Will there ever be a Civ5?

[Krill]

dp...

[Willem]

What could (and, IMHO, should) be added are things like supply lines for example.

Here's hoping anyway. I'd also like to see Corporations greatly expanded as well, so they start appearing much earlier in the game and play a much bigger role in the overall economy. There should be Corporations reflecting things like the Cathay Silk Route, or the Hudson's Bay Company etc. Even have some Corporations that all civs can build, not just the first one to get them.

The AI and diplomacy can always be better, as well. (Some) people complain about how the AP and the UN work - things like that.

That's an understatement. Although the AI is better than it ever has been in a Civ game,there's still lots of room for improvement. And the whole Diplomacy thing needs to be reworked, especially the UN/AP. Another thing that needs a complete overhaul is Worker management and the city Governor.

[Willem]

(C3 otoh, was based off C2 which was based off another game IIRC? So that code was really hard to follow, and had a new design team which didn't know what was where).

Actually I think Civ 3 was based on Alpha Centuari, not Civ 2. There were a number of references to AC in a number of the files that were found in the game. And the new design team came about when Brian Reynolds left Firaxis to start up his own company, Big Huge Games. He was also the lead programmer for Alpha Centauri.

[playshogi]

.... And the new design team came about when Brian Reynolds left Firaxis to start up his own company, Big Huge Games. He was also the lead programmer for Alpha Centauri.

Thanks, for that, too. I think (pure speculation) that Rise of Nations was Brian Reynolds' idea of Civ3. Then Civ4 continued the turn-based series and was a great improvement. The best I can say about the expansions is that they didn't ruin the core game too badly, although the stupid frequency of global warming in patch 3.17 comes close to spoiling the game for me. My prediction: Civ5 if there is one will be a mess and a flop, unless they get Soren back.

[kalverra]

Since neither the timeline (4000BC to roughly 2050AD) nor the scope (one planet) has changed during the evolution of the civ series ever, i doubt that V will be any different in that aspect. What could (and, IMHO, should) be added are things like supply lines for example. The AI and diplomacy can always be better, as well.

Yes there are alot of little things to correct like that, but that's the thing, they're little things. Though for players who want a realer experience they would matter more, all in all if you don't come up with somthing drastically new, just updates, very few are going to buy. It's like asking, "Will you pay $45 on a game you already have but in this version, the workers blink and you earn a little gold star everytime you capture a city." That's just not going to sell.

[joncnunn]

I'm thinking something like Civ IV: SMAC will come out before Civ V.

[Unimatrix11]

Yes there are alot of little things to correct like that, but that's the thing, they're little things. Though for players who want a realer experience they would matter more, all in all if you don't come up with somthing drastically new, just updates, very few are going to buy. It's like asking, "Will you pay $45 on a game you already have but in this version, the workers blink and you earn a little gold star everytime you capture a city." That's just not going to sell.

Two letters: EA ; fifa soccer, soccer manager, NFL and whatnot - all which get a yearly release and apperently sell well enough each time. Civ 4-smac (or even smacII), i would regard as quite probable, but nothing that combines variuos maps or some such. Call to Power was not CivX, after all, and it basically merely expanded the timeline to a couple of centuries in the future.

[Blaupanzer]

The economic system needs serious modification, with competitive industries, business cycles, booms and busts, and research options based on current development in the civ.

I also like the idea of alternate research paths. To follow up on wodan, the Incas also never had the wheel, the horse, or ironworking , yet constructed (or supported the construction by an earlier civ) the most extensive aqueduct and water transfer system in the world. They also built (or ... see above) extensive structures high in the mountains with stones from lower in the mountains. Feats of engineering comparable to the Egyptians, according to the engineers that evaluated these. In game terms, they are all the way to engineering while skipping horseback riding, ironworking, and the wheel.

[lapmelt]

I'm happy with either Civ IV: smac or smac 2.

[wodan11]

It seems to be pretty well established that SMAC won't happen. At best, we'll get something sort of like it, under a different name.

[Blaupanzer]

Pedrojedi, your point is a good one, massive modability, no need for apology.

LDiCesare, you are right, many of the changes we suggest can be modded. However, they fit into a larger context, apackage. In addition to more user-friendly tech trees with branches beyond the historic path, an economic victory option, repaired diplomatic and vassal game, and competitive corporations (i.e., more than one of the same type possible), what would you like to see as major changes in a theoretical Civ V. I appreciate your modding skill, but are there limits you'd like removed, places you'd like to go, but can't at the moment?

[xmen510]

Well, to add my thoughts, I am at least hoping we'll get an announcement one way or the other by September of this year.

[Willem]

...and also implimenting some of the improved graphics & features of Col.

No, please don't give me any of the so-called improved graphics from that game, I think they suck. I downloaded a mod pack that includes them for Civ 4 and I think my game just ends up looking like a bad oil-painting.

[Willem]

I'm thinking something like Civ IV: SMAC will come out before Civ V.

That's not going to happen. EA hold the rights to SMAC and they'll never sell it to a rival company that they would like to buy out instead. I'm glad all this talk about a hostile takeover is out of the way, I'd hate to see EA get yet a bigger piece of the pie. I really don't like their concept of game design and their distribution.

[Willem]

Yes there are alot of little things to correct like that, but that's the thing, they're little things. Though for players who want a realer experience they would matter more, all in all if you don't come up with somthing drastically new, just updates, very few are going to buy. It's like asking, "Will you pay $45 on a game you already have but in this version, the workers blink and you earn a little gold star everytime you capture a city." That's just not going to sell.

There are enough of "little" things that could be added, and current areas improved upon, that would justify a new release. Just adding supply lines would be a major departure in the way the game was played from any previous version. Toss in expanded corporations so we end up with something similar to how the economy works in Colonization and it would feel like a totally different game.