxis Games, as well as some esteemed members of the Civilization Fan Community. Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword will also include 10 new civilizations, 16 new leaders, 5 new wonders, and a variety of new units that will offer even more fun and exciting ways for players to expand their civilization's power as they strive for world domination.

"Civilization IV has been an overwhelming critical and commercial success, so it only made sense for Firaxis Games to create the biggest, most ambitious expansion pack to one of the deepest PC games ever," said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. Beyond the Sword exceeds the amount of new gameplay additions that have been included in each of the previous Civilization expansions, delivering more scenarios, civilizations, units, concepts, leaders and a host of other features." "Civilization is close to our hearts here at Firaxis and we're excited to up the ante on the series once again with what we consider to be our best expansion pack ever," said Steve Martin, president of Firaxis Games. "Fan requests and a constant stream of new ideas motivate our team to continue delivering more and better gameplay for our premier series. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is a must-have expansion for every Civ fan."


Key features include:

Expanded Epic Game: Firaxis Games has delivered a massive increase in new units, buildings, and technologies to the epic game with a tremendous amount of effort focused on the late game.

New Game Scenarios: The expansion will deliver 12 new scenarios, many containing themes never seen in Civilization, custom designed by the team at Firaxis and some members of the Civ Fan Community.

New Civilizations: The pack will provide 10 new civilizations, such as Portugal, Babylonians and Netherlands and their associated unique units and buildings.

More Civilization Leaders: Sixteen new leaders will be provided. The list will include leaders for the new civilizations, as well as additional leaders for existing civilizations.

Corporations: A new gameplay feature similar to religion that allows players to found companies and spread them throughout the world. Each corporation provides benefits in exchange for certain resources.

Espionage: Now available much earlier in the game, this expanded feature offers players many new ways to spy on opponents, stir citizen unrest and defend your own government's secrets.

Events: New random events - such as natural disasters, pleas for help, or demands from their citizens - challenge players with obstacles that must be overcome for their civilizations to prosper.

New Wonders: Five new wonders await discovery including the Statue of Zeus, Cristo Redentor, Shwedagon Paya, the Mausoleum of Maussollos, and the Moai Statues.

Expanded Space Victory: Winning the race to Alpha Centauri will now require more strategic planning and tactical decision making.

Apostolic Palace: The United Nations will become available earlier in the game providing a way for players to win a diplomatic victory earlier. New resolutions will also be added which will expand the available diplomatic options.

Advanced Starts: A major fan request, this new feature will enable players to "buy" components of a custom-tailored empire and begin play in the later part of the game, allowing them to experience many of the new features of the expansion in a shorter amount of time.

Enhanced AI: The AI has received many enhancements making it tougher to beat on the higher difficulty levels. The ways in which the AI will attempt to achieve victory have also been expanded.Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword from 2K will require the full version of Sid Meier's Civilization IV to play and will be released for PC in July 2007, retailing for $29.99. For more information please visit http://www.civilization.com/.

I like the corporations and the events ideas. Corporations seem to be like religion, but after spreading religions is long gone. Now you can spread corporations in the end game. And events should make things interesting.

[ISiddiqui]

Oh, almost forgot, the new espionage additions should be very interesting. Spying is very sad in CivIV currently .

[Celeval]

Looking forward to this already.

[Peregrine]

Excellent, the game did need some boosting in the modern era, it usually is over by that point or people get bogged down in endless battles. This should add some interesting stuff.

[saldana]

additional diplomacy will hopefully be alot better....i would like to be able to bribe peoples votes the way i could in Alpha Centauri.

[FrogMan]

ISiddiqui, I remember reading the whole Civ 4 impressions thread on the late, going through the pages many months after the fact and one of your posts had made a lot of sense and also had brought my hopes up. On July 26, 2006, you said:

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Well it seems that the Civs, UUs, and Scenarios point to this expansion being very focused on the early-mid parts of the game (as well as war). I think that probably the 2nd expansion may be focused on mid-late game areas (and, I'm hoping trade is emphasized).

Seems like you were pretty much spot on with this one.

Still playing Warlords a whole lot and very much looking forward to this one.

FM

[ISiddiqui]

Hehe... what a find! Makes me look intelligent!!

That's why I'm a co-host with Apolyton's PolyCast (as WVUFAN 'outed' me a few weeks ago) .

[WVUFAN]

Excellent! I agree with Celeval, looking forward to this already.

[Schmidty]

Man, I never get excited about games anymore, but this is a big exception. I can't wait to get my hands on this.

[Brillig]

Hmm. Even though I love Civ, I'm curiously unenthused about this expansion.

I also like how they're focusing on the modern era by adding five wonders from... whenever.

[ISiddiqui]

Civs, wonders, and leaders never really correspond to the Civ XP's goals, at least not entirely. They are mainly there for more "cool" stuff (which I have to say does indeed work on me). So that really doesn't bother me all that mich.

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by Brillig

I also like how they're focusing on the modern era by adding five wonders from... whenever.

Actually, I'm expecting they will via this... I bet at least one of the new wonders will 'take over' what a current wonder is doing, and then the current one will be getting new functionality. They mention the United Nations working differently now - I'd not be surprised to see the diplomatic victory portion of the UN moving out of that and into a different building/wonder/national wonder, and the UN getting an entirely different type of function.

[Buccaneer]

Thanks Imran, this will be fun to play.

[Leonidas]

I'm very excited. In my current Korean Warlords Dynasty England and America offered up Vassalage to me and India capitulated today to me. Rome offered capitulation but I decided I wanted to destroy them instead as I already did to the Aztecs and Zulus. Loads of fun using aircraft carriers on macemen and archers. Now I can't wait to see modern civics done well.

[FrogMan]

Firaxis have released a couple of articles regarding the new expansion, some interesting stuff in there...
http://www.firaxis.com/games/game_bts_afterworld.php
http://www.firaxis.com/games/game_bts_concept.php

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

Afterworld sounds very intriguing.

[FrogMan]

According to CivFanatics, the release date for Beyond the Sword has been set for the week of July 23 in the US and the end of July internationally.

Pictures of the box art have also been made public:


Also, there was a very interesting interview with Alex Mantzaris, lead designer of Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword on Strategy Informer who have now pulled the interview. For some reason, I guess they published it too early. The interview will be back on June 16. Meanwhile, civfanatics already had posted a bullet point summary of it. Here it is for the click lazy

StrategyInformer, one of our affiliate sites, has posted an interview with Alex Mantzaris, lead designer of Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword. The interview consists of 15 questions and covers topics such as random events, graphical updates, new Wonder, new leader, return of privateers and paratroopers, scenarios, moddability improvements, AI improvements, and demos.

Here is a list of new info from the interview:

• The title “Beyond the Sword” suggests that the expansion gives more depth to the second half of the game, and also implies players will have more options when it comes to building up their empire through peaceful means.
• There are large numbers of random events in Beyond the Sword. They don’t all occur in every game, so each game feels unique. Some events simply ask the player how to deal with a situation that has arisen, but other events are quite intricate, sending the player on quests in order to receive some reward, for example.
• The graphics will be more polished and the look of the game has been completely transformed for some of the scenarios.
• Space race now allows you to customize your 3D spaceship before you send it off to Alpha Centauri.
• Apostolic Palace, a new Wonder, allows you to leverage your diplomatic standing to manipulate the world like never before. Build it and civilizations sharing your religion can vote on resolutions you put forth, like stopping and starting wars, enforcing trade embargos, or even assigning cities to their "rightful" owner.
• Queen Boudica (Traits: charismatic and aggressive) of the Celts is one of the new leaders.
• Privateers and Paratroopers have returned, and the AI knows how to use them.
• The scenarios are not part of single-player campaigns and have very high replay value. They range from fantasy to hardcore WWII simulations and range in time from the Renaissance to centuries into the future. Some are played on random maps, while others are played on historical maps.
• In multiplayer front, it's now possible to select any leader-civilization combination. This new option likely will give Civs and leaders that were previously unpopular in multiplayer new attention. The traditional sequential turn play mode has been improved so all players on the same team take their turns simultaneously.
• More game mechanics have been exposed to XML and Python, making it possible to do things that you couldn’t previously do with just Civ4. You can now completely alter the look of the interface, and have civilization-specific graphics for the same unit.
• The AI has been improved and no longer needs hefty bonuses to compete with a smart human.
• Firaxis will release demos showcasing two of the scenarios.
• The expansion has been in development since the release of Warlords last summer.

It's a good read! The only bad part is no new screenshots. Thanks to Ori and Jamie for the news tip.

FM

[Celeval]

Article on IGN that explains a bit about the changes to Espionage, the new Corporation stuff, and other interesting info...

hxxp://pc.ign.com/articles/788/788749p1.html

[spleen1015]

hxxp://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/civilizationivbeyondthesword/news.html?sid=6172983&om_act=convert&om_clk=multimodule&tag=multimodule;picks;title;5

hxxp://pc.gamespy.com/pc/civilization-4-beyond-the-sword/798801p1.html

Some previews from Gamespot and Gamespy. It sounds like BtS is going to kick some ass.

[molson]

I can't wait for this thing. I picked up Warlords again last week and couldn't put it down. This might be my favorite game ever.

[Buccaneer]

Just got back into playing a Warlords game while finally getting caught up on the details of Beyond the Sword. Amazing additions and changes. Even though I am early in my typically-aggressive game, I'm trying to visualize how the changes that BtS introduces would effect the game. I believe it becomes even more of an interesting game with more variables to consider, if that's possible. It's one of those games that can be played for years without getting dull or repetitive, which blows Civ2 regular game out of the water. Truly looking forward to this but likely won't get to start a game until after my trip in August.

[saldana]

Sweet, i have a business trip on the 25th to the 27th...its gonna be me, a couple six packs, and this game in my hotel.

[Big Fo]

Yeah, I'm eagerly awaiting this expansion pack, sounds great, especially the changes for the latter parts of the game, better advanced starts, etc. I've just started playing Civ IV again after a few months away, gotta stay sharp for when BtS comes out.

I didn't buy Warlords so once this is out I'll be able to play newer mods again since the community seems to move on to the latest edition rather quickly.

[Ksyrup]

I just recently got Warlords. I'll probably wait on this one, too. Between this, GH 80s, and NCAA 08, I've got my birthday and XMas presents lined up.

[Buccaneer]

In late June, Hawass said the ancient mummy of Tuthmosis I's daughter, Queen Hatshepsut, had been identified and it was found she had been a fat woman in her 50s, with diabetes and rotten teeth, who died of bone cancer.

I wonder if Beyond the Sword will include the updated LeaderHead for Hatsheput? Kinda funny that they made her a heroin chic anorexic when she was really fat and ugly.

[Ben E Lou]

It has been released in Australia, and a guy really went out of his way to do screenies of a number of game elements and Civilopedia screen, and another catalogued 'em...

Index of Watiggi's BtS Screenshots

• General Rules and Stuff
  • Opening Menu: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...d =1184740704
  • BtS Game Rule Modifcations
    1. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...9&d=1184737628
    2. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...0&d=1184737628
    3. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...1&d=1184737747
    4. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...2&d=1184737747
    5. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...3&d=1184737810
    6. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...4&d=1184737977
    7. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...d =1184737977
    8. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...6&d=1184738025
  • Liberating Cities, Giving cities to Vassals: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...d =1184737326
  • Forest Preserves: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...9&d=1184737628
  • Colonies: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...4&d=1184749355
  • Corporations
    1. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...5&d=1184749355
    2. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...6&d=1184749418
  • Forts: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...9&d=1184739609
  • Naval Trade Routes: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...0&d=1184740099
  • Improved Siege Combat: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...1&d=1184740099
  • Custom Game Selection Screen: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...8&d=1184739326
  • Forest Reserve Improvement: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...3&d=1184742887
  • Espionage
    1. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...7&d=1184749680
    2. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...8&d=1184749680
    3. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...9&d=1184749938
    4. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...0&d=1184749938
    5. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...1&d=1184750006
  • Sumerian UB Modified Tech Tree
    1. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...2&d=1184750277
    2. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...3&d=1184750277
    3. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...4&d=1184750391
  • New Foreign Advisor
    1. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...2&d=1184763967
    2. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...3&d=1184763967
    3. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...4&d=1184764188
    4. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...5&d=1184764188
• Units
  • Phalanx (Greek UU):http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...7&d=1184738533
  • Mobile Artillery: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...2&d=1184742171
  • Cuirassier: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...1&d=1184745071
  • Vulture (Sumerian UU): http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...4&d=1184745416
  • Ballista Elephant (Khmer UU): http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...4&d=1184746985
  • Conquistador: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...5&d=1184747591
  • Anti-Tank: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...6&d=1184747591
  • Attack Submarine: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...7&d=1184747689
  • Cataphract: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...8&d=1184747689
  • Airship: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...9&d=1184747780
  • Mobile SAM: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...3&d=1184749216
  • Tactical Nuke: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...5&d=1184751144
• Buildings
  • Rathaus (Holy Roman Empire UB): http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...4&d=1184743471
  • Ziggurat (Sumerian UB): http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...3&d=1184745365
  • Levee: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...2&d=1184745365
  • Garden (Babylonian UB): http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...1&d=1184747998
  • Baray (Khmer UB): http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...2&d=1184748102
• Wonders
  • Apostolic Palace:
    1. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...6&d=1184744724
    2. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...7&d=1184744724
    3. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...8&d=1184744842
    4. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...9&d=1184744842
    5. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...0&d=1184744904
• Promotions
  • Woodsman III: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...1&d=1184741602
• Civics
  • Caste System: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...4&d=1184741084
  • Environmentalism: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...5&d=1184741084
  • Free Market: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...6&d=1184741084
  • Free Speech: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...7&d=1184741084
  • Mercantilism: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...8&d=1184741084
  • Nationhood: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...9&d=1184741084
  • State Property: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...5&d=1184741084
  • State Property+Caste System Synergy:http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...5&d=1184744070
• Corporations
  • Aluminium Co: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...5&d=1184745847
  • Cereal Mills: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...6&d=1184745847
  • Civilized Jewelers Inc: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...7&d=1184745961
  • Creative Constructions: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...8&d=1184745961
  • Mining Inc: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...9&d=1184746148
  • Sid's Sushi Co.:http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...0&d=1184746148
  • Standard Ethanol: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...1&d=1184746304
• Scenarios
  • Afterworld
    1. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...7&d=1184755078
    2. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...8&d=1184755078
  • Next War (with extended tech tree)
    1. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...9&d=1184755266
    2. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...0&d=1184755266
    3. http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...1&d=1184755327

[saldana]

between this game and harry potter 7, i may not speak to my wife for 2 or 3 weeks, minimum