Sid Meier's Civilization IV 
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Borderlands, Civilization 3 & 4 will survive GameSpy shutdownApr 22, 2014 - ShacknewsWith GameSpy's online services set to shut down on May 31, 2K Games has stepped forward and announced which of its online-enabled multiplayer games will survive the closure. Borderlands, Civilization III, and Civilization IV, and their respective expansions will all begin making the transition from GameSpy servers to Steamworks in the coming days, while several other games will see their multiplayer servers go down with the GameSpy ship.Humble Sid Meier Bundle celebrates the Civilization creatorFeb 4, 2014 - Shacknews2K Games has a lot of love for Sid Meier and they're proving it through a new collaboration with Humble Bundle. The latest Humble Bundle will collect some of Meier's best games, including the recently-released Sid Meier's Ace Patrol. But if you're feeling particularly charitable, you can also come away with Sid Meier's Civilization V and both the Gods and Kings and Brave New World expansions.Why Sid Meier's name is on his gamesJun 26, 2013 - ShacknewsSid Meier's name is well known in gaming circles for the addicting "just one more turn" mentality associated with his strategy games. Of course, there is never any mistaking what his games are because his name is usually in the game's title. It can't be because of ego, as colleagues say Meier is a very soft-spoken, unassuming man. "In the years and all the people I've worked with at Firaxis," said designer Jake Solomon, "there has never been anyone who's had a personality issue with Sid, 'cause it's not possible. He's such a wonderful person." So just how did it happen that the brilliant strategy designer's games get that title treatment? It started in Meier's days at MicroProse with partner Bill Stealey, as Meier was pitching the idea for a pirate game. "Bill said, 'When's my next flight simulator coming out?' And I said, 'I'm not doing a flight simulator; I'm doing a pirates game,'" Meier told Kotaku. "He said, 'Well that's crazy, 'cause people want your next flight simulator ... Wait a minute. Put your name on it. Maybe if they liked your flight simulator games, they'll recognize the name and buy this crazy pirates thing.'" However, Stealey remembered things a bit differently: "We were at dinner at a Software Publishers Association meeting, and Robin Williams was there. And he kept us in stitches for two hours. And he turns to me and says 'Bill, you should put Sid's name on a couple of these boxes, and promote him as the star.' And that's how Sid's name got on Pirates, and Civilization." Sid Meier's Pirates! came out in 1987, and since that time, his name has appeared on two railroad games, five Civilization games (plus expansions and a console version), two Civil War games, one space game, a colonization game, and even a golf game. Ironically, Meier and Stealey originally teamed up to make flight sims, but the first airplane game to bear his name was the recently released iOS title Sid Meier's Ace Patrol. Civilization Online in development “for the Asian market”Oct 25, 2012 - PC Gamer Take Two have dropped word that a 100-strong team of developers in South Korea are building a dedicated online version of Civilization. It's being built for release in Asia, but if it does super-well there's always a chance it'll travel. The XLGames team is headed up by ex-Lineage designer, Jake Song. "A genius? That would be nice to hear, but I'd rather be called a craftsman," he says on XL's comically po-faced front page. XLGames' last project was a CryEngine 2 powered MMO called ArcheAge. The size of the current team and the studio's knack for turning out pretty environments suggests that Civ Online will likely be a presentable, polished experience (the header image is of Civ 5, not Online incidentally), but will they be able to retain the depth of the Civilization series without becoming a Lineage-esque grindhouse? The Facebook game, Civilization World, was the last attempt to take Civilization online, and ended up being a bit of a disappointment to Civ fans. But what does Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick think? “Making our intellectual property available to delight consumers wherever they are is an important component of our long-term growth strategy,” he says. “Our online and mobile social projects in Asia are enabling Take-Two to further broaden its global footprint and-" okay that's enough of that. More importantly, what do YOU think of the idea of Civilization Online?Community heroes: we talk to the man behind Civilization II’s Eternal WarJul 17, 2012 - PC Gamer James ‘Lycerius’ Moore played a single game of Civilization II off and on for ten years, extending far into a dystopian future that he described as “a hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation”. The story caught fire, spreading from reddit to the specialist games press and national media before returning to reddit as /r/theeternalwar, where fans trade fiction, music, and art. Last week, I spoke to James about his experience of the game, the rationale behind playing the same campaign for a decade, and what it’s like to have your cool gaming anecdote capture the imaginations of so many people. You can check out our previous coverage of The Eternal War here. You said in your initial reddit post that the campaign is about ten years old? Yeah. Do you know exactly...? It’s about nine and a half, something like that. Presumably there must have come a point when you decided that you were just going to keep on going. How did that come about? Well, I’d played the game far into the future, and there were some issues and I was just curious to see how long I could keep going. There’s this misconception that I’ve played the game non-stop for ten years, that’s not the case - I play it often, but over the years it’s every other day or so. I play lots of games, do lots of other things, but this game - it just kinda kept going and going. I noticed that, over time, nations were swallowing up other nations and there were these environmental factors and it was just really fascinating to muse on where it was all going. I just wanted to see what the eventual endgame would be. It was for my own edification, I never imagined that so many people would take interest in it. Was there something specific about the way this campaign went that allowed you to get into the kind of situation you got into? I imagine that you could start up any Civ II game and do this. The thing is, Civ II was a little bit more balanced than the other games, and you’re able to prolong and enjoy the world around you a little bit more, and in a little bit more detail - for example later games don’t really have global warming. Well, they do, but it’s maybe a single tile that’ll turn to desert instead of four. In Civ II, things like that had enormous consequences. All of the coasts would flood and farming would be useless, and it happened over and over again - it happened two or three times before I started questioning, well, what would it be like if this kept going on? Eventually all the world’s land - the mountains and tundra - became flooded swampland. It was really neat. Image: m00nnsplit's 'Celtania Archives' newspaper. You found yourself in a fascinating situation at the end. It was just morbid curiosity, you know, and I think that’s why it was so popular with all these other organisations. I think people in general have this morbid curiosity about the world and where it’s going, and I think they saw this and just kind of latched on. You know, it’s by no means an accurate simulation of worl...Ten year game of Civ 2 results in “hellish nightmare” planet, permanent nuclear warJun 12, 2012 - PC Gamer How would a Civilization 2 map look after running for nearly ten years? Redditor, Lycerius , has found out, and has posted the current status of humanity in the year 3991 AD. Things are NOT GOOD. "The world is a hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation," says Lycerius. "There are 3 remaining super nations in the year 3991 A.D, each competing for the scant resources left on the planet after dozens of nuclear wars have rendered vast swaths of the world uninhabitable wastelands." A 1700 year war has wiped out 90% of the world's population in a nuclear holocaust that seemingly has no end. The polar ice caps have melted and reformed 20 times. Land that isn't rock or mountain has been reduced to festering, irradiated swampland. Every nation's resources are devoted to pumping tanks to the front line, where they bash out an everlasting stalemate, and are occasionally nuked. Large cities are long gone. Every time one gets too big, an enemy nation's spy sneaks in a nuke, and BOOM. The three nations, the Celts, Vikings and the Americans, are poised to continue the war forever. "The military stalemate is air tight. The post-late game in civ II is perfectly balanced because all remaining nations already have all the technologies so there is no advantage," Lycerius explains. "There are so many units at once on the map that you could lose 20 tank units and not have your lines dented because you have a constant stream moving to the front. "This also means that cities are not only tiny towns full of starving people, but that you can never improve the city. "So you want a granary so you can eat? Sorry; I have to build another tank instead. Maybe next time." Lycerius has been dipping into the game every so often for almost a decade, and is determined to break the stalemate that's emerged. He wants to bring back farmland and start restoring his cities. As such, he's been taking some advice from the hundreds and hundreds of comments that have been posted in response. "Diplomacy's failed in this world," DonutEF declares, "you’ve got to hit em hard and take over the world for the greater good. Then you can spend turn upon turn under the blanket of enforced religious peace fixing it with hundreds of engineers if you like!" "Its for the greater good," he adds. "Fundamentalism is what you need," suggests snarc. "Fanatics are cheap as anything. Let the enemy nuke them: one nuclear missile costs far more than the Fanatics it might kill. It's about making him spend his resources killing chaff, while you protect the interior where you're building the army that will win the war." Civilization is brilliant. Have you been playing any huge, long-form games (not of Civ, necessarily)? How did they turn out? Help get Civilization 4′s Baba Yetu into Classic FM Hall of FameFeb 1, 2012 - PC GamerClassic FM's Hall of Fame is alright. Sure, Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No.2 in F Major shows some promise, and Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini truly is a piece of music about something. But we can't help noticing that Civilization 4 theme, Baba Yetu, is nowhere to be seen. As the most uplifting composition ever attached to a game about crushing your enemies, it deserves recognition. Okay, so it's already won a Grammy. But it needs MORE recognition. Who could fail to be moved by immortal lines like "Baba yetu, yetu uliye, Mbinguni yetu, yetu, amina!" It really is a lovely bit of music, as you can hear above. Classic FM are currently holding an open online vote for new submissions to their Hall of Fame, kicking off a campaign to get as much videogame music as possible into the list. A Facebook page has been started, which you can join and "like" to show support, and you can cast your vote in the Classic FM Hall of Fame chart on the Classic FM Hall of Fame chart vote casting page. Voting ends on February 29. Worth a shot, no?Civilization V Game of the Year edition incomingSep 15, 2011 - PC Gamer CVG bring news that a game of the year edition for Civilization V is just around the corner. It'll include all of the DLC packs that Firaxis have put out since launch, adding Polynesia, Inca, Vikings, the Mongols, Babylon and the Spanish, along with a batch of new maps and scenarios tailored to each civ. The bundle will cost $49.99 and will come out on September 27 in the US. There aren't any details of a European release yet, but if you missed Civ V the first time around, the GOTY's a good way to grab it with most of the additional units and leaders, though last month's Korea and Wonders of the Ancient World DLC seem to be absent from the list. Read on for a summary of the bonus DLC that's included, and check out our Civilization V review to find out why we heartily recommend it. Sid Meier's Civilization V (standalone game); Civilization and Scenario Pack: The Mongols; Civilization Pack: Babylon; Cradle of Civilization Map Packs: Mesopotamia, Americas, Asia and Mediterranean; Double Civilization and Scenario Pack: Spain and Inca; Civilization and Scenario Pack: Polynesia; Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark - The Vikings; Explorer's Map Pack; Sid Meier's Civilization V digital soundtrack. PC AI sucks at Civilization, reads manual, starts kicking assJul 13, 2011 - PC Gamer The Massachusetts institute of technology have been experimenting with their computers' AI. Specifically the way they deal with the meaning of words. You might think that the best way to analyse this kind of thing would be with a human to PC conversation, like in Short Circuit. That's not the case. Instead, the boffins handed over PC classic, Civilization, and let the AI get on with it. They sucked - winning a mere 46 per cent of the time. The difficulty setting the machines were playing on has not been specified. Then the researchers handed over the instructions and taught the PCs a "machine-learning system so it could use a player's manual to guide the development of a game-playing strategy." They didn't teach the PC how to play Civ, but they taught them how to read about it. The system had no pre-programmed notion of turn-based strategy or even what the objects in the world represented. The system was a noob. The AI continued to button-mash but, this time around, when words appeared on-screen the software compared them to text in the manual. It searched for other related words close-by and tried to guess what it all meant. The computer started "reading" the manual and impementing tactics in-game, just like we used to before the days of streamlined tutorials. Its win ratio was boosted from 46 per cent to a reasonable 79. Associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, Regina Barzilay, offered insight into why they used a game manual to prove their point. She reckons game manuals have “very open text. They don’t tell you how to win. They just give you general advice and suggestions and you have to figure out a lot of other things on your own.” Civ was picked because it's a really fun game, and they didn't want the computers to get bored during the testing. Not really. The researchers picked Civ because, “every action that you take doesn’t have a predetermined outcome, because the game or the opponent can randomly react to what you do." It forced the computer to develop a "technique to handle very complex scenarios that react in potentially random ways.” These kind of systems could make developer's jobs a lot easier. Computers could start automatically creating AI algorithms that perform better than the ones that us stupid humans spend months creating. Alternatively, they could just write the manual and hand it over. Maybe. What's the best AI you've ever played against? Most of us vote for SupCom's Sorian AI mod. Craig goes for the original F.E.A.R. - but he's never read an instruction manual in his life. (via Reddit) Civ World trailer brings Civilization to FacebookMay 17, 2011 - PC GamerThe trailer above is our first look at Civ World, the upcoming Civilization Facebook game that's trying to put an accessible spin on one of the most complex and detailed empire-building strategy games ever made. Have they succeeded? Trading with friends to achieve a collaboratively could be fun, but my favourite bit is the little crown icon you get for being the most successful empire. Who doesn't want to be king of all their friends? The game's currently in beta, but you can find out how to join on the Civ World Facebook page.Civilization on sale this weekendFeb 18, 2011 - PC Gamer Steam are throwing a Civilization sale this weekend. Civilization 5 is available for £17.99/$29.99 and the Civilization 4 complete pack is available for £3.75/$7.50. The Complete Pack comes with Civ 4's three expansions, including Beyond the Sword, Warlords, and Colinization, which is a massive slice of top strategy gaming at an excellent price. If you've always wanted give Civ a go, now's as good a time as any. The games are on sale on Steam now. Recently, Civilization 4 became the first game to win Grammy with an award for its theme music. For more on Civilization, have a look at our pick of the ten best Civ 5 mods, and our guide to making your own maps.Civilization 4 wins grammy for Baba Yetu six years after releaseFeb 14, 2011 - PC GamerCivilization 4 has become the fist game ever to receive a Grammy. The prestigious prize was awarded to one track from the game's soundtrack called Baba Yetu. You'll find the music video for the piece above. Baba Yetu was composed by Christopher Tin for his album Calling All Dawns, but was originally used in Firaxis' brilliant 2005 strategy game Civilization IV. The song scooped the prize for the Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists category at yesterday's Grammy awards.Civilization Facebook game to launch alpha next weekJan 8, 2011 - PC Gamer The long dormant Civilization World project has suddenly sprung to life. A Facebook message from Sid Meier has announced that the project will now be called Civ World, and a playable alpha of the game is set to start next week. Next Wednesday, January 12th is the day the alpha is set to launch. If you'd like to get invovled registration for the alpha is now open on the official Civ World registration page, but in order to take part, you'll have to put a team of between 5 and 50 people first. Meier explains why teams are necessary, saying that "to win in Civ World, you’ll need to collaborate with your friends in order to do well in the game and become ruler of the world, so in our early Alpha testing, we’re grouping people together to simulate how the game will work when it’s available to the world at large. In the final game, you’ll be able to sign up individually (although we’ll love it if you invite your friends), but to participate in Closed Alpha, you’ll have to enter as a team." Meier also talks a bit about how the game will play. "In Civ World you will be joining your friends to form nations, which will compete with other player-nations to rule the world." "Civ World games will have a well-defined beginning and end, each ending with a triumphant civilization and one person recognized as that game’s most prestigious player. Along the way, as you progress through the different eras of time, you'll have the chance to win era victories as well. We want players to have both a final goal to work towards, as well as short-term objectives to achieve as they play. The trophies you unlock with your triumphs will carry over from game to game, and you can show them off in your throne room." As an added bonus, all those who make it into the alpha will recieve a special item to add to their throne room. For more information, check out the Civilization World Facebook page.
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