Will there ever be a Civ5?

[Blaupanzer]

Willem, how does the economy work in Colonization? Or to focus the question, how is it different than Civ IV? Answer either, as I am curious. Thanks.

[Targonis]

For those wondering what could be changed in a future Civ game(Civ 5), here is a crazy idea on the tech tree side of things...

We all know that each civ starts with some starting techs. Now, based on those, without outside contact, or seeing other techs, there is NOTHING to push a culture/civilization toward developing in certain areas. So, go from that, where only exposure to other civilizations will provide access to certain lines of research, and of course, you need to develop some more basic technologies before you get into the more advanced technologies.

So, for a land based civ, where the civ starts inland away from the coast, even the thought of boats or traveling by sea would seem alien, unless your civ has contact with another with that technology. Starting a city on the coast might provide the starting point, even without learning about it from others though.

Then, without animals that could be domesticated, certain farming techs might not be available for research, just because there is nothing to provide the inspiration. It would also lead to the ability for some civs to develop into the future in a very different way than we see currently. The design thought of "How could this technology POSSIBLY develop if the real world lines of research never happened?"

The Civ series has always been about "what if?", so a more diverse progression might come into play. More true cultural traits could also come into play, where a peaceful civilization might have a more warlike leader could lead to changes in the culture might also be fun.

I expect Civ 5 to come out, but with game design being so complex, the design will be more difficult to figure out than anything else. The silence about new games leads me to believe that all resources are going into the next generation game rather than expansion packs...because if you look at the Firaxis web site, it is really really quiet.

[Willem]

Willem, how does the economy work in Colonization? Or to focus the question, how is it different than Civ IV? Answer either, as I am curious. Thanks.

Well in Colonization you actually manufacture things, not just deal in raw resources. So you take Tobacco and make Cigars, Cotton produces Cloth etc. Civ could use a similar model with it's Corporations so you could get into trading manufactured goods with other civs. There's all sorts of possibilities for the trading system if we had something like this in place.

[Willem]

The silence about new games leads me to believe that all resources are going into the next generation game rather than expansion packs...because if you look at the Firaxis web site, it is really really quiet.

Well they're definitely not working on any more expansion packs for Civ 4. They've pretty much mentioned that BtS will be the last one.

[Blaupanzer]

Sounds like The Colonization version picks up aspects of the Railroad Tycoon game Sid introduced many years ago. I like the thinking, as I am an advocate of economies that actually compete as opposed to operate separately from one another.

[Lambiorix_be]

back on topic

To be back on the topic I posted my question 6 months ago and now there is still no news whatsoever about any plans for a civ5. And now with the general crisis all around I doubt there will be any follow up on this.

[wodan11]

Well today would be a good day to look on the Firaxis site for an announcement.