|
Who has been working on this article?
Most recent update posted on Monday, July
3rd, 2006
Discussion Thread | Article
Help | Update History
Article Navigation
The sections below cover everything you need, or want to know about Civilization IV. Click on one to begin, or
use "CTRL-F" to search
for
key-words.
Note: This article is best viewed under 1024x768 or higher resolutions.
- Introduction
- Newest Updates
- Civilization IV: Warlords
- The Big Picture
- Official Game Features
- Release Date
- Requirements to Play
- A New Expression
- User Interface & Control
- Landscape Characteristics
- Victory or Defeat?
- The 18 Civilizations
- Artificial Intelligence
- International Affairs
- Controlling Your People... by Decree
- A New Aspect: Religion
- The Influence of Great People
- City Essentials
- Building Options
- Wonders of the World
- Your Advances
- The Military Backbone: Units
- A New Combat System
- The Multiplayer
- Customization Flexibility
- In-Game Visuals
- Helpful Links
- Miscellaneous Article Information
- Update Information
- Current Sources
Info Center Introduction
Welcome to the Sid Meiers Civilization IV Information Center!
 This information is meant to give anyone a deep, factual understanding of Sid Meier's Civilization IV (the sequel
to
Sid Meier's Civilization III) as well as Civilization IV: Warlords
(the first expansion pack of the base game). The article will keep up to the very last detail of information that is
currently available to us.
Material is gathered from all sources available (in a detailed manner) and
put into this article as one organized piece. This should make it very easy to find virtually everything you want to know,
without having to surf
through multiple places on the web to find what you need. You don't have to be a
Civilization III veteran to understand what we are talking about here,
since this is a brand new Civilization... a historical simulation/strategy game series which has won multiple game
awards, and which is
accepted
the world over as being the greatest, and finest turn-based strategy game series on the planet!
The game has been released, but it does not mean that this article will not
be updated with more news as it comes (patches, expansions, etc)!
This information is up to date as of Monday, July 3rd, 2006, and up to the latest available bit of information.
As information changes, or is released, I will be updating this as soon as
possible so it evolves to be factual. I recommend that you check out the updates
(when they are posted), so that you stay informed, and up-to-date as well.
Checking the "Miscellaneous Information" section
occasionally can also give you a heads-up on some other things either in regards
to this article, or other information. From what we have gathered so far, as
well as the great reviews the game has been receiving, I believe we can all form
our own opinions of it.
This is the most detailed and extensive, most viewed, and also the most
updated place for all things Civilization IV from around the web.
Currently, there are a total of 360+ gathered game details, with nine
new additions! Don't miss out, discuss the article!
Top
Newest Updates
This is the section for looking up all the current new updates on the go
from Monday, July 3rd. They are not organized in any way, so it is highly
recommended that you read through past this section and take a more in-depth
look at the rest.
Top
Civilization IV: Warlords
This is the first expansion to
the original
Civilization IV. It is due out this summer, in late July (2006).
Top
The Big Picture
Here we'll look at the very basics of the game, from its creators and the design elements they implement, to what
general game-play aspects
it
will contain.
-
Development & Producers: The new Sid Meier's
Civilization
IV was
developed by Firaxis Games (based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, U.S.A.).
It is much more streamlined and full of personality. Unlike the Civilization III series, the publisher will not
be Atari, as they have sold off the Civilization Franchise to Take-Two Interactive. Take-Two confirmed this on January 26th, although it has been known that Atari sold
the Franchise since
November 24th, 2004. The game was published under Take-Twos publishing label 2K Games.
The senior producer of the game was Barry Caudill (he produced Sid Meier's Pirates!), and the producer Jesse Smith.
Jesse was the producer
of
Civilization III: Conquests as well (the last, and most commendable expansion of the
Civ3 series). The project lead, and lead designer
of the game was Soren Johnson, he programmed and co-designed Civ3 along with company CEO, Jeff Briggs. For more
information on Firaxis
staff, check out the Bios section on their
website.
-
About 38 people have been dedicated to certain segments of Civ4 (terrain, cities, interface, etc). It will
take thousands of people
hours
to complete the project. Firaxis also says that they have many (100+) active Civilization fans testing and giving
feedback to Firaxis.
This number is rising. However fans have been giving feedback since
June of 2004 in a private online forum.
-
News that Civilization IV was in the very early stages of development first came on December 4th, 2003.
Development of
Civ4 most
likely started around Spring time in 2003 (more than two years ago). At around the Fall time of the same year, Firaxis had
an early Multiplayer
version
up and playing. The basic game-play elements were established then. After that period (around May of 2005) much more
attention has been given to
improving the AI (or Artificial Intelligence).
The game hit Beta in August and from
then on, much more attention was given to polishing up the different
aspects of it. Civ4 went Gold on
October 19th, and shipped on the 25th, although most people got
their copy on October
26th.
Good news for Macintosh Gamers! Civilization IV
will be available for the Mac in early 2006 [source]. Aspyr Media
is bringing the game to the Mac. Civilization III: Complete
(featuring both expansions of Civ3: Play The World and
Conquests) will also be available for the Mac later this year, in December. Firaxis Memo: Firaxis has updated their "Behind the Scenes" section on their
website with a new Winter-edition Memo. The
part below includes
content on
Civ4:
Civilization IV has been flying off the shelves and has received loads of
great reviews. We want to thank our fans for your unwavering support, and
particularly for your tremendous feedback that helped get us through some
initial technical issue right after the release of the game. Our team worked
tirelessly to fix the problems quickly and post a
patch to
help those folks experiencing difficulties in running the game. Civ fans are
truly extraordinary! And dont forget... Santa will be bringing another gem of
a gift in January... the Civ IV SDK! This is an unprecedented offering and we
cant wait to see what all of you budding Civ designers will create! "Civilization is much more of collaboration between
our designers and our fans. We've had a lot of feedback over the years about what works and what doesn't in Civilization
and it's had a big
impact on the
final
game." - Sid Meier said in a GameSpy
Interview. -
Many conventions which have remained the same since Civilization I (which came out in 1991) have been
rewritten
to ensure a quality new game.
-
The game was written entirely from scratch using flexible XML data files, as well
as the
Python scripting language. Boost.Python (this allows for seamless interoperability between C++ and the Python programming language)
was used as the
interface layer between the C++ game code and Python. Python is used in the game for map generation, interface screens,
game events, tools,
tutorials,
etc. If you want to see how this will affect customization of the game (or any other aspect relating to customization),
look under Customization Flexibility. The new 3D engine will also allow for greater possibilities (find
under A New Expression).
-
Firaxis main focus is aiming to keep the game true, simple, but mostly to lose
aspects which are not
fun (find
under
Controlling Your People... by Decree for aspects which have been removed because they are
not fun to the player),
and
to maintain a successful Civilization Franchise.
They also plan to break free of some bad habits from previous
Civilization titles. For more information on maintaining a successful Franchise, see the PowerPoint entitled
Dont Blow It!, by lead Civilization
IV
designer, Soren Johnson. An article that relates to the PowerPoint is "Civ4: A Model in
Franchise
Progression" where Soren talks about the challenges of improving on a
successful model while simultaneously keeping hardcore fans satisfied. That being said,
Civ4 will not be totally different in concept than
Civ3. Don't let this fool you into thinking that it will just be a small improvement over
Civ3, though! Remember, it is
rewritten from scratch, so there is a lot of change/alteration and major innovation.
-
In order to fight team fatigue, Firaxis will rotate its design responsibilities (with different lead
designers).
-
Firaxis will not be afraid to slightly change its target audience a bit, as keeping the same audience will lead
to the loss of a
certain
percent of people per cycle. They will still, however, make base fans comfortable with the same fonts, icons, and map
placement, a similar number
of
units on the screen, etc
-
Civ4 being a maturation of the franchise (since it will focus on more multiplayer, and modability, unlike
Civ3, as it was
under a lot of pressure), they will keep adding more game-play/design innovation and not just adding more content or
"Stuff." Making everything a
little better will be much less compelling to the player than a significant improvement in just a few areas. Soren also
quotes
Electronic Art's (EA's) Bing Gordon that "1/3 old, 1/3 improved, and 1/3 new" is a good rule of thumb. Simplifying
old systems will leave
room
for new design elements.
-
Firaxis will also "borrow" useful elements mostly from Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games. An example with
Civ3 was the distinct
civilizations, unique units, abilities, and multi-unit forces or armies.
-
Civilization IV will continue on to what Civ3 has had --
The core game-play concept still remains the same. It is a turn-based, tile-based, historical simulation/strategy
empire building game. You
are put as the emperor of a powerful civilization, ruling your empire by decree, with one goal in mind: to stand the test
of time (which has been
the
appropriate slogan of Firaxis). You start out with a small tribe and lead them to greatness, to the post-nuclear age and
beyond.
Top
Official Game Features
Below is an exact quote of the official features of Civilization IV that the Publishers and Developers have released. Do not forget to go to Civ4.com
for much more information!!!
Overview
With over 6 million units sold and unprecedented critical acclaim from fans and press around the world, Sid Meier's
Civilization is recognized
as one of
the
greatest PC game franchises of all-time. Now, Sid Meier and Firaxis Games take this incredibly fun and addictive game to
new heights by adding
new ways to
play
and win, new tools to manage and expand your civilization, all-new easy to use mod capabilities and intense multiplayer
modes and options.
Civilization IV
comes
to life like never before in a beautifully detailed, living 3D world that elevates the game-play experience to a whole new
level. Sid Meier's
Civilization IV
has
already been heralded as one of the top games of 2005, and a must-have for gamers around the globe!
Features
-
Civ IV comes to life! - Beautiful 3D world with dozens of fully animated units (including culturally unique units)
and totally
customizable armies.
Detailed cities and wonders will appear on the map. Wonder movies are back!
-
Greater Accessibility and Ease of Play - An easy-to-use interface will be immediately familiar to RTS and action
game players, and
newcomers to the
series will be able to jump in and play.
-
Multiplayer -LAN, Internet, PBEM and Persistent Turn-Based Server (PTBS or PitBoss) offer players all-new strategies
and ways to play when
competing
or
cooperating with live opponents.
-
Team Play - Whether playing multiplayer or single player, team play offers a new way of setting locked alliances
that result in shared
wonder effects,
visibility, unit trading and shared territory that delivers a plethora of new strategic and tactical options.
-
Mods and Community Tools - Designed from the ground up for modability, the game contains a powerful map editor with
XML and Python
support.
-
Choose Your Leader - Many Civs now have 2 leaders from which to choose, with each Leader having traits that provide
various bonuses to the
player and
lots
of replayability.
-
Civics - With the discovery of new techs, civic options can become available. Freedom of speech or slavery?
Hereditary rule or open
elections?
This creates endless government choices and possibilities!
Religion - Now there are 7 religions in the game that are unlocked through researching. When unlocked, the
religion spreads through a
player's
empire
allowing them to use the religion to help manage happiness, gain gold and create Great Prophets. Great People - As the player uses specialists they gain Great People points in the city that is utilizing the
specialists. Great
People include
the
Artist, Tycoon, Prophet, Engineer, & Scientist. They can be used to get free techs, start Golden Ages, or join a city
to increase its
output. Promotions - Each unit has a promotion path that emphasizes specific unit traits. Promotions include bonuses to
Attack/Defend on
specific
terrains/features,
movement bonuses, sight/visibility bonuses and increased withdrawal chances. Tech Tree - Flexible Tech tree allows players more strategic choices for developing their civilizations along
unique paths. More Civs and all new Units and Improvements to enhance and grow your empire. Faster-Paced Fun - Game-play has been streamlined for a tighter, faster and more compelling experience. In-Game Movies - Civ IV will have over 70 in-game movies and animated sequences.
Top
Release Date
Perhaps this is the most important question to most people. When will the game actually be released?
Take-Two Games has pushed the release of
Civilization IV up by a few weeks. The game was released on October
25th, although most people didn't get the game by the 26th in North America. Click
here (from the official Take-Two
website) and
here to read more on this
(from
GameSpot). 2K Games had launched the Sid Meier's Civilization IV Pre-order program. Here is a quote from
GamesIndustry.biz:
Customers who pre-order Sid Meier's Civilization IV at participating retailers in North America will receive the
Pre-Order Edition of the game
at no
additional cost. Shipping on the same day as the regular version of the game, the Sid Meier's Civilization IV Pre-Order
Edition will feature: collector's
packaging, a CD soundtrack
of the game,
a keyboard template, a tech tree map and a spiral bound version of the manual. The Pre-Order Edition will be offered
through participating
retailers while
supplies last.
Click here to read the full
article. The regular version of the game in the US comes with two CDs. The
European version comes with a DVD. The tech tree poster comes standard with
these.
Expansions are planned, and support for the game will
continue after its release so things are kept fresh. A Mac version of the game is also planed by Aspyr Media.
It will be available in 2006.
Top
Playing Requirements
This section will deal only with the Official System Requirements for the game, as well as the ESRB Rating.
-
The Minimum System Requirements for the game are: 1 GHz CPU, 256MB RAM, and a 32MB video card with hardware
transform and lighting
capabilities.
The recommended Specifications are: 512MB of ram, Pentium4 processor, and a recent graphics card (like the Radeon
9800).
The rating of the game is "E 10+" by the ESRB (the
Entertainment Software Rating Board).
Top
A New Expression
The look and feel of a game are very important to most players; the description of these can be found here. For
screenshots, visit the "In-Game Visuals" section.
-
The Graphics Engine Civilization IV is using is
the NDL's Gamebryo 3D graphics engine. Firaxis' PC hit,
Sid Meier's Pirates! also uses it.
The engine will naturally provide an engaging 3D world with unparalleled scope and detail. Soren also mentions
in his PowerPoint
that the game has a "What-you-see-is-what-you-get," approach to it, meaning that the terrain does not lie in terms of
what it displays. An
example of this
are
Great Wonders. When they are built they will be displayed on the terrain near the city which built it. Rivers and resources such as horses and elephants
are animated. You will also see different
animations as
the resources are being worked on, and of course, many other aspects which make the world more dynamic. Due to the move to 3D, Barry Caudill (senior Civ4 producer) says that the largest maps in the game
are slightly smaller compared to those of
Civilization III. -
The new 3D engine will allow for powerful, smooth zooming, from a global level, to a very local one. The tiles of
Civ4 are plain
squares, rather than the diamond view we had with Civilization III (when
viewing the game from the default position). The
Camera views are very flexible. You can spin it around any way you like.
There is a Civ3-Style Isometric view, and the classic
Civilization I top-down view. You may zoom in and out by using the Mouse-Wheel (speaking of Mice,
Civ4 will even have its
own specific
Mouse-Cursor).
You'll see
Aqueducts go from the mountains or hills into your cities when they are
built.
A Random Map Generator, like previous Civilization titles,
will form unique worlds reflecting the settings you put in. The Map Generator is one of Civilization's most
successful aspects, because
one
cannot play on the same map twice without wanting it, so replayability is very, very high. Continents are the default world setting. "Standard Size" map you will have about five to ten cities. By that
time, your borders
are established and it is a race of who can advance through the tech tree faster. By that time, your oldest few cities will
also be the "core"
cities of you empire.
Here are the different map sizes: Duel, Tiny, Small, Standard, Large, Huge and
of course, Random. There are no restrictions on the number of Civilizations you
are allowed to play with on a certain map size. You can have all 18 Civs on a
Duel map. The map widths in Civ4 are about double than what they used to
be in Civ3. The Mini-Map starts out zoomed in when the player starts a new
random game. As they explore, the Mini-Map will expand. This has been done so exploration is a lot more interesting each
game.
What it means is that when one starts a game, he or she does not know exactly
where on the map they are. In
Civ3 the player always knew where they were exactly
in the beginning. Now this is not the case at all. -
There is a Global View, in which
you see the whole planet. There, you can also use options to filter thing
such as resources, units, trade networks, cultural borders, religions and
more. Below are three
examples of the powerful new zoom. Details such as cloud cover can
also be seen in the Global View (first image):
Music for Civilization IV is also a major focus. Jeff Briggs (Firaxis' CEO) himself is taking charge
of this aspect of the
game (and
he is perfectly suited to do so as well, since this was his first career). Jeff anticipates that
Civ4 will have much more music than any
other game ever released. The game will include music from some of Jeff's original compositions, as well as licensed
performances by old greats
such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, company, as well as contemporary greats like John Adams and Christopher Tin. Here is
Civ4's
opening soundtrack: Baba Yetu. Jeff will also be composing the music for all 28 wonder movies included in the game as well as all of the game's
diplomacy music.
Where
possible,
folk tunes are used to represent the character and attitude of each Civilization and each ruler. The music for Franklin D.
Roosevelt for instance
is the Marine Hymn. Jeff has also gone as far as to arrange each piece of music to fit the various time periods of the
game. If you meet with
Roosevelt in the early part of the game, you'll hear ancient instruments playing the theme. By the end of the game, the
tune will have swelled
and
taken on a more Sousa-like quality. -
Firaxis is also hiring voice talent for various game parts. Ambient sounds can also be heard, when you are over
different terrains. For
example,
if you are over the ocean or on its shore, you will hear waves splashing and breaking up. When you are
over desert closer up, you will naturally hear very dry winds.
When clicking on a unit, that unit will respond in the language
of your selected region or Civilization. With each built improvement you'll hear a sound related to it
when it is accomplished.
Top
User Interface & Control
Control is a very important aspect for any game. With Civ4's new interface, ruling you empire just got a whole lot
easier.
To start a Single-Player game: You must choose your map style (some
options are: Archipelago, Continents, Custom Continents, Highlands, Great Plains, Inland Sea, Lakes, Oasis,
Pangaea, and Terra) and size, climate and sea level and Civilization you want to play. You can also select whether you
want aggressive AIs,
Random Personalities, etc. Also, AI personalities are stored in XML data files.
In the "Custom Game" menu (there is also a "Play Now!" option which allows you
to start games quicker) there are a variety of options and combinations. In
regards to map scripts there are much more. The "Custom Continents" option
allows you to select exactly how many continents you want in the game. The
"Highlands" map scripts allows you to select everything from mountain density to
lake size. Of course, the most random map options you have are the classic
"Archipelago," the basic "Continents" setting, as well as the regular "Pangaea"
option which allows you to also set in different shore options. There also the "Aggressive" AI setting where
AIs lean towards war instead of diplomacy. While in the process of loading, the game
will display tips for certain things from Hot-Key commands to strategies during war-time. Here is a screenshot which shows some of
these. Note that when
the game
actually starts, you have a very similar Civilization introduction as in Civ3. You can see what I mean by clicking
here. At the start of the game, you do not start
with a Worker unit as in Civ3. You must build your first one at the time of your own choosing. Note that whenever
building a Settler or
Worker, these
units both use Hammers and Excess food to be built instead of Hammers only. The city also does not grow during this period,
and when either of
the units is
complete, the city size does not shrink like it used to in Civilization III.
The Civilopedia is now available from the
main menu of the game for easy access. -
The general layout of the interface is this:
The Mini-Map is on the bottom-right corner, unit statistics are on the bottom-left side, unit control and buttons
are on the bottom
center of the screen. On the top-right, we see a "?" sign (which indicates the
Civilopedia. The Civilopedia is like the game's manual. It includes all
available information on the game) as well as the year and era. Technological
research are located on the top, in the center. And finally the scientific research rate buttons
are on the top-left side. On the same side,
you can also find your income and Gold Per Turn (or "GPT"). There also appear to be landscape
characteristics on the bottom-left side. This most likely appears as the
player rolls over the terrain with the mouse. Here is a screenshot of the
lower portion of the interface only. For City interface information, click
here.
-
The classic unit controls such as Disband, Fortify, Explore and Sentry also appear to be on
the center of the
screen at
the bottom. There are a few more, but we do not know what they do at this point.
-
The main Interface can also be collapsed so the player only sees the unit buttons/controls/promotions on the
very bottom of your
screen. You can
see
this in the GameSpot Game-play
Footage 3 video.
-
Also in the same video you can see all the Civilopedia Sections. The sections are: Technologies, Units, Buildings, Resources, Improvements, Promotions, Unit Categories (such as Melee), Civilizations, Leaders, Religions, Civics, Projects, and finally Game
Concepts.
In
Civilization IV you can left click on a unit, and then right click on the tile youd like that unit to go.
This is very different compared to Civilization III.
Advisor screens: depending on which you open, you can see where all of your units are on a global map, or look at
raw statistics like the
average life expectancy of your people (versus the world average), your gross national product or approval rating.
-
 A more streamlined and intuitive interface should be familiar to any RTS player. This is one
feature that will make
the
franchise more accessible and in line with PC gaming trends. In general, the
interface and help screens are more modern, improved, and easier to use.
-
Many tool-tips and pop-up help features are available (such as the terrain characteristics I explained just above,
and the ones you can
see in
the screenshot). Firaxis feels you should be able to play from the main map, and use other screens only if you are a true
power user. All this is
aimed
at getting new players off and playing as quickly as possible. Again, this is
the "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" concept. Below, in the next section, you
will see that this concept is carried onto the Terrain Improvements as well.
They will basically animate if a citizen is working that tile.
Sid Meier's Tips on tool-tips (such as Units
and Technologies) are included. This option can of course be turned off via the preferences screen. The preferences screen
also allows the player
to enable
Single-Unit graphics instead of Multi-Unit graphics. Numerous Advisor pop-ups also appear during the game which will recommend to you to build a certain building in a
particular city or
town. You can disable
these if they are unneeded to you or become too annoying. The game will prompt you to construct
improvements if it sees an opportunity or it feels that you've missed an
opportunity.
Playing the game either with a keyboard only
or mouse only is easy (or you can of course use the two combined).
By default you'll be moving units with the
right mouse button. However in the preferences section, you can change that so you can move units with the left mouse
button and have a
right-click menu when
clicking the right.
Wide-Screen resolutions are supported (as well as any other
resolution you might be running your PC on. Civ4 also supports
Dual-Monitor play. The game has to be in windowed mode and you have to give it a
resolution which covers both screens.
Hot-Key commands: Just about 100. -
City information such as its buildings, and workforce is now all accessible from the main screen. You
are able to see what a city is building as well, including what state of religion it is in
(although Cities can have more than one religion). To the right is an example of Shanghai building a Market. It is also Buddhist (as the icon above the city name displays).
-
Adjusting what you want to displayed on the map is easy. This includes city names and
sizes. You can limit everything to a maximum and allow only Units, Cities (with no names), and Roads
to be displayed. You can also turn on an option to display the properties of
different tiles, you will also be able to turn on a resource plot location
feature, mentioned here.
Top
Landscape Characteristics
To expand your empire, first you would need as much detail about the terrain as possible.
-
More tile/terrain improvements are
included (each resource has its own specific improvement). Pastures, Wineries, Watermills, Windmills, Lumber Mills, Mines,
Fishing Nets, Offshore
Platforms,
and Factories
are all represented in detail on
the terrain. 20 improvements in all are going to be included. Improvements being worked on with citizens will animate,
which makes it convenient
to see
where your citizens are working. For example, if a Mine is being worked on by
a citizen, you will see smoke coming out of its chimney.
Details such as mine carts being pushed out of a mine are also available.
This interface feature even helps you during war time, allowing the player
to see which tile an enemy is using. Certain Technologies will make some
improvements more productive as well.
Roads and Rail-Roads will only provide a movement bonus
to your units and nothing else. This has been done so the player does not have Roads and Rail-Roads on every tile later on
(unlike in Civilization III).
|
Improvements |
Camp
Requires: Hunting
Effects: Pillage yields 5 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Deer (+2 food, +1 health), Fur (+3 commerce, +1
happiness), Ivory (+1 hammer, +1 commerce, +1 happiness) |
- Cottage: +1 commerce
Requires: Pottery
Effects: Becomes a Hamlet in 10 turns (all of this is on "Normal" Game
Speed!), Pillage yields 10 gold on
average
|
- Hamlet: +2 commerce
Requires: Nothing
Effects: Becomes a Village in 20 turns, Pillage yields 15 gold on
average
|
- Village: +3 commerce, and +1 additional commerce with
Printing Press
Requires: Nothing
Effects: Becomes a Town in 40 turns, Pillage yields 20 gold on average
|
- Town: +4 commerce, +1 commerce with Printing
Press, +2
commerce with Free Speech, +1 hammer with Universal
Suffrage
Requires: Nothing
Effects: Pillage yields 25 gold on average
|
Farm:
+1 food with irrigation, +1 additional food with Biology
Requires: Agriculture
Effects: Carries Irrigation, May be built only on flatlands, Pillage
yields 5 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Corn (+2 food, +1 health), Rice (+1 food, +1 health),
Wheat (+2 food, +1 health) |
Fishing Boats
Requires: Fishing
Effects: May be built in water only, Pillage yields 5 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Clam (+2 food, +1 health), Crab (+2 food, +1 health), Fish
(+3 food, +1 health) |
Fortress
Requires: Mathematics
Effects: +25% defense on tile it is built on |
Lumbermill:
+1 hammer, +1additional hammer with a Railroad, +1 commerce when next to
River
Requires: Replaceable Parts
Effects: Pillage yields 5 gold on average |
Mine:
+2 hammers, +1 additional hammer with Railroad
Requires: Mining
Effects: Small chance of discovering Aluminum, Coal, Copper, Iron,
Uranium, Gems, Gold, or Silver on that tile; Pillage yields 10 gold on
average
Bonus Yields: Aluminum (+3 hammers, +1 commerce), Coal (+3 hammers),
Copper (+3 hammers), Iron (+3 hammers), Uranium
(+3 commerce), Gems (+1
hammer, +5 commerce, +1 happiness), Gold (+1 hammer, +6 commerce, +1
happiness), Silver (+1 hammer, +4 commerce, +1 happiness) |
Offshore Platform
Requires: Plastics
Effects: May be built in water only, Pillage yields 10 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Oil (+2 hammers, +1 commerce) |
Pasture
Requires: Animal Husbandry
Effects: Pillage yields 5 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Horse (+2 hammers, +1 commerce, +1 health), Cow (+1 food,
+2 commerce, +1 health), Pig (+3 food, +1 health), Sheep (+2 food, +1
commerce, +1 health) |
Plantation
Requires: Calendar
Effects: Pillage yields 5 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Banana (+2 food, +1 health), Dye (+4 commerce, +1
happiness), Incense (+5 commerce, +1 happiness), Silk (+3 commerce, +1
happiness), Spices (+1 food, +2 commerce, +1 happiness), Sugar (+1 food,
+2 commerce, +1 happiness) |
Quarry
Requires: Masonry
Effects: Pillage yields 5 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Marble (+1 hammer, +2 commerce), Stone (+2 hammers) |
Railroad:
Maximum of 10 turn movement and just like roads, makes trade networks
(between cities, Civilizations, etc)
Requires: Railroads |
Road: Faster Movement and a may create trade networks (between
cities, Civilizations, etc)
Requires: The Wheel |
Watermill: +1 hammer, +1 additional hammer
with Replaceable Parts, +2 commerce with Electricity, +1 food with State
Property Civic
Requires: Machinery
Effects: Requires to be built by a River, May only be built on
flatlands, Pillage yields 5 gold on average
|
Well
Requires: Combustion
Effects: Pillage yields 10 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Oil (+2 hammers, +1 commerce) |
Whaling Boats
Requires: Optics
Effects: May only be built on water, Pillage yields 5 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Whale (+1 hammer, +2 commerce, +1 happiness) |
Windmill: +1 food, +1 commerce, +1 additional commerce with
Electricity, +1 hammer with Replaceable Parts
Requires: Machinery
Effects: Pillage yields 5 gold on average |
Winery
Requires: Monarchy
Effects: Pillage yields 5 gold on average
Bonus Yields: Wine (+1 food, +2 commerce, +1 happiness) |
Workshop:
-1 food, +1 additional food with State Property Civic, +1 hammer, +1
hammer with Guilds, +1 hammer with Chemistry
Requires: Metal Casting
Effects: May be built only on flatlands, Pillage yields 5 gold on
average |
| Misc. Terrain Features |
Affect |
|
Tribal Village |
Provides bonuses such as more
experience points for the unit that uncovered it, maps, technologies,
etc. (Goody Huts, or Tribal Villages,
cannot be built by the player.) |
| City Ruins |
Sites of razed cities remain on the map
(when you first capture a city, you may raze it, however this can be
turned off so there is no city razing). |
| Worked Tile |
Worked tiles have their own animations and icons.
For example, if a Quarry is worked, the crane will move. If it is not,
the crane will not move. |
-
There are many new resources. When you are zoomed out to
the Global View, resources are
clearly marked for easy identification if you choose to mark them.
-
There is less restriction when it comes to resources. Firaxis will probably give players something to
synthesize Oil, and Gunpowder
units
no longer
require saltpeter.
-
All resources, including food ones are tradable. Food resources will help your city's health status.
Better resource balance: Since Python Scripts are used to generate random maps, resource placement can be
fine-tuned. This means
that a
resource of
one group cannot be a certain distance from a resource from the same group (comparing
luxury with luxury, food with food, strategic with strategic).
The Civ3 dilemma where one faction gets more resources than another seems to be gone. Resource migration will also
not happen
anymore.
| Resource |
| Strategic Resources |
Aluminum:
+1 hammer
Improvements: Mine (+3 hammers, +1 commerce)
Requires: Industrialism (reveals it), Mining (enables Mine)
Allows: Modern Armor, Jet Fighter, Stealth Bomber |
Coal:
+1 hammer
Improvements: Mine (+3 hammers)
Requires: Steam Power (reveals it), Mining (enables Mine)
Allows: Ironclad |
Copper: +1 hammer
Improvement: Mine (+3 hammers)
Requires: Bronze Working (reveals it), Mining (enables Mine)
Allows: Axeman, Maceman, Spearman, Phalanx |
Horse: +1 hammer
Improvement: Pasture (+2 hammers, +1 commerce)
Requires: Animal Husbandry (both reveals it and enables Pasture)
Allows: Chariot, War Chariot, Immortal, Horse Archer, Keshik, Knight,
Conquistador, Cavalry, Cossack |
Iron:
+1 hammer
Improvement: Mine (+3 hammers)
Requires: Iron Working (reveals it), Mining (enables Mine)
Allows: Swordsman, Praetorian, Axeman, Maceman, Samurai, Spearman,
Phalanx, Pikeman, Crossbowman, Cho-Ko-Nu, Knight, Conquistador, Cannon,
Frigate, Ironclad |
Marble: +1 hammer
Improvement: Quarry (+1 hammer, +2 commerce)
Requires: Masonry (enables Quarry)
Allows: Some city buildings get built faster with Marble |
Oil:
+1 hammer
Improvements: Well (on land; +2 hammers, +1 commerce), Offshore
Platform
(on water; +2 hammers, +1 commerce)
Requires: Scientific Method (reveals it), Combustion
(enables Well),
Plastics (enables Offshore Platform)
Allows: Tank, Panzer, Modern Armor, Gunship,
Transport, Destroyer,
Battleship, Submarine, Carrier, Fighter,
Jet Fighter, Bomber, Stealth
Bomber |
Stone:
+1 hammer
Improvement: Quarry (+2 hammers)
Requires: Masonry (enables Quarry)
Allows: Some city buildings get built faster with Stone |
Uranium
Improvement: Mine (+3 commerce)
Requires: Physics (reveals it), Mining (enables Mine)
Allows: Transport, Destroyer, Battleship, Submarine, Carrier, ICBM |
| Luxury Resources |
Dye:
+1 commerce
Improvements: Plantation (+4 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Calendar (enables Plantation) |
Fur: +1 commerce
Improvement: Camp (+3 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Hunting (enables Camp) |
Gems: +1 commerce
Improvement: Mine (+1 hammer, +5 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Mining (enables Mine) |
Gold:
+1 commerce
Improvement: Mine (+1 hammer, +6 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Mining (enables Mine) |
Hit Movies
Require: Hollywood
Effects: +1 happiness |
Hit Musicals
Require: Broadway
Effects: +1 happiness |
Hit Singles
Require: Rock & Roll
Effects: +1 happiness |
Incense: +1 commerce
Improvement: Plantation (+5 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Calendar (enables Plantation) |
Plantation (+5 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Calendar (enables Plantation) |
Ivory: +1 hammer
Improvement: Camp (+1 hammer, +1 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Hunting (enables Camp)
Allows: War Elephant |
Silk: +1 commerce
Improvement: Plantation (+3 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Calendar (enables Plantation) |
Silver:
+1 commerce
Improvement: Mine (+1 hammer, +4 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Mining (enables Mine) |
Spices: +1 commerce
Improvement: Plantation (+1 food, +2 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Calendar (enables Plantation) |
Sugar: +1 food
Improvement: Plantation (+1 food, +1 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Calendar (enables Plantation) |
Whale: +1 food
Improvement: Whaling Boats (+1 hammer, +2 commerce, +1 happiness) |
Wine:
+1 commerce
Improvement: Winery (+1 food, +2 commerce, +1 happiness)
Requires: Monarchy (enables Winery) |
| Food Resources |
Banana: +1 food
Improvement: Plantation (+2 food, +1 health)
Requires: Calendar (enables Plantation) |
Clam:
+1 food
Improvement: Fishing Boats (+2 food, +1 health) |
Corn:
+1 food
Improvement: Farm (+2 food, +1 health)
Requires: Agriculture (enables Farm) |
Cow: +1 food
Improvement: Pasture (+1 food, +2 hammers, +1 health)
Requires: Animal Husbandry (enables Pasture) |
Crab: +1 food
Improvement: Fishing Boats (+2 food, +1 health) |
Deer:
+1 food
Improvement: Camp (+2 food, +1 health)
Requires: Hunting (enables Camp) |
Fish: +1 food
Improvement: Fishing Boats (+3 food, +1 health) |
Pig: +1 food
Improvement: Pasture (+3 food, +1 health)
Requires: Animal Husbandry (enables Pasture) |
Rice:
+1 food
Improvement: Farm (+1 food, +1 health)
Requires: Agriculture (enables Farm) |
Sheep:
+1 food
Improvement: Pasture (+2 food, +1 commerce, +1 health)
Requires: Animal Husbandry (enables Pasture) |
Wheat:
+1 food
Improvement: Farm (+2 food, +1 health)
Requires: Agriculture (enables Farm) |
-
Trading is established automatically when you make deals. Rivers are like roads in
Civ4 (in terms of their trade potential), so if two cities are on one river, they are
connected and no road is needed to establish the particular trade network.
Due to the expanded aspect of trading
involving Rivers (making them like roads in terms of connectivity), City placement in
Civ4 is made much more strategic. If a
river connects to a lake, then a worker is able to build a road to the lake and expand the Civilization's Trade
Network.
-
Defensive bonuses will now only be generated on Forests, Hills, and Jungles.
Since this also relates to the combat system, click here to go to that
section of the article.
Here are the known terrain types, as well as other information
regarding the terrain:
| Terrain |
Coast:
+1 food, +2 commerce
Special Abilities: Defending units receive a 10% strength boost |
Desert
Special Abilities: +1 commerce if by River, Improvements take 25% more
time to build |
Grassland: +2 food
Special Abilities: +1 commerce if by River |
Ice
Special Abilities: Improvements get built 50% slower to complete |
| Ocean:
+1 food, +1 commerce |
Plains:
+1 food, +1 hammer
Special Abilities: +1 commerce if by a River |
Tundra:
+1 food
Special Abilities: +1 commerce if by a River, Improvements are 25% slower
to get constructed |
| Terrain Features |
Fallout: -3 food, -3 hammers, -3 commerce
Special Abilities: Movement is decreased by 2, +0.50 unhealthiness in
nearby cities, Improvements cannot be built on a tile containing Fallout |
Flood
Plains: +3 food
Special Abilities: +1commerce if by a River, +0.40 unhealthiness in nearby
cities |
Forest:
+1 hammer
Special Abilities: Movement decreased by 2, +0.50 health in nearby cities,
+50% strength for units stationed there |
Iceberg
Special Abilities: Impassible Terrain |
Jungle:
-1 food
Special Abilities: Movement decreased by 2, +0.25 unhealthiness in nearby
cities, Units stationed there receive +50% strength |
Oasis:
+3 food, +2 commerce
Special Abilities: Movement cost decreased by 2, source of fresh water,
cannot build cities or improvements on Oases |
Top
Victory or Defeat?
It all comes down to this: Achieving it against the AI earns you ego. Achieving it against another player earns you
respect.
There are a lot more difficulty levels than in previous Civilization games.
Settler, Chieftain, Warlord, Noble, Prince, Monarch, Emperor, Immortal, and
Deity are the available difficulties now. -
The length of games is reduced from 540 turns (as in
Civilization III) to 430. You are able to start in any era you wish
(Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Industrial, Modern, Future. You start with a
different amounts of units in each era, you will have more population in
newly founded cities, as well as a few more buildings). Later era starts will give you larger starting cities, more
settlers, and of course
more techs. They will also have some limitation - earlier wonders and buildings may not be available. The developers
are also constantly working to even out the pace of the game, hence the speed options described below.
-
There are four game speeds: Quick (mostly for Multiplayer, in Single Player mode (or
SP) it is equal to
Civ3's Accelerated Production mode), Medium (a bit faster than Civ3,
15-20 hours of game-play), Epic (around 600 turns) and Marathon (introduced
in patch v1.52). All of the game speeds (Quick, Normal, and Epic) retain all the flavor of Civ itself. So even
though the speed is different, the feel will not change.
The different speeds of the game (Quick, Normal, and Epic) will
have their Technology costs, Unit production costs, and Building appropriately tuned for the appropriate speed of the
game. The game still spans from 4000BC to 2050AD. That means you have 6,050 years to achieve one of the victories
below.
Civilization IV seems to have struck the balance between explored land and years passed. What this means
is that no longer will
you have the entire world explored by 400AD. This, by the way, is the same for all three speeds (Quick, Medium, &
Epic).
-
Most of the victory conditions have not changed from Civ3.
Here they are:
- The Time Victory: One can win this by having the highest score at 2050.
- The Conquest Victory: By eliminating all rival Civilizations, you have achieved this victory.
- The Domination Victory: This is awarded when you have a 25% lead in population over their best competitor, and
65% of the global land
mass.
- The Cultural Victory: You can achieve this by having three cities with a
50,000-point Culture rating.
- The Spaceship Victory: Having first built all the components of a Space Ship and launching it to Alpha
Centauri, earns you this
victory.
- The Diplomatic Victory: After building the United Nations Great Wonder, your Civilization is voted on to take
control over that
organization. Since it is
difficult to maintain good relations with all Civilizations (especially in large games), this is possibly the most
difficult
victory condition to achieve.
Click on the United Nations link for more information
on that wonder.
- Winning the game also gives you a movie (no matter how you chose to win it).
- The Spaceship (which is required for this) contains about a dozen components
total. Some of the parts are: SS Casing, SS Cockpit, SS Docking Bay, SS Engine,
SS Life Support, SS Stasis Chamber, and the SS Thrusters. You may boost production on this by constructing Laboratories in
your cities or by
construction the Space Elevator Great Wonder, which boosts Spaceship
part
production in all of your cities.
- The game will calculate a running score for each Civilization. This is based on
the following details: Civilization size, technology, military power, and more. If
you leave your Civilization lightly defended or with obsolete units, other nations will take advantage of this.
- There is still a replay at the end of the game (when it is won or lost), and after each game the replays are saved
so you can later view
them in the "Hall of
Fame" and look at how well you did in different games. They show things such as the appearance of Great People, City
foundations, Civs being
wiped out, etc. The Hall of Fame screen not only remembers every game's
statistic under your profile (you can create different profiles in Civ4). It
remembers Difficulty Level, Game Speed, Victory Achieved, Starting Era,
World Size, Finish Date, as well as the Score Itself and more. It also saves
every game's replay so you can look back to any previous game which you have
finished and watch how you developed. The score, by the way, is broken down
in a detailed manner in-game as you move your mouse cursor over your name
(the score is broken down to Population, Land, Technologies, Wonders, etc).
These can also be saved separately from a regular game save and you can send
these to other people.
Top
The 18 Civilizations
There are a lot of opportunities in the game to form allies, and that is necessary to fend off enemies.
-
18 playable Civilizations are featured in Civilization IV.
-
There are 26 world leaders. Choosing between two leaders for a
Civilization is a possibility. You can choose from two leaders from each Civilization, however not every Civilization
has
two leaders.
You can name the leaders after yourself, and
pretty much name everything else throughout the game...
-
Unique Units for each Civilization are still in the game. Some of
the known Unique Units (or "UUs") are below in the Civilization Chart.
-
You are able to see more of the leaders bodies, unlike in
Civilization III, where one could not see them make hand and finger movements. An
example of this can be seen when watching the "Game-Play
Footage 2" video at GameSpot. Leader animations will also reflect their mood and natural personality.
An
offer in
the favor of Louis XIV or Hatshepsut will show animations of the leaders that suggest their happiness with the deal. They
will simply act
pleased.
However some rulers are a bit more inscrutable. The only difference in personality you will see in the Chinese ruler, Qin
Shi Haug is the
elevation
of his eyebrows... the same as the Mongol leader Genghis Khan. Rulers like
Alexander the Great of the Greeks and Julius Caesar of the Romans are much
more expressive in their emotions. Julius will give you a gladiatorial
thumbs-up or thumbs-down in reaction to your proposal. Gandhi is generous
to weaker nations, while Genghis Khan will shy away from any diplomacy at all.
Basically, there are a variety of unique personalities, some warlike,
peaceful, trustworthy, etc. You can also select Random Personalities at the
start of the game so every leader acts differently than what they usually do.
Units of different nationalities can now share tiles. If you have open borders with a Civilization, your units can
literally go to any
tile (even in Cities!). -
All the known
Civilization properties have been listed below. Each
Leader has two Traits. Each of these grants them a unique bonus and cuts the
cost of two city improvements by half. Here are the statistics, and both of
the following charts are brand new:
| Trait |
Benefit |
| Aggressive |
Free
Combat I promotion of
melee and gunpowder units. Double production speed of Barracks and Drydock. |
| Creative |
+2 culture per city.
Double production speed of Theater, Coliseum. |
| Expansive |
+2 health per city.
Double production speed of granary and harbor. |
| Financial |
+1
commerce on plots with
2 commerce. Double production speed of Bank. |
| Industrious |
Wonder production
increased 50 percent. Double production speed of Forge. |
| Organized |
Civic upkeep reduced
50 percent. Double production speed of lighthouse and courthouse. |
| Philosophical |
Great People birth rate increased 100 percent. Double production speed
of University. |
| Spiritual |
No anarchy. Double
production speed of the Temple. |
| Civilization & Cities |
Leader 1
(Traits) |
Leader 2
(Traits) |
Unique Unit |
Starting Techs |
Flag |
| America Washington, New York |
George
Washington
(Financial & Organized;
favors Universal Suffrage)
 |
Franklin D.
Roosevelt
(Industrious & Organized;
favors Universal Suffrage)
 |
Navy SEAL; replaces the Marine |
Fishing & Agriculture |
 |
| Arabs Mecca |
Saladin
(Philosophical & Spiritual;
favors Theocracy)
 |
-none- |
Camel Archer;
replaces the Knight |
Mysticism & The Wheel |
 |
| Aztecs Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Teotihuacan |
Montezuma
(Aggressive & Spiritual; favors Police
State)
 |
-none- |
Jaguar; replaces the Swordsman |
Mysticism & Hunting |
 |
| China Beijing,
Canton, Shanghai, Tientsin, Tsingtao, Xinjian, Turfan |
Mao Zedong
(Philosophical & Organized; favors State Property)
 |
Qin Shi Huang
(Industrious & Financial; favors Police State)
 |
Cho-Ku-Nu; replaces the
Crossbowman |
Agriculture & Mining |
 |
| Egypt Thebes,
Memphis, Alexandria, Elephantine, Pi-Ramesses, Byblos |
Hatshepsut
(Spiritual & Creative; favors Hereditary Rule)
 |
-none- |
War Chariot; replaces the
Chariot |
Agriculture & The Wheel |
 |
| England London,
Hastings, Warwick, Newcastle |
Queen Victoria
(Expansive & Financial; favors Representation)
 |
Queen
Elizabeth
(Philosophical & Financial; favors Free
Religion)
 |
Redcoat; replaces the Rifleman |
Fishing & Mining |
 |
| France Paris, Orleans |
Louis XIV
(Creative
and Industrious; favors Hereditary Rule)
 |
Napoleon
(Aggressive & Industrious; favors Representation)
 |
Musketeer; replaces the Musketman |
Agriculture & The Wheel |
 |
| Germany Berlin,
Cologne, Munich, Dusseldorf |
Frederick
(Creative & Philosophical; favors Universal
Suffrage)
 |
Bismarck
(Expansive & Industrious; favors Representation)
 |
Panzer; replaces the Tank |
Hunting & Mining |
 |
| Greece Athens, Thermopylae |
Alexander
(Aggressive & Philosophical; favors Hereditary
Rule)
 |
-none- |
Phalanx; replaces the Spearman |
Fishing & Hunting |
 |
| Inca |
Huayna Capac
(Aggressive &
Financial; favors Hereditary Rule)
 |
-none- |
Quechua; replaces the Warrior |
Agriculture & Mysticism |
 |
| India Delhi,
Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Jaipur |
Mahatma Gandhi
(Industrious & Spiritual; favors Universal
Suffrage)
 |
Asoka
(Organized & Spiritual; favors Universal Suffrage)
 |
Fast Worker; replaces the standard Worker |
Mysticism & Mining |
 |
| Japan Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Edo |
Tokugawa
(Aggressive & Organized; favors Mercantilism)
 |
-none- |
Samurai; replaces the Maceman |
Fishing & The Wheel |
 |
| Mali
Timbuktu,
Djenne, Gao, Kumbi Saleh, Niani, Tadmekka, Walata |
Mansa Musa
(Financial & Spiritual; favors Free
Markets)
 |
-none- |
Skirmisher; replaces the Archer |
Mining & The Wheel |
 |
| Mongolia Karakorum, Herat, Khanbalik, Old Sarai,
Samarqand |
Genghis Khan
(Aggressive & Expansive; favors Police State)
 |
Kublai Khan
(Aggressive & Creative; favors Hereditary
Rule)
 |
Keshik; replaces the Horse Archer |
Hunting & The Wheel |
 |
| Persia Persepolis, Susa, Pasargadae, Arbela, Bactria,
Gordium, Tarsus |
Cyrus
(Expansive & Creative; favors Representation)
 |
-none- |
Immortal; replaces the Chariot |
Agriculture & Hunting |
 |
| Rome Rome,
Antium, Cumae, Neapolis, Pisae |
Julius Caesar
(Organized & Expansive; favors Representation)
 |
-none- |
Praetorian; replaces the
| |
