Sid Meier's Civilization IV 
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Civilization 6 New Frontier Pass: Babylon Pack is out now, here's what's in itNov 19, 2020 - Strategy GamerHammurabi has arrived and he won't shut up about some 'code' he's developed. Actually, what's really arrived is the Civilization VI New Frontier Pass: Babylon Pack, bringing with it the famous law-giver, a brand new game mode, and a host of Great People to liven up your next game of Civ. We've learned quite a bit about how Hammurabi and the new Babylonian civilisation will work in the 4X game - it's a faction that's going to really shine in the early game, with a massive boost to science thanks to Enuma Anu Enlil, its unique ability that grants a full science bonus toward technology whenever you hit a eureka moment. Hammurabi himself has the ability to construct each special district's lowest-cost building for free the first time a district is built - all of this together means that Babylon stands to be well ahead of the technology game pretty early on. 2K has also shared additional details about the new Heroes and Legends game mode, which has players recruiting legendary heroes, who each has a powerful special ability but who will eventually die. However, they all leave behind two Heroic Relic great works - one epic, and one symbolic object. These can be used for the rest of the game and displayed in monuments. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The story of Fall From Heaven, the greatest Civilization mod ever Civilization IV's Baba Yetu gets an excellent saxophone quartet cover A choir absolutely crushed Civ 4's 'Baba Yetu' on America's Got Talent Civilization's Sid Meier talked to RPS all about his brilliant career at PAX X EGXSep 15, 2020 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun Sid Meier, that legendary game dev whose name sits before the names of Civilization games, had a lovely chat with our very own Nate Crowley this weekend, as part of PAX Online X EGX Digital. The pair talked all about some of the most notable parts of Meier’s career – including, Railroad Tycoon, Pirates!, and Civilization – as well as chat about his upcoming book, Sid Meier’s Memoir!: A Life In Computer Games. And thanks to computers, you can watch their whole chat in full below. (more…) How video games consistently fail GandhiApr 22, 2020 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun Gandhi is one of the most unique figure in history. His adherence to non-violence, his establishment of a full-fledged philosophy behind it and, above all, his success, are practically without precedent. Kings, empires and leaders can often blur into each other. The locations change, the dates are different and the numbers differ, but the essence remains the same. Gandhi was something completely different, and yet games try to represent him with the same pieces they use for everyone else – and so they always make him something far less than he was. (more…) The best strategy games on PCNov 25, 2019 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun You’ll ocassionally find someone on the internet sounding off about how the strategy genre is dead. If you see such a person in the future, send them this list of the best strategy games ever made. (more…) Civilization 6 launches its dystopian battle royale mode Red DeathSep 10, 2019 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunIn the words of 60s rock group The Byrds, to everything there is a season. A time of love, a time of hate. A time to dance, a time to mourn. For game developers, this past year has been one long summer of Battle Royale season. Which I guess sort of puts the song into a different perspective considering it less a season than one overwhelming and endless new era. Perhaps fad genres are more like seasons in Game of Thrones, which continue on across generations or until the sweet relief of death. Anyway, Civilization 6 developers Firaxis have launched a new battle royale mode today called Red Death, and it’s free to anyone who already owns the base game. (more…) Full choral performance of Civilization 4 theme wows on America's Got TalentJul 27, 2018 - PC GamerRoughly 145 singers from a California choir group called the Angel City Chorale performed "Baba Yetu," the main theme of Civilization 4, on a recent episode of America's Got Talent. The group's rendition was wonderful, and proved popular with the judges: it earned a golden buzzer from actress Olivia Munn, guaranteeing the group a spot in the next round of the competition. Composed by Christopher Tin and originally performed by South Africa's Soweto Gospel Choir, "Baba Yetu" was the first piece of video game music to win a Grammy award. It topped the category of Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists in 2011. For my money it's also one of Civilization's better themes, and I'd say the Angel City Chorale did it justice. You can compare it to the original version here: Thanks, Eurogamer. The 50 best strategy games on PCJun 28, 2018 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunAn entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made, now freshened up to include everything from 2017 and 2018. From intricate, global-scale wargames to the tight thrills of guerrilla squads, the broad expanse of the genre contains something for everyone, and we’ve gathered the best of the best. The vast majority are available to buy digitally, a few are free to download and play forever. They’re all brilliant. (more…) Soren Johnson on challenging the norms of 4X gamesApr 6, 2018 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunSid didn t know he was inventing a genre back in 91 – if he had he might have been a lot more careful. He was just making it up as he went along. That s how genres begin. By mistake. Somebody creates a set of rules and systems for the needs of a particular game, and then either people adopt and adapt those rules. Soren Johnson, creator of Offworld Trading Company and lead designer of Civilization IV, is working on a new game called Ten Crowns and after spending almost an hour talking with him at GDC, I get the impression he s going to be very careful indeed. Not cautious, because I expect some bold reinvention of 4X strategy fundamentals, but careful in his treatment of a genre that we both agree needs to escape its own past. (more…) Civilization 4 is free for Twitch Prime subscribers right nowFeb 17, 2018 - PC GamerCivilization 4 marked the start of a new generation of Civ games. It was the first in the series with a 3D engine, the first built from the ground-up as a multiplayer game, and the first with accessible modding. As game designer Soren Johnson told Fraser in November, he wanted to "start from scratch and re-evaluate everything" about the series up to that point. It's still worth playing today, and Twitch Prime subscribers can now do just that for free for a limited time. All you have to do is head over to the game's Twitch page (or click the 'Prime Loot' icon next to your user name) to get your free copy—you'll need to download the Twitch desktop app to actually play it. You can do that here. It's the latest in a long line of games that subscribers to the service, which is included with Amazon Prime, have received for free. Devil May Cry was on offer earlier this week, and other recent free games include Superhot and SteamWorld Heist. Alongside free games, Twitch Prime subscribers get ad-free viewing, discounts on games sold through Amazon, in-game loot (like Overwatch crates), and emotes for Twitch chat. As I've said before, I don't think it's worth the cost of entry for Amazon Prime on its own, but it definitely sweetens the deal. To link your Amazon Prime account with Twitch Prime, go here. The complete history of CivilizationNov 20, 2017 - PC GamerThis article was originally published in PC Gamer issue 311 . For more quality articles about all things PC gaming, you can subscribe now in the UK and the US . Welcome to the history of Civilization, a series that has been keeping us up until silly o'clock in the morning since the release of Sid Meier's original game in September 1991. Civ turns all of human history into a playground that you can exploit, turn by turn, to bring your chosen nation to glory. It's a fascinating series because it has been interpreted by a new lead designer in each iteration, including Alpha Centauri's Brian Reynolds, Mohawk Games' Soren Johnson, and of course Sid Meier himself. In the following pages we talk to all of them about how the series has evolved from Civilization through to Civilization VI. Civilization "We were young, and we had no fear" In 1991, MicroProse launched Sid Meier’s Civilization, a game that would define turn-based strategy for over two decades, and give birth to a genre that eventually became known as 4X: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. You probably know someone who has been struck down by One More Turn Syndrome, shackled to their PC at 3am. Maybe it’s you. Meier had no idea what he was starting. Meier and Bruce Shelley had finished Railroad Tycoon and were looking for another project. They wanted to expand on some of the ideas behind their last game, and Meier had been intrigued by the exploration system found in Empire, the turn-based wargame. It started by giving players a limited view of the world, but that viewpoint gradually unfurled as the world was explored. “Railroad Tycoon had this sense of being a large-scale game,” Meier recalls. “But we were bold and wondered what’s a bigger, more epic thing we can do? Well, how about the history of civilisation? We were young, and we had no fear.” It was easier to be fearless then. “The expectations in terms of graphics and team size were different in those days. We did the first half of the work on Civ with just Bruce and I, so we could try things with less risk. It was definitely not something we knew was going to work, but it looked like it would be fun to try.” While other strategy games were offering up cities or companies as playgrounds, Meier did worry that what they were creating was going to be too much. Too daunting. How do you make a game that spans human history? To start with, they said no to hexes, which wouldn’t make it into the series until Civilization V. “One of the reasons we used squares for mapping was we thought hexes were too geeky. We went with squares to make things accessible.” Making Civilization turn-based was an accessibility decision, too. Meier considered creating an RTS, but after testing it, he realised that it didn’t give players enough time to get to grips with its myriad systems. ȁ...Take One More Turn in Civilization VIMay 11, 2016 - Community AnnouncementsWe’re excited to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Civilization franchise by announcing Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, the next entry in the award-winning turn-based strategy franchise. Be sure to follow the Steam Community group here and add the game to your Steam wishlist! http://store.steampowered.com/app/289070 Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, set to launch on PC on October 21, 2016, offers new ways to interact with your world, expand your empire across the map, advance your culture and compete against history’s greatest leaders to build a civilization that will truly stand the test of time. Your story begins later this year! Sid Meier’s Civilization VI includes: EXPANSIVE EMPIRES: See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each city spans multiple tiles so you can custom build your cities to take full advantage of the local terrain. ACTIVE RESEARCH: Unlock boosts that speed your civilization’s progress through history. To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures. DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY: Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game, from primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations. COMBINED ARMS: Expanding on the “one unit per tile” design, support units can now be embedded with other units, like anti-tank support with infantry, or a warrior with settlers. Similar units can also be combined to form powerful “Corps” units. ENHANCED MULTIPLAYER: In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, cooperate and compete with your friends in a wide variety of situations all designed to be easily completed in a single session. A CIV FOR ALL PLAYERS: Civilization VI provides veteran players new ways to build and tune their civilization for the greatest chance of success. New tutorial systems are designed to introduce new players to the underlying concepts of Civilization so they can easily get started on a path to victory. Join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #OneMoreTurn, and be sure to follow the Civilization franchise on social media to keep up to date with the latest news and information on Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. http://twitter.com/civgame http://facebook.com/civ http://youtube.com/civilizationTake One More Turn in Civilization VIMay 11, 2016 - Community AnnouncementsWe’re excited to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Civilization franchise by announcing Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, the next entry in the award-winning turn-based strategy franchise. Be sure to follow the Steam Community group here and add the game to your Steam wishlist! http://store.steampowered.com/app/289070 Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, set to launch on PC on October 21, 2016, offers new ways to interact with your world, expand your empire across the map, advance your culture and compete against history’s greatest leaders to build a civilization that will truly stand the test of time. Your story begins later this year! Sid Meier’s Civilization VI includes: EXPANSIVE EMPIRES: See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each city spans multiple tiles so you can custom build your cities to take full advantage of the local terrain. ACTIVE RESEARCH: Unlock boosts that speed your civilization’s progress through history. To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures. DYNAMIC DIPLOMACY: Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game, from primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations. COMBINED ARMS: Expanding on the “one unit per tile” design, support units can now be embedded with other units, like anti-tank support with infantry, or a warrior with settlers. Similar units can also be combined to form powerful “Corps” units. ENHANCED MULTIPLAYER: In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, cooperate and compete with your friends in a wide variety of situations all designed to be easily completed in a single session. A CIV FOR ALL PLAYERS: Civilization VI provides veteran players new ways to build and tune their civilization for the greatest chance of success. New tutorial systems are designed to introduce new players to the underlying concepts of Civilization so they can easily get started on a path to victory. Join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #OneMoreTurn, and be sure to follow the Civilization franchise on social media to keep up to date with the latest news and information on Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. http://twitter.com/civgame http://facebook.com/civ http://youtube.com/civilizationCivilization IV currently not working in OSX 10.10 [Resolved!]Nov 20, 2014 - Community AnnouncementsAs many of you have noted here, Civ IV base game and Colonization are currently not working in 10.10 due to a python library issue. After a week of review, this bug is legitimate and we are now officially pulling support for Yosemite until we have a fix for the problem. Please accept our apology for any frustration this bug has caused. We are working on a solution, but because of the hectic holiday release schedule from Aspyr, we cant give an approximate date as to when that solution will be integrated into the game. There is a workaround (users have posted it in several spots). It works 100%, but we should advise strong caution when messing with your library files. Make sure you backup your rig with time machine before diving in. I should also note that some users are having success by making sure that Warlords and/or Beyond the Sword are installed on top of the base Civ IV game. Please let me know if anyone has any questions, and again apologies for the interruption in play on a GREAT game. UPDATE: A fix is now live! Thank you all for your patience and support.Civilization IV currently not working in OSX 10.10 [Resolved!]Nov 20, 2014 - Community AnnouncementsAs many of you have noted here, Civ IV base game and Colonization are currently not working in 10.10 due to a python library issue. After a week of review, this bug is legitimate and we are now officially pulling support for Yosemite until we have a fix for the problem. Please accept our apology for any frustration this bug has caused. We are working on a solution, but because of the hectic holiday release schedule from Aspyr, we cant give an approximate date as to when that solution will be integrated into the game. There is a workaround (users have posted it in several spots). It works 100%, but we should advise strong caution when messing with your library files. Make sure you backup your rig with time machine before diving in. I should also note that some users are having success by making sure that Warlords and/or Beyond the Sword are installed on top of the base Civ IV game. Please let me know if anyone has any questions, and again apologies for the interruption in play on a GREAT game. UPDATE: A fix is now live! Thank you all for your patience and support.Civilization IV Steamworks update releasedJun 5, 2014 - Community AnnouncementsThe patch that replaces GameSpy with Steamworks for multiplayer functionality is now available via Steam. The game functions identically to the previous GameSpy version with the exception that the “Direct IP” option has been removed as it is no longer supported. Save game data should not be negatively affected. If you own a physical disc version of Civilization IV and are interested in receiving this multiplayer update, please submit a support request. http://support.2k.com/requests/newCivilization IV Steamworks update releasedJun 5, 2014 - Community AnnouncementsThe patch that replaces GameSpy with Steamworks for multiplayer functionality is now available via Steam. The game functions identically to the previous GameSpy version with the exception that the “Direct IP” option has been removed as it is no longer supported. Save game data should not be negatively affected. If you own a physical disc version of Civilization IV and are interested in receiving this multiplayer update, please submit a support request. http://support.2k.com/requests/newBorderlands, 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.GameFly 'Unlimited PC Play' adds BioShock, Civ IV, X-ComApr 18, 2012 - ShacknewsGameFly's Unlimited PC Play program has expanded today. Members that missed out on BioShock, Civilization IV or X-Com: Enforcer, can now play them as part of a paid GameFly membership. As part of a new deal with 2K Games, GameFly has added the three classic games to its Unlimited PC Play library. Members can play as many games from the Unlimited PC Play library as part of their subscription. 2K's rationale for offering the free games was simple: Introduce gamers to a series they may not have tried, especially with BioShock Infinite, Civilization V: Gods & Kings and XCOM: Enemy Unknown expected to hit shelves this year. Daily Deal - Civilization IV - 75% off!Jun 9, 2011 - AnnouncementToday's Deal: Save 75% off Civilization IV! Want to experience more Civilization IV? You can also purchase Civilization IV: The Complete Edition for 75% off! Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are!
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