And yet another weekly update...

[GeoModder]

Check out the new article on IGN, and 12 new screenshots are included. US residents may be glad to see their flag (finally) wawing.

[ixnay]

Looks like we also get German and Persian flags, too.

[Tassadar500]

Hmm... I'm not sure if I'm so much of a fan of the 3 soldiers per unit. It seems to clutter up the screen too much.

[H Tower]

LN, haven't you been looking at screen shots for the past few months? The three person unit isn't new. But don't worry, I'm sure there will be a graphics pack that you'll love.

[Jaybe]

I would like a graphics pak where they are in line abreast until machine guns are invented. Then they go to staggered formation.

Line abreast would have the advantage of knowing where the guy is supposed to be -- oh, he's not there: maybe he's been lost!
There could also be the potential of showing multiple units, one behind the other.

[Fidel]

i am buyng a new comp this week. this is all too much for me gone gold, multiplayer, bring it on!
the only problem is waiting for another month or so...

[Nikolai]

Interesting preview, thanks Geo. I particulary liked the fact that you can do so well with a builder strategy as the guy the writer played against!

[yin26]

Because the enemy was almost completely on the defensive, knocking our way into a city was pretty difficult. Not only were the defenders able to upgrade their units with defensive bonuses, but they also had plenty of time to fortify since it takes a while to take full effect. The end result was a victory by points on our side as time ran out on the match.

Fargo just built and built and built and expanded his culture to a point where bordering cities were helpless against his might. Added onto everything else, he received a Great Person which he used to enter a city close to his borders and create a Great Work. Choosing to do this is being affectionately called a "culture bomb" by Firaxis as it explodes in the city and creatues a gargantuan amount of culture. When Fargo dropped his bomb, his borders grew infinitely closer to my own.

While MP games will obviously circumvent most worries about the AI, what I see up there spells SP tedium: It seems far easier to defend, the AI didn't seem to attack, and "culture bombs" / turtle building seemed to be overpowered. Hard to say without the game in front of us, of course, but I would affectionately call what I've just read:

Sandbox Civ

P.S. I do like the differentiated unit upgrades. That seems quite intuitive, strategic and fun.

[Adm.Naismith]

Originally posted by yin26
It seems far easier to defend, the AI didn't seem to attack, and "culture bombs" / turtle building seemed to be overpowered. Hard to say without the game in front of us, of course, but I would affectionately call what I've just read:

Sandbox Civ

To be fair, the defensive bonus raising slowly than before was still effective because of the long time the human player had spent reaching the enemy city. It seems to me that a good blitz tactic can be useful, to defeat units not fortify at max strenght, more than in previus Civ. Counterattack will also expose the offending troops, because their defensive bonus will probably be still *zero*.

Culture bomb can be the tip of the iceberg: the reviewer explained that player Fargo was massively using a builder tactic from start, then the Great Person gained (AFAIK a related effect of caring of develop the cities, instead of ICS them) was the detonator of a "culture bomb" already built *instead* of plenty of military units.

Alternative tactic that worked once is not killing the show, at least until it's proven the *only* working tactic.

Do you agree, Yin? "Game innocent until proven guilty?"

BTW Summer sandbox is funny for children between 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM; summer sandbeach is funny for adults between 11:00 PM to 4:00 AM.
Same sand, just chose wisely.

[MarkG]

Originally posted by yin26
While MP games will obviously circumvent most worries about the AI, what I see up there spells SP tedium: It seems far easier to defend, the AI didn't seem to attack, and "culture bombs" / turtle building seemed to be overpowered. Hard to say without the game in front of us, of course, but I would affectionately call what I've just read:

these guys played MP for a few hours (which is nothing when it comes to judging a civ game) over 2 months prior to release, so better not to take their impressions as accurate....

still, the fact that the AI knew how to fortify 2-3 units in a city while in defence along with the high probability that the writer didnt know the use of catapults make the whole thing less worrying...

[yin26]

I like that defense has meaning, and a blitz could still work if a builder is being careless. But I detested culture flipping in Civ 3, so this talk about Culture Bomb combined with the seeming ability to turtle just gives me horrid visions of Build Fest 2005.

And, yes, judgement will wait for the game to be released, but just as with a murder scene, we've got some potentially incriminating clues stacking up -- incriminating, that is, if you want Civ 4 *not* to favor the builder. Again, shades of mind-numbing ICS and culture flipping dancing in my head.

[GeoModder]

Culture flipping cities seems to be an conscious act now, instead of a more or less random denominator. A player has to sacrifice such a great person in order to do so. Moreover, nothing stops it that a few turns later the "victim" civ does the same and both civs are back on square 1.

[MarkG]

Originally posted by yin26
But I detested culture flipping in Civ 3, so this talk about Culture Bomb combined with the seeming ability to turtle just gives me horrid visions of Build Fest 2005.

the reviewer said that borders expanded, not that there was a flip

so far we've heard that fliping has been greatly reduced...

Again, shades of mind-numbing ICS and culture flipping dancing in my head.

what in the preview gave you the idea of ICS?

[The_Aussie_Lurker]

To be fair, Yin, the game these people are referring to was played against a team comprised of 'Firaxis Heavyweights', such as Sid-who have been playing the game for over a whole YEAR. Given those circumstances, I doubt very much that the IGN/Gamespy team had much chance of beating them !
Also, before we completely denigrate the builder/defensive strategy, we mustn't overlook things like the importance internal trade of food (and its relation to city health) and what seems like a greater emphasis on trade in general. Given this, a smart offensive player could force a defensive player to come out from behind his defenses in order to defend his trade networks from constant attack.
Also, what they describe as culture bombs actually require the creation of great people which-in turn-we know require good, well developed/specialised cities-almost the total antithesis of ICS! City flipping is definitely gone, as now you have to choose to give up a city, via diplomacy, not merely have it announced to you that you are losing it ! Lastly, it really sounds like religion is going to really shake things up-and probably make all of my past strategies obsolete ! Anyway, when you take it all together, it simply sounds like they have finally brought diplomacy and culture up to an equal footing with military conquest. Thats not to say there are things I am unhappy with, at least based on the little I know, but the things which I am hearing are making very excited indeed !

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

[Nikolai]

So far we've heard that there will be no culture flipping, but that there will be problems facing a weak culture civ that it might be the best thing to give the city away.