Beyond the Sword Fact Sheet

[Solver]

Some interesting information has started appearing recently regarding Beyond the Sword, the next Civ4 expansion. I'll try to summarize some of that.

General Info

Beyond the Sword is the second expansion for Civilization IV, and will be released on July 23rd in North America and by the end of July in Europe. The expansion focuses on builder options and the second half of the game (post-Gunpowder), although there are also military additions, such as new units.

Content includes 12 scenarios, 10 new civs and 16 new leaders. Random events, corporations and revamped espionage are among the epic game features.

The box art can be seen here, with a high resolution version here. Also, there's a super-high resolution version (1610x2251, 1.2 MB).

Civilizations and Leaders

All 10 new civilizations have been revealed:

• Babylon - led by Hammurabi (ca. 1810 BC - ca. 1750 BC), first king of the Babylonian Empire, creator of Hammurabi's Code of Laws in ca. 1760 BC., which is usually considered the first example of written, basic, unchangeable law. In-game, Aggressive and Organized, with the Garden UB.
• Portugal - led by Joao II (1455 - 1495), fourteenth king of Portugal, who concentrated power in his own hands and prioritized exploration of the Atlantic. In-game, Joao II is Imperialistic/Expansionist, and the Portugese Unique Unit is the Carrack.
• Netherlands - as revealed in an IGN screenshot, led by William the Silent (also known as Willem van Oranje). Lived 1533-1584, he was the Prince of Orange who led a revolt against Spain that started the Eighty Years' War. In-game, Creative/Financial with the Dike unique building.
• Native Americans - led by Sitting Bull (1831 - 1890), a Lakota chief, leader of the Sioux tribes during the Battle of Little Bighorn, later exiled to Canada. In-game, Protective/Philosophical, and the Native American Unique Building is the Totem Pole.
• Mayans - led by Pacal the Great (603 - 683), a ruler of Palenque who held power for 68 years. He's responsible for the establishment of Palenque as a major power and some of the most magnificent Mayan buildings were constructed during his reign. In-game, Expansive/Financial and the Ball Court is the UB.
• Byzantium - led by Justinian. It's currently unclear whether it refers to Justinian I or Justinian II, although the former is more likely.
• Holy Roman Empire - led by Charlemagne (742? - 814), King of the Franks, who attempted to revive the Roman Empire after conquering Italy, having been crowned Emperor by the Pope. First ruler of a large empire in Western Europe after the fall of rome. In-game, Imperialistic/Protective with the Rathaus UB.
• Sumeria - led by Gilgamesh (27th century BC), fifth King of Uruk. The "Epic of Gilgamesh" describes him as a God-King, two-thirds divine and one-third human. In-game, Gilgamesh is Creative/Protective, with Ziggurat as his unique building.
• Khmer - led by Suryavarman. Assuming it's Suryavarman II, king of the Khmer in 1113-1150, builder of the Angkor Wat. Used force to re-unite the empire and established ties with China. In-game, Creative/Expansive, Baray is the UB.
• Ethiopia - led by Zara Yaqob (1399-1468), Emperor of Ethiopia. Won the Battle of Gomit, killing Badlay ad-Din. Send an ambassador to Europe who met the Pope and King of Aragon. In-game, Creative/Organized with the Stele as the UB.

New leaders for existing civilizations have also all been revealed:

• America - Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865), 16th President of the United States, leading the country during the defeat of the Confederacy and issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, freeing all slaves, and encouraging the Thirteenth Amendment that outlawed slavery. In-game, he's Charismatic/Philosophical.
• Celtia - Boudica (? - 61 AD), Queen of the Iceni people, who rebelled against the Romans, causing a serious crisis in Roman-ruled Britain. In the Battle of Watling Street, Boudica's forces were slaughtered and she died, without managing to drive the Romans out of Britain. In-game, Boudica is Aggressive/Charistmatic.
• Ottoman Empire - Suleyman (1494 - 1566), tenth Sultan of the ottoman Empire, under whom it annexed large territories in Europe, Middle East and North Africa. Suleiman also reformed the legal system of the Ottoman Empire, sponsored educational and architectural developments and wrote poems. In-game, Imperialistic/Philosophical.
• Greece - Pericles (495 - 429 BC) was a General of Athens, leader of Athens during the first two years of the Peloponnesian war. Construction of several impressive monuments was started during his rule, including the Parthenon.
• France - Charles de Gaulle (1890 - 1970), President of France in 1944-1946, after liberation from Germany, and Prime Minister in 1958-1959, then President again until 1969. Rebuilt the French economy after World War II, during his reign France became a nuclear power and launched a satellite into space with its own delivery system. In-game, he's Charistmatic/Industrious.
• Persia - Darius I (549 BC - 486 BC), King of Persia, who reorganized the Empire, dividing it into provinces controlled by governors but paying tribute, introduced a new bureaucratic system. The building of Persepolis was ordered by Darius. In-game, he's Financial/Organized.

Also, Augustus is the only existing leader whose traits have been changed. His traits are now Imperialistic/Industrious (as confirmed by Jon during the Firaxis chat).

The Expansive trait now ha +25% Worker production.

New Units

Beyond the Sword includes an uncertain amount of new units. Here are the ones we currently know about.

Unique Units:

• Carrack (Portugal) - replaces Caravel, cargo space of two and can carry military units.
• Bowman (Babylon) - replaces Archer, gets +50% vs. Melee.
• Cataphract (Byzantium) - replaces Knight. Has strength 12 but is vulnerable to First Strikes.
• East Indiaman (Dutch Empire) - replaces Galleon. Strength 6, carries 4 units, can enter closed borders.
• Oromo Warrior (Ethiopia) - replaces Musketman, starts with Drill I + Drill II, immune to first strikes.
• Landsknech (Holy Roman Empire) - replaces Pikeman, gets +100% vs. melee.
• Ballista Elephant (Khmer) - replaces War Elephant, targets mounted units first outside cities.
• Holkan (Mayans) - replaces Spearman, immune to first strikes, doesn't require resources.
• Dog Soldier (Native Americans) - replaces Axeman. Strength 4, but +100% vs. melee.
• Vulture (Sumeria) - replaces Axeman. 6 strength, but only +25% vs. melee.
  

Regular Units:

• Privateer - Presumably a hidden-nationality ship that can also attack at peace-time.
• Paratrooper - Works similar to other Civ games - can drop into enemy territory and do nasty things there.
• Cuirassier - A mounted unit that takes the place of Cavalry in the tech tree. So, Cuirassier requires Military Tradition. Cavalry now requires Rifling. The Cuirassier is, presumably, somewhere between the Knight and the Cavalry in its strength.
• Anti-Tank - An "inexpensive, early counter to Tanks". +100% vs. Armored units and start with Ambush.
• Mobile Artillery - presumably a stronger version of Artillery. Movement of 2.
• Tactical Nuke - another unit returning from Civ3. Described by Tim McCracken: "they're like regular nukes, except they're a lot cheaper but they're not as powerful". Carried by Submarines.
• Mobile SAM - a powerful anti-aircraft unit.
• Executives - spread corporations.
• Attack Submarine - ges a bonus vs. Submarines, retains invisibility.
• Stealth Destroyer - mostly invisible. Can intercept aircraft.
• Missile Cruiser - very powerful, carries up to four missiles.
• Airship - a zeppelin. Can spot submarines.
• Guided Missile - a short-range missile that can't be intercepted, but with a conventional warhead and thus much less destructive power than nukes.

Scenario Units:

• A supply unit - heals units in enemy territory

New Promotions

• Range - available for aerial units
• Interception - available for air units
• Ace - available for air units
• Woodsman III - presumably requires Woodsman II

New Buildings

BtS includes new buildings, but there is currently very little information available.
Unique Buildings:

• Totem Pole (Native Americans) - replaces Monument. Gives +3 XP to Archery Units.
• Ziggurat (Sumeria) - replaces Courthouse. Costs 20 hammers less, 4 are needed for the Fobidden Palace.
• Feitoria (Portugal) - replaces Customs House. Gives +1 commerce on water tiles.
• Ball Court (Mayans) - replaces Colosseum, +2 happy.
• Baray (Khmer) - replaces Aqeduct, gives +1 food.
• Rathaus (Holy Roman Empire) - replaces Courthouse, -75% maintenance, four needed for the Forbidden Palace.
• Stele (Ethiopia) - replaces Monument, provides +25% culture.
• Dike (Dutch Empire) - replaces Levee, gives +1 hammer in water tiles.
• Hippodrome (Byzantium) - replaces Theatre, gives 1 extra base happiness, +1 for every 5% of culture slider and +1 for having Horses.
• Garden (Babylon) - replaces Colosseum, gives +1 health.

Regular Buildings::

• Security Bureau - makes it harder for enemy Spies to perform missions
• Intelligence Agency - boosts espionage point production
• Levee - increases production on river cities. Requires Steam Power.
• Public Transporation - provides health.
• Industrial Park - gives Engineers and bad health.
• Customs House - requires Economics and a Harbour. Enhances overseas trade route profit.

New Technologies

There is a new Classical and a new Renaissance technology, with the rest being modern. Voiceovers are narrated by Sid Meier. The modern techs are:

• Laser - allows Mobile SAM and Mobile Artillery.
• Superconductor - allows Laboratories and some spaceship parts.
• Stealth
• Advanced Flight - obsoletes Stables. Gives Gunships and Jet Fighters.

The Classical tech is Aesthetics, "fills in the space between writing and literature and drama". The Renaissance one is Military Science, which "leads off from Chemistry and enables a few new promotions".

New Wonders

BtS features six new Wonders, including the Apostolic Palace (see below):

• The Statue of Zeus - a statue of the god Zeus in a temple housing it, built ca. 432BC in Olympia, Greece. Doubles war weariness of civs that are at war with you. Double production with Ivory. Gives Great Artist points.
• Cristo Redentor - a statue of Jesus Christ wth open arms, built in 1931, stands over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Allows to switch civics without Anarchy and eliminates the minimum waiting period. Gives Engineer points, available with Radio, +100% production for Spiritual leaders.
• Shwedagon Paya - a Buddhist stupa, building time unknown, believed to be between the 6th century and the 10th century AD, although Buddhist monk records put it as being over 2500 years old. Located in Yangon, Myanmar. Allows access to all Religion civics. Requires Meditation and Aesthetics, double production with Gold.
• Mausoleum of Mausollos - a tomb built for Mausolos, a Persian governor, built in 353-350 BC. Located in Bodrum, Turkey. Enhances Golden Age length by 50%, requires Calendar, double build speed with Marble.
• Moai Statues - monolithic carved statues of heads and truncated torsos. Presumably built in the 11th century AD. Located on Easter Island. National wonder - gives hammers in water tiles for its city.
• Apostolic Palace - residence of the Pope in Vatican City since 1871. In BtS, it acts somewhat similarly to the United Nations (see below).

The Apostolic Palace

Apostolic Palace is a Wonder that allows elections once it's built, with civilizations that share the builder's religion participating. Most of what is currently known about the Palace is from this quote by Alex Mantzaris, the lead programmer & lead designer of BtS:

This Wonder allows you to leverage your diplomatic standing to manipulate the world like never before. Build it and civilizations sharing your religion can vote on resolutions you put forth, like stopping and starting wars, enforcing trade embargos, or even assigning cities to their “rightful” owner!

The Apostolic Palace is tied to the religion of its builder. Resolutions can enforce war or peace and embargoes. It's also possible to win the game through the AP. It goes obsolete with Communism.

Corporations

Corporations are an all-new feature in Beyond the Sword. Corporations are similar to religions in a way, can be founded & spread throughout the world. Each corporations provides certain benefits in exchange for resources.

Corporations are founded by consuming a Great Person. They can provide food, commerce, production or resources in exchanges for resources that the corporation consumes. The more resources available for consumption, the more benefits the corporation provides. Each corporation consumes its own specific set of resources.

Corporation headquarters provide income for each city in the world where the corporation exists. There are, however, also maintenance costs for corporations. Corporations are expanded by executives, which work similarly to Missionaries.

Civics also influence corporations. Mercantilism blocks foreign corporations and State Property blocks all of them.

Here are the details about specific corporations as currently known:

• Standard Ethanol - provides Oil in exchange for Corn, Sugar and Rice.
• Cereal Mills - provides extra food in exchange for Corn, Rice and Wheat
• Aluminum Inc. - provides Aluminum for Coal.
• Creative Constructions - provides extra hammers in exchange for Iron, Copper, Stone and Marble

Random Events

Beyond the Sword also adds random events to the game. There are different types of events. Some merely require your decision on how to deal with a situation, while others will assign you quests that can be completed for a reward. The amount of different events in the game is said to be high to provide maximum replayability.

They are indeed an option that can be turned off.

There are at least 100 random events in the game, positive and negative. They include natural disasters and diplomatic marriages that boost relations. There is a Partisans random event and an event that gives you a golden age, as well as an epidemic event. There are no events that destroy cities because beta testers were ready to kill Firaxians when they tried putting such an event in.

Espionage

Espionage has been changed in Beyond the Sword. It is now available earlier than before, and players can actively "fund" espionage development. There is now an espionage slider, which can be used to allocate extra funds to espionage. Thus espionage points towards other civilizations are generated. They can also be obtained from some buildings and assigning Spy specialists.

When you accumulate enough espionage points, you start getting information about the other civs. You can also use Spy units for a variety of active missions. Great Spies, a new type of Great Person, can also be born, and one of their abilities is to provide an espionage boost against a certain rival - that gives you espionage points. Also, Great Spies can build the Scotland Yard, which is no longer a regular National Wonder. Graphically, ancient Great Spies look like ninjas. Great Spies are always invisible.

Spy missions include the ability to "inject" your culture into enemy cities, steal gold, destroy terrain improvements, poison water supply, make the enemy switch civics or state religion. As a Spy stays longer in an enemy city, the mission gets cheaper to perform.

With enough espionage points, you can see what rival cities are producing and even open their city screen.

Scenarios

BtS will ship with 12 scenarios. These cover a wide spectrum, from World War II on a historical map to future and fantasy scenarios. Some scenarios are set in as early as Renaissance.

Afterworld - designed by Tim McCracken (who also designed Omens in Warlords), it's a sci-fi scenario where a team of five "Gravebingers" is sent to a planet occupied by human robots who've turned into horrible beasts. The scenario is unlike regular Civ, as it doesn't heave any leaders, cities or technologies.

Broken Star - a Russian civil war scenario. Units can be purchased from the US or promotions from China. Nuke fun included!

Chaos - has tons of random events.

Charlemagne's Wars - conquer Europe as Charlemagne. Supply trucks must be used to heal friendly units.

Crossroads of the World - set in the Middle East, 14th century.

Fall From Heaven: Age of Ice - a newly updated version of Fall From Heaven, a highly popular Civ4 mod by Kael and his team. It's a fantasy mod with a focus on indivudual units, including hero units. Large portions of the map aren't suitable for settlement and big stacks are impossible to obtain. There is an active weather system in the mod.

Final Frontier - a "Civ in space" scenario, where you colonize other planets and do things on a galactic scale. Designed and created by Jon Shafer, who's been working on it for a year. Features include Starbases (think huge space outposts), resource harvesting from asteroids and solar system colonization, assigning population to individual planets.

Gods of Old - a scenario about religion.

Next War - a near-future scenario which includes clone units and mechs. Units carrying suitcase nukes are also present.

Rhye's and Fall of Civilization - a BtS version of another highly popuar mod. Rhye's mod is a carefully researched, history-oriented game. Compared to its previous incarnations, the BtS version includes five new civs and various other improvements.

Superrobo - collect parts of a giant robot that have scattered throughout the Earth.

World War II: Road to War - designed by Dale, this mod includes 3 scenarios that are divided by theatre, allowing "what-if" simulations of WW2. Dale has hinted on plans to also work on the mod after release.

Advanced Starts

In this mode, players "buy" components of a civilization, and so can start the game in a later era, with a partially-developed civilization. The mechanism is described as follows by Alex Mantzaris:

Advanced Starts are a pre-game setup phase players use to purchase cities, improvements, buildings, technologies, and units. It works in both single-player and multi-player. The player decides what to purchase and where to place it. When everyone is done, the game starts with players controlling relatively balanced, advanced empires with a working infrastructure. This mechanism is ideal for those who want to jump right in and experience a balanced game in the modern era, without having to start with nothing but a few settlers and units.

It's been confirmed that you can buy cities, extra population for them and terrain improvements such as roads.

Splitting colonies

New civilizations can be formed during the game. Colonies can split off from their motherlands and thus form a new civilization. Splits are strictly voluntary. Civilizations that are formed may be historically correct - such as a European nation splitting off America. The main reason for splitting a colony off would be to save a significant amount of money in upkeep costs. There are no civil wars.

Other Features

• The game's AI is improved considerably to present a better challenge. For example, it can win culture victories. Blake has been working on the BtS AI. In a chat, Alexman, Dale and Solver revealed that the AI can attack coastal cities effectively, coordinate its land & sea forces and execute strategies such as crush and dagger. Alexman said that an in-game tip telling players to defend coastal cities had to be added.
• A new option is to select any leader with any civilization. For example, Boudica of the Romans or Elizabeth of the Chinese.
• The spaceship can be customized visually before launching.
• A space victory now requires your spaceship to reach Alpha Centauri, as in Civ2. You can win by launching later than your enemy if you have a faster spaceship.
• Ships can blockade trade routes. Trade routes are not visually visible on the map, however.
• The MAF (Memory Allocation Failure) bug in situations requiring extremely high memory usage has been fixed by Gyathaar
• The Foreign Advisor screen has been improved
• Units now have ethnic graphics. So the same unit can look differently for different civilizations. It doesn't extend to all units, however.
• Aerial combat has been enhanced. There are not only promotions but some other new rules, currently unknown.
• Forts can now be used as bases for paradropping and ships can enter them.

Last update: 20.06.07.

[Kuciwalker]

Is it confirmed that Babylon will only have 1 leader?

[Solver]

Not confirmed. However, there are 10 new civs, and 16 leaders. That's 6 more leaders than civs, and two of those have been confirmed as being for old civs. So at least 6 of the new civs will only have 1 leader.

[dowski]

Nice summary.

A new option is to select any leader with any civilization. For example, Boudica of the Romans or Elizabeth of the Chinese.

IIRC, this was mentioned as a MP only feature.

[Solver]

It was said that the option will probably be popular in multiplayer, not that it's only available in multiplayer.

[Guynemer]

"Native Americans" instead of a specific nation or nations?

(I know the Celts are the same way, but more of a bad thing is bad.)

[Jon Shafer]

This should be on the main (non-forum) site and/or the Civ 4 section where it'll be seen by more people. *Hint hint*

[Solver]

@Guynemer:

Hey, every game needs a weak point .

[Solver]

Originally posted by Jon Shafer
This should be on the main (non-forum) site and/or the Civ 4 section where it'll be seen by more people. *Hint hint*

We have a main site? Oh wait...

[Guynemer]

So then it is Firaxis-confirmed, it is a generic Native Americans civ?

I'd much rather have both Lakota and Iroquois civs, but if it is Native Americans or nothing, I'll take it.

[Solver]

Well, Native Americans is what their website says.

[Locutus]

Originally posted by Guynemer
I'd much rather have both Sioux and Iroquois civs, but if it is Native Americans or nothing, I'll take it.

As much as I hate the name Native Americans, two bullsh*t civs is certainly worse than one of them...

[Solver]

Also available in the Civ4 section of our site:

http://civilization4.net/3/262//

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Solver
Not confirmed. However, there are 10 new civs, and 16 leaders. That's 6 more leaders than civs, and two of those have been confirmed as being for old civs. So at least 6 of the new civs will only have 1 leader.

[Jaybe]

Originally posted by Locutus
As much as I hate the name Native Americans, two bullsh*t civs is certainly worse than one of them...

What are any of the other civs, but generic attributes associated with historical nations & leaders to give the game some illusion of reality?

I would not mind having anonymous/generic names for the civs & their leaders. By the same token, I would not mind having generic symbols (infantry, horse, etc) for the units if they had strength or manpower numbers tagging along with them on the map.

But nations, leaders & unit types give something to put into the pedia, and may spark interest in furthering such knowledge. That's a GOOD thing!